Secret Santa and other adventures

Today turned out to be quite the day!

First off, Secret Santa in the office and as usual, we had all the teams decorate their own areas in the hope of winning the prize of £300 for the best decorations. I enjoyed walking round the floor recording it all for posterity taking pictures of everyone's creativity.

Santa himself was a real character and kept us all laughing through the hour or so it took him to hand out presents. Oh, there was a raffle too - with some pretty cool prizes.

And then... ta da... our excellent boss said we could have the rest of the afternoon off! It was 2:30. I can't tell you how super it is to have the gift of extra hours added to your day. G & I had already booked haircuts, and were only able to bring the appointment forward by thirty minutes, but it did mean we had time to relax a bit.

And then, no sooner had we finished that, it was a race home to get dressed, to meet up with friend Miriam who wanted to take us out for a little Christmas celebration... Jamie's Italian at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel followed by licquor coffees at Beachcombers. What a fantastic place to be. Views of the Burj Al Arab from top to bottom on one side, and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel (my blip) with the moon rising on the other. Lorenz our very switched on waiter did a grand job of getting these handheld shots with slow-sync flash for us! Four hours vanished effortlessly and it was my first time ever dining in a Jamie Oliver restaurant!

It's been a great day. :D

PS. My extra is from the office pre-Secret Santa festivities...