Thankful

I'm exhausted. Last night, I flew home from Atlanta on a late night flight. The plane was supposed to leave at 10:45 and get me into Los Angeles at 12:42, but between a delay due to weather and strong head winds, the flight didn't land until nearly 2:20. Hence, I'm having a difficult time keeping my eyes open.

But the week was incredible fun. I arrived late Tuesday night and my grandparents and S arrived the next day. My mom and I spent that morning putting together various dishes for Thursday and getting the table ready. The night was spent introducing S to my family and devouring my family's homemade raviolis which are a favorite of mine. Conversations ranged on everything from the usual "tell me about yourself" questions to S asking my grandfather what it was like to be in the 101st airborne. As none of us got great sleep the night before, we all slept well that night.

The next morning came wicked early, which was mostly my fault as I had made a big to-do about wanting to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade which began at nine am. S set his alarm so I wouldn't miss any of it. After watching some of the parade and chowing down on a hearty breakfast, S and I went for a 2.5 mile run to get coffee since my parents only drink decaf and the two of us needed caffeine. Everyone we passed must have thought we were nuts doing a run on Thanksgiving. We had made it part of the way back when my dad and grandfather drove up next to us and asked us if we wanted to get in. "We've got candy!" they exclaimed. Hmm...candy or more running...we got in the car and took the ride back to the house, though I was disappointed when I found out that there wasn't actually any candy!


But there was a cat who wasn't happy to be stuck outside.

For the rest of the day we kept ourselves occupied until dinner with two football games, lots of conversation and some tasty snacks.


And my mom made a mouse (or...I suppose...a bug) out of a pincushion.

Dinner, of course, was good, and featured my favorite dish - my mom's apple crumble pie. I hate all pies except apple, and hers is just fantastic.


The traditional thanksgiving centerpiece: the silly half turkey half pineapple.

The next morning we woke up early again, this time to take a trip down to the Virginia Highlands and Little Five Points, the cool places I've found in Atlanta. The homes have great character down there and it's a lovely place to experience fall.





While there, S and I visited a cozy coffeeshop and picked up some truffles for my parents. On the way, we met a black newfoundland dog the size of a bear.



Nothing makes S happier than a good cup of cappuccino.


S and I also had some fun pretending to be paparazzi.

That night, we were all supposed to go to Aria for dinner, but were wiped out, so instead we ate at a local Mexican restaurant. After dinner, my grandmother showed me how to do my hair in another 40s style which I'm very excited to try out, though it involves some dexterity with bobby pins as I have to create many large pin curls.

Saturday morning, in an effort to avoid the rain, my grandparents got in their car and drove back to Florida, which was sad as I didn't get to spend nearly as much time with them as I would have liked to, but I also understand it's not much fun to drive in heavy traffic in the rain. After that, and much protesting on my behalf, S and I went for another run in the chilly morning air. When we returned, we quickly got ready to go down to the aquarium. I'd been there once before, but it's so much fun to see the adorable garden eels (they're like little worms!) the tiny but vibrant mandrian fish and the enormous whale sharks.


Across the street was the new coke museum. To quote Austin Powers, "Yay, capitalism!"


The four of us spent the rest of the day driving around Atlanta while my parents showed S the giant homes (though most Atlanta homes are giant compared to the homes in California) that line Tuxedo road. We returned to the house in just enough time to get ready for dinner at a Buckhead restaurant known as Aria, a place where it might be worth it just to go for dessert (mine was different flavors of sorbet - banana, grapefruit, mango, lime - stacked on a meringue while S enjoyed a lemon pound cake with a lemon sauce and orange sorbet) and wine, considering the markup isn't bad at all. We shared a bottle of Laetita pinot noir and the difference in cost between there and the store was only $14.

S left early the next morning (sleeping in, not so much an option on this particular trip) and my parents and I took the day to just relax and play a game of monopoly. My dad was so exhausted after winning he decided to take a nap. Note to self, don't trade Boardwalk for the purple property you're missing even if you think no one ever lands there.