Entertaining friends and coworkers...

I work for what many people would consider a traditional, conservative, DC Beltway firm. And yet, when the ties come off and the wine flows a bit, we're every bit as unconventional as the next. I love it.

This week, I got to play co-host to about 30 visiting colleagues from around the country. I have known some of these folks for years, and they are friends. The new ones fit right in, like we went to college together.

One activity we planned was a boat trip (with cocktails) on the San Francisco Bay. Although the water was a bit choppy and the winds fairly persistent, we had a blast. We whisked under the Bay Bridge, past the Ferry Building, and darted in and out of the Fisherman's Wharf piers and around Alcatraz (with perfect sunset lighting and just-right clouds).

That night, we ate dinner at Moose's in North Beach. After some very nice wine, we sat around and talked about what the plural for moose is and whether moose travel in herds or packs or caravans or whatever. (For the record, moose are not very exciting. Predictably, the plural for moose is...moose, and they travel in herds. There are MUCH more exciting names for groups of animals: a parliament of owls, a company of parrots, a dray or scurry of squirrels.)

I think its healthy to blur that line between coworkers and friends.