Party Time

Last night was DH's work Christmas party. It was hosted at Merion Caterers which is a beautiful facility. We were actually in the Skylight Room which is what you see on the home page, with the big dome in the ceiling. At our table we sat with BIL/SIL2 and SIL3 as well as two other couples. The food was good and so was the company! We had a nice time and I got to wear my new dress from Ross (I *heart* Ross.) It was definitely an improvement over last year's party...

Last year we missed the cocktail hour and therefore the hors d'oeuvres (a fancy name for appetizers, but it's a fancy place, y'all.) The first course of dinner wasn't served until 8:00 so we were starving. Our table was right under a vent and the air conditioning kept coming on so we girls were freezing. Our table was also all the way across the room from the kitchen so we were among the last to be served. Our waiter was unable to carry enough at once for our entire table so had to make two trips. We politely waited at every course until everyone had their food -- combine that with the air conditioning and our food was cold by the time we ate it. DH's prime rib was mostly fat. GROSS.

The best part of the story, though, happened when we left. We had checked our coats when we arrived. As we were leaving we got in line to pick up our coats and waited ... and waited ... and waited. Soon the line was about twenty-five couples long. I am not even kidding. When we finally got up to the window and handed the coat-checker person our tags he said, "We don't have these." Don't have them? What do you mean, you don't have them? We left them here! Where did they go? Come to find out part of the rotating rack had broken and there were coats all over the floor. Since the tag matches the number on the hangar, if your coat falls off the hangar there is no way to match it with you. So. Coat-checker Person asked, "Can you describe your coats?" Um, yes, we said, they are black. Now readers, just think for a minute about how many people you know who have black coats. Take that ratio and apply it to coats in a coat-check room. It was a sea of black outerwear. Coat-checker Person didn't even try to look for ours. But we weren't leaving without our coats! DH's was leather! So we just walked right behind the counter and started searching. There were coats all over the floor. Some were beautiful fur coats that people were just stepping on (we weren't the only unauthorized coat-searchers in there.) As we looked we picked up what we could and slung them over the rack. After about fifteen or twenty minutes I finally found ours, praise the Lord. As soon as we left the manager closed the door so no one else could go in. It was an eventful evening.

But that was last year and in the past. This year's party was enjoyable and uneventful. We had a snack before we left home. We sat closer to the kitchen and had a capable server -- courses were served in a timely manner, the cold food was cold and the hot food was hot. And I learned my lesson last year. I am now the owner of a pink coat. I know the odds of a coat-check room disaster ever happening to me again are very slim, but I'm taking no chances.