I Suck At Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was the day I got to see my friend (Jen). Too bad I suck at Christmas Eve.

In the morning, Karen and I met up with Jen and my BFF (Kerry) for breakfast at Stars on Hingham Harbor. Christmas Eve breakfast has practically become a tradition now amongst all of us. I think all of us have been doing it since college. Sadly, this year my friend (Joanna) could not make it.

Joanna lives out in Oregon. And this year, she wasn't coming back to Massachusetts for the holiday. Bummer. She cracks me up with some of her stories.

Anyway, breakfast was delicious as usual at Stars. I ordered the low carb breakfast. The low carb dish was chock full of meat... eggs... and cheese. Basically, a protein dish. Normally, I don't care for low carb dishes primarily because I consider the term synonymous with dieting... and I don't diet as obviously from my svelte figure. (That's sarcasm.)

It just so happens that I did not eat much protein at all the day before. So come Christmas Eve morning, I had a craving for protein. And I devoured the low carb plate. Yum! Food aside, it was good to see Kerry and Jen even if most of my time was spent trying to get my two year old (Briana) to sit and stay in her seat during breakfast.

And as luck would have it, I got to see Jen again later that night. For some time now, Karen and I have hosted Christmas Eve for our families. This year, however, we decided to switch things up a little and host Christmas day instead. So doing the hosting duties for Christmas Eve this year were my mother-in-law and my father-in-law.

I have a feeling that my mother-in-law has been wanting to host for some time. So it didn't take much to convince her to host Christmas Eve... not that she needed convincing. Regardless, Jen happens to live near my in-laws. So she and her brother (Bill) came to Christmas Eve dinner too (after they themselves hosted for their family).

Needless to say, Christmas Eve was a good time.

I Suck At Flu Shots

I've been slacking off of late. I haven't written a post in quite some time, mostly because I have been lacking the time to do so. But today, I just had to make time for a post because something comical happened to me today.

Before I write about today, however, I'll quickly recap all of the things that I had missed since my last post.

Wednesday: (at least I think it was Wednesday) Karen, my two year old daughter (Briana), my seven month old daughter (Bridget) and I went to Wild Willy's Burger located in Quincy. My friend (Marc) apparently had been craving Wild Willy's. So he, my friends (Kelley, Andrea, and Sam), and my BFF (Kerry) went to satisfy his cravings. As usual, the food there was very delicious. I had the "all natural" burger, which was a burger made from cows fed a vegetarian diet. It was quite delicious! Probably the most memorable part of the night was my attempt to give Bridget a strawberry allergy by giving her a taste of my strawberry shake. For anyone curious, she was fine... no allergy... yet. Aside from that, the only thing I really remember from that night was heading back to Marc and Kelley's afterward and possibly scaring Andrea by mentioning she may have a ghost in her basement... her dark basement... which wouldn't be scary otherwise were it not for the fact that she could possibly be alone in the dark basement with the ghost. (Yes, I'm a jerk... but it's almost Halloween.)

Saturday: My friends (Garv and Leeann) decided to have a whiskey/fire pit night. The original idea came about as Andrea really wanted Garv to host a night to show off the fire pit. Interestingly enough, Andrea could not attend the shin dig that she was instrumental in cajoling. Attending the party were my friends (Cass and Ellen), Marc, Kelley, and Kerry. As usual, it was a fun time, if you throw out the part of where I got lost driving to Garv and Leeann's. I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquergue. Oops. Regardless, it was a fun time even if most of my time was spent with the ever active Briana.

Sunday: Completing my Marc and Kerry weekend was breakfast at Stars on Hingham Harbor in... Hingham. As usual, the food there was delicious. Truth be told, I was not even sure if I were supposed to go to breakfast that Sunday. Originally, Karen told me that her, Kerry and my friend (Jen) were meeting there for breakfast. Thus, I wasn't sure if it were a girls' thing or not. Luckily for me, Marc was also invited (on Saturday night). So I figured it was an open invite. Needless to say, the food was delicious as usual, and it was good to hang out and see Jen.

