Category: Arts & Culture

  • Honest Review of the Restaurant Claws

    Honest Review of the Restaurant Claws

    A closer look inside bag of seafood. (Alyssa Thomas)

    Seafood is one of the most versatile foods. Different types of seafood, different ways to eat/cook it; there are so many options that seafood can please everyone.

    One of the options that I personally love eating is seafood boils. Seafood boils consist of different sea animals such as crawfish, lobster, clams, and much more. Many seafood boils also contain corn and sausage. Louisiana and South Carolina are known for their tasty and giant seafood boils. Seafood boils typically do not contain any fish, since fish is rarely ever boiled. 

    When ordering seafood boils from restaurants, you pick your meats and extras, then the food is brought to your table in bags. Claws, located in Cerritos, is my favorite restaurant to eat seafood boils. You order by the pound and not by how many meals you need. For example, if your table has four people, you don’t order four “meals”, you would order around four pounds of food to share among the group.

    At Claws, you are treated with bibs, gloves, a table cover, and many different seasonings for your food. My family and I typically order calamari and fries as our appetizers. We then choose the seasoning that is a combination of all flavors available. In about 10-15 minutes all the bags of seafood come. The entire table is covered with paper so the table can get as messy as you want. The waiters give everyone a small container of salt, pepper, and ketchup.

    What seafood boils from Claws look like before eating. (Alyssa Thomas)

    When I eat at Claws, I’m usually with three other people and we order four to six pounds. Our seafood bags usually contain crawfish, mussels, shrimp, and corn. My cousins and I are not a fan of spice, so we order mild.

    Ordering and eating seafood boils from restaurants during this pandemic is, unfortunately, not the same. The number one convenience of eating seafood boils at a restaurant is there is not a big mess for you to clean up afterwards. Seafood boils almost always get messy due to the bags and sauce getting everywhere. When ordering Claws to-go, you choose your seasoning, meats, and everything else you would when ordering in the restaurant. When your food is ready you get the bags like normal, and it all tastes the same, but it is definitely not as fun or convenient as eating inside.

  • How Awesome is this Sushi? Very

    Picture a Ma ‘n Pa shop mixed with a trendy, modern sushi joint, and what comes to mind will probably look a lot like Awesome Sushi. Located on the corner of Clark Avenue and Willow Street, this restaurant may be small, but makes up for it with great customer service, food, and the determination to stay open. 

    During the health and economic crisis of the past year, small businesses like Awesome Sushi have struggled to stay afloat. Before COVID-19 spread throughout the nation, restaurant owners would greet their customers at the door and make them feel welcomed without a mask or plexiglass divider. What makes Awesome Sushi unique is the staff still finds a way to make a customer feel welcomed despite necessary safety precautions. 

    The staff at Awesome Sushi make ordering takeout via phone simple and easy. To-go orders are on-time, and the staff greets each customer with a smile and asks how their day has been.

    Awesome Sushi is also known for their healthier options as they have low-carb and vegetarian rolls. The sushi joint also has a wide variety of fish ranging from tuna to salmon to escolar. I tried the tuna poke, spicy edamame, and an iced green tea. The freshness of the ahi tuna and flavor of the edamame was the perfect combination. The iced green tea topped the meal off. There is so much to try on their menu which makes each meal different.

    Awesome Sushi is now only open for takeout orders. The determination to stay open throughout the pandemic is telling. Additionally, the restaurant persists by the closeness of the family and staff that work for their community. 

    At Awesome Sushi, they think that sushi should be more than just a high-end meal. It’s a meal for all. 

    “Come and try out how awesome we are!!!!” the Awesome Sushi staff said.

    To find out more about Awesome Sushi, you can go to  http://myawesomesushi.com/

     

  • Wings By BTS

    Wings By BTS

    The Korean boy band BTS released their 2nd full album, Wings, on October 10, 2016, under their label BigHit. 

