The Ladies Do Lunch

Mengzhao and Ivy

The ladies at KOA decided to go to lunch the Friday before Christmas and do a gift exchange. We've given gifts before, but this was the first time we'd all gone together for a Christmas luncheon.

Waiting in the sunshine

We drove over to the Olive Garden at the Montebello Mall.  They don't take reservations, and we were surprised to find out there was a 45 minute wait!

So, what do you do?  We called around to other restaurants in the area, but everyone had an equally long wait, and several said the wait time was up to 2 hours!  I guess we should have known better, on the Friday before Christmas.

Anyway, we decided to just hunker down and wait.

Despite the wait, everyone was in a good mood.  We had such fun together!  I love these good women.  They really make the work week a pleasant one.

We had drawn names for "Secret Santa" gifts, so there was some anticipation about who had gotten whose name!

(L-R) Nikita, Sabrina and Tiffany

I had drawn Tiffany's name.  She's the daughter of one of our company principals.  I had fun shopping for her and trying to come up with an interesting and fun gift.        

             

There were lots of big bags full of presents!

Did I mention that we laughed a lot?

Nikita and Sabrina watch as Barbara unwraps her gift

Nikita's turn...

Suria's turn...

Carmen's turn...

and finally, Mengzhao's turn!

There was such a good spirit of Christmas there!

Others in the restaurant looked on us with longing.  I know they wished they were a part of our group too!

After our long wait, we were all starving by the time the meals arrived!

Veronica and Carmen

 Maybe that is what made us so goofy!

Sabrina is very funny

Awww, who am I kidding?  We're goofy regardless.

Sabrina wearing her new knit kitty cap!

I ordered a lunch that came with soup and pasta.  I love the Zuppa Toscana there at the Olive Garden!  I'm not ashamed to admit I had two bowls of it.

Because I could.

Zuppa Toscana - my favorite!

We grew quiet after our meals were served.  We went through many bowls of salad, too!

Even though it was a beautiful Southern California day, and not blustery or cold, the pasta, salad, and hot soup tasted really good.

I'm grateful for such a great bunch of coworkers.  

In Norway, today is considered "little Christmas Eve".  It's also celebrated.  I hope, wherever you may be in the world, that you are also enjoying the festivities of this beautiful season.