How it went.

Well, the weekend has only gotten better. It's been so surreal, having a break. 


The rest of Thanksgiving was cozy and magical. Noopo and I walked the dog through our neighborhood, which was quiet, except for a few people doing Thanksgiving yard work, and children frolicking about, playing football and such, I assume. 


And the color brown never looks as beautiful as it does this time of year. We don't have any snow right now, which is surprising, but  I don't mind. The trees are bare, the grasses are crispy and rustly, and the lake, with its thin, patchy ice blankets, was a dull gray. In February and March, this sort of look is very drab and depressing. But around Thanksgiving, it is the calm before the storm. Possibly literally.


Our extended family arrived and brought many fantastic foods. We eventually sat down a rather traditional dinner of turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with pineapple, stuffing, rolls, pumpkin bread, 7-Up lime Jell-o (mmm)cranberries, nuts, and my favorite corn dish. We sipped at wine and sparkling apple cider, and had ourselves what I think is was one of our chattiest Thanksgivings ever. 


See, it was also our first Thanksgiving not at my grandparents house, which was weird, but for me, it was comforting to have it at my own house. My aunt and uncle are hosting Christmas, and I love their house, so I think everyone is adjusting alright. Grandma is enjoying not hosting, I think, although I know she misses their house and all the old tradition.BUt at one point,I watched her swirl her wine glass around and muse, "I think I could get used to this..."


After dinner, Noopo and I took Linus for another walk. It was getting darker and darker out, but the air was surprisingly warm that day, in the upper 50s. We strolled through the deepening brown and gold twilight with our wolf child, and all was well. Especially in our stomachs.


Back at home, the house took on the warm hum of chatting, football watching, and some dozing. I slipped into the music room at one point, to quietly play piano and stare out at the Christmas lights on the bushes outside the window.It was a magical night, to be sure. One of the cutest moments was when my Grandpa was standing at the bottom of the stairs with his cane, and I stood at the top and asked him is he wanted to lick on of the beaters of homemade whipped cream. His face was blank for a minute, but suddenly a light came into his eyes, and his face broke into the hugest of grins, like a child being handed the biggest lollipop in all creation. I dashed away and retrieved the beater from my mom, and handed it to the most appreciative of Grandpas. My uncle was standing behind him at that point, and received the other frothy lollipop with great delight.


Eventually, pie was consumed with large amounts of coffee and whipped cream, and people slowly filed out the door into the night. My uncle had to drive down to Winona to go deer hunting early the next morning, so   he was ready to go get some sleep. The house was left warm and smelling of coffee, and once everything was cleaned up, Noopo and I snuggled in on the furniture downstairs and watched Tangled before bed. Linus enjoyed falling asleep in the presence of his big sisters, all curled up in his bed, routinely sighing and looking like a lumpy parka filled with beans.


Black Friday rolled around, but none of us rolled out of bed to greet it. I've never gone official Black Friday shopping, and I honestly don't really want to. Too many people, too early, too much flack from my emptying wallet.


But Carla needed to study some scenes and monologues for her theatre classes, and so we rolled out of the garage around 10:30, and made our way to our favorite Panera for a late breakfast and some cozy study time. 


We stopped at Jo-ann fabrics to pick up some yarn for a few knitting projects, and were given a piece of free Christmas candy at the checkout. It literally felt like eating toothpaste. Uggh.  


Panera was busy all right. I settled into an armchair in the corner, sporting a plate loaded with a giant gooey cinnamon roll, and a mixed berry smoothie. Carla chose a cinnamon biscuit thing, and steamy, aromatic cup of hazelnut coffee. And so we sat, in a secluded corner by the window, listening to the classical music overhead, and the general bustle of the bakery on the other side of the dividing wall. 


After a while, we decided window shopping was in order. We strolled through Pier 1 Imports, and Carla went into Old Navy. Soon out stomachs were rumbling again, and I figured that since we were in the Grove, why not visit the ol' Potbelly friends. The reception at my old work was really fun. I got the biggest of hugs from my chum Brianna, and recognized almost every face behind the counter. Emily gave us free cookies, and we settled into a booth to hork down some chili and grilled cheese. We moseyed next door to take in the whimsical sights and smells of Anthropologie, and made a quick, crowded run into Bath and Body Works. 


The shopping day was ended in Target, where Noopo bought groceries and I wandered about. It was fairly busy, but the crowds that I'm sure were there this morning had dissipated hours before. For some reason, wandering through the Target in my hometown is one of my favorite things ever. Not sure why.


Then the best part of the day happened.


After Target, we drove over to he AMC theatre and saw the movie Hugo that had come out the day before. It's about a French boy and the life of Georges Méliès, an early filmmaker that I've learned a lot about in my film study class. Except learning about him in this setting is way more exciting than listening to my walking-IMDB professor.The film had a magical, whimsical, steampunk quality. Go see it. It was a delight.


When we got home, we ordered a pizza, which is unheard of in our house. Carla and I really, really wanted to experience hot food coming to our door, so we talked our parents into letting us pay for it. And it was delightful.


The night ended with a game of Apples to Apples and pumpkin pie. And all was well and good.


Then Noopo left on the bus at 7 AM this morning. That wasn't so nice.


But I'll see her in a week, when we go up to see her play at school! Excite!


So, yes. There is the long, drawn-out version of a lovely, lovely vacation.




Songs of the Weekend:


Twice by Little Dragon


The Wolves by Ben Howard






[P.S.--I'll add some of my own pics in here soon...my sister just has to get crackin' on the uploading part...]