ADaaD(A Dollar and a Dream)

Chapter 22: The Perfect Christmas Day

Christmas Day

5 a.m.

I feel like the 6 year old Camila waiting anxiously in bed for 6am to hit, that was the time set in our house to open presents as a child. As soon as my alarm would go off I would jump out of bed and run as fast as humanly possible down the steps to see what Santa left for me . I smile to myself at the memory as I glance over at Lo who is sound asleep, a small smile on her face, her blonde hair sprawled across the pillow; she has one hand resting on my shoulder with the other arm tucked under her pillow. I lean forward and ghost my lips on hers and smile when her nose twitches from the action.

After the catering gig upstate and the write up in the newspaper Aunty Snixx reached new heights, heights I wasn't exactly prepared for, heights that terrified me a little. I got tons of emails and phone calls with people ordering cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and brownies for Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, and yes even Kwanza. I booked 6 different catering gigs for January alone, with another 5 set up for February. I felt slightly overwhelmed by everything happening so quickly, so Lo helped me get further organized, since she was sort of used to running a business. She came home from work a with huge wall calendar and we sat down together and pinpointed the days I had to cater, and set up times to shop and plan out menus. Every menu that I've planned out Lauren typed up and we kept a laminated copy in a binder, as my portfolio, and she posted on my website so people could get an idea on what I was capable of cooking. Lo is so involved with Aunty Snixx it's adorable; I honestly don't know what I would do without all her help.

We had a meeting with Quinn and Mercedes and they agreed to work as my staff, which I was excited about because we have so much fun all cooking together. They both said they didn't need me to pay them since they both had really good paying jobs, but I refused to let them work for free, so in addition to me cooking and baking whatever they want upon request, Lo is drawing up a contract for them which explains the arrangement, confidentially of certain recipes, and their pay rate. I convinced Lauren to draw up a contract for herself as well, even though Lo is a multimillionaire; she deserves to get paid for her services as well.

Lauren provided reason number 7374848 as to why I love her yesterday when she asked me to take the day off. We woke up early and went shopping for as many toys as would fit in the trunk of my car before we headed to Children's Hospital, we spent the morning volunteering to play and read to the kids, a wonderful experience that I will never forget. It must be something that Lauren sneaks and does often because the staff seemed to know her and so did a lot of the kids. Their faces lit up when she came in with a Santa hat on and passed out Santa hats of all colors. Seeing the smiles on those kids faces made my heart swell in a way I never knew possible. After we left the hospital Lo took me to the most amazing Italian restaurant for lunch before we went back shopping where Lo bought bags and bags of clothes, shoes, and pajamas before we headed to a soup kitchen and helped serve the homeless. We put together gift bags that included toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, and different things of that nature. Lo passed out the gift bags and more toys there, again something she must do often because the staff there knew her as well. Lo is one of those people you read about in the paper or you watch on TV but never imagine them to be real. Her heart is so big and full of love for everything and everyone that it's humbling just to be around her sometimes.

We ended the night with a stroll through Central Park before we came home and started the tradition of wearing Christmas footed pajamas and drinking peppermint hot chocolate. I made steak sandwiches and waffles fries for dinner, with a homemade spicy honey mustard dipping sauce and we watched It's A Wonderful Life. After the movie, Lo and I exchanged one gift each, a tradition my parents always did with one another, I suggested it to Lo, and she loved the idea. The first gift she gave me was Chopped on DVD, which I probably got way too excited about and I gave her the matching cashmere hat and scarf set we saw in the mall a few weeks ago that she loved. I know we agreed that have a $150 limit but I went over that with Lo, I snuck and did more shopping for her during the day while she worked and I get the feeling that she snuck and did more shopping for me at night while I bartended. One night when I came home from work early, I caught Lauren stuffing something under the couch. I was so tired that I simply hugged and kissed her before collapsing in bed, but I did hear her rustling with wrapping paper as Chef seemed to keep biting it as she tried to wrap. They had the cutest argument which resulted in Chef winning, and Lauren bringing him to cuddle in bed with me until she was done.