Bao-le!

My cousin, Jessica, arrived on Thursday night, and we've been quite busy since then.

Yesterday, she and I went out to an early lunch with her parents and our grandmother at Green Bo in Chinatown. We followed that up with pedicures at Acqua Beauty Bar. It was by far, the most expensive pedicure I've ever gotten (as I've never gone to a spa for one), but it was the best one I've ever had. Right after that, we went to our grandmother's apartment by the Williamsburg Bridge to pick up some food she had for us. Apparently, she thinks that I won't be able to feed Jessica sufficiently on my own. After we got back to my apartment, we joined Josh and taught him how to say "I like roast pork buns very much" in Chinese so he could tell our grandmother.

In no time at all, we were out the door again and back in Chinatown to have dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant with Jessica's parents and our grandmother. I haven't eaten Vietnamese food in years, so it was fun. I think I could drink the fish sauce and be content. Jessica and I were driving Josh nuts because we kept urging him to tell Grandma the new phrase he'd learned. Several months ago, after dim sum, Josh told Grandma, "Bao-le!" (I'm full!) and she was so happy to hear him learn just a bit of Chinese. Josh told us both that he refused to say it to Grandma if we were going to order him to do so. When Jessica got up to pay for dinner, Josh went and said it to Grandma, and she was so happy and impressed. Now she wants Josh to learn how to call him Grandma in Chinese. Jessica was less than pleased to find out that Josh had his big moment while she was away from the table, but Josh said he did that on purpose.

After dinner, Josh, Jessica, and I went to Ferrara's for hot chocolate (the best Jessica and I have ever had) and pastries. Josh and I also bought another one of those monster boxes of petit fours. This time, it was less expensive since we had a $20 off coupon. After gorging ourselves on lots of food, it was time to go home so I could give Jessica a french manicure to match her pedicure while we watched National Treasure.

Today, we have a family wedding, but we have to figure out what to do before that... if anyone wakes up eventually.