The French have Landed - Part Deux

The other weekend, Manuel returned to LA for a "business trip," which involved dancing, drinking, eating and dancing some more. Manuel was staying in Pasadena, so we to Bar Celona, one of our favorite hang outs. Darren and Thida, Jason and Annie, and Christine and Rachael made it out for dinner and some post dinner cocktails.



Darren introducted us all to Thida (pronounced "tee-duh"), who he met at his old job as a bartender. With so many eligible girls at Bar Celona that night, she did her best to keep a close eye on Dirty Darren.



And I kept a close eye on Ingrid.



Shakira was performing on the big screen. I don't think Manuel spoke to anyone during the entire performance. He just sat there, sipped his cocktail and watched.



Afterwards, we all caught up on old times. Manuel is getting married in Pamplona, Spain in the Summer of 2006 and we'll be there to celebrate the event. Pamplona is the home town of his fiance, Raquel. It's gonna be a huge three day party and Ingrid and I can't wait!



The thought of it filled Ingrid with delight.



The next day, we continued the merriment and decided nothing could be better on a Saturday night than some filet mignon in our bellies. So we headed to Sterling's, a trendy steakhouse in Hollywood, for dinner.



Manuel loved the place, which had a live jazz band, and we all ordered the filet. If you ever go there, Ingrid recommends the lobster mashed potatoes, which she says are "to die for."



After dinner, we headed next door to Cabana Club, which was filled to capacity, not only inside but in the waiting line as well, which spanned the length of the entire block. Luckily for us, dinner at Sterling's means a line pass at the club, so we bypassed all the suckas standing in line and headed straight to the front.



It was our first time there and we were impressed at the size and turnout in the place.



On the wall above the bar was a projection of some surfers catching some serious waves.



Manuel scoped out the scene, only to make sure he knew where all the emergency exits were, of course.



Here's Manuel getting his grove on. Little did we know...



that he would want to dance and dance and dance all night long. Manuel was very well-behaved dancing machine on his trip. But, if any girls happened to be dancing around him, he displayed his very friendly French manners and continued to dance (modestly) beside them.



Definitely my favorite picture of the night and a wonderful way to spend the evening. We danced and partied until the lights came on.

We had a great time, Manuel. See you in Spain!!!