French Happy Hours and Decorating

Last night, I spoiled myself. I went to The Grove and finished my Christmas shopping. Since I had a package at the UPS warehouse that I couldn't pick up until 8:30 PM, I killed time at Monsieur Marcel (a little Frenchophile shop and bistro). It's the neatest/cutest little place in the middle of the Farmers Market and I was lucky enough to discover their Happy Hour with 1/2 off wines and cheap-o appetizers. I had some mozzarella/ricotta croquettes and a bowl of lentil soup. The soup sort of broke my rule of not eating things at restaurants that I can easily make at home, but it was really, really good.

My favorite part, though, were the free olives given with the bread. Yum. I'm sure I had about 20x the normal amount of saturated fat one should eat in a day.

At home, I finished putting up the lights and ornaments. LP says I like to decorate like a Who from Whoville and when he gets back from San Francisco, he'll probably re-do it. But I'm OK with it just the way it is!

Do I mind the mixing of white lights on our garland with the colored lights on the window? ABSOLUTELY NOT! We also have a poinsettia and a mini fake tree with photos of LP's family on the ornaments. It's very cute and so sweet. Oh, and that's Bruce the Penguin. He hangs out year round in the living room. He just puts his hood up for the holidays.  

Our tree is a real one! I'm loving the smell. We might get a fake one some day, but the only decent ones were way too huge for our place. Since the tree is only about 3.5 feet tall, I put it on top of a big cardboard box. More room for presents! :-)

Sorry, Obama, you'll have to hang out behind the tree this Christmas. And if you're wondering who that is hanging out at the base of the tree, that's Puck. He's LP's love child, created for our indie production that's currently in post. We found Puck a tiny little wicker chair at IKEA this summer so he can hang out in the living room with us.

I'm really enjoying making the apartment a bit more homey this season.  Even if it's in our own tacky little way. Someday, I'll figure out how to use my mom's old camera better so I can use something other than my cell phone!

Tonight, I baby-sat my niece so that my brother and SIL could enjoy a night out. Watching an 8 month old is pretty easy when they go to bed so early. Read a few stories, give her a change, and nighty-night! She was SO CUTE! Also cute? Her "brother" Spike who was all curled up in his bed!