Julia comments:

"I am going to my Company party on Thursday. It's huge. People hear about the Fidelity Christmas party even if they don't work here. It used to be much bigger until we moved a lot of people to remote offices. Anyway, I made sure I came back from India in time to catch it. I wouldn't miss it. Free food, free wine and beer, cab rides home... it's terrific."

Well, we used to have really great Christmas parties here too. I've been to formal parties at: The Plaza, The Pierre (very chichi), The Rainbow Room, Tavern on the Green, Cipriani's, to name just a few. It was always a total blast. Everyone got very dressed up and there was open bar and great food and it was always on a Friday night so you didn't have to worry about going to work the next day. That all ended a few years ago however, when they started laying people off. Now the company shells out $25 a head per department so that each group can go do something. $25 is never enough though, so you end up haven't to chip in some for it. Don't even think I'm going to bother this year.