thanksgiving tradition.

When I left Winnipeg on Wednesday (more on that in a future post), I was determined to get to spend Thanksgiving the most traditional way I know how ... with good food + great company!... With these simple staples as my prerequisites, there was only one place that could be ... in a (homemade) kitchen with the Gallos!  Lucky for me, Mr. Rick, Barb + Carly had flown up to D.C. to be with Meg+Danny and while it wasn't exactly on my way to Knoxville, it wasn't tooo out of the way either so after battling several blizzards which melted into rainstorms the further South I went, I made it with exactly one hour left of Thanksgiving to eat some of the tastiest turkey my tastebuds have ever known and Barb's infamous pumpkin roll!    

  I have spent the majority of every major holiday the last few years with the Gallos. Sadly, my blog does not reflect this and when I was pondering why that is, I realized it's because when I am with them we do very ordinary things that you normally would not document (eating dinner, watching movies, playing cards). But when in their presence, it becomes extraordinary + while its hard to capture in photographs, its definitely worth documenting, even if its hard to find the words to describe it, so I was trying to be conscious of taking candid photogs to remember this super special weekend.
When we're together, we spend lots of time cooking (most of the time I fall asleep curled up in a ball on the couch absorbing Barb's cooking skills via osmosis)

 Friday, we tackled the crowds of  Black Friday and the five of us did a little bit of shopping at our favorite stores (me = Anthropologie!). When we got home that afternoon, we watched Meg+Danny's wedding video and it was perhaps my favorite part of the weekend. To say their wedding was one of my favorite nights of my life would be an understatement. Carly studies architecture at Florida International University in Miami + Friday night we made a delicious Spanish style dinner while consuming yummy wine and dancing to reggaeton! 

so many laughs ... 

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 It felt great to be back in the country that reserves every Saturday from September- December for (college football's) Gameday and it just so happened to be UF vs. FSU, both of our alma maters biggest rivalry game! We have spent many games together like this one and after a six year winning streak, the Gators lost (badly) to the Seminoles. Danny was super excited!! I feel so lucky to probably be the only person in orange & blue that Danny (FSU's #1) would hug while wearing "such ugly colors!"

Meg+Danny's closest friends in DC also came over to watch the game (They are LSU alum and watched their game simultaneously on a TV in the next room!) and afterwards we played many rounds of cards (the name of the game we played is a profanity that rhymes with shmasshole) until the "Must only speak in Spanish" rule was implemented and I had to call it a "noche". HA!

I'm not sure exactly what I am doing with my life at this exact moment but I am quite certain that surrounding myself with the people I love the most is at the top of my life list ... the Gallos (all 5 of them) are my "thanksgiving tradition" + I am so happy it worked out for me to be with them this year.

With a lot more inner reconciliation to be had, it was no wonder I hopped back in my car today and drove seven more hours to my sister's to see Kara, Grams + Reese.