Following breakfast, Karen, Briana, Bridget, and I went to my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine) to celebrate my nephew's (PJ) birthday. The theme for the party was sharks. It was an interesting party. I'll leave it at that. I've never been good at being fake around people, especially people who I may have grudges against. I usually don't hold grudges, but sometimes I just can't let it go when it relates to my son (Braden) who passed away. Luckily for me, I don't have to see them all that often.

Yesterday: Last night, Marc and Kelley had us over for our usual weekly get together. Joining in on the fun were Andrea and Kerry. We basically just hung out and had some laughs. One of the topics of conversation that came up was my stellar fashion sense. For those who don't know, I will wear something until it literally falls apart. I've never been big into clothes as evident from my t-shirt/shorts attire. The topic came about because I was wearing a t-shirt that is older than most teenagers. Eventually, that led to my regimen of wearing certain dress clothes on certain days... which only has been restarted since my current employer has a business casual dress code. It should be noted that I dislike dress codes. After all, I'm a t-shirt and shorts type of guy.

Anyway, all of that has led to today where my daughters had to get a flu shot. Too bad I suck at flu shots. In fact, I suck so badly that I have never had a flu shot as an adult. Yes, I put a hefty price on my antibodies.

Needless to say, Bridget was not a fan at all of the shot as she immediately started crying. Briana, on the hand, was one tough cookie. The needle didn't faze her at all. So in celebration of flu shots (Yay flu shots), we went out to Bertucci's in Hingham for dinner.

And it was not until I went to the bathroom at Bertucci's did I realize... I had a big gaping tear in my dress pants. The tear was from the inseam across one of the butt cheeks. I have no idea how long the tear was there. The pants were fine this morning. The pants were fine when I got home. Either the tear happened at the doctors' office or at Bertucci's. Either way, I'm sure someone got a nice look at my styling boxers. Good thing I wasn't going commando.

Anyway, I got a good chuckle when I got home to see just how big the gaping hole was. I guess now I can introduce a new pair of pants into my stylish wardrobe routine for work.

I Suck At Stars On Hingham Harbor

My BFF (Kerry) threw together some plans for tonight. That plan: Stars on Hingham Harbor for dinner. Now, I suck at Stars on Hingham Harbor. I haven't been there in quite some time. For that matter, I haven't seen Kerry in some time so my status as BFF may be in jeopardy.

Luckily for me, today also happened to be Quincy's annual Flag day parade. Because Karen is a huge fan of parades, she took our kids with her to the parade to meet up with our friend (Jen). And probably because this weekend is Father's Day weekend, I actually had a choice about attending the parade this year.

I have never been a fan of parades. For me, the most interesting part of a parade is the end. Just kidding. There are certain things I enjoy about parades: bagpipes and horses. If there were a parade simply of horses and bagpipes, I might be inclined to go. Needless to say, I opted not to go to Quincy's flag day parade this year.

And truth be told, as selfish as it sounds, I actually needed some "me" time. Don't get me wrong. I love my kids. Taking care of children can just get too much at times. So I appreciated the break that Karen provided for me.

Attending the "all" Stars dinner were my friends (Marc, Kelley) and Kerry's coworker/friend (Sam, short for Samantha). It was a nice surprise to see "I love [insert anything here]" Sam. She cracks me up, probably because she loves any and everything. Although apparently, I found out today that she does not like yogurt or blueberries.

Anyway, dinner was good as usual. I had the Thanksgiving Turkey Burger. It was good. Someday I'll try the food challenge... someday. Nevertheless, it was definitely good to laugh and be silly with everyone. On an unrelated note, Kerry is a big fan of the fried pickles at Stars.

Speaking of Kerry, it turns out that the house she had made an offer to (back three weeks ago) declined her offer without making an counter offer. In fact, the sellers declined Kerry's subsequent offer as well without any counter offers. I got a chuckle when Kerry compared it to dating.

