My Thanksgiving, in statistics

Number of relatives that flew in from the West Coast: 5
Number of happy hours my brother and I hit before seeing our relatives: 2
Number of different pies baked: 4


Number of fights I had with my mom: 2
Number of fights she remembers us having: 1
Number of lines of bad dialogue in "Burlesque": 4, 387

Number of plastic surgery procedures Cher admits to having: 3
Number of Broadway shows seen: 3
Number of Broadway shows seen that were directed by Alex Timbers: 2
Number of drunk/high adults in the audience at the Peewee Herman show: 497
Number of glasses of wine consumed: more than 5 and less than 50
Number of times the woman next to me on the train to New York got up to pee: 3
Number of times I was asked about my love life: CRANBERRY SAUCE
Number of years my grandmother has been awesome: 92
Number of sticks of butter in my mom's stuffing: unknown


Number of regrettable drunken texts sent: 6
Number of tablespoons of Johnny Walker Black added to my chocolate pecan pie recipe: 4
Number of minutes I waited in line at Starbucks on Thursday morning: 25
Number of children with nicer winter coats than me spotted in aforementioned line: 3

Number of pairs of socks borrowed from my ex-boyfriend (at whose apartment I was staying) because I forgot to pack socks: 2 (sorry, Noah)
Number of times the word "number" appears in the blog post: 19!

And one bonus, non-numerical piece of data: for the best story that may or may not be true and/or grossly exaggerated told by a family member, it's a tie between

-- my aunt describing the time she met Cher and Cher appeared to be wearing a bedspread
-- my mom talking about seeing Stevie Wonder open for the Rolling Stones and falling off the stage

Ah, the holidays. The fun is just beginning.

Gobble, gobble

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I have already engaged in one angry/tearful discussion with a family member about politics, so for others who may be in similar positions, I recommend this helpful article from Slate about navigating those tricky topics.

The turkey: equal parts regal and ridiculous. All parts delicious!

Seafood feast!

In lieu of the traditional turkey, my family decided to mix it up this year. We went to Florida to celebrate Thanksgiving and created a seafood-themed meal very different from what the pilgrims probably ate. The menu included:

Lobster tails

Crab stuffing

Corn casserole with mussels

Lemon garlic shrimp with peppers

Green beans (the one classic side we couldn't abandon)

No mashed potatoes! No pecan pie! It was very revolutionary. We also instituted the first ever Vagnino Family Book Exchange. I made out like a bandit with a new collection of Russian poetry and How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely, which looks hilarious.

I'm trying not to think about the terrifying amount of school work I have awaiting me in Boston as the semester winds down. I'm looking at the ocean and making plans to play mini-golf tomorrow. For these few days in the sun, I am thankful.

5 things I am thankful for

On the actual day designated for giving thanks, I often find myself more concerned with how whatever vegetable side dish I'm preparing for dinner will turn out than reflecting on what I should be thankful for. This year was no exception, and while I'm happy to report that my brussel sprouts and carrots were a big hit, I'm still a little behind in my thanks-giving. So here we go, 4 days late.

First, the obvious:

1.
Although it's been said many times, many ways-- THANK GOD OR WHOM/WHATEVER IS UP THERE THAT HE WON.

2. Puppies!

My family in St. Louis got a new puppy as an early Christmas present for my youngest brother, J.T. The puppy is a mini Dachshund named Luigi (nickname: Louie). Watch this clip of him learning how to climb down stairs and your heart will melt a little:




On a related note, my friend Karl sent me this photo, which he described as "a snapshot of heaven."

So as to not offend Maude, the fat calico with whom I share my bed, I probably should expand this to be thankful for animals or pets in general. I owe that to her, especially since I tied a green-and-red striped holiday bow to her collar today. She is not pleased.

3. Friends, both silver and gold

I've made some new grad school friends in the past few months in Boston, and I'm very thankful for that since my little studio can get quite lonely. But I'm also thankful to still be in touch with friends from high school, college, and the years I spent in NYC after college. I'm actually a hard person to fall out of touch with -- I'm pretty tenacious about maintaining my friendships. Once you befriend me, you're stuck with me.

4. The Groon

My Dad told me an anecdote this weekend about his salad days at the University of Arizona. Apparently, he once got caught cheating on a pop quiz in an Anthropology course. One of the questions asked about the prosimian primates that represent the bridge between two classifications of mammals. The correct answer is lemur, but my dad hadn't done the reading and decided to copy off another student. Both my dad and this other idiot wrote down the same nonexistent creature: the Groon. I imagine the Groon looks something like this:

The Groon represents my bizarro family. Fractured and odd as we are, we have some good times together.

5. You!

Yes, you. I know it's cheesy of me to say, but seriously, thanks for reading. It's been six months since I started this blog and I'm still getting the hang of it, so I am very appreciative that anyone reads it at all. So...thanks. And keep reading, please.