Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Things I'm Thankful For, Thanksgiving Ed.

I'm lying in my bed, getting my pillow wet from my still-soaked hair. I really shouldn't go to bed with a wet head, but I'm too lazy to blow dry it every night. Plus, I think it ruins your hair's cuticle if you use a blow dryer every night...or is that just something I made up? Then again, shampooing your hair every day is also pretty bad for your hair. That I'm pretty sure is true. I know all this because I read way too much useless crap on the internet. That's at least what I tell myself, but actually some of the stuff I learn end up being useful. If not for serious things, like saving a life, at the very least it's been useful for saving conversations that are clearly in need of a lifeline.
I'm thankful for: The Internet, hot running water, a comfortable bed to sleep in at night, (water-soaked) pillows, and for having a good job that allows me to have all these things in an apartment I can afford. 

I'm listening to "Calm My Soul" by Paper Route on Spotify. Spotify is amazing; it's introduced me to so many great artists, and have turned me into a certified lover of any artist anyone suggests I listen to. Most of my friends and co-workers have good taste in music, so now I'm really into the Black Keys, Angus and Julia Stone, Mayer Hawthorne, Mumford & Sons, Fun., Ellie Goulding, Alex Clare, Swedish House Mafia, Regina Spektor, Lumineers, Of Monsters & Men, and my all-new obsession, The Civil Wars. I love this duo so much that I've pushed for my a cappella group to cover their beautiful, haunting song "Poison and Wine," a song I will never tire of. I'm really sad they stopped touring together. At least they're still releasing new songs in 2013. While I won't get to see them in the near future, I am super stoked to see Muse in Target Center next year. Yet another new (for me, not for the world) artist for me to love. 
I'm thankful for: Spotify, amazing friends with really good taste in music (including, but not limited to, the Tune Ups), amazing friends with bad taste in music but who I love anyway, concert venues around Minneapolis that attract top artists (e.g. First Ave, Xcel, State/Orpheum), and music. Music is everything. I seriously don't know what life would be like without music. I bet you it's sad. Which is why I'm thankful for music. 

I'm thinking of my trip to Chicago this past weekend. It was a marvelous short vacation. The weather was surprisingly warm all three days I was there. And spending those three days with my sister, her hubby, and her baby made the trip sweet perfection. It was great showing them around the parts of Chicago I'm familiar with -- the Loop, Wicker Park, River Architecture Tour -- as well as places we explored for the first time together (Lincoln Park Zoo). It was priceless seeing my niece Olivia smile so brightly every time I smile at her; it's impossible not to cheer up when that happens. Then, when she giggles and rolls around the bed or crawls up to me really fast, my heart just melts. I can't wait to see my entire family again for Christmas. It's going to be such a riot fest; my nephew Matthew will try his best to make his cousin laugh, my parents will spoil the entire family rotten with way too much food, my brother will take beautiful photographs, and the entire family will be together. Which is what matters above all else. 
I'm thankful for: my niece, my sister, my brother-in-law, my parents for raising such good daughters and son, my brother, my nephew, my entire family, Chicago, photographs, facebook, cheap flights, airplanes, California, surprisingly good weather, and that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you're with family. It's inexplicable. It's irreplaceable. 

I'm slightly nervous about hosting my first Thanksgiving dinner, but I'm way more happy excited. I'm going to stop by Lund's tomorrow to buy the last few ingredients for my side dishes...actually, let me just update my calendar reminder and allrecipes.com to make sure I have the right ingredients on my list... done. Here's hoping I can get vegetable stock from Lund's, because I definitely couldn't find it at my Target. I did get almost everything there, though, including turkey in a bag. It's like a fail-proof way to make turkey -- at least, that's what I'm hoping for. I also got the exclusive edition of the Hunger Games DVD. I'm planning on having us watch it after we've stuffed our faces with Thanksgiving food. I'm really not trying to go for irony here, or making parallelisms (like we're the Capitol citizens or something), I just want to see Hunger Games again. I've already moved my tables to make more room in my living room. I have a lot more cleaning and sprucing up to do, including (oddly enough) lowering my canvas painting a few inches down so it's more at eye-level. It shouldn't be too hard because of that leveler thingie I got a few months ago. Best $10 investment if you're going to hang a lot of wall art in your house/apartment, by the way. 
I'm thankful for: that new Lund's on Hennepin, google calendar, turkey in a bag, home decor, Thanksgiving-themed paper partyware, crockpot recipes, stuffing, pumpkin pie, Hunger Games DVD, and friends to spend this special holiday with. I love Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for Thanksgiving. 

Lastly, I'm thankful for this opportunity to just blab about things I'm thankful for. I'm so grateful to live such a comfortable, blessed life that gives me the time and the content to write random notes like this. I'm thankful for friends (real and imagined) who will read this and reflect on what they're thankful for in their own lives. There's just a lot of negativity going on around us every day, so it's important never to take the positive things for granted. I'm grateful for all the things that are right in my life, and there are a lot of them. And I'm thankful for that. 

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