Three candles

The feasting season is in full swing! Yesterday was bunj and e.'s long-awaited Christmas party, with hot spiced cider and hotter, spicier tamales for all. his_regard gave me one of my favourite things ever: A reference work with things in it that I've never heard of before. Thanks to him, I now know that the fuzzy purplish leaves some phở joints give you for your soup are actually red perilla, a.k.a. rau tía tô. (I've had green perilla at Korean places many times, but I never knew it came in red.)

Tonight was a birthday party for snowy_owlet, who seems to still be coming to terms with the fact that, when people love you a whole bunch, they want to give you things. Nice things at that. Tomorrow is my office party, which I'm obligated to go because Bumiputeri is making a special trip all the way from the south suburbs in order to see her old friends. The next night is Roméo et Juliette at the Lyric. bunj tried to drum up interest for dinner at someplace fancy like Rivers, but I think we all concluded we need a mid-week break before feasting resumes again in earnest this coming weekend.

I also ended up blowing off monshu's holiday office party on Friday because I decided that was simply a little too much. Bright and early Friday morning, I leave for St. Louis, and I know he'll be happy for the lull. He's got big plans for his first Hogmanay dinner and I'm really hoping I'll be well enough to join in. I just have to remember: Pace myself, get enough sleep, and drink two or three times the amount of water I think is enough. Then I should be okay.

I'm doing pretty well on stress since I'm basically finished with my must-do shopping. From here on out, it's just the fun stuff--like letting myself by upsold by Mike at Tea Gschwendner on Halsted. Damn you, you Euro tea purveyors, for sending the cute bear manager on a mission to separate me from my money! At least he knows I'm labouring under no illusions as to what was going on there.