Following dinner, we went to Frozen Freddies in Quincy. Like on Thursday, I just couldn't get myself to get ice cream there. Kimball Farms in Westford... you've ruined my ice cream eating by being so delicious! Just kidding. For Sam, however, it was her first time. So it was fun going there with her for her first Frozen Freddies ice cream.

In fact, Sam learned a lot about Quincy today. Not only did she learn about Frozen Freddies, she learned about Quincy's Flag day parade and how the parade is one of the oldest ones in the country celebrating Flag day. Heck, she even got a little tour of Marc and Kelley's place... also in Quincy... after the ice cream excursion.

While at Marc and Kelley's, we simply hung out and had some more laughs while watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network. I thought the selection of television programming was an interesting choice since the group watching the show included someone who "loves" every type of food except yogurt and blueberries, someone who has a finite palate, someone who has gluten allergies, someone who is close to being a foodie, and me. I'll eat anything. I might not like it, but I'll eat it.

Anyway, some of the other topics of conversation that came up were Guy Fieri's real name (Guy Ferry), Anne Burrell being outed, Zooey Deschanel (who is "loved"), the Riddick sequel, and a documentary on South African children with AIDS. All in all, it was a fun and enjoyable time.

I Suck At Stars

This past Thursday was must see TV. Instead of Cosby or Seinfeld, Community is the show of choice. It was actually our planned get together with my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea). The plan was to convene at Andrea's for the night.

Karen and I, however, were actually running a little late for the shindig. We had taken a little detour to eat at Stars in Hingham. Now I suck at Stars. Not really. I love their food. I had the Blackened Bison burger. Yum!

Some day, I would love to try their food challenge known as the Challenger. I had inquired about the Challenger while I was there. Our friendly waitperson told us that they added more food to it (like the milk shake) because a fair amount of people were completing the original challenge of the two pound burger. Some day...

Anyway, the reason why we even ended up at Stars was because our two month old (Bridget) had a scheduled doctor's appointment late in the evening. So rather than trek on home to prepare dinner only to trek back out, we decided to just go out for dinner prior to heading over to chez Andrea.

As usual, seeing everyone on Thursday was fun. Sadly, I can't remember much from Thursday other than Andrea being forever 32. For anyone curious, she's not. All in all though, it was a fun night.

I Suck At Stars (Again)

On Christmas Eve, Karen, my twenty one month old daughter (Briana) and I continued an annual tradition and went out for breakfast. The location of that breakfast: Stars, located in Hingham. Now, I suck at Stars (again). After all, I had just eaten at Stars the night before because my friends (Marc and Kelley) organized a little outing. And it was not just any meal. It was dinner. So now I could return for breakfast!

Luckily for me, I was not the only one who had just been at Stars the night before. My BFF (Kerry) was also in attendance. The two of us just couldn't get enough of Stars. Also joining in on the annual tradition was my friend (Jen).

I'm not sure how the tradition started. I think the tradition began with just Karen, Kerry, Jen and my friend (Joanna) a long way back. I was fortunate to be invited the next year, and the rest is history. Sadly, Joanna could not come this year as airline tickets from Oregon, where she currently resides, to Boston are at an astronomical price right now. It's too bad because I definitely enjoy seeing Joanna. She just cracks me up with her stories. Perhaps that is also why I get a kick out of her brother's stories as well.

Anyway, Stars was delicious as usual. I ordered the chef's special pancakes, which were a surprise unless you really wanted to know what the surprise was before ordering. Needless to say, the pancakes were delicious. The surprise consisted of white and dark chocolate morsels with jimmies. Yum! Briana enjoyed them as well.

Speaking of my little minion, Briana, she got her first taste of video games at Stars. She did not actually play a video game. There is an old arcade game at Stars that has all of the old classics. The arcade game is complete with a joystick and a trackball. Essentially, you cycle through the classic games with the joystick and then play whichever game you choose.

Briana, in her infinitely curious nature, wanted to see what the arcade game was all about. So, I sat her on the chair in front of the game and let her cycle through the classic games using the joystick. I'll admit, there were some that I never even heard of. Needless to say, she enjoyed it. Daddy's girl!

