i couldn't stay away.

the hub and his bro took off to have some male bonding time, and so i decided i'd do a rundown of the weekend thus far. besides, if i wait till after christmas like i promised, the recap would be so long, i'd lose readers. y'all would drop. like. flies. so, here goes:

friday:

we didn't end up doing the santa thing after all, because we simply ran out of time. instead, the hub ran off to the mall to pick up some last-minute secret santa gifts for his team dinner and get his hairs cut, and the bean and i just hung out at home and relaxed. and when he got home, the tales he told of parking hell, hordes of folks shopping frantically, and the mile-long line to see santa were enough to curl my hair. well, maybe not. my fabulous new flat iron is far too good to be ruined by nightmarish retail stories.

and then it was 5:00. MIL arrived to take care of the bean for the evening, we got ready, and then we were off to the party. i'd really wanted to skip it, and the hub was totally cool with that, but i really didn't want him to go alone. besides, i dig the CW's wives, so it wasn't going to be that bad.

or was it? dun dun dun!!

we ended up getting there so early that it appeared that we were the first to arrive. and we certainly couldn't have that! so we pulled a u-turn in search of the nearest starbucks. mmmm, cinnamon dolce latte. anyway, we killed a little time, checked out the gorgeous homes in the neighborhood, finished our coffees, and then headed back to join the party.

and by then, it was in full swing - we hugged and air-kissed our hellos through the crowd and found our way to our seats. it was one hell of a setup - the house was a beautiful, sprawling one-story (the hub said it was a little too modern for his tastes, but i dug it), and there was one long rectangular table and four rounds to seat the 40 guests in attendance. of course, i had to sneak this picture, but i'm glad i did. visual aids are oh so helpful for my blog entries!

the hub and i have a running joke about things like this - i always say i'd rather poke my eyeballs out with a rusty butter knife than sit through these things, and after the first six speeches and toasts, i was definitely at butter knife stage. his partner's wife and i huddled together and muttered comments to each other about everything from what folks were wearing, what was being said, and how much we'd rather be ANYWHERE else but there. heh.

in the past, we spouses were given "small tokens of appreciation". the first year, little blue boxes (you know what kind i mean) with sweet little silver heart necklaces were placed on our seats. last year, it was a nice, soft coach knit scarf. i couldn't wait to see what trinket we'd receive this year.

but, hmph. apparently, they decided to cut out the spouse gifts this year. bastards. i leaned over and told the hub "next year, y'all had best put the spouse gifts back in the budget. you gotta give us some kind of incentive to sit through this shit." i got a sheepish grin and a halfhearted comeback about "hey, you get to stay home with the bean. isn't that gift enough?"

well, hell. he was dead on, and i shut my piehole about it for the rest of the night.

anyway, we finally got out of there at midnight. their secret santa exchange was absolute chaos, but it was full of laughter and everyone had a good time. he took this picture of me, and it's not my favorite, but i'll post it anyway. because i promised i would. and i am a woman of my word. you can't really see the whole dress, nor the shoes, but you get the idea. i told him that next year, i was going to find a smart pantsuit or a very short dress. he didn't get it until i started pointing out the attire on the other females in attendance.

i was thrilled to get home and cuddle the bean. we'd been gone for all of six hours and i missed her like mad. i mean, how can you stay away for too long from this?
she's discovered that snacking on her fingers is fun too:
oh, i just melt into a puddle. i love the bean so much! and the kid is definitely getting into this sister thing. she's gotten to be much more hands-on and holds her arms out to snuggle with her, and does everything she can to console her when she cries. it's so sweet to watch them together.

saturday:

we slept in. well, the hub REALLY slept in, and the bean and i sat and caught up on a week's worth of general hospital. and then around noon (yes, i said NOON), we finally got up, took showers, and then headed out to old town pasadena to grab some lunch at sushi roku.

and, ohhhhhh. baked crab hand roll = heaven on earth. seriously. i mean, come on - it was crab claw meat baked in a buttery sauce with rice all rolled up nice and purty in rice paper and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. oh, mylanta (as the kid would say) - i could've eaten about five of these things. THE most delicious thing i've had in a very long time, unless you count the smoked salmon rolls at cafe japengo a couple of weeks ago. and the bone-in ribeye steak for wan-niversary dinner at fleming's. ooh, or the fluffernutter cupcake from crumbs bake shop.

what was i talking about?

um, yeah. so anyway, we discovered that santa was right outside the door of sushi roku, all ready and waiting for a little bean to come visit and take a picture. for $20, we could have five pictures on a CD, or $10 would give us the chance to take three snapshots with our own camera. and hey, i just happened to have the camera in my bag. whaddaya know!

but she was sleeping, so we did a little shopping at paper source and sur la table, and then went back and took this:

no lines, no screaming kids, no crowds of parents invading my personal space. effing sweet.

we capped our day with a birthday dinner with the hub's grandfather at a local italian restaurant, and now i'm going to finish wrapping a few gifts and snuggle with my baby till the hub gets home.

damn, i wish i had a baked crab hand roll right now. [drool]