Stick, Stick, Stick, Stick....Stick

It’s not every day that your parents fly down to visit you for a long weekend in a foreign country. It’s also not every day that they are (soon to be) celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary (!!). So when we got the thumbs-up for a Mexican rendezvous, we started dreaming up ways to commemorate the occasion Oaxacan-style.

We knew they'd be expecting the customary crazy hats, so we decided to catch them off-guard with “sombreros locos” instead. We hastily composed an anniversary ditty to the tune of “La Bamba,” the delivery of which suffered a bit from the hastiness (and Rahul’s handwriting), but we think that Mamacita and Daderoo dug it anyway. We’ll spare you the lyrics, except for the last line: “Stick, stick, stick, stick. Stick, stick, stick, stick. Anniversario. Stick.” And why on earth were we singing about sticks on their 30th anniversary, you might ask. We're sure we don't have to remind you that the 30th anniversary is the “Piñata Anniversary” (Duh!), and you can’t exactly beat the crap out of a piñata sin stick, now can you?

We then commenced with the obliteration of said piñata with said stick, with the help of mimosas and our friendly neighbors in Villa Maria, including the resident yellow lab, Rammy, who went ballistic when the candy started to drop. Once the piñata was liberated of all its crazy spicy Mexican sweets, we proceeded to the roof to feast upon our best attempt at a Oaxacan breakfast. There was a card, some tears from Mamacita, His and Hers chintzy glass rings and hugs all around.

The afternoon brought Mexican popsicles, Italian sodas and the “Mamas and Papas” New York Times crossword puzzle we’d been saving for the occasion. And then came the grand finale: a surprise, swanky 6-course dinner at Casa Oaxaca. We started at 8 and didn’t stop eating until sometime around midnight. There was a bottle of red, a bottle of white (ok, champagne), sorbet between courses, and lots of mole. When we weren’t eating, we were stealing glances at the C-list movie star we spotted a few tables down (don’t miss Nacho Libre, a Jack Black vehicle about a priest who moonlights as a wrestler in order to save his orphanage from bankruptcy, coming to theaters near you in 2006). We finished off with a cake that the waiters had prepared for the big 3-0, waddled home and fell into bed full of yummy food and love for the Padres Pearson.

We wish that we could be there for the real day (October 11th), but we’re psyched that we got another weekend together during this year of travel.

Click here for the photos. Viva Oaxaca! Viva Mamacita and Daderoo! Here’s to 30 more years!