My grandmother is turning 90 this week. That's right. She's old. But we're celebrating her elderliness.
She was born in 1919 in San Francisco, China Town. As a first generation Chinese American, she struggled with the language barrier and working some side jobs that would make police officers frown.
"You did what?!" I'd ask her. She would just laugh at me.
My grandmother never graduated high school because she couldn't afford the cap and gown. Apparently, back in the day you HAD to do the ceremony or else it didn't count.
Owning her own restaurant and raising five kids is incredible work. I hear stories all the time from my dad about growing up and it all sounds amazing. They weren't super poor but they weren't super rich, either. Regardless, they definitely had a fun, rich life in other ways.
My parents organized a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate my grandma's birthday this week. Sure, my gma probably isn't going to be in any titty bars or dancing in club Tao. But my grandma loved to gamble in her day. Stick her in front of the penny slots and she's good to go.
So far, more than 40 family members are meeting us in Vegas - which she doesn't know about. The last time we all got together was for her 80th at her daughter's house in California. There was an awesome cake in the shape of Mah Jong tiles. It was the coolest cake I have ever seen.
This is going to be Mr. Big's first time in Vegas. Unfortunately, we're staying for two days, which isn't a lot of time to explore the city of sin. Even more unfortunate, I'm on camera duty the whole time, interviewing family members in order to make a DVD. So Mr. Big will be palling around with my brother, who will most likely be taking him to strip clubs.
The cool thing about Vegas is that you can drink in public. Sure, people grimace and ask themselves why is that such an awesome thing. Because. It is. I know there's a lot of people out there who aren't mature enough to handle their alcohol in public. My brother once picked a fight with a tree, so believe me, I know. But there's no reason why the rest of us shouldn't be able to walk around, drink in hand, and enjoy a little inebriated sight seeing.
The one thing I'm not too fond of are the guys that hand out porn on the streets. It's like, I get it, there's a big-boob-bonanza going on just off the strip, but please get out of my face; you're invading my personal space. Maybe if I'm a little inebriated I'd find it more entertaining, but for the most part I'm just not enthused.
Whenever there's a party involving cake, I never get to eat it. I guess some people can't have their cake and eat it, too. Recently, if there's cake, I make damn sure I get a slice. Even if it's horrible, I still want a piece. Maybe that's why I get excited when there's a buffet and the dessert table is full of mini delectable cakes.
My goal is to hit up as many buffets that my schedule permits. Even though I should be preparing to fit into my wedding dress, a good buffet should never be passed up.