Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving!

Well these tidings come about a week late, but I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Rachel and I decided to host dinner for our English friends Kat and Tamsin and our Australian mate Chris. Kat actually celebrates Thanksgiving every year with her family because her father is American; it was Tamsin and Chris’s first turkey day experience. Speaking of turkey… we didn’t actually have one. We decided it would be easier on us (and our kitchen) if we bought a delicious pre- cooked chicken instead. And for those of you that think this was a cop out, I will say to you what I said to my sister Jackie: When you have your first Thanksgiving thousands of miles away from home we’ll see how you do. We did cook all the yummy sides like mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and a sweet potato dish. Our delectable feast was followed by an amazing episode of “Glee” which I much preferred to a football game and dark chocolate brownies Kat and Tamsin made from scratch. All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving.

The lovely bouquet courtesy of Colin.

I wish every dinner was a Thanksgiving feast!

The self- timer really comes in handy in times likes these.

This past Monday, I went scuba diving at Gordon’s Bay with my friends Jay and Thijs. I had been there before to take pictures of the fishing boats and search for sea glass on the shore, but never to dive. The water was incredibly rough and we were walking into it from a rocky area. While I successfully made it into the water, the way out proved to be a bit more difficult and I unfortunately was smashed up against the rocks. I survived with a few cuts on my feet and a bruised ego. While underneath, Jay and Thijs used their dive knives to cut a sea urchin open and used that to feed a friendly blue grouper that has become quite accustomed to divers treating him. I know I haven’t posted any scuba diving pictures yet, but that’s only because disposable underwater cameras are expensive and I’m trying to make the 28 shots last as long as I can. Once I do get the developed I will most definitely post them.

I realize I haven’t written about work much and that’s only because it isn’t the most exciting topic- that’s not to say I haven’t been enjoying it though. I work mostly with my manager Katie, who I love and my day consists of assisting customers, making sure the store is tidy, and putting new merchandise onto the floor. The past few shifts I’ve worked 1pm to close, which is 7pm and relatively early compared to American stores. Even though I’ve worked in retail before, I feel so much more important at Reiss because I’m literally closing the entire store by myself whereas at Anthropologie or Nordstrom there were always a few people with me (that of course is because both those stores are enormous compared to Reiss). I expect to more hours as the Christmas season approaches, so I will hopefully have a nice amount of money saved up by the time I start backpacking in February.