Christmas Party and presents

I have been admonished (by my mom) that I am falling behind on my blogging. She is right, I am almost a week behind on what is going on.

Our EGA guild has a Christmas party on the first Tuesday of December every year; we go to the same place, we have the same menu, we play the same games, and every year it is what kicks off the Christmas season for me. Before I went to the party, I had very little Christmas spirit, when I got back, I was in the mood to shop, and I got most of my shopping done in the next couple of days.

Good friends exchange gifts at the party, and I got some lovely things:

From Marj I got this turquoise emery with my initial.

From Jamee I got this lovely Brazilian embroidery picture:

And from Betti I got this ornament that expresses my feelings about the holiday perfectly:

My secret stitcher gave me a basket with all kinds of presents: these Christmas towels

and all kinds of goodies: lotion, ornament patterns, a family history book, a candle, a snowman plate, a temari stand, and some winter kleenex.

I gave my friends fingerless mitts, Steampunk style. These were a lot of fun to make. So far I have given away 5 pairs, and kept one pair for myself. I also gave my secret stitcher a pair of the mitts, a pair of scissors, and a temari ball.

The food is an Italian buffet with salads, pastas, and pizza; with an ice cream sundae buffet for dessert. I had a wonderful time, and came home in a good mood.

The other thing that helped with my Christmas spirit last week was a dusting of snow. I'm not loving our cold, though.