Furry and Festive

It was the second annual no-parameters tie contest. That's what I call it anyway. My husband's work Christmas party has had a tie contest two years in a row. And that's all the details they give. It's just....a tie contest. Last year my brother-in-law won with a bow tie which he had tied himself. Impressive, sure. But come on...you can learn anything on YouTube. I'm just sayin'.

This year I was determined to at least put my husband in the runnings. But there was one problem. I had nothing to wear. And obviously, finding something for me to wear is more important than an accessory for my husband. I spent a few hours on Saturday rummaging through the clearance section at Target (I know, cheapness is a weakness) and found a handful of shirts that I deemed acceptable. Until of course, I tried them on. Back on the rack they went! And it was then that I realized I could probably find a shirt to wear at home, but honestly, the only pair of pants that fits me right now (eh hem, I just had a baby, remember?) is a pair of jeans. And well, jeans were out. I scurried through thoughts of fabrics I had at home and tried to decide if I had the time and talent to make myself a quick skirt.

I opted for 'yes'.

So the afternoon was spent sitting in front of the sewing machine and pretending I have far more knowledge of sewing than I actually do. Somehow I made it work and I finished my skirt with an hour to spare!

Thus began the tie-making.

Actually, the tie was quite easy. I thought of it while I was rushing through Target and just knew it would be perfect! I grabbed a piece of furry fabric that I use for my newborn shoots, borrowed one of my husband's ties, and traced the shape with the scissors. As soon as it was cut, I knew it was a masterpiece.

Am I sounding conceited? Sorry. It's just that I'm just a little excited about the whole thing. After all, I totally would have applauded anyone else who came up with this idea too!

I brought the tie to my husband who was just finishing up shaving his face. He laughed as he announced the verdict: "Awesome."

Being the 24-year old that I am, I have a little bit of college-age style in me. I don't always let this style come out since I feel like, as a mother of four, I'm for some reason not allowed. But I threw caution to the wind and paired my red tights with my green and black outfit. We left for the party seriously in style. Well....at least, in my style.

We had a great time and my husband did win the tie contest. We can't wait to try out this game!

Shortly following the announcement of the tie contest, the door prizes began. Somehow we had wound up with 9 tickets instead of the 2 everyone else got. We didn't steal them, I promise. I never win anything, so I was thrilled when my number was drawn. I walked up to claim my prize, a large flat object. I hardly had time to begin opening it when another one of our numbers was drawn. Since we were each only allowed to win once, I quickly passed the ticket to another woman at the table. She handed it to her husband and as he got up to claim "his" prize, I jokingly stated, "You know, I'm going to take the better of these two prizes, now don't you?"

When he sat down, we both opened our gifts. Mine was a $100 gift certificate to Fogo de Chao, a very nice, very expensive Brazilian steakhouse downtown. Theirs was a Canon point and shoot camera. As it turned out, they had been wanting to try out Fogo de Chao and I had just mentioned to Daniel that I really needed to get a new point and shoot camera. Perfect! We swapped and I came home with this little beauty:

All in all, we felt pretty blessed. And we really had a great time. I mean, yes, after being dragged onto the floor, I did endure a short awkward dance with an extremely drunk Australian whose wine breath I could literally taste while he expressed to me the fact that my husband was very sexy. (Not that I could argue.) But all things considered, it was a great evening!

P.S. Don't worry about the dancing. :)