party time. excellent.

i was super excited when the hub told me that we'd again been invited to a christmas party at casa del mar in santa monica by one of his clients.  last year, we'd had to skip it for various reasons, but not this time.  and this time, we decided to share the fabulousness with the girls, who are now old enough to hang out in the room for a few hours while we socialized and schmoozed downstairs at the party.  the bean, who loves staying at hotels, was out of her head with excitement.  her sister...well, a little less so. but the promise of a pretty hotel, room service, and movies all night long helped out.  hell, i wouldn't have minded hanging out with them too.  ha!

another reason i was stoked for this shindig was the fact that i'd signed up for the venice christmas run with my friends amber and kirkette - which was the morning after the party.  so not only would i get to get all gussied up and have some fun out with the hub, i wouldn't even have to get up at the asscrack of dawn to get out to santa monica for this race.  on our way to the hotel, we made a quick pitstop for me to pick up our bibs and shirts.  it's always so much easier to have all our stuff together and not have to worry about getting there extra early to check in on race day.

from there, it literally took us less than five minutes to pull up to the fabulous casa del mar, all dressed up for the holidays.

inside, the girls and i took full advantage of the hot chocolate/cider/cookie bar set up in the lobby.

home for the night!

what's the first thing you make a beeline for when you check into a hotel room?  for me, it's the bathroom to see what kind of fun amenities are provided.

the bean was totally enthralled by the phone next to the toilet.

as in previous years, i turned to my girl kate spade to dress me for the evening.  she never lets me down, her dresses always fit me perfectly, and they're classic, elegant and fun.  although instead of dropping some major cash on one of her pretty frocks, i chose the much more budget-friendly option of renting a dress from rent the runway.  i was really excited to find that they carried the dress i'd been eyeing, particularly since it was a fairly new release.  and when it arrived, i found that i was the very first renter - the original retail tag was still attached.

i had more than enough time to touch up my hair, slap on my makeup, and order the girls' dinners from room service.  it arrived just before the hub and i left for the party.

although i was excited for my pretty, bright dress, i was even more so for the kick ass sparkly kate spade peeptoes i'd scored for way less than retail thanks to ebay.  love. these. shoes.  i guess you can't really see them too well, but trust me - they're fabulous.

it was the typical work-related christmas party - handshakes galore, free-flowing cocktails, small talk (which i hate).  and i got to catch up with a couple of guys i worked with back in the day who i haven't seen in ages.  the food was tasty, and after a little bit more sch-moschalizing (yes, i just made that word up) we thanked our hosts and headed back upstairs.  the girls were knocked out, and the hub headed back down to grab a nightcap with some of the guys.  i set my alarm for an early wake-up call and was asleep by the time my head hit the pillow.

i even managed to get in a full eight hours of sleep!  woo-hoo!