Video game aside, that was the only thing I gave into with Briana much to the surprise of both Kerry and Jen. I get the feeling that everyone expects me to be wrapped around my little darling's finger. But nope.

Regardless, I had a fun time at Stars (again). Some of the topics of discussion included smokers and the propensity for the smell of smoke to get into clothes. Kerry, in particular, leaves her clothes outside when visiting her mother to avoid getting the smell of smoke in her clothes. Naturally, that got me thinking that I should play a practical joke on Kerry by asking my friend (Gretchen) to steal her clothes the next time she visits her mother. For anyone curious, Gretchen lives near Kerry's mother.

Anyway, Stars was a great time. The food was delicious and it was good to hang out with just Jen and Kerry.

I Suck At Stars

Tonight, I had a long overdue night out with my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea) and my BFF (Kerry). Don't get me wrong, I see most of them on a weekly basis. I just don't get many opportunities to hang out with them by myself. Luckily for me, tonight was one of those nights as Marc and Kelley planned a night out at Stars located in Hingham. (Stars has a gluten free menu.) Plus, my BFF would be there which is always a good thing.

Too bad I suck at Stars. Stars has a martini called "Mommy's night out". I decided to try it because they were out of their pumpkin pie martini. Bummer because I was looking forward to the pumpkin pie. Needless to say, "Mommy's night out" was an okay drink... as girly drinks go. I was actually wondering why it's called "Mommy" and not "Daddy"... or "Parent's"... because I do a heck of a lot of things for my twenty one month old daughter, even when Karen is not sick or pregnant or both. Parent discrimination. Why, I would even go so far as to say I do a heck of a lot of things for Karen. Yes ladies, I'm quite the catch. Just kidding.

Regardless, I had a blast tonight and not just because I was able to imbibe my friend known as alcohol. Like I said, it was good to see Kerry again. For Andrea and I, it was particularly gratifying because we both received gifts from Kerry. We each received Dillon High School Football t-shirts. Go Panthers! For anyone curious, the t-shirts are a reference to Friday Night Lights, which was a television show that the three of us watched.

Anyway, it was fun hanging out together. Among the things that came up in discussion were "Geek Love", a television show about geeks doing speed dating at the NYC comic con; "Community"; and new BFFs.

The speed dating geekfest at the comic con reminded me of my original suggestion to Kerry that she should attend one to find a guy. Granted, I originally suggested a Star Trek convention, but a comic book convention works even better since it's not so specific. Like I try to tell her, geeks will treat a woman right (unless you get that ubergeek who thinks he's above the other geeks).

Needless to say, Kerry was not so keen on the idea. Hence, the topic of finding a new BFF... after other topics of who she would dress up as for the comic book convention and all of that. Yeah, she wasn't going for the costume, especially when the costume involved fishnet stockings.

All in all, it was a fun time. I'm glad I had the opportunity to unwind tonight.

I Suck At Roasted Potatoes

On Saturday, Karen and I began our day with a memorial service in Hingham. The memorial service was for the spouse of my former friend's mother (Peggy). (I say former because my friend passed away.) I can imagine that it must be difficult for Peggy. After all, she has lost her only son and her husband all within five or six years.

Nevertheless, the service was good. The last time I was at the church (The Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist) where the service was held was for the memorial of Peggy's son. And prior to that, it was for Peggy's wedding 14 years ago.

If there can be anything "interesting" from a memorial, it's seeing familiar teachers of yore. (Did I mention that Peggy was a teacher at the high school I attended?) Having not seen a teacher for quite some time... and then seeing then now... is an odd feeling. You sometimes wonder if those teachers remember you the way you remember them.

Anyway, a bunch of friends were at the service too. Attending were Sam (who flew in from Virginia), Jeannette and her son, Nicole, Meredith, Garv and Leeann, and my BFF (Kerry). I think Peggy was ecstatic to see all of us there, which was nice.

