kicking off the holiday party season

what a great way to start my long-ish weekend and my first celebration of the season. i can't wait for next weekend as it'll be longer than a normal work week. i had mentioned before that i would be accompanying my former roommate to her company holiday party. it worked out really well as my company canceled ours this year. the party was at chinois on main. her company rented the whole place out, and it was nice to have the full run of the place. the drinks were free-flowing, the company good considering i had met only a handful of them once before, and the food tasty, too. enough blabbing--onto the photos, all taken by e11even and/or the professional photographer.

e11even and me in front of the tree.
please ignore the disheveled hair and the jutted out chin making my pancake face look even more like mac tonight's. i did get ready in about 15 minutes after a hectic day in the ADA stall of my office's bathroom, after all.

i think i may need to do an all white tree next year.

shanghai lobster on yummy noodles in a ginger-curry sauce. the signature crispy spinach was missing, per my sorely disappointed tablemates. the menu lied. oh well.

the best course of seven. braised short rib on some sort of veggie/potato puree flavored with a hint of wasabi. as soon as we touched it, the meat fell off the bone.

seventh [course] heaven. the dessert platter. the sorbets, creme brulees, and some sort of mini cake were the hits of this course.

e11even, me, and our homie wolfgang.

e11even scored nicely (20" lcd tv/dvd player) during the crazy gift game. in contrast, the big boss of her office got a kirkland signature fruitcake.

now i must go grocery shopping for a holiday brunch with some awesome ladies tomorrow morning. so much to do today, and it's already almost evening!