    The album includes the track “Blood, Sweat, and Tears”, which gave the boy group their first win at the “Mnet Asian Music Awards” for best dance performance that same year. Like the intro track “Boy Meets Evil”, the album is about the temptations of a young boy when growing up: “Too bad but it’s too sweet”. 

    Back to the title track, it’s about being intoxicated with one’s feelings and neglecting them. The vocals are breathy, expressing the lust of commiting a sin that’s “sweeter than sweet”. 

    This album is also the first time the boys try solos, expressing their hardships of growing up. The soft and soulful dance track “Begin” by Jungkook is about how his bandmates raised him during their trainee days. The electronic-inspired “Lie” by Jimin is about being so deep into a lie that you lose yourself. The sensual solo “Stigma” by Taehyung is about lying to yourself and the world, along with the feelings of being a sinner. The passionately rapped “First Love” by Suga, is about things or talents that have been neglected for a while, there is still a fire there in the heart. It’s about an escape. The meaningful rap, “Reflection” by RM, is simply about just learning to love yourself. The old timey feeling, “Mama” by J-Hope talks about the struggles of family sacrifices. 

    And lastly, “Awake” by Jin, is lyrical with powerful vocals and is about seeing your limits, questioning if you’re enough. There are other tracks on this album but I feel that these are the best and get the meaning through. We all reminsenice on our past mistakes and try to force ourselves to be something we’re not, to try to fit in. From this album, I got that we should learn how to love ourselves, imperfections and all. That is a beautiful message that is not said enough.

  • The Weeknd’s “After Hours” album — a story about a beautifully toxic relationship

    The Weeknd’s “After Hours” album — a story about a beautifully toxic relationship

    When fans and other music enthusiasts learned that three-time Grammy winner The Weeknd was not nominated for a Grammy this year, despite his record-breaking feats and well-received praise from music critics, people were notably upset. 

    Abel Tesfaye, most well known as The Weeknd, dropped After Hours on March 20, 2020, which set a high bar in music. 

    The album’s unique instrumentals encompass the listener with strong emotions that almost feel like an out-of-body experience. After Hours follows a clear storyline about an unhealthy relationship influenced by Tesfaye’s own love life. Even if you have not been in a relationship, Tesfaye makes it as if you were the one in his situation. 

    The Weeknd opens up the album with a dark R&B feel and heavy bass lines that convey his deepest thoughts and experiences during his relationship. This theme follows throughout the first half of the album, up until “Blinding Lights”. The narrative starts with The Weeknd singing about his unstable relationship with a girl who is devoted to him, but he, unfortunately, cannot be the same towards her. Despite him not being able to properly communicate his emotions, he still finds it hard to let go of the girl he loves. Their relationship continues to crumble due to trust issues and insecurity, and it eventually leads to their breakup.

    Aside from his relationship, Tesfaye shows a more vulnerable side to him by talking about the harsh reality of stardom. In “Snowchild,” Tesfaye reminisces about his time before stardom and the hardships he faced before his breakthrough with a graphic opening line: “I used to pray when I was 16, If I didn’t make it, then I’d probably make my wrist bleed”. The song then transitions to focus on his life as a superstar, boasting about his fancy lifestyle and the fame he gained. Once again the focus shifts, but instead it’s about Tesfaye’s true thoughts on his life as a celebrity: “20 mill’ mansion, never lived in it / Paparazzi tryna catch me slippin’,” which can be seen as him feeling alienated in Hollywood. The melancholic atmosphere with the lack of beat shifts within the song sends a message as if his feelings never changed despite him being at the top.

    The Weeknd uses “Heartless” as the midpoint between the thematic shift of R&B to 80s pop. Unlike the previous tracks, he boasts about how his material possessions and notoriety made him “heartless” (hence the title). Though this track’s trap and R&B beat make the listener feel as if they are invincible — like they’re in an intense chase scene from an action movie. The dark reality of the lyrics shows how even though Tesfaye has all this wealth, his ability to properly connect to anyone emotionally has been severed.

