Nothing symbolises the true spirit of Christmas like a paper Chuck Norris star atop a Christmas tree, so Aradhna and I were indeed infused with holiday cheer when we spotted this one at Emily & Michael's 'Christmas in July' party this weekend. I haven't rectified our camera situation (meaning it's camera phones until I get a new Canon) so these grainy images of the soiree that Aradhna snapped with her iPhone will have to suffice.
I understand the eastern half of the US is experiencing an oppressive summer so viewing this photograph of a roaring fireplace may be as inviting as a solar-powered electric beach blanket on red-hot sand, but when it's a very moist 4 degrees C outside (40 degrees F) a stoked hearth is a requisite in every mountain home. (Holiday-related sidenote: When describing the annual Christmas Eve 'Yule Log' broadcast on New York City's channel 11 as a kid, I received stares one would expect if caught using the solar-powered electric beach blanket described above.)
Fellow American ex-pat Emily grew up outside Columbus, Ohio and met her New South Wales-born husband Michael while they both worked in London. They owned a place on Collins Street in Melbourne's CBD for several years before buying a house in the Dandenong Ranges, about 35 kms southeast of the city. The transformation of the formerly rustic first floor is complete and looks spectacular. Michael said the upstairs is a work in progess which I'm eager to admire. 
A look down the table reveals Emily to the left, a lovely woman from Scotland whose name I forget because I'm a schmuck, a candlelight-obscured Michael at the table's far end, the Scottish woman's equally lovely Scottish husband, a mad Melburnian named David who runs a pub in South Melbourne and whose banter with childhood buddy Michael is like a never-ending Python skit doused liberally with single malt, and an old man from the USA.
Emily & Michael prepared an outstanding 5-course meal:1) Perfect mushroom soup
2) 'Cleansing' pear & parmesan salad
3) This amazing plate of Christmas favorites turkey, stuffing, potatoes & gravy
4) Another cleansing salad, this one strewn with juicy blood oranges
5) American-style pumpkin pie (i.e. made with Libby's brand canned pumpkin purchased from an American-import store) served with whipped cream. There was also an English pudding, but this Yank paid no attention to it.
Aradhna captured this table-level view between courses. As you can see, large glasses of wine dominated the tablecloth-covered landscape. The woman in red is David's American wife, Jen. She's a Florida native. Not shown in any of these photos are David and Jen's three lovely daughters. They were no doubt whispering to each other in an upstairs room about their shared lack of adult role models. 
Aradhna grows more beautiful by the day while the lug beside her deteriorates in equal measure.
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