thanksgiving

i woke up before d yesterday to finish the laundry we started too late last night to complete. we made a deal, he waited up for the last load to get dried and i promised to fold and put them away in the morning. so i did that while i watched the macy's day parade, which was just as awful as previous years. i'm more of a dog show girl. the performers in the parade are just too ridiculously lip-synched and just bad to be entertaining, other than the marching bands. so, i finished up the laundry, hopped in the shower, put on a little make up and dressed like we were going somewhere for the day. i just wanted to look good for my husband, is that so wrong? he seemed surprised. it's not like i don't wear make-up and do my hair every day for work, but i guess i don't really care much about my appearance when it's just he and i. but we're all we've got, and i wanted to have a good day. it worked out.
after the turkey brined over night, it was ready to come out to air dry while i got all the rest of the fixings prepared. i should say we, d and i tend to fight over who gets to do what in the kitchen. it's normally not just me cooking. even when i'm the one actually cooking, he's in there making suggestions, stirring random things, tasting, poking me in the ass w/the thermometer. he's definitely not one to just sit and wait to be served, thank god. so we really did most of everything together. even the pecan pie, which i take credit for. he suggested a couple things to do different, which i did and it was the greatest pie ever. after his first bite, he exclaimed his love for me like the jughead that he's not. i made home-made whipped cream to go over the top of a chocolate pecan pie w/brandy. it really was outta sight.
and the turkey. we made the juiciest turkey ever, i mean, some pieces were like they were slow-roasted and naturally bursting w/moist flavor. we made a boat-load of cornbread stuffing w/sausage from scratch, some of which we stuffed inside the turkey, mashed the potatoes we cooked around the turkey w/carrots and celery and onions, black-eyed peas, gravy and our most prized dish outside of the main one was the cranberry sauce we made last year. fresh cranberries, champagne, toasted pecans and walnuts. amazing.
i don't know how people don't make everything from scratch on thanksgiving. my mother used to serve (and probably still does) cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie from a can. if only one day a year, make your food from scratch. it's the only way and it's clearly the best. d and i sat at the table just looking in awe at the spread before us. we were like, this is so much food. and we really do have a lot to be thankful for. we've got each other... huey... all this food... matching plates... stolen (sort of) silver... and more than one fancy serving dish. we had wine while we waited for the turkey to finish, danced in the living room after the dishes were done and all there was left to do was wait. we called our families, wished them a happy day. smoked some endo after we ate to help the digestion, you know, and then we had pie and whipped cream. when we fell asleep, we did so w/our arms and legs tangled up in each other, our bellies and hearts ready to pop.

ikea

the newest ikea store opened here in phoenix, az this past week. they were doing a promotional thing, offering all the items on the front of their catalog to the first person in line. d and i were thinking of going the night before to see what our chances were. we're in dire need of a bed as we're currently sleeping on a king-sized mattress on the floor. some dumbass beat us to it, though. he showed up w/a tent exactly one week before the grand opening. ass. i really wanted that bed.
so, we went yesterday and it was mother fucking packed. i mean it was ridiculous. i had no idea. we were hearded through the store like a pack of wild animals, led by arrows painted on the floor, dead set on buying buying buying. light walls, shaggy rugs, convertable futons, mattress pads, bamboo sticks, wicker baskets... i could go on and on. but for the most part the stuff looked a lot like target on steroids. it was all very orwellian, if you want to know that truth. i mean, sure, ikea provides trendy furniture for decent prices, but now everyone wants them, and there goes trendy. like a couple of tools, we bought a rug, a wicker basket and a candle. yeah, are we just as bad as everyone else if we know we're just as bad as everyone else? perhaps. perhaps not.

i still don't know about this dream job in memphis. i'm sick of waiting, but i don't anticipate anything happening before christmas, now. in my business, no one moves during "peak". that's company-speak for the busiest, most hectic, most migraine-inducing time of year. happy holidays!

my birthday was last month and d and i are still getting stuff for the house using the money i got as an excuse. it's great. today we developed some digital pics we've taken during our time here in phoenix and framed them as wall art (something i've felt we've been lacking for quite some time). we lined up the photos in the kitchen gallery-style and we're very pleased. a personal touch in a classy way. did i mention we've been ikea-ized. it's on the brain.

i just watched the trailer for "life aquatic w/steve zissou" coming out on christmas day. i can't wait. the combination of christmas, bill murray, a wes anderson film and the love of my life when it's cold outside couldn't be more exciting. and if i get alice munro's new book, "runaway" for christmas that morning my life will be playing out exactly as i've planned.

but i suppose i should be thinking of thanksgiving first. last year was our first year here in phoenix away from our families and friends. we still haven't made any friends here outside of work, but a good friend of ours from memphis might be spending the holiday w/us this year. that'd be fantastic. last year we made the best turkey we've ever had, cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries cooked in champagne, and dressing from bread i broke up myself not from a box and it was amazing. fucking amazing. it was so good. we were so excited about cooking it that we started immediately after i got home from work that night and ate at roughly 2am. we didn't even have a kitchen table yet, so we ate on the couch and fell asleep shortly after. sound sad? it wasn't. christmas was sad. i don't remember why we really didn't go all out w/that dinner and we ate at jack in the box i think, but this year we'll be better prepared. i think we were a little depressed about not having anyone to share with. i guess we're used to it now. that and we know we're on our way back home. we're planning to be back in february or march of next year, so we can go ahead and make the best of the rest of our time here. i sound like the eternal optimist. i am.