super-cliche thanksgiving post: what are you grateful for?

i know, i know. it's rare to see me going all "attitude of gratitude" and #blessed and deepak chopra (but real talk: i've been doing his daily meditation series with oprah and it's phenom). 

however, it seems only appropriate that i think about some of the things in my life that i appreciate the most in preparation for the upcoming turkeyfest next week. how about y'all?

• my health. after a couple of harrowing experiences in my past (a freak monster cyst in college and emergency gallbladder surgery just two years ago), i was terrified to have my routine physical about a month ago. but everything looks fab! totally worth a happy dance, and something i've learned not to take for granted. 

• COFFEE. yeah, it tastes like heaven, but i realized that the ritual of stumbling out of bed and over to my single-serve brewer brings me such great joy each morning. give me a full mug, a full RSS feed, and my sun-filled living room, and i'mma be alright.

• my family. a bunch of my aunts, uncles, and cousins got together for a mini-reunion a few weeks back, and it really helped bring me out of my head and into the moment. we made dinner together and watched scary movies and competed against each other in darts, trivia, and ping pong. sounds sappy, but it was just what i needed that weekend.

• really good songs. it always amazes me that even when i'm in the best of moods, a really poignant song can make me cry. or when i'm in the worst of moods, a really upbeat song can make me smile. like, when i went to see the new pornographers live this week, all i wanted to hear was their song "bones of an idol" because it's beautiful and grand and epic. and they played it! i may have teared up a little bit.

• my friends. while a couple of my gal pals are married with kids now, we've established a tradition of monthly girls' nights where we all get together and eat and drink too much and gossip and analyze texts and it's basically like sex and the city without the louboutins and cougars. hos before bros, man. always.

• traveling. it doesn't even have to be far, but just a day trip to explore a place i've never been gives me a whole new lease on life and recharges the ol' batteries sometimes. i've been really fortunate to get to see a whole bunch of cool places in my 28 years, and can't wait to see even more.

the running of the turkeys

okay, so...i had a flashback to a commercial that used to make me laugh every thanksgiving/holiday season when i was a child, which involved a turkey running away from the thanksgiving table. i swore it was for butterball.

...but i just tried to find it and all i can find is this swanson chicken broth ad which appears to be from the last few years. am i going insane, or does anyone else remember the original running turkey spot? THANKSGIVING PROBLEMS!

a very macy's thanksgiving

when i tell people that i love the macy's thanksgiving day parade, they usually say, "oh, me too!" not realizing that my love is more than a passing interest. my affection for the parade is much deeper than say, when people go "i love puppies!" it's so deep that missing it on one thanksgiving about 5 years ago ruined the whole day for me, and now goes down in history as the "worst thanksgiving ever". don't mess with me and my parade, man.

11 years ago, i had the privilege of seeing the spectacle up close and personal with my family. i also had the misfortune of being the coldest i've ever been in my damn life. no joke, i swear that with the windchill, and gusts blowing through the high-rises, it must have been about -20 degrees outside. so, i naturally wrapped my wool scarf around my head like a little babushka while my mom sought shelter in the nearby mcdonald's, which was serving lukewarm chocolate because they couldn't heat it fast enough. however, my 14 year-old self was more than happy to risk hypothermia to catch a glimpse of bbmak, lfo, and aaron carter, waving on a silly float and lip-synching to their pre-recorded hits. i couldn't wind my disposable camera fast enough! i swear to god rich cronin made eye contact with me, y'all. probably because i was the only freak with a scarf around her head.

anyways, we had thanksgiving dinner that year at this gourmet restaurant, scaletta, which was absolutely horrible. i mean, sure, the meal was probably amazing by foodie standards. but the stuffing had damn raisins and apples in it. i don't care what you say, fruit does NOT belong in any stuffing of mine. i picked at it and pouted...probably thinking "if only bbmak were here". the parade was so worth it, but you'll never find me eating fruity stuffing at a restaurant on turkey day again.