A Wild Week of so Much

One week to go and then my Christmas holiday starts! Two weeks OFF BABY! YEAH! I am trying to promise myself that I will take it easy, watch TV, relax, but we all know that is going to be impossible. Man, there is so much to write about! Let's get started! 

Sorry, will never get tired of the above gif. The new Ghostbusters was everything and the scene above is quite possible the coolest moment in film for a woman. Anyway... Last Thursday a friend of mine had a going away dinner. I stopped by her place for a quick drink and then we made our way to der Fuchs und die Trauben for the dinner. It was great to see friends, sad to say good bye to a dear friend and of course I over imbibed and so the next morning, I was feeling a taaaad delicate. I made it through the day, went home, went for a run to sweat out the rioja and then made my way to a friend's place for his birthday. There was an incredible spread of cheeses and the toilet had a theme: dinosaur disco. There were dinosaurs and glowsticks and a disco ball and Kylie Minogue playing... it was epic! We ate pizza, I nursed a glass of bubbly (switching it up with Sprite once in a while.. I know), met a lovely couple who are organizing a gala fundraiser in February which I will write about soon and then around midnight I had to head home to curl up in fetal position. Saturday morning I woke up feeling re-energized and I set the table, made food for the evening and watched  cartoons with the Kid. Around 3:30, I headed out to the first district to a pre-Christmas reception that a friend was hosting. 

MY GOD WAS THE FIRST DISTRICT A NIGHTMARE. I don't like crowds. I am short. I have no sense of direction. This is why I don't go to concerts. I elbowed my way to Der Grosse Baer (a jewelry shop in the 1st: check out their stuff because it is GORGEOUS! www.dergrossebaer.com/) and I was pleased as punsch (Gerglish pun, I am proud) to see a Gluehwein stand in the small courtyard. A friend was hosting the event and I was poured a liberal cup of Gluehwein and I was in my happy place. And to add to that, I was given two tickets for the Science Ball for the Autism in Vienna fundraiser and that is so incredibly generous and exciting! Please buy your tickets soon if you are planning on attending. I will be there and I will be dancing badly and saying inappropriate things to important people because that is how I roll. Another friend showed up at the Gluehwein party and we talked a little bit about Christmas and friends and then I had to pick up my battering ram and head to another location in the first.

My dear friend D.K. just turned 29 (you are welcome, D.K.) and we had planned to meet at the lovely little cocktail bar called Kleinod with another friend. I got there (scarred from the millions of shoppers) and ordered a cosmopolitan and my friend I chatted and caught up. The waiter placed a plate of meats and cheeses and crackers and I exclaimed "We didn't order this!!" and he responded with "I know. I just placed it there. Enjoy." and it was said with no humor at.all and gosh darn Vienna, don't you ever change. After a little while, our other friend showed up and we drank cocktails and chatted. At one point I looked over to the other table and spied a famous Viennese woman. I could not place her at first and blamed the cocktails until it came to me. She is a very famous Austrian politician. Not a huge fan but I was very proud of myself for being able to recognize someone from posters. It's a skill. Not all heroes wear capes. Cough.

After our drinks, we headed back to my place where the Kid flirted outrageously with both of my friends. He hadn't seen D.K. in a few months and he was overjoyed to see her. Whenever anybody writes a child with autism off as not having empathy or tangible emotions, I want to deck them. I put the Kid to bed and then we opened some wine and ate baked zitti, garlic bread and for dessert, a pecan pumpkin cobbler. Thank you, stretchy pants! After dinner I put on Love Actually and for 2 hours the noise level was at an all time high. "OMG! OMG! I LOVE THIS SCENE!!" "NO!! DON'T DO THAT CARL!" "STAHP ALAN RICKMAN STAHP" "I'M GOING TO CRY! ARE YOU GOING TO CRY? I'M GOING TO CRY" Oh did we cry. A little before midnight the film ended and I said good night to my friends and crawled into bed with visions of Colin Firth and Hugh Grant dancing in my head. The next morning I was worn out. Done-zo. Almost cancelled Christmas at the end of my tether feeling sorry for myself out. Of course I had a meeting at 10 in the morning so I had to put on a bra and brush my teeth. Just before I headed out, I received a message and NOOOOO!! the Santa for the Hard Rock Cafe event for children with special needs got the date wrong. He had showed up at the Hard Rock Cafe and was looking for me and I almost keeled over in despair. I apologized a bazillion times but he was totally fine with it.. I mean, he is Santa. He's not going to be a dick, right? Once the Santa emergency was sorted, I headed to the 16th district to pick up an awesome prize for the fundraiser. A friend gave me at least 3 dozen brand new t-shirts, totes and tank tops. They still have the tags on them and they are adorable and I am so so so grateful! Just a reminder: the Autism in Vienna Beacon Beach House Fundraiser is on January 18th! It will be a blast and I will be revealing more prizes soon so like totally come. Like, totally!

After I picked up the merchandise, I spent the majority of the day on the sofa, snuggling the Kid and checking out Pinterest for inspiration because I have now decided to make necklaces and bracelets for the fundraiser as well. These will be available for sale at the event and online... and by online I mean, I'll post pictures on Facebook and Instagram you just let me know if you want to buy one or 50 and I will mail them to you. On Monday afternoon, I headed to the cutest little jewelry craft shop and bought supplies. I am making beachy necklaces and bracelets and some of them will have an elephant charm on them. The Kid reminds me very much of an elephant in his demeanor (he is also cat-like but I am allergic) and I very much like that I can add a little something of the Kid to some of the designs. And on Monday night I made a necklace and watched Die Hard and it was the best evening ever!

On Tuesday I had an early start at work and then in the evening I dropped by a friend's place so that we could go out for dinner one last time before she leaves Vienna. I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS! We went to a lovely little place called Figar and I ordered mozzarella and rucola with healthy bread and I don't know what's wrong me either? We cried, we laughed and by 9 it was time for me to head home because this morning I had a muy importante meeting. A friend's husband put me in contact with a veddy veddy well-known PR guru a few weeks ago. I won't lie, I was nervous about this meeting. He has a fabulous office and I am all like "I made bracelets and shit." He was incredibly nice and I am so happy I didn't start off with "Well a leaked sex tape worked for the Kardashians AND Paris Hilton...soo.." No, I stayed professional until I pulled out my phone and exclaimed "Oh no, Alan Thicke died!" Yeah, well done, Tova. He gave me some terrific advice and I am looking forward to moving forward. I am so grateful to everybody who has taken the time to help out, donate and just be all around supportive of me on this epic journey. Thank you a million times over! I now must write some e-mails and look at stuff online that I cannot afford. This evening I have an editorial meeting with Vienna Wuerstelstand and before that, I will pick up some more supplies for crafts and look for a Christmas sweater for the Hard Rock Cafe Santa event on Saturday. I cannot believe they are organizing this event.. they truly rock hard. Heh. Happy Wednesday!