jour de dinde = début de noël

 In exactly 8 hours, I will board a bus to Tom's River, NJ. I bet you're jealous. But really, I am quite excited to spend the Thanksgiving holiday and all that it  entails with Rob and his very Italian family... or so I've heard. I hope they make lots of stuffing b/c that's sort of the only Thanksgiving food I really love. Everything else is sort of okay.

 Tis the season to watch Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York as often as possible. Tis also the season for awesomely bad movies courtesy of the ABC Family channel and Lifetime network.

5 days is all that stands between me and my Christmas tree. 

My bangs are doing some kind of sticky-up thing and I'm really not into that. Settle down already. 

How will I live without this face for 4 days?

NO DIET COKE. Ever again*. If you see me trying to buy one, please, intervene. 

I really like it when people have great music on their blogs. On the other hand, I really hate it when people have terrible music on their blogs. In my case, I will spare you all from having to listen to "Let the Sunshine In," "Three-Five-Zero,"and "I Turned a Corner" which are currently the top 3 in my itunes "Top 25" list on repeat. Sad, really. I promise I do listen to other songs. Like... good ones. On people's blogs. 

So... when can I go see Harry Potter again?

I need a Christmas reading list. ASAP. I don't mean Christmas-themed books. Just books. The fact that I picked up a Meg Cabot from my bookshelf to read for the 17th time should be an indicator of how badly I need book ideas. Got any? Please be sure that anything that is serious-ish or biographical is out of the question. I love Charles Dickens as much as the next person, but the point of the Christmas list is to read fun books quickly. Not sure any such books can fall under that category.

Is GMail unusually slow for anyone else?

The December issue of Cooking Light is out with an amazing array of holiday-type food. I have assigned myself as chef for the holidays at my house and my family will love every bit of it. Especially my mom. She hates that I make her make me the lemon cream chicken supremes every year. Well, now she wont have to... for Christmas dinner. I better get those sometime between Dec. 26-30.

That is all for now. I suppose I have some exciting news regarding a producing project but I'm sort already on vacation till Monday, so check back then! :)

*let's be honest. i'll probably have Diet Coke for lunch today. Shut up. 

better late than never

i loved this video that KLR sent me. it's so heartwarming to hear about other's blessings and what they are thankful for.

turkey day! (even though technically, i don't like turkey)

there are no pictures... but believe me when i say, ashley's dad is a fantastic cook. he made mushrooms and i actually LIKED them. so that's saying something. it was so fun to spend thanksgiving with ash's family in beautiful medham. her dad cooked up an amazing feast including turkey, potatoes, green beans, mushrooms, and the most delicious stuffing i have ever eaten. yum.

ash, her sister and i watched the parade on tv... we saw our favorite gav perform early on and then we just enjoyed nbc's horrible commentary of the parade... her family spent the afternoon at the house and we all had fun playing cards. i am pretty sure i am the worst player of all time, considering the goal was to get to 500 and my score was in the negatives pretty much the whole time.

delicous treats were eaten and football was watched. it was nice to be in a family-type setting. i have had some great thanksgivings, but usually my friends and i just put something together. it was very nice of Ashley's parents to welcome me into their home for this lovely day.

give thanks.

this year has been a rollercoaster for sure, but i am so grateful to be who i am and to have what i have:

1. sister: we're as different as night and day, but when it comes down to it, she's my other half.
2. theater: i love the emotions it creates and the messages it shares. magical. exciting.
3. temple: to me, the closest to heaven on earth. hope. comfort.
4. culture: i am proud of who i am, where i come from and my beautiful culture.
5. peace: i embrace it, and hope that you will too. love everyone. we're all created equal.

6. pretty music.
7. mommy: orchids are her favorite. she's my favorite. selfless. fun loving. strong. loved. appreciated.
8. holocaust museum: emotional, educational, impactful. i will never, ever forget that.
9. growth: mainly my nephew. he's huge. but as a person, i have grown too.
10. layoff: gave me a chance to pursue what i want. made me see clearly.
11: TONYs: a night i will never forget. ash and i deserved it.
12. visitors: mom, cousin, kylie, ashley, summerisa, amelia. cheered up. had fun!

oooh... i wish i had time to make a bigger tile, but also included are my big brother for keeping tabs on his little sis. my grandma for being my spiritual rock. and my friends for keeping me going when i just forgot that nothing is impossible.

Thanksgiving

This year, Thanksgiving was way more fun than usual. First of all, I got to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade... I remember sitting at Karson and Betsy's house last year by myself and thinking that I would be there the next year, no matter what. And I did just that... despite the fact that no one wanted to go wait out the parade with me. I got up at 4AM and hopped on the train down to 72nd Street and got a great spot... The downside was that I got there at like 5:30AM and the parade didn't even start until 9AM. Needless to say, I was freezing the entire time, but it was an experience I had been looking forward to for quite some time. I sat next to these two hillarious ladies from Houston. They kept me entertained.

Kristin Chenowith in the Care Bears float

My personal favorite, which may have been influenced by
He Who Shall Not Be Named in This Blog. He LOVES Kermit.

Second favorite...

Santa bringing in the start of the Christmas season.


**If you want to see any more parade pictures, send me an email and I can send you a link to my Facebook album**

After the parade, I headed over to Valerie Baker's apartment for dinner. She has an amazing apartment that overlooks the Hudson River. There were A LOT of people there, but it turned out to be really fun. Dinner was delicious. Everyone did a really great job at contributing. Sara and I taught people how to make candy turkeys. Eric made some amazing apple pie. Tony kept insisting that the stuffing tasted like it had been cooked by a really good looking person (aka him). Anne entertained us all by bringing Western Beef brand orange soda. We also played Catch Phrase which was even more fun with some of Eric's one-liners.

Sara's Candy turkeys were a big hit...

The view from Val Baker's apartment...

After dinner, I continued with my yearly tradition of going to the movies. I met up with Anna and we saw Twilight, which I hated a little less this time. I kept falling asleep on account of getting up so early; not even Rob Pattinson's good looks kept me awake.

The following day I did nothing. Really. I sat on my floor and watched Gossip Girl until I decided I couldn't sit there any longer. Luckily, Anna saved the day by suggesting that we make dinner and watch a movie at her house. We decided to invite some people over and our little movie night turned out to be a success. Rustin and Jason (and some other people whose names I can't remember) came over and we watched Christmas Story and Kung Fu Panda.

On Saturday, I got an early start... A bunch of us met up at SaraBeth's for Rustin's birthday, which was really fun. I then went shopping.... I know. I never go shopping but I was in desperate need of MAC paint and eyeshadow. The rest of the weekend may or may not have been spent watching lots of Gossip Girl, more movies and choreographing Anna's musical scores.

Tony, Anne, me, Rustin, Anna, and half of Val's face...

The whole group at Rustin's birthday brunch