Time to play catch up. Thursday night was my office Christmas party. This year we had it at a club/restaurant in the Epicenter of Charlotte called Mez. They put us in this loft area of the club with lots of couches and it had a real loungy feel to it. Past years we've done the hotel "wedding reception" type Christmas party and one at a bar that was really casual. This one was sort of in between. They had a food buffet with sliders, a couple different kinds of pasta, and pita with dips. I mainly hung with my usual crew, but got up to mingle a little bit with some people I don't see that often, as I don't work in the same location with them. At one point a couple guys asked me how I met my husband. I forget how that even came up. It reminds me that I should tell the story, so my next entry will be how Greg and I met.

Friday we had our annual all employee conference at work. Basically a lot of different programs give a presentation about their program to everyone (like 100-200 people). I haven't ever had to do one in the time I've been in Charlotte, but this year I did. I was with a co-worker and he offered to do most of the talking. I am a pretty outgoing person, but I kind of have a fear of public speaking to large crowds. I was definitely nervous. We got up on stage and for about the first ten minutes I really just stood there and nodded my head if he needed me to confirm something. Finally I started to relax and eventually spoke up and interjected with important points. It actually went pretty well.

The weekend with my family was great. Saturday we all got ready and went to Paper Skyscraper (the fun little store with all the eclectic things I mentioned in my previous post). We had a good time poking around in there. One highlight was a book called "Stuff White People Like", which has funny stuff like "eating outside" and "The Toyota Prius". We all were cracking up at that. I also like the booke "Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals", which is a book of pictures of cute little animals and each one says something on it like "I'm a registered sex-offender" or "You're adopted", etc... Good stuff! We went to Macs Speedshop for BBQ and had a yummy lunch. After lunch we did do the Old Dominion Brewery as planned. It's a weird little place. They don't have food there other than bowls of pretzels on the tables. We tried the beer and did the "tour" which consisted of standing in the room where the tanks are while the guide told us about the beer making process. I'd say we were there less than an hour total. The beer is good, but I think the place has a ways to go in terms of development. Adding a restaurant would definitely be a good idea.




For dinner we went to this restaurant called Roosters in South Park. Greg's been wanting to go there ever since he picked up a menu from their brochure kiosk at the hotel. It was very good. The place has a neat modern but rustic ambiance. My mom and I split scallops and sweet potato gnocchi with a hazelnut sauce (OMG SO GOOD!). Greg had some mushroom pasta that was also yummy, and my dad of course had steak. We also had some scalloped potatoes and grilled brussel sprouts. The portions were kind of small, but we had enough food and it was pretty delish. The only part that wasn't fantastic was the salad I had before dinner, but my mom had a different salad and hers was great.


Sunday morning was "Christmas morning" for us. Everyone seemed to like what they got. I got a new brown Coach bag from my parents, a whole lot of stocking stuffers (kitchen utensils, lotion, candy, etc), a pair of boots, and a North Face jacket from my brother. I realized that the jacket is not what I expected, but it's my fault as I gave him the exact specifications and he just ordered what I had told him. I was wanting one of those ones that have the outside "skin" that looks like seal skin or a wetsuit. I ended up getting a fleece one. I think I'm going to try and exchange it for the one I had in mind as I have a few fleece jackets already.

Most years when we all get together we do a big traditional type Christmas meal with either turkey or filet of beef or something like that. This year we decided to keep it casual and do homemade pizzas for our Christmas dinner. We got a bunch of pizza dough and everyone made their own pizza. Mine was white pizza with artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper, mushrooms, and mozzarella. YUM!

My parents left in the afternoon and Greg and I drove Mark and Ashley to the airport for their flight back. I love my family :)