He's happier than he looks.
Anywho--that has left me, the unemployee, to find ways to amuse myself during the evenings/days when he is gone (until I, cross your fingers, find a job as well--because, let's face it, I'm NOT housewife material). The blog is one of those such ways!
Last night we were invited to the Elephant Hill Christmas Party. It was to be a lovely evening of homemade pizza and free alcohol--and indeed it was! We got all dressed up for the event, only to find upon arrival that it was a more casual affair, and so we were very much overdressed. I told John to call his boss and ask about the dress code beforehand, but he never did, so we definitely stood out! It was fun to dress up though, and here is a picture for your viewing pleasure:
Luckily, I had a sweater to tone down the shininess and make it a bit more casual.
The evening did turn out to be very lovely, though a bit chillier than expected, and it was a great way for John to meet a lot of his co-workers. We mingled a lot and met a lot of very nice people. Nicki, the finance manager, whose husband was very nice and chatty (and also a U2 fan--he went to the concert in Auckland!) and builds kayaks for a living; A dutch couple in which the woman, I believe her name is Kjiersten, works in the restaurant--however the man worked in Athens, GA at the science department at UGA for a year! Craziness!; Rob---John's boss and a very laid back guy who awkwardly mentioned the fact that I, too, applied there for a job in front of some other people but offered the saving caveat that apparently I'm on the short list for future hiring waves--good to know!; Michelle--another of John's co-workers and another manager who was very friendly and offering lots of advice for John's job and others in the area; Susie--a kitchen hand who, along with her chillax-hippie husband, is an artist--they were both very nice and invited us over to their place for a barbeque sometime this summer!; Brittany--one of their viticulturists who is from California so it was nice to meet another American in town; another woman, I forget her name, who worked as a Marketing/PR person in the U.S. for Cirque de Soleil!; and Gunter--the facility manager who travels back and fourth between Germany (where the owners are from) and NZ to manage the business. Fun fact we learned--the winery, as I mentioned, was started by a wealthy German couple who are apparently the third richest Germans in the whole country! We also mingled with several others and they were all very nice and mostly the older crowd. There were some younger kids there our age, but apparently they work in the kitchen and seemed to stick to themselves and so we stuck to mingling with everyone else--and it was equally as pleasant.
In addition to the very friendly people, the food was also amazing (and free)! It was this small pizza truck with a woodfire oven, and the guy used the most delicious, fresh ingredients to make gourmet, flat-bread pizzas from his little truck--they were delicious! And to top it off, for dessert he made belgian waffles with powdered sugar, strawberries, and syrup! The beer and wines available were also great--in addition to the Elephant Hill brand they had some others as well, including a REALLY good one called Imperiale from Austria--I couldn't tell you what type of wine it was, though. Gunter brought it out of his cellar--it was his last bottle as a friend gave him a few several years ago.
Overall we had a really good evening, enjoying the food, wine, company, and beautiful views (I will take some pictures next time I go), and I expect John will really enjoy working there with such great co-workers.
However, I would like to leave you with some photos of the GORGEOUS sunset we had two nights ago. Enjoy!
(Don't be too jealous :) )
No comments:
Post a Comment