UMTravels

For the first time in years I’m actually around for the annual Faerie Gift Grab! Rules: everyone brings a wrapped present. They all go on a table in the middle of the room — someone starts by taking a present (this year I foolishly picked my nose which was taken for raising a hand to start) and unwrapping it. The person to the right then has the choice of your present (in this case, a tennis racket) or one of the unopened ones. Gifts can be “stolen” up to three times. There is the usual trading afterwards for pieces and parts — I traded the really long bow off my tennis racket for a Joe Jonas “Shane” briefcase:

Won’t I look hot going through the airport with that! So much more subdued than my current laptop bag:

I did get one other item as a result of the gift grab… a UtiliKilt that Wonderful found for $5.00 in a thrift store (oddly enough in the women’s section)… brand new — if he’d sold it on e-bay it would have gone for upwards of a hundred. Not my favorite color (military green), but with my kick ass belt/buckle it looks pretty good:

Dinner tonight was with Alicia and Deven who are up from the Bay Area. Appetizer was the salmon stuffed backed brie wrapped in puff pastry from last week… saffron rice, broiled black cod (very rich), and stir fried green onions and baby bok choy with lemongrass and chili peppers. Yum. Martinis before, Saké with, Grappa after.

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