we kickstarted the season on saturday the 3rd with the big party day. the day we'd originally planned to do nothing, but somehow over the course of that week signed ourselves up for abigail's previous sunday school teachers' baby shower (that we all enjoyed attending as a family and was conveniently located at the library), abigail's gymnastics birthday party of some twins in her class (during which, i shopped at old navy), and the norris's annual christmas party which was great as always. the food was top notch (of course we brought a plate of brownies but everyone else brought delicious and creative everything-under-the-sun), the company was great, and the gift enchange was highly entertaining. i left happy and sleepy and stuffed. so that was saturday.
the following tuesday was our relief society christmas thing at the jones's house. i wasn't really feeling up for eating, but loved sarah's freshly popped popcorn with coconut oil and pink Himalayan salt. i think i ate something else too... maybe some shrimp and a cookie? i have trouble passing up shrimp at holiday parties but i ate far less than i would have because i didn't feel too hot. it was super fun to hang out and talk to people and carpooling with sarah was the best because she makes me so happy.
the next night, wednesday, was honey's company party at punch bowl social. the drinks were the highlight. i got a carrot, apple, ginger juice (because i was feeling queasy and supposedly ginger helps that... i'm not convinced) and then had some of honey's chocolate milkshake (which was amazing) and later a hot chocolate (which i do like pretty diluted, but this was maybe even a bit much for me) that wasn't amazing but still warmed me up. the food was mexican, which i couldn't bear to attempt to stomach, but i really enjoyed the crusty bread and especially the crustini bread toast. that was the majority of what i ate. oh, and raw cauliflower with ranch... that's always my favorite. toast and cauliflower. we also told everyone that didn't already know our great news and so hopefully people realized i just wasn't feeling well and not that i had a weird or bizarre reason for only eating cauliflower and plain toast. the environment was fun (it's got a bar feel with games like ping pong, darts, foosball, bocce ball, bean bag toss, etc.) and i mostly hung out with jennifer... as i do at every company event. i hope she likes me too and isn't just faking it because i'm married to her boss. when did i become so insecure about myself?!
anyways... friday, at 4:30, we went to the holiday party of one of the companies chris works with. we go to their holiday party every year and it's great because they always have pictures with santa so we get a santa picture with our kids every year without having to deal with going to the mall or another public place. it was at moe's bbq (which is where honey's company party was held last year and this holiday party has been held at least once before) and i was dreaming all day of the bbq. i was averse to bbq when i was pregnant with brady and have been hit and miss with it since. but moe's has maybe my favorite bbq and the white sauce totally makes it. and they had a bunch of awesome sides (the corn bread and mac and cheese especially), great salad (i've been craving crunchy lettuce and salads lately), and wonderful fruit and veggies (of course i went for the cauliflower again and all the fruit that i don't have the patience to buy and cut up)... oh, and the desserts. little dessert cups with banana pudding and kind of trifle sort of concoctions. i ate as much as i possibly could and was still dying to eat more. also, of course it was extra fun because of the bowling. the kids love bowling... and after they all did a game, i did a four person game mostly all by myself. my legs and butt and back were literally sore for days. whoops. also, brady didn't cry about santa (abigail never has but brady did every year until last year maybe?), but elizabeth took that torch for him. so, that was wonderful.
the next night, saturday, was our ward christmas party at church. they didn't do a dinner this year (so we ate a late lunch at outback that afternoon and hung out at the castle rock library) and instead did just desserts. i was planning on eating very little since i wasn't feeling well, but then i saw everything and it pulled me in! i ate a lot of sweets. also, elizabeth was super ornery (probably a mix of genuinely hungry and just ticked that i wasn't letting her eat cookies and chocolate cake) and it was kind of miserable because it was like a bad saturday night version of sacrament meeting (which, let me tell you, sacrament meeting the following morning with her was horrific and we arrived during the sacrament hymn... because i suck... and i had to take her out DURING the water prayer because she was screaming bloody murder... that was the extent of the time my bum sat on a pew... maybe i almost cried later... my emotions are not my friend) and i was just soooo ready to get home and to bed.
and then monday night was our last holiday party (thank goodness because we leave town on thursday and i need some downtime) and it did not disappoint. honey got picked (chosen, appointed, elected?) to be on the parker hospital board to replace his dad having to leave to go on a mission and so this was our first year going to the parker hospital board holiday party... which i don't know the actual name of but i do know it included more than just the board members because the ceo and cfo and regional people and other hospital management were there... and it was great. not as fun and carefree as say, a relief society activity where i'm friends with most everyone, but the food was phenomenal. don't get me wrong, everyone i met and talked to was entertaining and friendly, i just felt really out of place. i felt super young (one guy was talking to us about how he got his dipolma and letter to serve in the vietnam ward on the exact same day... it was fascinating) and frumpy (i didn't wear a dress or heels because my wardrobe choices are super limited if i don't want to show off what currently looks like a huge egg nog addiction) and just didn't know what to say. but, as i said... the food! it was at shanahan's, which is a super high end steak house. the appetizers were bruchetta (the best i've ever had) and a cheese platter (i probably should have avoided it, but helped myself to some crackers and camembert anyway). the meal included a wedge salad (not mindblowing but still good... too much bleu cheese dressing... which i also probably should have avoided... whoops) and i chose the steak... 14oz bone in, cooked medium. it was huge and delicious. the sides were mashed potatoes (which i'm convinced were one part potatoes, one part garlic butter) and grilled asperagus (as honey put it... "you'd think asperagus is just asperagus because what do you do with it, but honestly, the way they make it is amazing") and i ate til i was stuffed. we asked for our steaks to go. i really would have loved for all of it to go, but the way the sides were served, it would have been awkward to ask i think. i've been day dreaming about those potatoes though since i woke up... holy cow. maybe i can look up a copycat recipe online. i told honey at least three times on the way home that my biggest regret of the night was not figuring out a way to smuggle home mashed potatoes. so... i dream about going back but i don't know if i could enjoy the food as much if i was actually paying for it. but, good news... they have their holiday party their every year so i can at least look forward to another steak next december.
so that concludes our 2016, holiday party marathon. just kidding... it really wasn't that many. i think it just seemed like it because it was all over the course of only ten days.
now, can someone come pack for me so i can just be in atlanta already?!?!
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