Finishing Up The Old Year

     Our New Year's Eve celebration here in Los Angeles began a day early at a kids' karaoke party on Friday afternoon at the home of some friends of Maria and Justin.

     Some really got into the singing,

​...while others enjoyed listening,

​...or playing with the toys.

    In any case we all enjoyed the company,

​...and the great food:  pizza, tasty Ethiopian food,

​...and yummy desserts.

     On Friday night, as Maria, Justin, and the girls had a Chanukah party,  Tom and I went out to the movies at The Arclight Cinema in Manhattan Beach to see "La La Land," which got great reviews and the trailer of which  promised a sweet, whimsical musical,

...but which kind of made me think of flat ginger ale.  Between the song and dance numbers the movie didn't really fizz, I thought.

   Still, the theater was beautiful,

​...as was the square outside the theater,

...and in the lobby were on display the actual outfits worn by Denzel Washington and his co-star in the movie "Fences".

     The next day, New Year's Eve, Tom, Maria, my grand daughter and I went to The Point, 

...a nearby mall in Manhattan Beach,

...to a cute, healthy-food restaurant called Mendocino Farms,

​...where we met for lunch with my sweet niece Annie, who is beautiful as a movie star but who is in fact  a dedicated transplant nurse.

     We all agreed the sandwiches at this restaurant were the best, each one deliciously seasoned and sauced.

    I had the "Not Fried Chicken Sandwich",  which was one awesome chicken sandwich.  I wish I knew how to duplicate whatever was in the  sauce.

     That evening Maria, Justin and the girls had another party to attend so Tom and I were on our own to celebrate New Year's Eve.  
      We opted to go out for dinner at a little Manhattan Beach pizzeria called Union Pizza,

...which looked over a pretty terrace,

...and that serves good spaghetti.

Tom had the spaghetti and meatballs,

​...while I had the Spaghetti Pomodoro.  Molto yummy!

    After dinner we returned to the nearby Arclight Cinema to catch another movie.

      This time we saw "Office Christmas Party",

...which, despite the stank reviews it received, we really enjoyed.
     It's been a while since we laughed so hard at a movie, and  then we continued laughing after the it was over, recalling the hilarious scenes.
     We figured we could do worse than laugh our way into the new year.