    With “Blinding Lights”, the most notably popular song off of his album, The Weeknd completely ditches the dark R&B and replaces it with the 80s inspired tunes. Bound from the beginning to be a chart-topper, this song incorporates futuristic synths and a fast tempo that anyone can dance to. In this song, Tesfaye collaborates with Max Martin, a man who helped produce hits like “I Want It That Way” by Backstreet Boys and “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift. This song fills you with ecstasy and adrenaline, thanks to electro-pop sounds combined with Tesfaye’s captivating vocals. This song also perfectly weaves into the theme of the previous song, “Faith”, which centers around The Weeknd’s fall into drug addiction. The chronological placement of this song serves as him being on that “high”. 

    The album continues with the romantic aspect of the story, despite the two parties already having separated. Both The Weeknd and his love interest still have feelings for each other, yet they know it’s wrong to be together. However, they find a way around that by being friends with benefits, even going so far as committing infidelity with each other. The sound also reverts to the dark R&B feel, which represents him going back to the toxic “relationship” they have.

    The album reaches its end with a tragic, yet hypnotizing song, “Until I Bleed Out”. Other than reading the title itself, the song impacts the audience as Tesfaye hypnotizingly chants about how he wants to cut her out of his life permanently to the point that he bleeds. However, depending on the listener, this song can also have a double meaning in which it refers to his drug use. Continuing from the story around “Faith” and “Blinding Lights”, “Until I Bleed Out” serves as the conclusion of the story with The Weeknd being hospitalized most likely from his drug usage. The ending is up to the listener on whether the character he plays is still alive. 

    Truly an album worth 4 stars, The Weeknd inserts many allusions that allow the audience to interpret their own story. The cycle of pain, heartbreak, and bad habits is something that leaves the listener upset at his actions, yet the melodic and catchy tunes are something that sticks with them. Without a doubt though, The Weeknd has a unique artistic ability that allows him to create a sophisticated storyline that lets the audience have a love-hate relationship with the character he created. 

     

  • Ben Platt’s Sing To Me Instead Album Review

    Ben Platt’s Sing To Me Instead Album Review

    At a young age, Ben Platt became interested in the theatre arts. When he was 11, he took the opportunity to do a small tour with the musical Caroline, or Change. Since his debut in the musicals, The Book of Morman and Dear Evan Hansen, Ben Platt also starred in the Pitch Perfect movies leading to his nomination in the Teens Choice Awards and a Tony Award. He has appeared in other movies and shows and is now the lead in the series The Politician on Netflix. That same year Platt released his album Sing To Me Instead.

    Sing To Me Instead, released on March 29, 2019, is a Pop album of 12 songs that revolves around the world of love, heartbreak, and healing. With each song, I felt as if I were being drawn in and invited to see Platt’s love story. 

    One of the songs, “Share Your Address,” tells the story of how Platt is known to move fast in a relationship and has quickly fallen in love. “It’s ’cause I’ve waited far too long, for someone just like you,” inferring that Platt was tired of waiting, and now that he’s in love he wants it all. It contains a very upbeat rhythm that invites the listener to get up from their seat and start dancing. At the beginning of the song, the music seems exciting and the piano part is repetitive but enjoyable. 

    A song that also tells a story about a new love is “Honest Man.” In his documentary on Netflix, Platt stated that he wrote this song about a past relationship where his boyfriend hadn’t come out yet and Platt described how he wished he could’ve tried his best to support the relationship and his partner as he went throughout his journey of coming out. Throughout the song, the piano seems to stay the same quiet soothing sound. The beginning starts off slow and quiet but by the end, it’s a bit faster and there are more high notes. This song is something that some people can relate and sway their heads to. 

    In “Temporary Love,” written by Platt, Ben Abraham, and Jonny Price, Platt sings a song that would bring ease to a partner who has been heartbroken many times and fears a new relationship. The lyric “This is not a temporary love” repeats all throughout the song, and “Know your heart is in my hands,” gives hope to the listener that unlike past relationships, this one won’t lead to a big heartbreak. The song could possibly be a storyline that follows after “Honest Man,” in which the partner is still doubting a relationship with Platt’s character. 

