Thanksgiving weekend

Can you believe it's December??!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday.  I was lucky to actually get some turkey to eat this year!!  A group of friends and I went out for dinner on Thursday night after work, and we enjoyed a delicious dinner, even if there was no green bean casserole.

It's just green beans - no cream of mushroom, no French's fried onions

Two of the people we ate with had never had Thanksgiving dinner before, so it was fun to introduce them to our American traditions!  We had a fun discussion about pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving leftovers, the definition of "pudding", and Flavor Flav haha.  Good times with good friends is something to be thankful for anytime!

Thanksgiving dinner was a nice break from an absolutely manic week at work!  I totally thought that it would be a light week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, but it was insane.  I hit a big deadline on Friday afternoon, and I couldn't have been more relieved or more exhausted.

Totally off topic - One of my friends gave me some Taiwan pineapple tarts!!

Friday night, I went over to a friend's house for a laid back night of catching up over dinner.  As I've mentioned several times before on this blog, I don't have a fully equipped kitchen, so I am always super envious of people who do!

Fajitas!

I had intended to wake up early on Saturday and go for a run, but I ended up sleeping in late instead - I'm a firm believer in just listening to your body, and my body was tired!  I had made plans with friends on Orchard, so I headed over to the mall for lunch.

Yong Tau Foo - I used to eat this all the time when I first got here!

It rained basically all day Saturday, so a bowl of noodles and soup was exactly what I wanted, followed by a movie!  We saw Catching Fire, and I absolutely loved it.  Even though I've read all the books and already know what will happen, I still thought the movie did a great job of creating drama and holding my attention.  Too bad the third movie won't come out for years!

Saturday evening, I braved the rain and went to a housewarming / Thanksgiving party for a new friend.  The only person I knew at the party was the host, so it was a great chance to meet some new people!  This is one of the things that I have loved about living abroad - not only the chance to meet new people, but the willingness to get out there and meet new people.  Two years ago, I would have never gone to a party where I only knew one person - let alone if it was raining haha.  

At both of the Thanksgiving dinners that I went to, we all opted out of the tradition of going around the table and saying what we are thankful for, so I thought I'd share with you guys.  This year, I'm thankful for the places I've been able to travel and for all the cool experiences I've had.  I'm thankful for my hometown and my family and friends - in the two trips that I went back in 2013, I was always greeted with a full calendar of people to see.  I'm thankful for my job - not only for the income and professional experience, but also because I have a great support system of people to lean on and talk to when I have to make decisions.  I'm thankful for all of you people who read my blog - sometimes, living away is hard because you are so far from so many people you care about, so I appreciate you guys for reading and for reaching out.