Christmas Party in the Gondola

Christmas time is upon us and it's quite a different feeling than we are used to.  No matter where we have lived in the US, we have always had snow and winter during Christmas.  There will be no white christmas for us this year (except for my annual viewing of the title movie, of course!) given that we will be in the middle of summer when December 25th rolls around.

The PwC Christmas party was located at the Christchurch Gondola.  We got to ride a cable car up to the top of the hill and were treated to amazing views. I tried to take some pictures on my phone but my crappy Blackberry wouldn't cooperate through the glass windows.  I'll try and steal some from someone at work and post later!

In preparation for the big night, I decided I needed a new dress. I have't shopped much here (hard to believe, I know) and I really wanted to wear a long dress and I don't have any cocktail type dresses that are floor length.  So, I asked my friend Quynh (See her in my "Off to the Races" post last month) where I should go to buy a dress.  She kindly gave me the name of her favorite store, Forever New, and off I went on Saturday morning in search of a dress.  

I found two dresses that were LDS suitable and fit pretty nicely. I opted for the more summery dress over the black one since it has been so lovely and sunny outside.  Later that evening, I got all dolled-up, even curling my hair, literally dragged Brian out of the house and off we went.  Brian wasn't feeling super great so we didn't do too much mingling prior to dinner.  

As we were sitting at our table, I spotted Quynh at the bar getting some drinks. She was wearing a beautiful pink and white dress - exactly the same as mine!!!  Well, I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised since we bought our dresses at the same store and we are friends.  But seriously, what is the luck?  And of course she is much skinnier than me but such is life.  We took a little picture of us together.  At least I had to wear a jacket, so it differentiated ourselves a little bit - but everyone pointed it out.  It was pretty funny.

We are set to be great bridesmaids if anyone at work gets married!

We didn't stay too long after dinner because Brian was unwell, but I had a really nice time. They did some awards meant as jokes for people around the office.  The awards are meant to be embarrassing or make light of funny things that have happened during the year.  Happily, I was not subjected to any such humiliation but I got a laugh over some of the awards.  It's amazing what people can get away with over here.  The emcees prefaced the awards ceremony with the qualification that anything potentially offensive is only meant in fun. Even with that qualification, I'm pretty sure the entire office would have been sent to one of those seminars where you learn to be sensitive to others and what not to say in the workplace had we been in the US.  It was crazy!!!

The last picture is of me as we rode the cable car back down the hill.  It was a really beautiful night and you could see all the way across the valley.  Of course, the BB picture is terrible, but trust me - it was a breathtaking view!