On the seventh day of Christmas 2012...

...my true love took me to-- his company party at Via Emilia.

We were invited to bring children this year but opted to enjoy our time by hiring a babysitter. :)

Dinner was nice~ as usual.  There are only 9 other employees in the Houston office so it is always nice to catch up with his coworkers. 

We came home with far more goodies of all sorts than we went with.  I made 6 different types of candies this year for gifts.  Peanut butter fudge, Nutcracker Sweets (chocolate, cinnamon, cashews, and oyster crackers), chocolate mint truffle balls, cherry divinity, Caramel crisps, and butterscotch haystacks.  Think our favorites were the caramel crisps.

On the fourth day of Christmas 2012...

...my true love took me to- the Annual Neighborhood Christmas Dinner Party.

 

 

No pictures of the glamorous couple of the evening, but we did have a very nice time visiting with fellow neighbors (most of whom are fellow believers). 

 

I was responsible for an appetizer.  I opted for a tasty/easy/but not so beautiful dip.  Real Texas style.

 

 

 

Black Eyed Pea Dip

 

2 tomatoes, diced

3 avocados, diced

2 cans blackeyed peas with jalepenos, drained

1 cup or so of grated cheddar cheese

about 1/4-1/2 cup of French Catalina salad dressing

1 small can chopped black olives (which I forgot)

 

Mix and enjoy with chips.

a week (or two (or three)) of birthdays

My birthday was the 13th of November.  The festivities began the preceding Wednesday as I took advantage of my free pastry at La Madeleine's.  I also grabbed a quick spinach salad-to-go for lunch.  Yum!

We first celebrated my birthday jointly by going out to one of our favorite restaurants on that preceding Friday (parent's night out at the church so no kids!)  Perry's Steakhouse is fantastic and never disappoints (as long as you are prepared for the hefty bill).  The food and service couldn't be better... 

Saturday night we had a coupon for some discount to Carrabba's so we decided to venture out to an early dinner with the kids this time.  It was unusually enjoyable.  We got to sit outside (beautiful evening!) at our own little table tucked into a nook under their "front porch."  It is the only table there and with the threat of rain outside, we were the only ones outside at all.  We had the waiter to ourselves and could spread out (table for 8) and not worry about kiddos noise level or food all over the floor. 

We skipped Sunday (although we had lots of other options). 

Monday evening we went out to Red Robin--actually for Veteran's Day.  A slept the whole time and cannot believe how much E and D ate.  Both are such picky eaters and D ate two bowls of macaroni (and asked for more) and E ate ALL her dinner! 

Somewhere in there, I got my free ice cream cone from Baskin Robbins.

Wednesday lunchtime, I grabbed my free sandwich from Jason's Deli. 

Later that weekend or following week we went to IHOP for my free entree--coincidentally for dinner with the kids and apparently, kids eat free in the evenings.  What a cheap and filling dinner!

The celebrations officially came to an end last night as my mom watched the kids and allowed Michael and I to go to the pistol range and then out to Hasta la Pasta for dinner (again redeeming another free entree coupon).

One of the best gifts M gives me is meals out/carried in.  While I love to cook, three little munchkins make it much less enjoyable than otherwise.  And NO CLEANUP!!!  :)

Thanks for the month of meals!