Last Thursday night was my company's holiday party. It was actually my first company party ever. I've previously worked in schools where a holiday party was a half-assed potluck heavy on high fructose corn syrup and low on morale. At the charter school where I worked last year, a whopping seven people got together at a bar and called it the holiday bash. By then, it was late January, and the blessing of time off had become a distant memory.

My company is really laid back, and divided between sales people and the production people who actually write, design, and conduct research. Sales people are snappier dressers out of necessity, so they were all gussied up. A few fashionistas in production dressed up, while the rest stayed in sneakers and jeans.

Per Head Honcho/Life Coach's advice and my shallow cranial pool of common sense, I treated the event like a work function and didn't milk the open bar. Instead, I ate a lot of fresh fruit and many pink cubes in a pile of prosciutto and other fancy Italian variety meats. Somehow, I missed the pasta and moved right on to tiramisu. I dodged the huge, headed sardines and fish and mushroom smeared crackers offered between those courses. When one co-worker's significant other munched on a sardine as we chatted, I fought the urge to back away from his horrid breath. It helped that the venue was so packed.

Once Cade arrived, I introduced him to everyone with whom I work closely. His company is one of my company's clients, so if there was nothing interesting to say, we would point that out. I am proud to say that the guy I'm dating wouldn't dare wear a pair of jeans within twenty feet of any company party. He's also good at the small talk.

At the end of the night, the CEO gave me a smooch and told Cade to keep being funny. He'd joined our table at one point in the evening interested in knowing how we met. I gave the version that retains the charm of the true story while making us sound pretty much normal, which is a real feat. We left shortly after I earned my Brownie points and just before one reveler, a co-worker related, "became completely boneless."

I wish he could have said the same for the appetizers.