    “Hurt Me Once,” is a song that is a sudden change from Platt’s previous songs. Composed by Platt and Eg White, this song tells a story about a relationship that is slowly ending, where one is losing interest and the other desperately wants the relationship to continue. The song brings a melancholy vibe that is sure to cause sorrow to everyone who has ever had a heartbreak. The lyrics, “You have all these choices, I have none,” implies that the partner who desperately wants to save the relationship knows that one doesn’t work without the other. They know that if a partner becomes disinterested in the relationship, it’s not worth saving, it’s up to the disinterested partner to decide if the relationship should continue. There’s nothing to do but to wait around to see if heartbreak is going to come. It may be a sad song but the lyrics make it a catchy song that even someone who’s never experienced a relationship heartbreak will be able to enjoy. 

    One of the most popular songs in the album, “Grow As We Go,” follows the theme of heartbreak. In this song, one partner is lost and believes that in order to grow they need space from the relationship and that it should end. This song is in the view of the second partner, singing that the other one doesn’t need to leave in order to change, that they can grow together. The background music is very calming and can leave the listener at ease. The lyrical section encourages a healthy relationship in which the partners talk to each other and help one another through “every twist and turn.” 

    A song that moves from heartbreak to healing is “New.” In this song, Platt expresses how after an ended relationship, he feels like a whole new person. The lyrics begin, “Wish that I’d known, this feeling was coming, when I was crying over you,” describing how even though a breakup may hurt, it will be over and you’ll feel like a new person that you never would have imagined. The beginning rhythm was electric and can cause your body to move to the beat. The line “Burned all your letters just for fun” shows how easy it is to just let go and discover the new person that you’ve become. This is a great song for anyone who is past the point of being sad after a breakup and gives them a chance to jump up and dance. 

    It’s a great album for anyone who’s in love, heartbroken after a breakup, or past that point and ready to become a new person. Platt’s music is creative and very enjoyable. Months after the Covid-19 outbreak, Platt released a new single titled, “So Will I.” He is also hoping to release his second album sometime in 2021.

  • Food Review: The Attic on Broadway

    Food Review: The Attic on Broadway

    The Attic on Broadway story is that Steve the owner opened it in 2012. It was not always a restaurant, it was a house that he turned into the restaurant. The staff members are so nice they treat you like family. I have personally met all the cooks and I have met the owner. The Executive Sous Chef Cheyenne McKenna states that she has been cooking at  the Attic since it first opened. She is super nice. My oldest brother works there also; he is Sous Chef. The smell from the kitchen always smells so amazing. The food makes my mouth water.

    A dish that they have in the Attic is the Mac & Cheetos. The dish is their homemade pasta coated with creamy cheddar, mozzarella and  jack cheese sauce, then topped with crumbled Flaming Hot Cheetos with green onions. This is one of my all time favorite dishes to get. The smell makes my mouth water, the Flaming Hot Cheetos mixed with the mac – the flavor makes your mouth burst with flavor. The presentation of the dish makes me feel so excited because I know what goodness is coming. It also makes me hungry because I can see the creamy cheese sauce melted down the side of the dish.  The food always is served fresh and hot. I truly recommend this dish.

    Another one of my favorites is the house made granola. 

    This wonderful dish bursts with flavor with the mix of fresh house made granola served with honey yogurt and mixed berries. The crunch and the creamy yogurt go amazing together. This dish makes me feel good because it is a healthy yummy choice. The barriers that come in the dish are strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.  

    This dish is my favorite dessert to get at The Attic. This is Banana’s foster pudding it is made with the banana bread and with sliced bananas with caramel sauce on top also on the side with homemade whipped cream  with a mint leaf on top. This deliciousness is always warm and explodes with flavor with  the bananas, the bread, the caramel with whipped cream all in one bite is magnificent. I highly recommend this dish.

     

  • Top 5 Valentine’s Day Date Ideas during the Pandemic

    Here are my topics for Valentines Day Dates for this year

    1. Picnics!

    Picnics are probably one of the most classic dates to go on. Picnics are where you would pack a bunch of your favorite foods or meals, and enjoy it at a nice destination, usually outdoors like the park or the beach.

