new haven can wait

So this weekend was Thanksgiving, and I am glad it's done, no matter how much I love the decorations and jovial celebrations. After a long weekend, I for one am thankful to be able to relax and be alone after a weekend of my Italian family, reunions with friends from university, more family, cooking, late nights out, and... more family.

On Friday night, we decided to have an Oktoberfest/Thanksgiving party at Evan's because everybody was coming back to Kitchener from their respective universities. It was an amazing time! Jason, Johnny, Ben, Nathan, Daria, Eliza, Kim, Aaron, Connor, Claire, Evan, Bryn and Lindsay were all there. We played classic drinking games such as beer pong and "I've never..." - very classy. It was a beautiful fall evening, but I wore the same thing I wore the last time everyone was in town for Lindsay's birthday! I definitely need to buy more autumn and winter dresses when I have a job. I got home at around 3 am, and I had been up since 6!

Then on Saturday I spent the day with my family, which was nice. I got up early and edited Joanne's scholarship applications because I couldn't sleep, and they were intimidating. My mom and I went shopping (I am now organizing my ridiculously large collection of scarves! Updates later.) On our way out, however, we drove past this guy who looked like Stas - and then it turned out it was, in a surprise visit from Ottawa! I jumped out of the car while it was still moving and pounced on him. I even cried! That evening, my parents and I ordered Pizza Hut, and then we went out to see Eagle Eye, which I loved (see previous posts.)

Sunday saw us eating pumpkin pancakes and heading out to Ikea, which was amazing. They have some really nice prints out right now, and there was a beautiful kitchen set up with butcher block counters, white wood cupboards, and exposed brick walls, and the excursion gave me some ideas for my apartment with Emma, definitely. It will be beautiful! Afterwards we headed to Aunt Lucy's for Thanksgiving Dinner #1 (the D'Alessio Italian celebration), and we got to speak to my cousin David over speaker phone (he's in med school in Argentina.) I got to see Maya, which was nice, because I've gotten so accustomed to having her around, but she (like most university students) went home for Thanksgiving weekend.

Then, Stas texted me to get together, and I found out he had been in William's for three hours already! So I met him, and we drank black coffee and ate maple pumpkin cheesecake for four hours before Emma and Michel joined us, it was really nice to be able to get the quality time with him and hear all about Carleton. It was nice to see them too though, and Kim joined us soon afterwards as we tried to track down Aaron, her boyfriend, who is currently without home. Michel left, and it turned out Aaron had walked from work to James' apartment, so we drove there and picked them up, and piled in the car. There were 6 of us, so Emma sat on top of me, and we drove by the university only to see Ian long boarding home. We decided to swing by his place, and at this point we were mostly giddy on a variety of substances (mine being nicotine and dangerous amounts of caffeine.) I've never been there, but his garage is spectacular, with wine bottles as candle holders, couches, a computer, a complete sound system, posters plastering the walls, a curtained window, a large world map on the back of the garage door, and a three foot hooka in the middle of the coffee table. We smoked some shisha and just generally had an amazing time, and then Kim drove each of us home at around 2. It was an amazing night, and it was amazing to have everybody home for the weekend. I wore my new bright blue tights, my high waisted black hoop skirt over a green cardigan and black wife beater, my tweed kitten heels, and my fall striped scarf with a brown headband, green and gold earrings, a plaid arm cuff from Courage My Love in Kensington Market, gold bangles, and my rose bone wedding ring.

Then this morning I lay in bed until 2 pm (just mussin' around on my laptop), and I got up and got ready (green, patterned, floral skirt from Reitmans, black, high-necked, lace-trimmed blouse tucked in, pearl necklace, and thick, black velvet belt.) I helped my mom prepare Thanksgiving Dinner #2 to the backdrop of the Dropkick Murphies, and it was decadent! We made yams, mashed potatoes, gravy, a 20-pound Butterball turkey, sauteed vegetables with goat cheese, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin fudge, and pumpkin pie (with a ton of whipped cream!) Peter, Zora, Maya, Vince, and Emily came over, and by the end I was sick of eating and feeling gross, and needing alone time, so I disappeared up here (my bedroom) and watched Paris Hilton's My New Bff, which is absolutely hilarious.

All in all, it was a pretty amazing weekend, but I am tired and have accomplished nothing. I hope it cools down this week, because it's been in the high-20's. Tomorrow Maya and I are going shopping at Value Village, and it's the election! I am excited to see how everything turns out. Wednesday, Emma and I will try to get Rocky Horror tickets, so I will definitely have to wrangle up a costume for that. Halloween is going to be amazing. Stay tuned! I miss my friends who have moved away.