And for anyone curious, Jeannette's son (Sam) is very good for a four month old. He didn't cry, scream... anything during the service. He did manage to put three of my fingers in his mouth though. Other than that, he didn't make a peep. He was good... possibly the envy of all parents who have a four month old.

Following the service, Kerry headed back to our house. My friend (Andrea) had planned a little get together for the night. As we had time before the big shindig, the three of us decided to catch a couple of episodes of Veronica Mars. Slowly, we're making it through the third and final season. Too bad it takes us awhile to watch the episodes. Remembering what happened in previous episodes is sometimes tough. Nonetheless, it was fun.

Eventually, it was time for Andrea's shindig. Her get together consisted of her self proclaimed famous dinner: chicken and potatoes. Originally, she had debated about whether to make roasted potatoes or mashed potatoes. Rather than make one or the other, she made both. (She also made asparagus and rolls too... and a trifle for dessert.)

And might I add, this dinner was pretty hyped up by Andrea. For those who know me, they know about my feelings on hyped up things. With all the fanfare, there naturally is some lofty expectations. Needless to say, Andrea delivered. Her dinner was absolutely delicious. (I probably should not be surprised because everything that I have had from Andrea has been delicious.)

I think my favorite dish was the roasted potatoes. Too bad I suck at roasted potatoes. I must have eaten a whole lot of them. Truth be told, I probably could have eaten just the roasted potatoes and been happy.

Needless to say, dinner at Andrea's was great. Besides Karen, Kerry and I, my friends (Jen and Hot Amy), and Hot Amy's significant other (Mark) were able to attend the dinner. I think they enjoyed the dinner too.

I'm pretty sure Kerry enjoyed the "bread in a can". Speaking of Kerry, it turns out that her favorite U.S. currency is the quarter. That was an interesting fact that was discovered for the night. I did not know people had a favorite currency. Who knew? Among other interesting facts are that the favorite numbers of Andrea, Jen and Kerry are 8, 21 and 2 (or 5... hence the quarter) respectively. Favorite colors are red, blue and purple for Jen, Kerry, and Hot Amy respectively. And Mark apparently is not a sanitation engineer (or so he claims)... not that there is anything wrong with that.

Anyway, it was a fun time at Andrea's. Following dinner, Jen, Karen and I then headed off to Stars in Hingham. On Christmas Eve, the three of us and Kerry had discovered that Stars was having an ugly holiday sweater party. Everyone seemed pretty excited about the party (except for me). So we figured we'd give it a try.

(Picture below is Jen in her ugly sweater.)


Joining us at Stars were my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) and my favorite brother-in-law (PJ). The place was packed... and cold. Nevertheless, it was a fun time. Jen even won a free t-shirt for having such an ugly sweater. And for anyone curious, I thought the band (The Smoking Jackets) was great. The band covered a bunch of songs that you wouldn't normally think would be covered at a bar... like Dancing Queen by ABBA... or the Safety Dance by Men Without Hats. Based on the turnout for the ugly holiday sweater party, I would probably suggest the idea to my friend (Garv) for his bar (Blue-22). But, I'm pretty sure he would pretend to jot the idea down in his hand, crumple the piece of paper, and toss it over his shoulder.

I Suck At Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve went by very quickly. (Unfortunately, I suck at Christmas Eve.)

The day started off with breakfast at Stars, located in Hingham. For the past several years, Karen, my BFF (Kerry), my friend (Jen) and I would meet and have breakfast together. Occasionally, our friend (Joanna) who currently lives in Oregon would also join us. I guess you could say that Christmas Eve breakfast is pretty much a tradition now.

As usual, breakfast was delicious. The food at Stars is simply amazing. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) It helps that I was pretty hungry too when I arrived. I think I ate my breakfast, part of Karen's breakfast, and part of Kerry's breakfast. All in all, it was definitely fun to hang out with Jen and Kerry. One of the benefits of hanging out with a smaller group of people is that things seem more connected and involved. I feel that people can talk more among each other regardless of the shape or size of the table (square, rectangle, circle, etc.)

