Last night was delightful. Ringing in the new year with good friends, good food, and good wine is definitely the way to go. The shortbread was a big hit, especially with Matt. *g*

There was lots of good conversation, much silliness, and tons of food. Lakshmi had gotten a whole tenderloin and man, was it delicious! So tender; it was like buttah. I don't eat beef very often, but it was nice to have really good beef. And champagne! I love champagne. B made these wonderful cocktails with champagne and an elderflower liqueur... yum!

We exchanged Yule gifts, which was fun. My favorite gift wasn't precisely the gift; B&C gave me a Mapplethorpe Flowers book, and B said "Now you're one of us, you'll be getting photography books." That was the best present ever! B&C are both professional photographers. :)

I finally got to bed a bit after 2:30, which is way, way, way past my bedtime. The only time I'm usually up around then is if I have to go to the bathroom. ;)

I woke up around 8:30 because, natch, I had to go to the bathroom. It was just me and the cat; everyone else was sensibly asleep. But I started thinking that I could be home in an hour and a half, and I could always go back to bed if I wanted to, so I got dressed and packed up my stuff, left a note, and headed out. The traffic was fabulous- I wish it was always so easy to get home! I gassed up the car, and as I pulled into the driveway, the first snowflakes started to fall. It's a good thing I left when I did, because there's already a coating of snow out there. Yay for good timing! Thank you, bladder. *g*