Sweetheart Dance at St. Vincent de Paul

My sweetheart and I at the Sweetheart Dance.
For a mere $20.00 per couple we were treated to a dinner, a drink, desert, and a night of dancing, best spent $20.00 bucks. After that the the sodas and water were $1.00 each and the wine and beer $2.00. We opted for wine.

I never caught the name of the band but they were definitely very versatile. The played cumbias (mostly Tejano cumbias), nortenas, some rock favorites and quite a few oldies. Abby and I were there to have fun so we really danced all night long.

We were seated at a table with two other couples but the table next to us was really noisy, it was definitely the party table as it was filled with a wild bunch.

The Wild Bunch a.k.a. The Party People.
Needless to say $2.00 per glass of red wine was an affordable price so we had a few of them during the night. I was feeling happy and energetic so I danced all the line dance songs they played. How is it that people (including me) don't get tired of the Electric Slide and all the other line dance songs, you would figure people should be tired of them by now but no, they still fill up the dance floor. At least they did not play the Macarena, yes even I have my limits. lol

I believe we were doing "El Rodeo del Payaso" here. I quit almost at the end because I was totally spent.
All in all we had a terrific night and we were happy to share it with my nieces and my nephews. Thanks Maryita and Vane for the invite, we loved it.

Abby.
The girls!


Sweet couples!

An L.A. Adventure

Of course being late to our appointment with Fr. Ruben was not a part of the plan but somehow it happened. I had it in my mind after reading the reminder on my phone that our meeting was at 10:00 so we left with what we thought was plenty of time to make it from La Puente to St. Vincent de Paul church in Los Angeles. Not only were we delayed from what to me is an insane amount of traffic but when we finally reached our destination there was no place to park as an episode of the show "The Closer" was being filmed both in the parking lot as well as in parts of the church.

So finally we parked a couple of blocks away in a metered one hour parking spot. We run, OK I run and pulled Abby but when we finally were let into the office the priest what opened the door for us said Father Ruben was gone to do some shopping for an out of town trip.

Why couldn't he wait for us after all we were only late for a few minutes. Oh well we will just have to postpone our meeting with him another week or two. So I pulled my phone to call him and then I realized my note said our meeting was at 9:00 am. Yeap, I totally got the times messed up. So I left him a message and then we went for breakfast.

So, we decided to hit Olvera Street. I had not been there in a very long time and I was surprised to see so many people walking there on a Tuesday morning. We definitely had a good time going in and out the different shops there and just basically window shopping. Of course I took advantage and as always went on a picture taking spree.

It was 2:00 pm when my phone rang. Father Ruben suggested that if we could get there by 2:30 he would see us. Now Calle Olvera is only about four miles from St. Vincent de Paul but in rush hour traffic it might as well be across the city. I however found holes here and there to maneuver and after parking two blocks away again and running towards the office we were only seven minutes late this time.

Success, paperwork was turned in and the meeting went well and that my friends are some of my L.A. adventures these days.





Scenes from La Placita Olvera in Los Angeles, California.

St. Vincent de Paul Church, Los Angeles, California

St. Vincent de Paul, Los Angeles
W. Adams Blvd. and Figueroa
Image borrowed from the Internet.

St. Vincent de Paul Church is a Roman Catholic parish and Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM #90) in the West Adams section of Los Angeles, California. The church was built in the 1920s and designed by architect Albert C. Martin, Sr. Dedicated in 1925, it was located in what was then one of the wealthiest sections of the city, on land adjacent to the Edward Doheny Mansion and Stimson House. It was the second Roman Catholic church in Los Angeles to be consecrated. Composer Amédée Tremblay notably served as the church's organist from 1925-1949.[2]

The climactic scene of the 1999 film "End of Days" featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger's battle against Satan was filmed in the church. The church's altar is featured prominently in the film's final scenes. The Church also appears in the movie "Constantine (film)".

Well as I mentioned before, the wheels are turning and eventually in a not too distant future this is the church were Abby and I will say "I do". We visited Fr. Ruben about three weeks ago and he already gave us the pep talk along with a bunch of instructions on things we must do before the big day. Better get moving.

Back in the day when I lived in L.A. we were about ten minutes away from this church and seldom attended services there. My little sister had her "Quinceanera" there too, so when my niece suggested it for the ceremony and got the wheels moving with Fr. Ruben I was thrilled.

Here are a few pictures I took while there.

Just some random images from my archives.


Taken in May of 2010 during a California trip.
Snow Day trip to Flagstaff, January 2011.
Ummmm, pozole!
Wow, he's changed since.
My bud Matt and I. April of 2009.
Grand kids. Christmas 2010.