Mom and I decided just a couple weeks ago that it would be awesome if she came out to visit me for a few days and because Roxette was playing in LA last weekend and we both love their music, we figured last week would be a perfect week for a visit!
I was excited to spend a week with my Mom and we had a lot of stuff planned and were kept very busy during her 6 day vacation with me! She landed at LAX on Wednesday afternoon and our first stop of the day was grabbing some Lunch and since Khad and I had some plans we couldn't get to this weekend, we all were having Lunch at Native Foods. This was Mom's first time eating Vegan Food. Khad has opened my eyes to the awesomeness of the Vegan world and while I could never give up meat, and certainly couldn't stop eating cheese, I actually really enjoy eating Vegan food and like trying new things every time we go somewhere.
I gave Mom some ideas and at Native Foods they tell you some choices that are good for first-timers but she was set on getting the Reuben. Let me tell you why this was a bad choice for her first time: Mom gets a Reuben sandwich from most restaurants because it's one of her favorites, so it's something she knows well. This Reuben had 'seitan' which is a wheat meat so it certainly wasn't going to taste like corned beef. My suggestion to people trying Vegan Food for the first time...don't get one of your favorite dishes! It's not going to taste like the 'real' version of it. I would never order Mac & Cheese because I know and expect a certain flavor and consistency. Overall, I think she was happy with it and said she would try Vegan Food again and hopefully go with something a little more mainstream. I went with the Scorpion Burger which had Tempeh, my first time trying it, Chipotle sauce, tons of Avocado and it was delicious. I would order that again in a second! Now that I'm talking about it, I could go for it right now...LOL. Khad had a beautiful and huge salad but I can't remember which one he ordered; in any case, it did make me want to try a salad the next time I go. And that kicked off our day in LA!
Since we had eaten Lunch so late we picked up Yogurtland for Dinner (Mom's suggestion) and then we were off to Karaoke at Gabe's because I was Hosting it! She actually enjoys coming and watching everyone sing, chatting with people, and sometimes if we get lucky, she might sing too! Neil surprised us and was waiting for us when we got there and I knew I had a bunch of friends coming in so I got the night started right away and opened with 'Foolish Games' which to me, was my best performance of it. Neil and Mom really liked it and I felt really connected to the song so maybe that's why I felt so good about it! Neil decided on the Smashing Pumpkins '1979' since it's Mom's favorite Pumpkins song, and he did an awesome job even though I forgot to drop the song one whole note! He hit all the high notes and everything...nice job, Neil! After Neil sang, Sean, Khad, and Jamie, all filtered in, along with Carolyn & Matt, Carrie, Tarey, and Marty, the Birthday Boy! It was kind of neat since everyone knows Mom, including the Gabe's Karaoke regulars so everyone was singing songs for her, Khad did 'Don't Stop Believing,' Judy did 'Crazy' by Patsy Cline and 'One of Us' by Joan Osbourne, and Jamie did 'Angel' by Sara McLachlan which was absolutely beautiful. My next song was Roxette's 'Listen To Your Heart' since we were going to the Roxette concert on Saturday and it was a fun song to sing and after that song my next was a suggestion by Mom, 'Joey' by Concrete Blonde because she really likes that song, and was very happy that I sang it just for her! Jamie and I had some fun doing a duet of 'Hold On' by Wilson Philips and later on she sang 'What's Up'. The night wouldn't have been complete without a little Mulan from Khad, and a performance of the Backstreet Boys song by Double Entendre, led by the Birthday Boy, Marty! Carolyn also sang for Marty's Birthday, doing 'Killing Me Softly' and Matt sang as well, which is a rare treat, 'Daughter' by Pearl Jam which was excellent! Brad and Jeff came in later on in the night and they actually sang for everyone too, which was a nice surprise...of course it was an Eddie Vedder song but they killed it! Carrie's friend, Tarey, used to Host Karaoke in Canada (they were visiting for Carrie's Birthday) and Tarey had some excellent song choices including Rod Stewart's 'The First Cut is the Deepest.' Debbie and I closed out the night with separate Madonna songs; I did 'The Power of Goodbye' since it's one of Mom's favorites, and Debbie did an up-tempo pop one. I really couldn't figure out what song to sing as my new song so when Mom kept asking someone to sing Nirvana I decided to challenge myself with 'Heart-Shaped Box.' It ended up being her favorite song I sang of the night because it was so different, here I went from singing Jewel to Kurt Cobain and I had a lot of fun doing it. Overall, it was a really busy and one of my favorite nights working; it was great to see all of my friends and have such an awesome time at work!
And that was just Day 1...here we go!
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