It's been a week chock full of activities. We hosted a pumpkin carving party at our house. 
The house was very warm and inviting and filled with our friends. Manny was the first to arrive and although he left early to get some much needed rest and relaxation, I'm so glad he took the time to come over and visit with us. Steve and Alice are wonderful biking friends of Will's; and Florie and Billy came with the young'un, enchanting Isabella; along with dear, thoughtful Rachel and Eric.
It was a lovely evening. We drank Spanish wines which went well with the treo of delish tamales I picked up from Mama's Hot tamales and my homemade Pumpkin Soup. We wrapped up the evening with Pumpkin Cake topped by Honey and Spice Buttercream icing and coffee.
Monday night we drove through Carol Avenue because we were (mis)informed that the old Victorian homes got done up big and scary for Halloween. We were disappointed in seeing they were few and far between. Not much of an impact at all.
But that was followed by a surprisingly good dinner at Leila Thai. I love the names of their dishes. They're called things like Magic Green Beans, Wisdom of Life Panang and Bewitching Yellow Curry.
Then we headed up into Griffith Park to Travel Town for a spooky Ghost Train ride and a surprising "celebrity" sighting. Who should we be winding around the line with but Puck! You know. Puck. From MTVs Real World San Francisco. Will didn't hate him and I think had some appreciation for Puck with his "I am who I am and f*** anyone who has a problem with it" attitude. But I couldn't stand him. He was obnoxious, rude, mean, shallow and horribly bad hygiene and such and unbelievably unattractive character. He was also there in line with with an infant, 10:00 pm on a chilly night and the infant was wrapped in a blanket with nothing covering his head, a bare foot dangling from under the blanket, and the nanny searching the ground for a lost little blue sock. Then when Puck took his place on the miniature train he handed his baby over the ticket taker. Pfft.
We were boarded on the next mini train and I was thankful that we weren't on the same train as him. Our train ride was fun and the ride was a good length of time winding around the lot and along the hillside, through a fog filled tunnel and a plane wreck. Ghosts were circling out in a field and ghouls and gobblins were popping up all along the way. It was really fun.
Tuesday night was Halloween and with the house all spooked out for the little trick or treaters, we sat on the front porch and drank Coronas and ate Halloween candy for dinner.
On Thursday we went to Olvera Street for the Dia de los Muertos procession and to have dinner at our fav place, El Paseo. 
We followed that up with a walk through the cobbled street, out to the plaza where we watched the Calveras dancing, and then over to an exhibit inside Pico House. The alters there were very pretty, interesting and touching. 
As we were getting ready to head out there was a big trunk filled with scrolls of colored paper tied with ribbon. The propped open trunk lid had written on it "Mailbox to Heaven" and next to it was a cafe table and two chairs along with slips of colored paper, pencils and ribbon. All were invited to write their own letters to a loved one who had passed on. And I told Will I wanted to write a letter.
The woman who designed the alter pointed out the photo on top which was of her Grandmother, the one below it which was of her Mother and in the photo with her Mother was her as a little girl.
I sat down and wrote a letter to Grandpa, signed it with my typical kisses and hugs XXOO, rolled it up and tied it with a ribbon, and placed it on the top of all the other rolled up letters to loved ones. 
The trunk was brimming and even so, when I turned back, I could pick my letter to Grandpa out of all the others. In my thoughts I gave him a big hug, as I always do when I think of him. And with my eyes brimming held my husband's hand as we walked away. Out in to the cool evening air along the cobbled streets of Olvera we ventured home.
I've been wanting to take the Museum of Neon Art's Neon Tour for a long time.
One of those things in my To-Do folder that I have now done. 
My husband made the arrangements for us and even with the threatening rain we were up for it. 
It was a windless night though a bit damp, and through the open topped double decker bus ride 
through downtown to Hollywood 
we never got rained on. With wine, cheese and crackers at the museum, as well as wonderful stops at Philippe's 
and Cantor's, sporting their own neonage, I snuggled with my husband, a cup a joe on my hands, as we shared a classic Black n' White cookie from Cantor's.
All along the way our host and his megaphone pointed out neon, lit and unlit, some I was familiar with and some I had never noticed before. 
