Christmas Fun!

Hi! I've been MIA for a few days because of the holiday! My mother and I had a great time here in NYC! I have to show you guys the presents that my 7 year old niece, Grace, got for me. She picked them out herself (her parents didn't even know what she gave me) and wrapped everything up for me to take home over Thanksgiving. Seriously, the girl has excellent taste and I will fully be rocking this look in 2010! (Maybe not at work, but that's just maybe. . . ) :)

LOVE! How cute is this?!? :)

Even cuter was the way she wrapped it. . . Not sure if you can read the tag. . it says: "To: Aunt Cathrien From: Grace ho ho ho merry boatatos"! This relates to a few hours that we spent over Thanksgiving singing up made-up songs about potatoes -- too funny!

For Christmas dinner, my mom and I went to The Standard Grill, which is the fab restaurant in The Standard Hotel. . .

Check out the Dalmatian Santa cap on the guy behind me. . .

Cute pic of my mother

I kept the meal pretty sensible and band-friendly on the whole. . . starting with a ridiculously good cauliflower soup. . . with a poached farm egg, covered by trout roe . . and sliced toasted almonds on top. I normally wouldn't get cauliflower anything, but it was the only soup on the menu. Glad I did though! It was surprisingly delicious!

This photo does not do my organic salmon justice!!

And then. . . . INSANITY ENSUED!!! We had the CRAZIEST dessert that I have ever seen in my entire life! It's called The Deal Closer. Warning!!! Food porn follows!! Warning!!!

The only "deal" this could close is putting your dining companion in a sugar coma!

Me, catching my first glimpse (I know. . I look a little crazy-eyed, right?!) :) :)

Mom, looking like a kid on Christmas morning!!

This dessert is a giant bowl of delicious chocolate mousse, with bits of cake in it . . covered with chocolate shavings and fresh whipped cream. WHAT?!?! OMG, was it good! And, you'll be proud to know that I did not overdo it (er, to the extent that even having one bite of this thing could qualify as not overdoing it. . ). I had one spatula's worth of the mousse, a few bites of the ice cream and stopped before I made myself ill! :)

It just dawned on me that this was an NSV of sorts. When I was heavier, I would NEVER have allowed myself to get a gluttonous dessert like this in public. . especially not at a chic restaurant with hot waiters. . . But now that I feel like I am not looking like a fat person anymore, I was able to order it and really enjoy it! And, the fact that I didn't gorge myself on it was also an NSV, since this dessert clearly goes right on down the band.

Did you notice that they served it with two spatulas?! Crazy!!

While the scale hasn't moved downward, it hasn't gone up either, so I'm feeling pretty good about that. I hope that I'll get the next pound off some time in the next two weeks. . .

I hope all of you had a happy and healthy holiday!! Am looking forward to catching up on everyone's blogs!