Sunday, December 13, 2009

more holiday parties

IMG_5949Well, the weekend was full of holiday cheer, lots of goodies and 2 more holiday inspired parties! 

I am officially battling some kind of bug, but I’m not down and out and enjoyed them as much as I could :)  I just hate being sick and icky feeling, but I’m hoping I can fight it off in the coming week before I leave to see my mom!

Friday night was Chris’ work department holiday party.  It was a lot of fun to meet all the people that Chris works with and everyone is very nice! 

Check out the spread!  My favorite part was the salad bar and the awesome bowls.  I wanted to take them :)

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The food was traditional Turkey Day style with roasted turkey, stuffing, chicken marsala, veggies and mashed taters. 

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Here is my plate with all the fixings.  I didn’t eat all the taters and some of the turkey.  I also went back for some more veggies & a bit of stuffing. 

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IMG_5924 Of course there always seems to be all kinds of desserts at these functions, so I had a small slice of cake and a 1/2 of a sugar cookie.

Chris & I brought the cake from Freed’s bakery.  I thought it was good, but the cake layer wasn’t big enough and the frosting/mousse dominated.  I’m not much of a frosting person, but it still was yummy.

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IMG_5936They also had a white elephant gift exchange.  Have you played this before?  Oh my gosh, it was hilarious to see the person’s face when they opened the gift!  Most of them were gag gifts, but that’s the fun of it.  Chris got this nice reindeer jelly bean dispenser.  What’s really funny though is that the expiration date for this thing is December 2005!!  I guess it’s been re-gifted a few times? ;)  Other gifts included a leopard snuggie, old musk perfume, a lava lamp and a slap chop hehe

The next party we went to was at my supervisor’s house on Saturday night.  Boy she went all out!  The food was wonderful.  Chris and I couldn’t stay long because we had to meet some friends at BJ’s later.  Talk about running around! 

Here’s the spread . . .

I loved the tables with labeled cheeses to go with the white and red wines.  I tried the middle wine which was a cab from Chile.  It was very earthy and rich, which I love.  You really can’t go wrong with a wine from Chile.  I had a glass of wine and a slice of cheese.

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 Here’s the main spread with lots of yumminess!

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Chris and I shared a small plate since we were going to be eating again in a couple hours.  My favorite were the spanakopitas!!!  I had to have two of these.  My supervisor is Greek, so these were homemade and delicious.  I also enjoyed a bite of baked brie mmm

Yet again another dessert table that looked wonderful!

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I had a bite of the mint chocolate chip cookie and a bite of a sugar cookie.  There was also fondue, fruit and port.  What a great host!

After leaving, we headed to BJ’s to meet some friends for a little get together.  I wasn’t really that hungry, so we shared a salad and a mini vegetarian pizza.  I also had a taster (5oz) of their nutty brunette brew.  I didn’t feel stuffed, but was definitely full.  I’m glad I didn’t go overboard.  Many times when I think I want to keep eating, I just take a step back and ask myself how I want to feel afterwards.  I hate that over-stuffed blah feeling & try not to go there :)

I’d say I did pretty good with the holiday intervention strategies, although it seems like all we’ve been doing is eating!!  I can’t wait till I get to feeling 100% again because I have to say I’ve been slacking on the gym with finals and presentations.  I tend to get cranky if I miss the gym time :) 

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I tried to get some Christmas shopping done this weekend and failed horribly.  It took me 25 minutes to find a parking spot at the mall & by that point I didn’t have the patience for all the crowds!  I have yet to get most of my gifts and I’m not sure for about 1/2 of them . . . eek!  I can’t really spend that much either.  Chris & I were actually thinking about donating to a charity for some of our family.  Would that be lame?  I thought that would be really nice since so many out there are really struggling this time of year.   

I’m working more this week to make up for the hours I’ll be gone to see my mom :( but it will be worth it.  I hope you all have a wonderful week!

How’s your holiday shopping coming along?

If you haven’t yet, be sure to enter the coconut water giveaway!

  

 

20 comments:

MelindaRD said...

