Christmas shopping & parties
We have had a record high of invites to Christmas parties this year. So far we have had 5 invites and we've been to 3 so far, all this past weekend. A lot of fun but I'm happy to have today off to rest up. Friday was Erik's Christmas work party where lots of yummy food was had. Saturday was a brunch Christmas party and gift exchange with friends at Tutti's, one of my absolute favorite places to eat in the city and where we met the singer and guitarist from our wedding whom we love very much. Erik had the breakfast Western pizza with potatoes and eggs and I decided to try something I hadn't had before- the banana oat bran hot cakes, which in the description sounded somewhat healthy but tasted sinfully delish. We gave my mom her gifts from India which she loved. Erik and I got a pretty Christmas hand towel, a homemade bottle holder and some awesome long handle spoons, perfect for hot cocoa. I gave Bev some cute little things from the shop like our new Santa spoon rest and some chocolate peppermint bark. After brunch Erik and I walked down the street and decided to walk into a store we had never been in to before. It was a little plant nursery filled with Christmas trees and beautiful flowers with a store attached that had a bunch of Christmas decorations that I wanted to take home.
Last night was our Christmas dinner and celebration with all the Hallmark girls. We have two holiday celebrations in December, a dinner and a breakfast put on by our manager and owner who treat us amazingly well. They drove us all to Cafe Fiore for dinner and we sat in the back room which was so beautifully decorated I can't even describe it. The table had a pretty garland down the middle with red candles and there was a huge mirror with a big wreath on it. I ordered the fettucine bolognese which was delicious but nothing compared to the desserts that we passed around later in the evening. They ordered us the Fantasia Di Cioccolato which was a trio of chocolate molten cakes, chocolate pots of creme and white chocolate and pistachio frozen custard, cranberry and peach cobbler which was my favorite, and a crepe filled with cream and strawberries drizzled with caramel sauce. I'll definitely be going back for some dessert some time in the very near future. After dessert we walked to the movie theater down the block and saw The Blind Side which I had seen before and loved and was very happy to see again.
This was a seriously huge post.
Tutti's Off Main. I just love to see how all these restaurants decorate. They're all so different and beautiful.
the Western breakfast pizza with potatoes, bell peppers, onions, 3 cheeses and scrambled eggs
Oat Bran Hot Cakes with bananas and maple pecan butter