It's not that I dislike hanging out with larger groups of people. Larger groups allow seeing more friends at a given point in time. That is always a benefit. Conversations, however, are sometimes disjointed within a larger group because not everyone is involved in the same conversation. It's only natural group dynamics.

So needless to say, with the holidays and all, it was good to start off Christmas Eve with Jen and Kerry. Of course, after breakfast I was simply stuffed. To work off my fullness, Karen and I began tidying up our house as we were hosting dinner for the night. I don't think I have ever cleaned and vacuumed so much within a given day. It seemed like the chores never ended.

Plus, I was cooking dinner for everyone. So that is always stressful... hoping that the food comes out edible. I don't know how mothers used to do it in the past. It simply is a lot of work. Hats off to all those mothers.

Anyway, I was cooking something that I've never cooked before: ham. In truth, ham is actually pretty easy to cook because it is already... cooked. I simply had to heat it up in the oven and pour a glaze over it.

Needless to say, I think the ham came out okay. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Karen and I have been hosting Christmas Eve dinner for my parent and Karen's parents for awhile now. It's usually a small gathering, but the night is always open to any and all friends who want to stop by.

In the past, Jen and her brother (Bill) would stop by. Karen's grandparents sometimes stopped by. My friends (Marc and Kelley) have been stopping by the past few years. My BFF (Kerry) always tries to stop by, but can never make it due to her family obligations. Other friends have sporadically stopped by.

But all in all, Christmas Eve went by very quickly. I think everyone had a great time. I certainly did. The only downside of the entire day was our treadmill. Apparently our treadmill died. I was very disheartened by that. But, I am hoping to get it fixed. I just don't know how yet.

I Suck At Stars

last night, karen and i had plans to go to stars located in hingham. apparently, my friend (hot amy) wanted some of her friends to meet the new man in her life. so, she thought that we could meet him over dinner at stars. now i suck at stars.

i do enjoy the food at stars. sadly, i was not too hungry during dinner. a few hours before dinner, karen and i were experimenting with creating spring rolls. karen's family and i had learned how to make spring rolls courtesy of my mom a few weeks ago. as i was thinking about making spring rolls for the photo scavenger hunt that i am planning for next week, i decided to have a quick test run this weekend. it so happened that the test run was a few hours before dinner.

needless to say, the spring rolls were not as good as my mother's. since speaking to my mother on the phone, my mother has reassured me that they will get better the more and more i practice making them. that is not to say the spring rolls were terrible. the spring rolls were actually pretty good. my friend (andrea), who was in the neighborhood of the derby shoppes in hingham stopped by to give us a ride to stars. andrea actually had a spring roll and liked it.

in fact, andrea must have liked the spring roll enough to have ordered it as her meal at stars. i had the chicken salad wrap with cranberries and walnuts. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.)

anyway, the three of us met hot amy's new man over dinner. in an effort to get to know him even further, karen invited everyone back to our place to hang out. we didn't exactly do much at our place.

the thrilling night consisted of playing ddr (dance dance revolution) to which i might add... was quite interesting. for anyone curious, andrea is not a big dancer. of course, having her not know how to play ddr may also make her dislike dancing that much more. she did, however, finally realize how to play the game... and from there here natural competitive nature took over.

speaking of andrea's competitive nature, we played a few rounds of the game "boggle" following ddr. i have not played boggle in quite some time. i have played "scramble" on facebook many times... although i have not played that recently. i probably should do more on facebook. anyway, boggle was also interesting... especially with andrea's new found vocabulary. apparently, "ted" is actually a word.

from there, we finished off the night with some carvel ice cream cake. andrea and i stopped off at the local stop and shop near our house to pick up the easter bunny carvel ice cream cake. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound... again.) i love ice cream. i could eat ice cream all day. i once ate a whole quart of ice cream for lunch when i worked at state street bank... ah the good o' days.

while we ate the ice cream, we hung out and watched ice skating. fun. it was actually funny when one of the ice skaters fell down. i should clarify that. it was not funny that the ice skater fell down. it was funny that everyone's reaction in the room was basically "oooooooh!".

anyway, i hope we didn't scare off hot amy's new man too badly. i guess we'll see.

