Christmas Comparisons

It's funny how where you work can dictate the quality of your Christmas party. For instance, Scott is a public servant and his Christmas party was held at a Keg in Calgary (a nice one), and his food and beverage were his fiscal responsibility. A highlight was the free baked goods provided by a coworker!!! In comparison, corporate Katie works for an equipment manufacture which provides equipment to the Oil & Gas industry. Her Christmas party included round trip flights to LAX, two night's accommodation at the Queen Mary Hotel in Long Beach, all meals, and a new portable DVD player. Guess whose organization ISN'T accountable to the tax payers?!!!

A highlight while in LA was the formal Christmas Dinner in Beverly Hills at Fogo De Chao (http://www.fogodechao.com/), a Brazilian BBQ that puts Alberta steak houses to shame. Dinner begins with a salad bar (which if you are smart you will avoid all together leaving room for what's to come!). The next course is a parade of BBQ'd skewered meat (18 varieties) which they bring to the table and slice directly from the skewers the meat was BBQ'd on. This process doesn't stop until you turn your place card from green to red. 20oz's of meat later they roll you out the door to your valet parking. *Star Sighting* Bob Newhart had dinner a few tables away from our group!

Our stay at the Queen Mary was significant since Scott's grandma and his mom as a child sailed to Canada on the Queen Mary when it was being used as a passenger transport ship at the end of WWII. Apparently the ship is haunted, but we'll only believe this if the ghosts are honeymooners, in the next room, since we didn't hear anything else ALL night long!!! We enjoyed exploring the ship and imagining where Grandma Horrill had spent her time while crossing the Atlantic.

Regardless of where you celebrate your Christmas party, the important thing to remember is to enjoy the time and people that you are with. Everything else is just unbelievable tender and tasty meat!!!