Holiday Fun

LFG and I have now declared the Christmas Season to be in full swing. We hope that you had as fun and festive a weekend as we did. After weeks of weather that kept us confused about how to dress, we finally have winter weather. This was a Barbour-Cordings-LL Bean-RM Williams weekend for certain.

We began Friday evening with LFG and her Cotillion minions reveling at their special Holiday Soiree. Typical I suppose of a nine year old little gal’s nature, LFG didn’t want me to come early and take tons of pictures-you know-like I wanted to do.

I missed her so much this week and was so excited to see her-having heard her tell me on the phone how pretty her special dress was. So I decided to dress up a bit just to go and pick her up. Flusser gray flannel trousers, Ralph cordovan tassels and a camel hair sportcoat.

 LFG and her Cotillion carpool buddy DB looked stunning as usual. LFG told me about a boy “who was shorter than me daddy and had sweaty hands and couldn’t dance”. Sounds just like your daddy when he was in Cotillion honey.

We dropped DB off and LFG and I headed to …. You guessed it….Cactus Cantina for our Friday night date. “Daddy I’m overdressed”…the girly stuff is manifesting full force. I told her that she would be a little show stopper and she was. Ok, ok…I’m biased.

Home by nine and we are both exhausted. Time for LFG to slip into her new cupcake flannel pjs.

The ten minute walk to the south wing of Casa Minimus.A little dose of telly and we are both headed to bed in short order. Big Saturday coming up. We’ve got the Scottish Walk-LFG Tree Trimming Party and finally, the Parade of Lights Saturday night.

LFG's little dress hanging amidst books, a Richard Merkin New Yorker cover and a model that LFG and I built of Richard Petty's #43 Ford-the year he defected from Plymouth. I told you we were rednecks. Shut up.

LFG's little sweater and the pleated-open patch pocket of my Flusser camel hair sportcoat. Three-two roll and a deviation from my usual peak lapel.

Saturday morning sees us with rainy-snowy precip in Old Town. Just above freezing by one degree so the cold slush is bone chilling. We’ve got Barbour-Cordings tweed cap-Flusser silk scarf and other accoutrement to gird us from the cold.

RM Williams boots on my feet and LFG has those ghastly green Uggs that I’ve long since become weary of seeing. Remember these green things? They won’t last the day. Thankfully.

Nothing like a parade to lift your spirits. The Scottish Walk was predictably briefer this year due to the weather. The Scottish organizations are proud though and for the most part, they showed up and regaled in style.

Santa always concludes the Scottish Walk-ambulating on the litter of a vintage Fire Engine.

LFG had a tree trimming party which gave me a three hour window to enjoy the weather and do a bit of shopping. The neighborhood are finally showing some winter signs.

We had zero extra time to get back to Old Town for the Parade of Lights but LFG’s Uggs were soaked with muddy-icy-snowy gunk and we had no other boots. I think we might have set a world record for stopping at Rack Room Shoes and buying little snow boots and socks. In and out…fifteen minutes max. Twenty bucks…why pay more? She’s gonna outgrow them in a week-that is if they survive that long.

We lasted for about twenty minutes as the boats were announced-floating past the city dock in Old Town. Union Street Pub is two hundred yards away and they have what we want. Shirley Temples-Stoli-comfort food. It’s all good.

Gumbo for me…not as good as mine but pretty darned warming after our long day.

Baked Ziti for the Pootist. She's tired.

It was shocking to see Carlos Santa working at Union Street Pub. I was certain that his career was flourishing but in this economy you never know. Little Carlos was bussing tables and seemed happy to have the work.

LFG declared that we needed a new ornament or two for our tree and the Christmas Shop is right next door to Union Street Pub. It’s always fun to walk through the shop during Christmas. I don’t know how they stay in business during the off season. Who buys nutcrackers in July? Who buys nutcrackers any time?

“Look daddy, it’s Darth Cracker” LFG declared. We both agreed that a Darth Vader nutcracker just didn’t seem right. “Darth Cracker”. Sounds to me like a white boy from Effingham South Carolina who’s seen too many Star Wars movies.

Wet boots off. Slippers on.

Sunday sees us out the door to procure out Christmas Tree. These beat up khakis manifest my newest sartorial randomosity-the Unicuff. One cuff. You'll be wearing some just like these in no time. Shut Up-with LL Bean bluchers.

LFG wanted a train to circumnavigate our tree this year. She got one.

These pictures are not blurry-it’s my new artistic lens through which I snap images when all I have handy is my phone camera. Shut up and Happy Holidays.

Onward. ADG and LFG