Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2008 > December > 27 > Entry
Holiday parties: Craig Rancourt & Oliver Everette
With freshly reconstituted Austinites Craig Rancourt and Oliver Everette planned to spend a quiet, little Christmas Eve with a few friends/stragglers.
Patience Worrel, Stephanie Mitten
They chose one of their favorite eateries, Taste wine bar on West Cesar Chavez. Then they planned an tree ornament exchange over dessert at their 14th-floor apartment in The Monarch.Simple enough.
Ammad Jilani, Michael Smothers, Sergio Durante
Except once the couple stumbles on a good idea, things get a little out of hand. Take Christmas trees. They decorated seven this year. So they ended up with an Eve dinner for 20 or so, and even more for the “Yankee Exchange” back at The Monarch. That’s the part I witnessed. You can imagine 27 people (more at a later point) competing to see who would nab the craziest, most ornate ornaments.
Rancourt and Everette are my nomination for newcomers of the year. They’ve embraced Austin so thoroughly and the hugs have been mutual. In just a year, they understand a lot about Austin many longtimers will never know (like how to have a blast downtown without every getting in a car!).
Keith Britt, Marla Camp
Among the revelers: Sally and Kelly Jackson (the Midlife Gals), Sergio Durante and Michael Smothers, Forrest Preece and Linda Ball, Edible Austin’s Marla Camp and her woodworker husband Jeff Kessel.
Fynn McGory V, Michell Antonishek, Geoffrey Kruml
I headed home fairly early to prep for my family time, but knew the spirit of the holidays would hover over the skyline, fueled by the warmhearted party at The Monarch. (Sorry this post was delayed by precious family time.)
Comments
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By Sergio Durante
December 31, 2008 4:48 PM | Link to this
Thank you for the 15 minutes of fame- again! We had a nice time and ended up with a cat toy for Mona the cat. HAPPY NEW YEARS TO YOU AND KIP!!
By Patience Worrel
December 28, 2008 9:18 PM | Link to this
Great party, great fun. My name is misspelled, though. It's Patience, not Patrice.
Gracias very much and look forward to more fun with Craig and Oliver!