He peppered this with Los Angeles history and anecdotes, keeping it lively and very interesting. He was prone to spontaneous chats with various pedestrians, and people leaning out of their apartment windows waving as we rolled by.
We took an unexpected turn down a side street in Hancock Park where, from our elevated seats, we were treated with grand glimpses beyond the ivy covered walls that I usually see driving by in my Honda, into the park-like yards and lighted windows of these beautiful old homes. In addition to the neon our host also pointed out the vintage street lamps and all-over-the-map architecture of this fair city.
It was a very enjoyable event. I'm so glad we got to do this and the dampness in the air with the skybeams hitting the bottom of big billowy clouds added an extra element of uniqueness to it.
Will's been telling me about this hike for some time so when he got an invite to go with some Flickr photog pals he responded in the affirmative. We were up at about 5:30 this morning, coffee brewing, animals being situated for the day, Green Chili Pork Stew slow cookin' in the Crock Pot. And we were off with our packs and our hiking sticks to meet up at Scott and Mary's house just down the boulevard where we waited for a few others to show up, and rendezvoused with a few more along the way, ending up with a small caravan of vehicles filled with people and dogs heading up to the East fork of the San Gabriel River.
The trail is beautiful as it follows the river up to the Narrows.The weather conditions were perfect with cloud cover for most of the trek breaking open to let the sun shine occasionaly, then the clouds would roll in keeping it from getting too hot. 
Several creek crossings and very rough terrain get you to a beautiful bridge built in 1936. Unfortunately the great floods of March 1938 washed the road away and it was never completed. But the bridge stands in unbeleivably good shape on its gracefully curving support piers.
While the others went on around the bend to the Narrows, Will and I rested and then took a scramble down to the river's edge. On the way back we saw a couple of Big Horn Sheep up on the side of the hill. I noticed some dark droppings along the trial on the way up and wondered what they were and thought maybe dear or rabbit. But they must have been sheep.
At about a half mile away from the vehicles, big fat drops started falling and soon it was raining pretty good. I took in several deap breaths, glad to be off the rough trail and breathed the smell of damp earth as I stretched and got a big hug from my baby. See I took a spill on one of the river crossings, landing solid on both knees while attempting a leap that was too much of a stretch for me when I should have just waded across. It didn't bother me much at the time, but further down the trail my emotions bubbled up and on the way back I felt the right knee giving me some trouble. But after 10.4 miles and about 8 hours on the mountain we headed home where we were greeted by our animals and settled in with some Ibuprofin and Green Chili Pork Stew.
We decided to hit the Tamale Festival at MacArthur Park today. 
Being only a couple of miles from home we also decided to walk there. We headed over to Benton, crossing over the Hollywood Freeway and alternately admired and scoffed at the state of the some of the once beautiful homes and buildings along the way. Once we hit the wide tree lined boulevard of Rampart, with it's sidewalks that comfortably fit two (or more) across, it was a lovely walk and easy to imagine it's glory days. I use to rent and apartment at Nob Hill Towers on OceanView Avenue at the top of the hill at Carondolet. I had a corner apartment, a bank of windows that wrapped around the unit, high ceilings and a view of the park.That's it to the right of the fountain through the palm trees.
As we approached the Park Plaza Hotel and were taking photos of it the guard opens the front door and is talking to Will. The next thing I know he's motioning me over and we're inside the lobby with its beautiful ornate chandelier hanging from a painted ceiling facing a grand staircase. 
I'm shooting away and then the guard leads us into the ball room to the left. I hear him say something to Will about a tour of the ballrooms. There are four. Two on the lobby level and two on the second floor. We wind through huge spaces with towering ceilings and every surface is gleaming. All light fixtures are switched on and shining bright.
It's amazing, and Omar let's us snap away and wander the rooms and halls peaking around corners and into secret compartments behind the paneling.
From there we skirt the park, cross Wilshire and head over to 7th Street for the Tamale Festival. 
We try four tamale vendors and I liked Corn Maiden's the best. They had a really good spicy red sauce. After walking around the park for a bit we then headed back in to the festival for some funnel cake 
and Dolce de Leche coffee from the coffee bar at Mama's Hot Tamales . 
Back home before 4:00 it was a nice 5 mile walk and a perfectly wonderful afternoon.
