The drinks are on 'them'...

The annual company holiday party...

Always on a Friday in VT, which means I, along with the other VT folks, get to work all day...and the ME/BOS offices get a freebie to travel. They also incidentally get a free weekend at the nice downtown Marriott for coming...I guess that is the trade off for living in VT.

For the last two years we have rented out an Italian Restaurant downtown. The menu is fantastic, wine fabulous and attitudes merry (for the most part)!

My husband hates this event. Ever since I've been in the post-college working world, we've had the same annoying conversation every year...'Let's skip the party' suggests my husband...'we can't, part of my job is internal marketing and the Partners expect me to be there' is my reply. We then dance around the issue for the weeks and days leading up and I remind him that this is the ONE TIME A YEAR he has to do something like this. Kicking and screaming he eventually gives in to being my date and fulfilling his role as the husband of this BD Homemaker.

This year, I did compromise a bit. Usually I have some involvement with the actual planning, which requires me to attend at the very start, but this time my contributions were taken care of that afternoon. After my husband's plea of 'can we please not be the first people there?' I decided we could shoot for fashionably late...and fashionably late we were!

6:30-7:15pm - Cocktails. I have now made it a custom to have my husband drink a glass of red wine immediately upon arrival...mind you he is not a big drinker, so this is wife prescribed medication. It calms his nerves, making him my own little social butterfly sidekick!

7:15pm - We sit for dinner. This year we sit with my dear friend JC and her wonderful husband. At the other end is our firm's newer Director of Interiors and her husband, who are a great couple as well...we've lucked out once again!!

The meal begins with bread,

roasted garlic spread and a pate spread of sorts.

No one at our table seemed very into the savory animal spread,

so that left it all to me, yum!

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I was not able to get great pictures of the meal, but mine began with a Grilled Calamari and Grilled Radicchio Salad with Balsamic. The grilled flavors combined with the natural bite of the radicchio is delicious! So good in fact that this, along with the rest of my meal selections were a repeat of what I had last year!

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Now for the main course...Sea Bass. The most delicious piece of fish I have ever had in Vermont! The texture of the fish, a potato crust, spinach and THE SAUCE are so beautiful to the eye and FABULOUS to eat!!

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I wish I could make fish like this!!

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I didn't get a picture of dessert (too much to drink by then), but it was the most delicious combination...Basil Ice Cream with Strawberries and a Balsamic Reduction.

Freakin' f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c!!

Eat, drink and be merry...

cause the drinks are on them!