     

       2. Renting an AMC Movie Theater for only 100 dollars

    Due to the pandemic, most movie theaters are currently not open to the public, so AMC is allowing you to rent a movie theater room for only $100 (older movies) or $149 (new releases) for you and up to 20 other people. This would be a good thing to do for alone time and a more quiet setting, or you can even do a nice double date as you’re allowed to invite about 20 people.

     

    3. Eating out at restaurants 

    Although many restaurants have closed down during the beginning pandemic, many now have opened up and offered outdoor seating, but due to that many restaurants have less tables, so I suggest you go early for Valentines Day or reserve a table!

     

    4.Game night 

    I feel like games really bring out people’s personality so game night is definitely a great date to bond with someone. I specifically recommend UNO, everyone gets crazy about UNO. 

     

    5.At home date

    This is your safest option this year, to stay home and have a home cooked dinner followed up by a movie, after all we are stuck in a pandemic.

     

  • Alternatives to Valentines In-Person Dates

    For those that love movie theaters, you can have a virtual watch party!

     For those that love movie nights and miss in person movie theaters, an online movie date would be a safer alternative. The use of add-ons like Netflix party allows simultaneous video viewing and live chats To immerse yourself even more in the movie theater environment, you can order each other food through food services like door dash and Post-mates to make it feel more like a “movie night.”

     

    For those that are seeking a challenge,  there are digital escape rooms!

     Navigate a digital escape room together! Escape rooms require participants to work together virtually and can create some stronger bonds. All of the virtual escape rooms are played from the participants’ home, making the game an easy way  to stay connected to others while still socially distancing.

     

    Play around with personality quizzes!  

    Online personality quizzes are not only fun but great ways to assess your compatibility. It’s a great way to have a laugh and possibly bond over some of your favorite foods, characters and movies. There’s also the love language test. The love language test is another good way to test your compatibility. This questionnaire is an interesting topic for discussion while at the same time a great opportunity to learn more about your date.

     

    For those that want to travel, you can travel the world through Virtual Museum tours! 

    Some of the world’s largest museums are now offering free online tours to everyone! These virtual tours are perfect because you don’t need to leave your household to travel the world! In essence, these tours are simulations of the in-person, museum experience.  If you don’t like art, zoos are another alternative. Virtual zoo tours and wildlife cams can be seen as another way to “go out” and travel the world without leaving your household

    Live cams at aquariums are also very interesting! There is a wide collection of aquariums from across the United States you can view!

  • Mythology: January

    Mythology: January

    Cronus or Kronos/ Chronos 

    At the start of a new year, the concept of time is engrained in people’s minds. The concept of the future, the past, and the present is what makes a New Year a New Year. With this theme of time, it makes us wonder who was the God of time, and what did he stand for? There are two Greek Gods that represent time: one named Cronus and another named Chronos. The reason for there being two different Gods is that they were both based on different religions. However, the main difference between them is how they both stand for an entirely different vision of how the world came to exist. 

    Chronos is the primordial god of time and he was depicted as a serpent with three heads. Primordials are typically considered as the physical embodiment of a concept rather than a God who controls that concept. In essence, Chronos was the time itself and time exists because he does.

    On the other hand, Cronus (also known as Kronos) is a God, more specifically the Titan Lord of Time. Cronus specifically represented destructive time and the time of harvest. He was described as a destructive and all-devouring force because he envied his father, Uranus, leading him to castrate his own father. Due to this, he is depicted with a scythe, to represent the instrument he used to castrate his father. While the Greeks considered him a cruel and tempestuous force of chaos, he was also associated with the “Saturnian” Golden Age, causing him to become the God of Time.

    These different embodiments of who controlled time and what time demonstrate the enigma that time embodies. The Greeks’ different idea of what time reflects our society today, as we all have a different perspective of time. When we go into a new year, what we make of our time is up to us. 

