"A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues” - Marcus Cicero

we managed to put out two apple pies Thanksgiving morning / early afternoon, which was more than enough. we arrived at john and marisa's around 4, just in time to help finalize the last minute trimmings before supper. it was a grand feast - salad, turkey, ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, two kinds of stuffing, yams, cranberry sauce, mac and cheese, and dinner rolls. it was bad. real bad. but if being bad is wrong, then i sure as heck didn't want to be right.

after dinner, the men did all the cleaning. it was a real treat watching our guys wash the dishes and wipe down the kitchen. once all was squared away, we stuffed ourselves with desserts and played board games. it was a real fun evening mixed with getting to know one another and laughing together.

i had planned on seeing my family on friday but decided to head back down to carlsbad with z and his mom instead. i wanted to spend more time with z's mom and marisa's family while they were still down here. john and marisa live walking distance from the beach and since z's mom wanted to see the ocean, we decided to take emi with us so she could enjoy the beach too. i can't believe the weather we were blessed with those two days - the sky was clear blue while the bright sun smiled happily, kissing our heads. being there with my toes in the sand and the ocean at my feet, i couldn't help but be especially thankful that day. emi was having the time of her life with marisa's adorable nieces and to think - spending a day at the beach during winter... how could you not be grateful for that?

i spent saturday with my sisters. we had lunch, went shopping, and caught up with what's new. i thought i had my camera in my bag but it turns out i left it at home so i wasn't able to capture my day with them. the mall was pure madness, as i predicted. we were late on the black friday deals but were able to take advantage of a few sales. i was also surprised at how much that particular mall had changed. i had worked there years ago but could hardly recognize it as the same mall and actually, the stores i worked for aren't even there anymore. to top it off, they added a damn Costco to it. a Costco attached to a mall!! can you believe that?

all in all, it was a great Thanksgiving. so much so that i don't know how i'm going to be able to return to reality tomorrow, or this week. i'm not ready for it. at all. i'm already procrastinating with the things i have to do today, which is catch up on some school work. ah, the holidays...

i hope you all enjoyed being around great people and great food this weekend. i know i did.

xoxooo

p.s. if you haven't watched "Leaves of Grass", you need to. it will leave you with smile and a warm feeling, i promise.