I Suck At Stars

last night, karen and i went out for dinner with my friends (jen, hot amy and andrea). the place that we ate at: stars located in hingham. now, i suck at stars.

earlier in the day, jen had sent out a text message asking if any of us were around. for awhile, everyone has had busy schedules. so finding a night and getting everyone together has been difficult. for example, one night would work for some, but not all... etc. as it so happens, the stars (no pun intended) were aligned last night.

none of us had any plans last night, except my bff (kerry) who was meeting her friend (becky) in town for a late lunch/early dinner. kerry told us that she would meet up with us afterwards if we were still interested.

so, jen, hot amy, andrea, karen and i had dinner at stars without kerry. i have not had dinner at stars in quite some time. i believe the last time i had dinner at stars was the time jen, kerry, karen, and my friend (joanna) went there on christmas eve as we could not make it there for our usual breakfast.

needless to say, the food at stars was delicious. i had the tuna melt. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) one of the benefits of having dinner with a group of women is that i inevitably get to eat some of everyone else's food. i had some of karen's cranberry chicken salad wrap, some of hot amy's sweet potato fries, and some of andrea's chocolate brownie. i'm not complaining of course.

in addition to the extra food, i imbibed on a "20-ni" and a "very berry martini", both of which are very manly with their bright looking colors (red and blue respectively). for anyone curious, the "20-ni" is a martini in celebration of the fact that stars has been in business for 20 years. i did not realize that fact, even though the number 20 was posted everywhere in the restaurant... on the staff shirts... everywhere.

anyway, it was a good time at stars. all of us were seated at a circular table for dinner... so the stars must have been aligned.

I Suck At Stars

this morning, karen and i went to stars located in hingham for breakfast. our friends (jen and joanna) and my bff (kerry) also joined us for breakfast at stars. now, i suck at stars. i'm actually fortunate enough to even be invited to go to stars.

i'm not exactly sure how the tradition started. for quite some time now, the five of us have usually gotten together on christmas eve for a quick bite to eat... whether it be breakfast or lunch. this morning was no different. as stars was the usual breakfast place the past few years, we decided to go to stars again this year. (i think in the past, we may have gone to grumpy white's at one time. as my memory is not the greatest, i can't confirm that.)

anyway, it was great seeing everyone. i very rarely see joanna because she normally lives in oregon. it seems like every time i do see her (which is once a year around this time), she looks different. today, her hair was quite long... probably the longest i have ever seen. joanna simply cracks me up.

i think her comment this morning about underwear was quite hysterical. basically, the topic of underwear came up during breakfast and how kids these days sometimes wear underwear with the word "juicy" across the back. well, as joanna pointed out... women's derriere's should not be... juicy... because that then would be a symptom of other problems. needless to say, for anyone eavesdropping... we must have sounded quite old... complaining about underwear.

as usual, breakfast at stars was good. i had the hearty breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, and pecan/raisin toast. (i don't think i've ever had pecan/raisin bread... ever.) and i may have had some of kerry's blueberry pancakes as well. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) stars also had this drink called a "sunrise" which consisted of grey goose vodka, orange juice, champagne, and some energy drink... surprisingly, it was good as well.

anyway, i had a good time at stars this morning. good food and good company makes me happy. although, i did feel somewhat bad today. karen and i do not normally exchange gifts with kerry, jen, and joanna. today, however, jen gave karen and i a little present. it was nice... a santa pooping candy for me... a pig pooping candy for karen. i felt bad because i did not get anything for jen.

and actually, kerry also gave all of us a container of cookies. kerry loves to bake. if kerry could own a bakery, she probably would. it is almost a tradition now that all of us receive a container of cookies from kerry on christmas eve.

it was nice to receive presents from kerry and jen. at the same time, i also feel bad because i did not get either of them a little something this year. after all, they have been there for both karen and i. perhaps i will have to work on that for next year...