Frigid temperatures and brilliant sunshine await as I step outside to begin my long ride to Connecticut for the office Christmas party. It turns from a ride to a trek when outside Greenwich, traffic slows to a crawl. I have mixed feelings about the evening. I don’t know the majority of the cast of characters, none of the significant others (of which I am part), office party etiquette, and whether what I am wearing (black with lavender accents) will prove festive.

Deep lavender nails.

My significant other and I, in a flood of fast paced movement, switch from my car to his and race (because we are late) to the home of an office principal, where the cocktail portion of the party began almost an hour earlier. Pulling up to a white house, with circular drive, bigger than any home I know (whatever that means) had me gasping for air.