Thanksgiving was pretty great. I have to admit, I was worried that we wouldn't pull everything off - we had an extensive-ass menu - but we did. We did. Here is what the four of us cooked:

*Turkey (11.1 lbs.: the smallest bird we could find) & gravy
*Mashed potatoes (garlic, and also mashed potato casserole, which is regular mashed potatoes + sour cream + grated cheese, baked with cheese on top: one of Ali's concoctions)
*Old skool stuffing (so much butter)
*Corn bake
*Raspberry salad
*Cranberry, apple, and orange relish
*Steamed broccoli, steamed carrots
*Snowflake rolls (these, admittedly, were store bought)
*Chocolate cupcakes
*Pumpkin pie

and...

*Nachos, with Ali's specialty dip.

The nachos don't really fit into most people's Thanksgiving schemata, but they were a delicious accompaniment to football. My all-time favorite, of course, is my mom's stuffing: there's no written recipe, but the constant is BUTTER. I know she seasons it with thyme, sage, poultry seasoning, s&p, but the exact proportions are a mystery. Srsly, though: I look forward all year to this stuffing, and I did not leave the table disappointed.

Later, after we'd slept off our food hangovers and cleaned up, we saw Four Christmases. I wasn't too eager to see it, not being much of a Vince Vaughn fan (I guess I don't mind Reese Witherspoon?), but it wasn't too bad. I think this assessment was strongly influenced by my initial low expectations, though. Bottom line: Vince Vaughn does and always will play VV, and if you're not in the mood for his schtick, then this is not the holiday movie for you.

Happy post-Thanksgiving kickin' around to all, and to all a good morning! I'm not sure what's on the schedule for today, but I hope it doesn't involve shopping or simple carbohydrates...

Halp.

A minor freakout. The plan was this: the plan was that Ali would work the morning shift today and I would work the morning shift today, and in the afternoon we would tidy the house/purchase last minute groceries/get our holiday wine situation in order/BAKE. As it turns out, Ali's [admittedly-fickle] boss called her in for a double shift today, and A. will be working until at least 10pm. = UGH.

I know I'll be able to get all this stuff done by myself, but I am filled with loathing at the thought of grocery shopping on the day before Thanksgiving. How was I to know that I'd use most of the milk I'd intended for stuffing? Or that my mom no longer likes salad mix and wants bunches of red leaf lettuce and romaine? = UGH. On top of all this, I was hoping to get at least 1/3 of my student papers graded; looks like that won't be happening.

Ah, well. Things could be worse: the house could still be in the state it was Sunday morning. We could have forgotten the turkey, or the pie crusts. I could be one of those people who feels guilty about taking a long time to grade (hah). But, none of these things are true. So, I'll forge through the next three.five hours of work, and then it's prep time.

PS:

Man, I just used the word "hair" a lot.
But what other choice did I have?

Hair-i-lujah

I think I've found a winner for Best Local Salon. After working the 12 to 2 shift yesterday at the Grad Conference Bake Sale, I headed to The Lift in Easthampton for a simple trim. I shouldn't say "headed to," since my trip was circuitous and I stopped twice for directions: once at a strip mall dry cleaning shop just over the Southampton border, and once at a weird machine shop type deal right near the Easthampton roundabout. Finally, though, I made it to Eastworks, an old home-goods factory recently converted into shops/galleries. I'd somehow managed, in my two.five years living here, never to visit Eastworks, but I'd like to go back. True, the few shops I passed en route to the salon appeared to peddle mostly "country-cutesy" gift items, but the galleries might be interesting.

Anyway: The Lift. Decor is pleasant: leather chairs in the waiting area, blond wood, grape-cluster shaped lamps hung above the reception counter. The chairs at the shampoo station are massage chairs (a la Sharper Image or whatevs), and I was given a warm towel for my eyes as my hair was shampooed. Product line: Bumble & Bumble. My stylist was friendly, not too pushy, and didn't take too much off the ends.

But there's more. In addition to having my ends trimmed, I had a special conditioning treatment applied to my hair, and oh. My. God. I don't think my hair has ever been so smooth and shiny. Not even when I was a kid, and had yet to damage my hair with heat tools and processing. This treatment, which reinvigorated my hair with protein, effectively repairing the cuticle(s), is something I would have poo-poohed a few years ago, but no longer. I even asked if I could buy this wonderful protein serum and treat my own hair, but I guess the product is only available for use in salons, so powerful it is.

