Tea Time

We had "high tea" for my mother in law's birthday this week. It was AMAZING. I'm not really a big fan of tea, but I discovered that sugar cubes + cream + really fun flavors of tea (snickerdoodle, french vanilla...) = super deliciousness! Plus it was accompanied by lots of delightful tiny foods like finger sandwiches, filo dough cups filled with goodness, scones and petit fours.

Here we are being fancy. Pinkies up!

As per usual, Luke was a hit with all the women in the restaurant. The boy already has game. He usually starts off slow...first he charms them a head cock to the side, then breaks out the shy smile, and lastly  he nails

'em with the dimples. It's nearly 100% foolproof and is sure to elicit any manner of ooo'ing and ahh'ing from any female within a 10 to 15-foot radius.

(We're trying to figure out how to leverage this act to our advantage monetarily, but our standards keep getting in the way.)

 Our waitresses were all about posing for a picture with the Lukester.

Kisses from Grandma Lynn and Auntie Wendy

Sommer wanted to be "photographer" and this brick wall was the perfect backdrop!

Happy birthday mother-in-law. And, as my brother-in-law so eloquently put it, "thank you for being born and creating Sommer." (Or in my case, Justin.)

Thoughts on a Rainy Friday

I have never eaten so many Christmas cookies in my life. There has been an endless parade of goodies through the office this week, which has resulted in a perpetual stomachache due to my lack of willpower. Last night I felt a bit like Buddy the Elf as dinner consisted solely of Christmas cookies and copious amounts of hot chocolate consumed at a special bookstore event we held for alumni. I wish I could say that today had been better...but alas, I wasn't feeling the lean cuisine in the breakroom fridge, so lunch was string cheese and cookies. So gross!

Speaking of Buddy the Elf... I won the Christmas movie trivia contest at a Christmas party the other night. Don't cross me when it comes to popular movie trivia people! There's a frightening amount of useless knowledge in this brain of mine. On the other side of the spectrum, I also "won" a size 44DD bra in the white elephant gift exchange at said party. As they say, "you win some, you lose some."

Santa! I know him!

Luke's first visit with Santa

While I was working...

...Justin made a quick trip to Hollywood to see his little brother perform at the House of Blues. Jeff's music school held their holiday showcase there on Sunday night and he was one of a few acts picked to perform. It's only his first semester at MI, so this was a great opportunity for him.

Jeff lives right around the corner from Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Kodak Theater and the shops at Hollywood and Highland, so he can pretty much have a front row seat to the stuff going down there like movie premieres, Walk of Fame star unveilings, etc. This weekend was no exception and he and Justin got to watch the stars arrive for the Tron premiere. Justin was pretty stoked that they got to see Will Ferrell. He also told me how much they wished I was there...so I could tell them who some of the actors were.

 Gee thanks.

Seriously though, I am so proud of my brother-in-law! I can't wait to see the great things God has in store for him!

Polar Express

Yesterday, while Justin was in Hollywood seeing movie stars, going to clubs and stalking movie premieres (more on that later), I was stuck in NorCal...working. Actually, what I was doing can hardly be construed as work. In an official Pacific Alumni capacity, I got to go on a magical journey to the North Pole.

Every year the train museum in Sacramenoto hosts a Polar Express train ride. It's huge! It runs for three or four weeks, multiple trains, and they sell out every single year within a day or two. For three years our alumni association has been fortunate enough to rent out a car and sell the tickets to our alumni and their families. It is hugely popular and, as the staff member in charge of the event, I get to go too! This year I brought Luke and my mom along.

Luke loved seeing the dancing elves at the North Pole and really enjoyed his special gift from Santa...a beautiful silver bell. And of course, for those of you fans of the Chris Van Allsburg story, we can all hear it. :)

We had a wonderful time on our magical journey!

Cleaning House

Confession #1:  I haven't been on facebook in 10 days.

Confession #2:  I had to have Justin change my password because I have no willpower.

The truth is...except for the un-flattering picture tag that I wasn't able to remove, the photo comment and wall post I can't respond to, and that fact that I can't post this adorable/kind of silly photo of Luke as my new profile pic...I actually feel freer. I still have a ton of stuff in my head all the time (who doesn't?), but it's pleasant to know that it's mostly my stuff in there and not the random knowledge that the girl who lived across from me in college is in Switzerland for the holidays or that some random work colleague got hit on by a homeless person during her walk to work.

Sure, I am a little concerned that I'll miss out on some big news like a proposal, pregnancy or new job announcement, but I figure the hiatus will just force me to work a little harder to find out what the 10 or so people I actually care about are doing and not so much the other 340 on my friends list. And, in a season where I really need to devote 8 hours a day to work, a few hours a day to my child and all the leftover time to creating personal Christmas gifts, holiday decorating and other frivolity, I've found my productivity level has increased dramatically.

So... though I'm sure I haven't been missed much in only 10 days, I'm thinking I may make an appearance on facebook again in a couple of weeks. Then again, maybe not. I'm waiting until the habit is broken and I can be sure that I can control myself. In the meantime, I will be hanging out in a place WAY less narcissistic...my blog. :) Ha ha.