Post Thanksgiving... the eating continues!

It’s the day after thanksgiving and my mom, sister and I are once again baking in the kitchen. It’s not that we have more guests coming over, or that we didn’t eat enough yesterday (cause we did!) but just because one thing that the three of us love to do is bake… and eat of course : ). What is on the menu tonight may you ask?

Pumpkin bread from Trader Joes that our grandma swears is as good as made from scratch (and from the smell in the kitchen I will say that she is right) and oatmeal cookies with raisins, walnuts, and chocolate chips because who would want just one of those amazing mix ins? Don’t you worry, we had a well balanced lunch of thanksgiving leftovers after braving the Santa Anita mall for Black Friday (we went at noon, we aren’t crazy…)

Thanksgiving itself was really nice! Mom and I spent the day cooking with Jan popping in periodically when she needed a break from her homework. The night started out with a speaker phone cell call from my Sherry family.

It was so nice to talk to you all even if it made me more than a tad bit green in the face ;) The Vogler family (our Polish friends) joined us for

dinner to equal nine but of course we still had loads of extra food left over. I have to admit though… the baking is probably my favorite part of the day… and I charge a reasonable price so if anyone needs a cook next year! ;) just kidding… :)

Our pre- thanksgiving feast silliness:

My mom's famous apple crisp....

Flowers from my secret admirer that were a pretty popular discussion starter :)

My Berkeley Family!

I still remember that feeling when I visited Berkeley that first time. It was the summer before my senior year and my mom took me on a trip to get a feel for the schools that I would be applying to in the coming year. Dork that I am, I had a notebook with me and I rated each school and took notes about what I liked etc…. I remember that I gave Berkeley the highest rating from the moment we got there. I also remember second guessing myself quite a bit because Berkeley can be a bit grungy and the city-like atmosphere was extremely intimidating to me. I was so confused about why this school? Why this city? But as many people suggested, “you will just know when the place feels right.” Years later, this place still feels right and every time I go up north I feel like I am coming home.

I spent the last week in nor cal with my friends and Janey ;) and the week could not have possibly flown by faster! I spent a great deal of my time back in my old room from last year, now occupied by my amazing friend Steph.

I caught up with a ton of RAs and just felt loved and supported again. Don’t get me wrong,

I am having an amazing time in Australia and I am excited to see Tellu, Steff, Todd and the rest of the hiking crew when I return but I miss my California friends/family a ton when I am gone. The thought of being gone for another 8 months is kind of daunting!
While in Berkeley I did many things that I have missed: hiked the fire trial with Steph and Anna, went to Chipotle, got rained on, looked at new Cal gear, ran down college, cooked with Kristin and Dan, went to the RSF (the AMAZING gym at Berkeley), ventured into San Francisco, watched Will and Grace with my sis, north side with Madelein and just caught up/ reminisced with old friends. I am really excited because Steph and Anna and Steph’s boyfriend Mike are planning on visiting me in Australia in March!! Woot woot!! :)

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I want to thank all of my friends and family that have supported me thus far on my adventure (Australian friends included of course)! I am 1/3 of the way thru and I can’t wait for whatever will come in the future! You all have really helped me get through my occasional homesickness and blues. I hope everyone has an amazing thanksgiving! To conclude on a funny note (and since I couldn’t have said it better myself)……
Thanksgiving is America's national chow-down feast, the one occasion each year when gluttony becomes a patriotic duty. ~Michael Dresser

Home!

I love the feeling when I come home. I love seeing my dog and discussing movies and sports with my dad while my step mom and I roll our eyes at my dad behind his back ;) I love talking to my mom for hours on end as we run errands and make dinner etc… I love coming home and seeing my bed or desk piled high with mail (Thank you so much Cheryl, Steve, Rick and Nancy!!!) Even the junk mail brings me so much joy! Man I am a nerd I know but snail mail is one of the most exciting things ever! Who knew I was so special and qualified for 15 different credit cards!! Ha ha…

Some other things I missed:

1) Toilet seat covers!!- I know that toilet seat covers are probably single handedly killing the environment with pollution but sometimes I am just too lazy to squat in a public restroom and toilet seat covers are, lets face it, a G-d send. Unfortunately, they are quite sparse in a great deal of the world but Americans with their uber intense concern about hygiene have put them everywhere. For once I say with pride… G-d Bless America…

2) Driving- I love to drive and I do not have the chance in Australia… nuff said--- interesting experience today when I drove again for the first time. I definitely had some trouble going to the correct side of the car/ thinking about which side of the road I should be on. Just some momentary puzzledness… imagine what would have happened if I had actually drove in Australia!

Things that I never appreciated before:

1) American electrical plugs- yes I know this one is kind of lame because of course my American appliances would work so much better here yata yata but it is AMAZING to plug stuff in without an adapter! I know it is a lightweight piece of plastic and metal but man that thing can be a hassle. I forget it and then my computer dies and I can’t turn assignments in and I have to say that “my computer died because of an adapter issue” which is probably the new age version of “my dog ate my homework.”

2) I CAN SPEAK AS LOUD AS I WANT!! – I did sort of realize that I don’t talk as much in stores as I normally do because I am nervous about people hearing my accent but this realization hit me flat in the face when I went into Trader Joes with my dad yesterday. I kept looking around to see if people were looking at me strangely for speaking and I don’t feel embarrassed or out of place! It is a pretty awesome feeling although now I am just one of the crowd again… blending into the background; and for now I am happy to do that. Blend into the background and enjoy my friends and family at home, with chocolate sorbet and cheerios of course ;)

Packing up my Australian life break...

I am currently in the midst of furiously packing up my room and packing for home before I return to the US on Tuesday. I am trying to sublet my room and so I am packing all my stuff away for the month that I am home. Anywhooooo in the midst of this tornado (the mess must get worse before it gets better) I get an email from my screen business instructor (the really huge project where I created a tv show). The email reads, “I just wanted to say that in ten years at Griffith I have never awarded a student 100% before, but your work was so impressive that is exactly what I have assessed your result to be. I could not fault it.
Well done.”

And that my friends, is how its done :) Ok back to packing, I just wanted to briefly gloat, ha ha ha. America here I come!!

xoxo