Bottom line: if you're in Easthampton and needing a haircut (or treatment), head on over to The Lift. The staff are friendly, the wait time is short, the products they use are great, and they're considerably cheaper than other places in the area.

Back to reality.

Yesterday I was a total slob: slovenly in the way I haven't been in at least a year. Saturday night, we (Ali, Eric, and I) threw a surprise birthday party for Sara, which was pretty badass. We had decorations (balloons, streamers, birthday banner), a full nacho/taco bar, a cake shaped like North Dakota, and plenty of boozes. The revelry lasted well into the night, then the later night, then the morning, and before we all knew it, it was five. Hence the subsequent slobbery.

Mostly I like to be awake and alert early: I'll wake up at 5:30 or 6, check email, eat breakfast, putter around, go to the gym, and so on. But yesterday, sleeping until 2, driving to BK still in my fleece pants, eating on the couch while staring at the blank TV, and not showering until 5:30 were the only acceptable choices. To be fair, I wasn't wholly unproductive: Ali and I cleaned up all the party-related mess (A. even got a Swiffer mop for the job: the mop is awesome), watched "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" (I would have resisted if I weren't such a zombie), baked for the grad conference bake sale (today!), and I did some homework for practicum. We also finished our Thanksgiving shopping, which took an hour or two longer than it should have, due to our hazy fascination with the just shelved Xmas merch. And our haziness in general.

If there's one thing I learned, it's that fleece pants are the greatest invention ever. I've never owned a pair before, but I'm starting to think I should pick up a few more in different colors. Has slovenliness invaded my life? Only time will tell...

RAAAAH!

Again: RAAAAAH! Damn, it is Friday, and I'm more excited than I normally am on Friday mornings because this week was a minor shitstorm. So, hallelujah to doneness: doneness of the week. I'm freaking out a little because I didn't sleep well last night, I think I might be getting sick again (despite my efforts to chug as much Emergen-C as humanly possible), and there's revelry planned for the days to come. Not to mention all the stuff that needs to be done for Thanksgiving: a thorough cleaning of the house (so that my mom does not think that A. and I live in total squalor, which we sometimes do & which I HATE), purchasing of all the T-day foodstuffs, decorating of our mini-tree. The mini-tree (3' tall) is mostly decorated, being that there are so few branches. But, finishing touches.

Ali and I might get our turkey today, before all the turkeys are sold out. I wanted to pre-order a fresh, local bird, but my mom was like, "meh," and Ali doesn't eat meat, so frozen it is. Our fridge is pretty full, so Eric has graciously volunteered the bottom shelf of his fridge for the defrosting process.
ALSO: Has anyone ever cooked a turkey in a crock pot? My mom wanted us to do this (we were initially planning to get a turkey breast, rather than a whole bird), but I don't think it will work. Guess it's time to buy a roasting pan...

Monday will bring haircut joy! Or, trim joy, since Project Long Shiny Ponytail is still underway. My hair is longer than ever, but the last time I got it trimmed was late September & the ends are starting to look a little frazzled. Going to The Lift in Easthampton, based on LDS' recommendation. Excitement!

Hugh Jackman is the sexiest man alive?
99% of the time, People magazine does not occupy my consciousness. In fact, I would not have known that the "sexiest" rankings had been reassigned for the year, but en route to checking my Yahoo mail I stumbled upon the story and of course had to read enough of the article to find out WHO IS THE SEXIEST MAN. Hugh Jackman? Really? At least it's not Daniel Craig. Several ladies in my workshop were discussing how "shopworn" and "ripped" he is, and though I agree that he is both of these things, I could not chime in with agreement that he is "hot." He's old! (Or "shopworn," some would say.) And he has a weird face with a too-pointy chin. Abs and biceps be damned, I cannot give my full approval.

Part of my resistance to People's "Hottest" rankings is the fact that they're ranking celebrities: people whose very livelihood depends on their statistically-improbable physical goodness. If People ranked random dudes (perhaps sharing a common geographical location, or occupation (other than celeb)), maybe I'd be interested. Or less disinterested than I am now. But celebrities? Of course they're better looking than we are: it's their job.

Enough of that nonsense. I've got Retinol-enhanced eye creams to research.