Looks like you both had nice holiday parties for work. I like the looks of those bowls too in the first pic. As for holiday shopping, it's done and I am just waiting for the rest to get here. I am giving Ryan some gifts for Hanukah and some at Christmas since that is what he celebrates, but I feel bad when Hanukkah comes earlier and I get gifts every night, so I give him one usually the 1st, 4th and 8th night.

Gina; The Candid RD said...

My Christmas shopping is SO CLOSE to being done!! I'm now 90% finished, and poor Nick hasn't even started, haha.

I am so jealous of all the wonderful holiday parties you and Chris have been going to. Nick and I haven't been to one, isn't that crazy?! MAybe things will change when we get married.

That salad bar looks fantastic, as does that cake you brought! I'm a sucker for icing, so I would have loved it I'm sure. I especially love moussy (word??) icing!

katie said...

Wow quite a spread at the party!

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Nicole, RD said...

Everything looks wonderful!

I am behind on Christmas shopping, I really need to make some serious progress this weekend!

MelissaNibbles said...

I want that cake!

Naomi(Onefitfoodie) said...

its like thanksgiving all over again! looks delicious! esp the cake mmmmm
i get cranky if I miss gym time too! I always make sure If i know i have a busy day ahead of me, I will workout in the early AM before anyone has a chance to bother me :)

great job with your shopping!

Anonymous said...

holiday shopping?? whats that? lol - I am soooo behind!

everything looks so yummy, I especially love that salad bar!

Shannon said...

I'm glad you weren't so sick you had to miss the parties...that looks like some mighty good food to have to miss out on! And if you have to fight a bug, your timing is good...you should be good as new my Christmas!

I don't think it's lame at all to donate to a charity in someone's name. Just pick something that means something to that person. They will be really touched!

Emily said...

Hope you feel better soon! Looks like some great holiday parties; it's nice to see a salad bar, too! :-)

I hate holiday shopping, too. I think it's a great idea to donate to a charity. My internship class did that instead of Secret Santa this year, and it was really nice. Check out worldvision.com

Elina said...

Wow, that's a lot of holiday parties. I can't control myself around "buffets" like this. You did really great!
I also get cranky when I miss the gym. Keep your eyes on the prize... you can workout out more soon :)
I think donating to charity is a good idea. Maybe give them a little thoughtful gift and spend the rest of the money on charity? I think that would be nice :D

Anonymous said...

WOW all that food looks so great at those parties!

Anonymous said...

Wow, all that glorious food! Kudos for not going overboard too!

And that brunette beer sounds right up my alley - love microbrews!

I am about 70% done with shopping - not too bad!

chow and chatter said...

get well soon lovie wow great food, shame you were under the weather the reindeer is fun

FoodFitnessFreshair said...

Wow, all that holiday food looks great! ...I'm halfway done my holiday shopping. I'm actually loving buying gifts for people, it's just a little time consuming. It will be even more time consuming once the stores start to increasingly fill up as we head deeper into the holiday season...So I better get on that!

tam said...

I bought that same reindeer for a friend last year! ha ha

I have the perfect holiday cookie/cake bites which are soooooo good and gluten/dairy free she'll love ya forever! One thing you really need to use rich dark chocolate chips for best results

http://www.saladandsequins.com/2009/11/biscuits-to-bake.html

Let me know how they turn out x x

Kasey said...

The food at those parties look great... I love the wine and cheese table!

I finished Christmas shopping today! I have a lot of wrapping ahead of me this weekend :)

Anonymous said...

I would have dominated that baked brie, but everything looks freaking delicious!
And arugh, don't remind me...I still haven't even started on my holiday shopping!

tam said...

Morning! I had the oven at gas mark 4 which I think is 350, keep an eye on them they cook pretty quick, once browned they're done they seem a little soft but they harden up x x

Sweta (My Indian Dietitian) said...

What a lot of GREAT food!! Gosh-i could happily tuck my way through all the goodies!!
BTW-great to see that you've joined Foodbuzz!!

The Purple Carrot said...

What a delicious looking spread! :)

I've juuust about got all my Christmas shopping done ... I can't believe Christmas is next week!!