Parties!
4:03 p.m.
Buddy Boy did not have a steak for dinner last night, although he considered it. He ordered the meat tortelini with some kind of creamy sauce instead and enjoyed it mightily, the rest of us opting for more vegetarian choices (filet of sole [which is not technically �vegetarian�, but we�ve already had this discussion] for me, vegetarian pizza for Little Princess and pasta primavera for Hubby), followed by one piece of cheescake with candles in it which the birthday boy blew out and the four of us devoured (the cake, not the candles). We then handed him a bag in which were his presents: two CDs, two DVDs, a book about Juno Beach (the boy is an avid WWII historian), a shooter glass purchased at the dinosaur museum to add to his collection and a �magic� lightning ball which we all had fun playing with when he plugged it in after we got home. He seemed quite pleased with his haul, even though the computer game he covets was not there. We came home via BI0ckbuster Vide0 and watched Ocean�s Dozen (misnomer intended) which was a very entertaining flick, reminding me somewhat of a Thomas Pynch0n novel in its confusing story line.
There was a very fancy, by invitation only, reception after the Friday night concert hosted by a wealthy musical instrument foundation which had bought 300 seats for its members to attend the symphony premiere and CarI Orff�s Carmina Burana. I wore my black satin cocktail dress (I looked fantastic, by the way) accessorized with a black satin stole I bought at the Montreal airport (on sale, couldn�t believe my luck) and a little black satin evening bag I picked up at the Bay (also on sale, another coup), with my hair up (silver barrette inlaid with turquoise), the hematite necklace I got in Tobago around my neck and my opal and silver cuff from NYC, and was a suitable ornament on the arm of my f�ted husband. I should mention that I wore no earrings, my naked virgin lobes being decoration enough.
The food was incredible. There were platters of thinly-sliced meats, smoked salmon, very fine cheeses, both hard and soft (there was some St. Andr� that was absolutely to die for, plus green and red cheeses which were apparently flavoured with beer and port respectively), different kinds of breads, and also hot entr�es (Alberta beef [of which they have tons, considering they can�t export it after the mad-cow disease scare] and garlic shrimps), plus waitpersons (don�t you hate that word?) wandering around with trays of hot and tasty things like spring rolls, samosas and other pastry-wrapped goodies. The bar was free and I saw lots of people downing champagne. I limited myself to two glasses of red wine and totally pigged out on the smoked salmon and cheeses.
Hubby, unfortunately, was waylaid every time he tried to get himself a plateful of food and didn�t get to eat much of anything at all. At closing time the staff were practically snatching the food from people�s mouths in their hurry to clean up and get out of there (my husband kept referring to them as �little Asian people�, which is politically incorrect but unfortunately an apt description), clearing away plates that still had food on them and glasses that had not been emptied if a person was unfortunate enough to have placed them on a table momentarily. Considering we hadn�t eaten since lunch at an Irish pub (called the �James Joyce�, of course), he was not amused.
The party was entertained by a jazz combo (piano, bass and congas) which was playing when we entered the lobby from the concert hall, and upon hearing the music as we stepped out of the hallway I said, loud enough for people to hear me, �Music! As if we haven�t heard enough just now!� A few of my fellow concertgoers actually smiled and nodded in agreement. But the standards being played were so divergent from the Orff we had just witnessed (I have heard enough Carmina Burana to last me for the next ten or more years) that it was actually a nice way to wash the taste of it out of my ears, if one can mangle a metaphor in that way.
I did discover something interesting about the black satin cocktail dress though: it loses all its aphrodisiac qualities when worn with undergarments. Pantihose, strapless bra and panties made it look better on the outside, but totally defeat the original purpose for which I bought it. Which means, obviously, that I don�t have to be selfconscious in public about it, as I was afraid I would, and it can still do its originally-intended job. So there. Nyah!
from hissandtell :
Can I just say, "YUM!"? Your whole entry - cheeses, black satin and turquoise, Carmina Burana, jazz, cheesecake - sounds completely divine...it�s just a shame about the undergarments. Love, R xxx
<~~~ * ~~~>
