This year, my family decided to all come to Los Angeles for Christmas. it was a great place for everyone to come and get out of the colder climates that some of them live in. Aside from a couple days of rain, for the most part the forecast was clear and sunny, just as predicted. As the years progress, we all have obligations to alternate who are holidays are spent with. Is it family, friends, or significant other’s families, or a vacation getaway? how does one spread the love?

For the mere fact that I do not run a 7 bedroom B&B, despite popular belief, my boyfriend and I hosted Christmas this year and had some out of the ordinary things to figure out. Since some were staying at hotels nearby, we wanted to have a few meals other than just the big Christmas Eve dinner. I planned a buffet style, casual dinner for us on one of the first nights everyone was in town. Aside from the Christmas Eve dinner, we also hosted a Christmas Day brunch. There were some toddlers involved (my neice and nephew) so we needed to have some kind of Christmas morning gathering so that Santa’s visit could be appreciated. Below are some menus I put together for the 2 dinner events. It was ambitious on my part and took some planning and prep, but was definitely worth it. Overall, everything went smoothly. The gourmande in me always goes a little overboard I admit, but the holidays are as good a time as any to celebrate, especially among loved ones.

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The retail sale season in Los Angeles has been unprecedented this year.  Due to the current state of the Writer’s Guild Strike, much more desirable items have been making it onto the sale racks at Barney’s and similiar, higher end boutiques.  I know its awful to prey on other people’s misfortune and there’s a lot of murmuring about how we are on the onset of a national recession, but all the more reason to stock up on luxury fashion items at a third or a quarter of the regular price.  It may  be awhile before we can afford them and retailers will most likely be ordering less of them to compensate for this over stock we are experiencing.

A majority of the luxury items i drool over are made or imported from Europe.  As we all know, this past year, the Euro dollar to US dollar conversion has been at an all time high.  Those of us in the consumer world have definitely felt the repercussion of that.  Paris made shoes, Italian handbags and designer furniture and housewares are all experiencing a price increase, whether it be enforced my manufacturer’s or good old conversions rates.  Last year, YSL handbags went up about $200 a piece.  I remember when a pair of Christian Louboutins were somewhat affordable when they went on sale.  Now they start at an average of $700 onward.  These price increases are about 20% higher than what we are used to seeing. 

After cooking several decadent meals for family who all gathered for the Christmas holiday in Los Angeles this year to get out of the cold, the least I can do is buy myself a pair of Zanotti resort sandals, a derek lam clutch, and some other trinkets marked down 70% or more.  These deals won’t last, but i will be glad to share with you some of the best deals in town.  

That’s what i call well-heeled and well-mealed.

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My favorite aspect of Thanksgiving is that it is a holiday based around plentiful and luxurious foods.  I love how people who aren’t normally inspired to cook, want to get involved and experiment.  I also enjoy sharing and exposing favorite foods to people.  I was deemed the kitchen sergeant.  Everyone wants to help so i had to delegate.  Thankfully, i never felt separated from the group since the house is so open and airy and the kitchen really felt like the central, congregating area.  There’s nothing worse than feeling like a kitchen slave.  For those who can’t cook or have no interest, i have no shame in putting them on cleanup duty.

Thanksgiving 2007 was yet another memorable Thanksgiving event.  For the past few years, I have opted to spend Thanksgiving among friends.  Traveling faraway that weekend is on my least favorite things to-do list.  I usually spend Christmas with my family and feel like I get more relaxed, quality time with them.  This year the same core group that I have been having turkey day with decided to rent a friend’s mid-century modern Alexander home in Palm Springs for a few nights.  Lucky for us their rental became available. I had been searching online with various rental companies and after reading small print and asking some questions a quick, affordable weekend getaway was looking more like a down payment on a Prius.

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