Whist

Just played Whist (a classic European card game for four players) with Gene, Eric, Nina and Nao. For more details and how to play, see below: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whist actually what we played today was the Swedish Whist, which is very similar to Minnesota Whist described below, except in our case if a red card is flipped it would indicate "play high," and the goal is to take cards, not to lose cards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_whist
No one has to show their cards once a red card is flipped. The trick, though, is when a team chooses to play the "red game," if they lose the points are doubled, and they get penalized twice as much! So it is more risky because your opponents might win double points. Also, generally if you're playing a red game, it's better to start with your best suit to signal your partner what to play and how to help you out.

Here are our scores:

NiG - 17
NaS - 3

It was getting late so we decided to make this round 6 points max.

NiN - 4
ShE - 7

Wow, can't believe Eric and I beat the house! It's the first time Nina ever lost. Now she's never gonna win again. hehehe...

What a fun, low-key night for a cold, rainy Sunday. I loved Nina and Nao's nice apartment, too. We ate so many snacks and Nina made yummy Glögg (Swedish spicy hot red wine). It was soooo good! Here's a recipe I found on the internet:
http://faculty.millikin.edu/~kborei.library.mu/Swede-L/santess/glogg-1.htm

Hm...now I'm totally not looking forward to going back to my office tomorrow. Woops, it's today already!