    Heh

    Time is often perceived as an eternal, linear stream. The Egyptian god that represents infinity and time Heh has many different representations of his name, all meaning endless- Huh, Hah, Hauh, Huah, or Hahuh. Heh has no clear gender, however, Huh represents the male aspect and Heh or Hauhlet represents the female aspect of this deity. Heh is additionally known to represent long life and eternity. 

    The Egyptians believed that before land existed on the earth, there was a watery mass of dark, directionless chaos. There were four frog gods and four snake goddesses – the number four representing completeness- that lived in that chaos who formed the Ogdoad, or system of eight deities. Heh was paired with Hauhlet and came to symbolize infinite time. As the God of infinity, Heh was linked with numbers. The image of Heh with his two hands raised was the hieroglyph for one million, considered equivalent to infinity in ancient Egypt (thus having the title of “the god of millions of years”).  During the day, Heh traveled in a boat named ‘Barque of a Million Years’ until the end of time.

    Heh is often shown crouching holding a palm stem in each hand with a shen ring at the base of each palm stem, which was the Egyptian symbol for long life (the shen ring is a traditional symbol for infinity). In ancient Egypt, time is depicted as infinite, paralleling how we see time today as the new year begins and time continues.

     

  • Almost Christmas – My Holiday Traditions

    Almost Christmas – My Holiday Traditions

    Our family celebrates Christmas on the 24th – we wait till 12am to open our present.

    Every year we go see my sisters and give them a tree.

    This year’s tree for my sisters.

    Also, every year we eat something different. This year we are eating crab legs. Also if you fall asleep early, one of my cousins is going to prank you. That’s if my family is all together.

    Sometimes my mom takes us to the movies if we are not going to be with our toxic family. By toxic I mean our family is crazy and starts to fight for nothing. It’s fun going to the movies – people think it’s boring but it’s not when you’re with your family.

    Younger members of my family and our dogs.

    This year we are not going to the movies because it’s closed. We are going to my tia’s house. She lives two hours away from Long Beach.

    My mom and I also go to the store and buy 100 blankets and make food for the homeless. We go drive around Long Beach and if we see homeless people we stop and ask if they want food and blankets some of them say no because other people also do the same thing and they say they already have a plate of food but I always say it’s okay it could be for the next day.

    That’s my favorite part of the day on Christmas making homeless people happy and how grateful they are when we do these things. That’s all I do for Christmas 🙂

  • Movie Review: Holiday In Handcuffs

    Movie Review: Holiday In Handcuffs

    Holiday in Handcuffs is a Christmas movie that came out back in 2007 and aired on ABC Family, now known as Freeform. It’s about a women named Gertrude, who also went by “Trudie” in the film and was played by Melissa Joan Hart, and her day started off terribly. She was the black sheep of the family. She worked a minimum job as a waitress, while her brother Jake, played by Kyle Howard, and her sister Katie, played by Vanessa Lee Evigan were a little bit more above her in their parent’s eyes.

     

    During the Christmas holiday she and her siblings, along with her boyfriend were going to visit their parents’ house, but while clocked in to work she gets a call from her boyfriend and he ends up breaking up with her, and on top of that it didn’t help that she missed a big job opportunity. After being broken up with days before Christmas, a man named David, who was played by Mario Lopez, was dining at her job and she decided to kidnap him at gunpoint, like the crazy person she is, and forces him to pretend to be her boyfriend, while she visits her family for Christmas. 

     

    They have a nice drive up the mountain to her parent’s place, while she explains to him what’s going to happen. She explains to her parents that he likes to “pretend that he was kidnapped” as a joke. So even if he did tell the truth no one believed him! And there’s no way of escaping, because her mom conveniently didn’t allow phones during the holidays so they can enjoy family time. Throughout their time being there he tried many ways to escape in order to make it back to his own family for Christmas but nothing seems to work… even keys for the cars were hidden. 

