I recently returned from a trip home to VA for Thanksgiving and am pleased to report that it was a blast! I had the opportunity to do some serious catching up with friends and family, and of course, there was amazing food to be had.
On my way up, I was able to stop in North Carolina to see my friend Holly, who I haven't seen in 11 years. We were best friends from fourth grade thru the eighth grade, and succeeded in keeping in touch for a few years afterwards, but lost track of each other completely during our early college years. A few months ago, though, we were able to find each other on Facebook, at which time I was delighted to hear that she had relocated to the south, so I ever-so-politely invited myself to stop by on my way up north. She agreed, and so that's just what I did! It was great to chat over all times and get the scoop on all the current goings-on in her life. I even got to meet her husband-to-be, Justin, who was super nice and a total riot.
I also got to see my friend Grace, who, although she was deathly ill, managed to summon the strength to allow me to bring her Indian food. ;o) It was fun chatting with her before she had a chance to skip town for the holiday as well.
A couple of days before Thanksgiving, my mom and I made a mad dash up to Amish country (Intercourse, PA) where we picked up a couple of turkeys that she had ordered at the farmer's market (for $70!! Who knew turkeys could be so expensive?!). We shopped for other goodies, like homemade sausage, cheese, the biggest head of cauliflower I've ever seen, and the tiniest and tenderest bunch of asparagus I've ever tasted. (And we may or may not have thrown back a baked good or too while we were at it... namely a whoopie pie and a pumpkin donut. Mmm!)
Then we dashed back to Virginia and started the cooking and cleaning process in preparation for all the rest of our guests that were soon to arrive.And then they did, in a utter flood. My lil' bro, Jake arrived with his wife, Jenna, and then my Uncle Dave, Aunt Regina, and their 3 year-old daughter, Helen came the day before the big day. And, of course, we were also joined by my sister Amy and her hubby who are currently living with my mom. Not to mention a whole passel of cousins. Needless to say, we had a full house, but thanks to my mom's tireless efforts, there was an abundance of food for everyone.We did some fun family things, too, like going on scenic walks at Great Falls and near the old Lorton prison. My mom sure does like her walks. But I can't say no because Thanksgiving coincides with her birthday, and that's always her special b-day request.
No trip would be complete either without seeing my good buddy, Kim. The night before I left to go back home to Georgia, I drove up to Maryland to hang out with her, her hubby Jason, and the happiest baby in the world (their completely adorable 8-month old daughter, Berkeley). I had such a good time playing with the Berkster--she is hilarious. She thinks she is a little doggie. She sticks out her little tongue and pants, and carries her pacifier around sideways in her mouth like a chewtoy. I'm going to miss those guys so much when they move to Utah!
And then... I made the arduous trek home. Now, this is normally a ten-hour drive--under GOOD conditions. However, I chose to leave on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and it was rainy. Needless to say, it got ugly. There were two instances of roadwork that set me back about an hour each, plus a couple of accidents caused by the slick roads. Not to mention the fact that I very nearly had one of my own. During the last leg of my trip, I was seriously hauling butt, because I was on my 13th hour on the road and just wanted to get home and go to bed. Suddenly, I found myself in a lane where there was a truck with his emergency flashers on, chugging along at a solid 15 MPH. I had to slam on my brakes SUPER HARD (don't you hate the noise that that makes? Seriously, it's the worst.) and barely kept from hitting him. It was scary. Shortly thereafter, however, I found myself safe in the arms of my dear hubby and all was well.
Overall, I'd say it was a fairly successful trip. And I'm glad to be back home!
This next pic needs a little explanation. It's of me making some alterations to my shoe, which had broken before I walked into the restaurant (that'll teach me to buy from Payless). Using a pair of scissors I bummed off of one of the backoffice folks at Ruth's Chris, I just snipped the back straps off both shoes, converting them from slingbacks to mules, so that I wouldn't look like a total freak walking around later on. Thank goodness we were pretty much alone in the restaurant, so no one else noticed my strange little project.
The food was absolutely amazing. If you've ever been to this restaurant, you know what I'm talking about. We both ordered steaks that you could cut with a butter knife, and shared an order some steak fries between us. And while we ate, we enjoyed a tremendous view of Centennial Olympic Park from where we sat. We even got to see two just-married couples have their wedding photos taken amongst the greenery, which totally took us back to our own wedding day. It seems like it was just yesterday! 
