December

The holidays have begun.

So has the season of baking, celebrating, and partying. I think in the past two weeks, the group has had a handful of get-togethers. I have made three batches of cookies (chocolate chip, heath bar, and brownie). Last night was R's birthday and I made wonton chicken cups. It's that time.

The holidays can be a hard time to be away from home. I hit my one-year at Post two weeks ago and it is amazing how fast time flies. Today we were decorating the CGR for the Christmas party next week, and I kept saying, "Last year we had the kids do this..." and "When we had the party last year..." I couldn't believe that I was one of the longest-standing people at post when in that group of people. A resident Shenyang expert? Maybe.

As I mentioned last year, the season is a great time to be in a small community like ours. Nothing brings people together like being away from our families. To be honest, I've created a family of sorts here among my friends. I feel such a tight connection with the people here that I can't imagine leaving in one year. True, many of the people here now will already have departed post, but there will be the people who have just recently arrived that I will have to say goodbye to. I can't imagine the tears!

~
Last weekend was completely splendid. Saturday I spent at the gym and around the apartment during the day, putting together some things for Christmas gifts. In the evening, I joined a group of people from the Consulate at a new Indian restaurant opening. Good restaurants in Shenyang are few, and when we find favorites, it's great to give them our business. Pakwaan, an Indian restaurant that we often order from for lunch, opened a new shop across from the consulate district (coincidence? Me thinks not). They had their opening last Saturday night and it was a great success. I guarantee that we'll be heading there for lunch more often now.

Sunday was a day of relaxing. In the morning, A and I went over the BFF's to make breakfast (bacon and pancakes, in that order) and watch the Pacquiao/Marquez fight together with the husband and an out-of-town guest. I'm not a fan of boxing (typically) and I wasn't really looking forward to the fight. But boy -- was it an interesting match!! What athletes!! What muscle structure!! What a knockout!! With a broken nose, Marquez landed a TKO punch against Pacquiao in the 5th Round that ended the match just as Pacquiao was heating up. Certainly brutal and hard to watch, but there was an impressive show of athleticism that I was not expecting.

After a nap and a shower, we headed back over to the BFF's for a cocktail party. The theme was "Elegant." I know how to do elegant. After channeling Holly Golightly, I headed over to enjoy some homemade cocktails, courtesy of their guest from London's mixology skillz. On the menu: ginger-infused martinis, lemongrass gin and tonic, a Chinese-style negroni, and more. It was a brilliant evening. There was brie. There was dancing. It was wonderful.

This weekend, we will have another get-together at the BFF's: a brustilli baking party. I plan on making a batch of my family's traditional People Puppy Chow (that I will try my hardest not to eat in one sitting). Sunday will be a snickerdoodle baking party at my place and then early in the week is the Consulate Christmas party. Time flies! It's 13 days until Christmas and I hope my presents get home in time for everyone to open them. I'm slowly accumulating a pile under my tree to open via Skype with my family. Plans are in the works for Christmas eve and Christmas day parties. What a season to be surrounded by friends who are basically family. In this holiday season, I don't have anything to complain about. My only wish is that I could spend it with my real family too, and then it would be the best of both worlds. <3