The HEAT was On!

What a weekend! 

It started with my son and our sitter nearly burning down the house,
but ended on a sweet note, literally...

I guess these days, most fireplaces are the ventless kind... 

Our woodburning kind is not,
a detail lost apparently on my son and our sitter... 

Those crazy things called flues do a great job of sending the smoke out of the dwelling,
but they need to be opened... 

Yeah.... 

First of all, Jack has been threatened with bodily harm
for even contemplating fire without us present,
but he convinced our poor sitter in his highly pursuasive and devilish way
to create some ambiance via the hearth... 

While I was fifteen minutes into my painting and pinot grigio at Bottle and Bottega,
a unique place to escape with friends, drink and be creative,
I received the panicked call that smoke was billowing out of the house
and that the fire alarm could be heard in Gurnee... 

After I instructed my son on flue operation
and explained how to turn off the alarm,
the nice firefighter from Tower Ladder 21 assured me that all was fine,
that this kind of thing happens ALL the time
and that I needn't come home... 

Which was good news because I didn't want to come home.... 

The wine was cold and my work of art just begun... 

Bad mommy, you scold? 

No, Tom was speeding home
so why have two of us on hand to admonish the crap out of Jack
and send the sitter home early? 

Let's just say that all parties were extremely sorry
and have most likely learned a memorable lesson...

I hope... 

It's still smoky in the house and I seem to have this unexplainable urge
to camp and roast marshmallows,
but it is what it is....

Friday was better... 

HEAT hosted its first employee Christmas party at the factory... 

45 guys and their significant others cleaned up,
looked festive, enjoyed tasty food and cold bevvies
to excellent tunes spun by DJ Mike Tolva...
 

I decorated the factory on a dime
and assembled some giveaways for the crowd... 

It was a fun night dancing, laughing and posing by a bad a$$ SWAT truck.... 

Saturday we were invited to dinner at a friends
and enjoyed excellent company and amazing food... 

Good eats, great friends and the holidays are what it's all about....

And today Mom helped me make truffles for the teachers... 

This year I did not make too many home made gifts as I ran out of time... 

So, this year, it was just the truffles and some cookies... 

Hope they like 'em because I seized up two batches of chocolate
before I finally got it right... 

How hard can it be to melt chocolate? 

Apparently  I am not the master of this technique... 

I ordered the boxed and monogrammed ribbon ahead of time
and bought waxed tissue paper from The Container Store... 

Tuck in a giftcard from Starbucks and I'm done!

Hope you had a fun and productive weekend...
 

Christmas is less than a week away!