It’s All Just a Big Blur
I’m so glad for cameras because without photographic evidence I’d have very little recollection of this past weekend. It was simply one big blur of culinary excess.
Randy’s friend, Jen, arrived from NY (techincally Jersey City – but I won’t hold that against her) so we picked her up from the airport, brought her back to Randy’s place and ate wings and ribs and fries and onion rings. Lacking anything green, I do recall heating up some green beans – but anything healthy disappeared from my menu for the rest of the weekend.
Chris and Pete also came over so the five of us ate, chatted, drank wine, and played Hands and Feet (the card game). Randy won…by a landslide…and Jen came up with some new rules that should be implemented the next time we all play. Oh, did I mention that Jen baked some amazing cookies prior to her visit so I managed to eat at least 8 of them during the card game (they weren’t small, either).
On Saturday, we slept late then had Mexican food (from Anna’s Taqueria). I had a chicken quesadilla. Oh, and Randy baked some triple chocolate Ghiradelli brownies. Did I mention that Jen brought bags upon bags of her home-baked cookies? Yep – so I had more of those.
That night was Randy’s annual Re-Gifting Party; more or less a Yankee Swap where you bring the worst Christmas gift you received (or bought) and force somebody else to go home with it.
Of course, with any party there’s food. Lots of food. Cheese, crackers, pepperoni, lasagna, brownies. You get the picture. But the best part was watching what people unwrapped. From the inflatable purse to the Foghat poster from the 1970’s – it was damn hilarious. I ended unwrapping a burgundy wine-cozy. ugh. So I traded it for what I believe was the best gift of the evening….a giant Lucy head (from Peanuts). I was able to hold onto that until the 2nd to last swap took place when a vicious lesbian stole it from me. You just can’t trust sexual minorities. Wait, I am one. Never mind. I still like her – despite the fact that I went home with two pewter vases.
On Sunday, we woke up late (again). The day started off with brownies and cookies for breakfast. By mid-afternoon we finally got our asses out of the house and headed straight to Pizzeria Regina for lunch. We each ordered our own pizza. Then we decided to walk to the Customs House to see if my friend was working and could get us up to the 26th floor observatory. However, on the way there we passed Maria’s Bakery and couldn’t just walk by without popping in. Despite being full, we all ordered cannoli.
Unfortunately, the Customs House isn’t much farther away so we didn’t get to walk off much of the food. But Jen and Randy were both quite impressed with the Customs House and the views from the outside deck. We then drove her to the airport and returned to Randy’s to rest….and eat. More pizza, more brownies, more cookies.
Now, how do I remember all of this despite my coma-induced sugar high? Through photography! Jen and Randy carried cameras with them everywhere. So here’s the proof!
This is Peter trading his gift with Don.
This is Jen taking a picture of Randy taking a picture of Jen.
Here’s Chris proudly displaying his dalmation figurines.
…and here I model the Lucy head.
Here are Randy and Jen on the way to Pizzeria Regina.
And here we all are at Maria’s Bakery not 10 minutes after devouring 3 pizza’s.
And the last bit of evidence proving that we were at the Customs House.
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Why did you bother to eat all that? You could just have stuffed it into your heart valves and saved SO much time!
Sounds like a perfect weekend to me–fun, food, friends and a special person. Yea, Karl!
So, poodle, what were some examples of the worst gifts? What did you end up getting?
I think the Foghat poster qualifies as the worst gift. There was a pretty bad candle (that the person chose to keep) and a wind chime in the shape of golf clubs and balls. Did I mention the fiber-optic mini_christmas tree or portable air pump?
Oh, no you didn’t. I have seen worse gifts though. At a Yankee Swap once someone received a “make your own shoe” kit. I think that was, by far, the worst gift ever.