These days are busy with gift wrapping, greeting card mailings, meetings and parties. Last weekend, my husband and I ate and drank our way through the Weston Food & Wine Festival. For a small ticket charge of $45 per person, we got to taste all the wines we could imbibe along with tasty morsels from local dining establishments. The eating fest continued when my dear friend Donna took me as her guest on a travel agent’s invitation to a tour and luncheon on the Regent Navigator, a super luxury ship berthed at Port Everglades. Sipping champagne, we watched an on board video about the deluxe cruise line, then toured the amazing balcony suites and public areas before sitting down to a five course lunch, again with all the wine we could drink. That knocked me out for the rest of the afternoon.

The following day was our Florida Romance Writers annual holiday party, this year in conjunction with Florida chapter of Mystery Writers of America, held at the fabulous Pelican Grand Resort on Fort Lauderdale beach. Out on the rooftop patio with a magnificent view of the sparkling ocean below, we enjoyed a light buffet and chatted with our fellow authors. NY Times bestselling author HEATHER GRAHAM looked glamorous as always. Schmoozing with her were popular mystery writers P.J. PARRISH and ELAINE VIETS. KAREN KENDALL, MARY STELLA, LINDA CONRAD, LYN ARMSTRONG, ALEKA NAKIS, CAROL STEPHENSON, BONNIE VANAK, NEIL PLAKCY, JIM BORN, DIRK WYLE, DR. CHRIS JACKSON, and so many more attended. Chapter presidents TRACI HALL and BOB WILLIAMSON cheered people on and everyone had a great time.

That evening I’d put aside for family time since our son was visiting. We saw The Golden Compass, which I liked very much. It was better than expected, much like Harry Potter meets The Chronicles of Narnia. I thought the female lead did an excellent job. She’s a cute kid, so I hope she keeps some sense as her star rises, unlike several other young actresses we know.

We ate dinner at Grand Luxe Café at Sawgrass Mills, ducking inside just before a quick downpour. Not enough food yet? Sunday evening was our neighborhood holiday party where everyone brought a dessert. Then Monday, I attended a meeting with a lunch buffet, following which a GI doctor spoke about the importance of colonscopy (oh, joy!). Today was lunch at Seasons 52 with another friend, and tonight is an evening meeting with dessert. Tomorrow is critique group, our annual holiday brunch at a nearby restaurant.

Is it any wonder my waist size is increasing?