The Annual Christmas Party

Every year, my former co-worker, JM, has a big annual party at her house in Falls Church. Without a doubt, she and her husband, W., are the most gung-ho Christmas people I have ever met, and their home is living proof of that every December.

Upon pulling up to their driveway last Saturday night, the 23rd, I wasn't at all surprised to see every single column, window, and flat surface on the front of their house outfitted in garland and blinking lights, accompanied by a waving and ho-ho'ing life-size Santa next to the front door. Truly, it would have given Clark Griswold some serious competition. I was told that W. started decorating this year on the day after Halloween. Now that's dedication.

Anyway, their annual party is really nice... it's mostly a co-worker and family party, which adds up to about 50 people, most of whom I already know from the State Department, and it's the best possible way to catch up on all the gossip about work that I've missed over the past year and a half, which, of course, I absolutely relish.

They have it professionally catered with a bartender and waiter, and the food is laid out onto separate dessert and dinner buffet areas, and it's always delicious.

Here is the cake they served this year at the dessert table:

And here is their one-year old daughter, Kate, who is super cute:


They hosted a game in which guests had to guess the answers to Chrismas trivia questions for prizes. Kate got a hold of some of the prizes and started handing them out to random guests. I'm proud to announce that I won one of the prizes (a Christmas towel set) for properly answering the question: "Who is King George's archrival in the ballet, 'the Nutcracker'"?

J. & W. have three little dogs, two Yorkies and a mutt, that they lock up in the garage during the party so they're not underfoot and barking like mad throughout the night. One of my friends said the Yorkies had just gotten groomed and looked like litle ewoks so I wanted to see it for myself.

Here is Teense:

He really wanted out of the garage!

Later on, the kids left, and the non-parents ended the night out on the back patio under the heat lamp. Although the front and inside of the house are decorated with more Christmas decor than I knew existed (including almost every wall hanging, knick knack, and dish), I wasn't prepared for the amount of Christmas equipment in the back yard. I'm talking about a singing train, an electric life-size blowing snowglobe, animated reindeer, inflatable Christmas characters (like Santa climbing halfway up a tree), and lights, lights lights, lights, and more lights. It was truly a winter wonderland.

Here is J.'s best friend from high school and her husband...
They're really fun to hang out with. She's a lawyer in NYC, and he's an artist and designer.

And here's J.'s brother about to be attacked by a neighborhood cat:

These are some of W.'s co-workers:

They work at State too but not in my old office so I don't really know them very well.

Little Kate was still awake at midnight (the latest she's ever stayed up)...

... despite J.'s best efforts to wind her down. She was in a remarkably good mood though for an exhausted one-year old.

After about five red wines (I'm sure my teeth were purple), I decided to call it a night, especially since my nose started running like a faucet as a result of my annoying cold. That's never a good look.

Usually we do an office photo, but this year for some reason it just didn't happen. C'est la vie.

And that does it for the 23rd of December. Tomorrow I'll attack Christmas Eve.