     

    While there he gets to know her and slowly starts playing his part in Trudie’s scheme. Although he didn’t enjoy his time being there, he got to know her and started realizing she may not be that bad of a person. But while starting to feel more comfortable, David’s girlfriend, who he was planning to propose to back at the diner Trudie worked at, starts to wonder where her boyfriend is. She contacts the police and they start her search for him. hile David was being held captive, he actually starts to fall for Trudie, but when his wife finally figured out where he was, the police were contacted and Trudie and her whole family was arrested for the kidnapping. 

     

    After being in jail for a bit, David actually vouches for them and gets them out. And in the end he actually tries to give their relationship a try. And although they had a crazy and rocky beginning they start to work things. 

     

    Overall I would give this movie a 7/10 rating. It’s definitely a nice and funny family Christmas movie that will have you on their crazy rollercoaster. So warm up your hot chocolate and popcorn and kickback and enjoy this wonderful movie with your friends and family this holiday season.

     

    Holiday in Handcuffs is available playing on Freeform throughout the holidays and is available on demand on FreeForm.com using a cable subsriber login.

     

  • My Family’s Christmas traditions

    My family is big on traditions like birthdays and holidays, especially Christmas. Christmas is one of my family’s favorite holidays because we get to spend time with each other and eat food and put up decorations. Our Christmas traditions start on Thanksgiving: we do secret Santa, starting by filling out a paper about  what we want and then we put them in my uncle’s hat and we go around and pick a name. We discuss who is making what food for Christmas and who is bringing drinks and rolls. We talk about who’s house we are going to have Christmas at and we also talk about what time to get there and what time we are going to eat. 

     

    A  week after Thanksgiving we put up Christmas lights and Christmas decorations. We go to my grandparents house to help them decorate and help them put up their lights. All seven grandchildren, the six boys and one girl, all help put up the Christmas tree and we each get to pick five decorations we want on the tree. When my grandparents finish decorating the tree, they let the youngest grandchild put the angel on the tree top. On Christmas morning I wake up at like 7 o’clock in the morning and have to wait for my mom and brothers to get up and get in the living room which that does not happen till 10 o’clock because my oldest brother likes to take 20 years to get up. Finally, we go to the living room then we open presents, my mom and brothers and I discuss what time we all should get ready to head over to my nanny  ’s house, aka my dad’s mom, just to say Merry Christmas and give them a gift basket. We stayed at my nanny’s house for about an hour and a half and talked to my aunt and my cousin and my three uncles on my dad’s side and we talked to my nanny. We go home to finish getting ready then we grab the food and take two separate cars, then we go on our way to Anaheim to my grandparents house. 

     

    We get to my grandparents’ house and we say hi to everyone and put the food in the dining room on the table. Then we all chill and sit down for a bit before all the grandchildren go outside and play pickle and throw a frisbee and we play  baseball. When we get called in by my aunt telling us it’s time to eat, all  the grandchildren go wash up and  get ready to eat, my cousin and my brother and I all eat at the cool kids’ table and the adults sit at the adult table with the  six year old and the four year old. After we eat we sit down for a while and just chat  and we roll a ball around until we are ready to do our secret Santa and let the little ones open their gifts. They way the secret Santa goes is that we start with my grandpa and then from there it’s so on and so forth. After presents we eat pie or cheesecake, we also help the little ones build or set up whatever toys they want to open fully. After that happens we all clean up the wrapping paper by playing basketball with it, then we all say Merry Christmas and good night and go back home. 

      

    This year for Christmas things are going to be a little different due to covid we are still doing the Secret Santa, already picked a name. My mom and I went to my aunt’s house on Saturday the 12 and talked about Christmas. This Christmas we decided to have brunch at my aunt’s house in the backyard. Which means we all have to wake up early and open presents at home then We are going to have brunch this year because my aunt has to go to dinner with her in-laws and  my brothers and mom and I have to visit my nanny. We are going to wear masks and social distance at both my aunt’s house and my nanny’s house so we all can be safe. What I am going to miss the most is that we won’t be able to play pickle or play baseball. I’m also going to miss having Christmas at my grandparents’ house because I won’t get to sit at the cool kids table.