Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

We got in touch with those we hadn’t been able to reach to give them the news.

We also went shopping for Thanksgiving. The usual suspects will be here, a total of 16 people including ourselves. Christopher and Brett are stopping by before they go to their mom’s. Matt is cooking two turkeys; I am preparing kale and fried sweet potatoes, and getting ice cream and apple pie; mom is here already and brought yellow squash soufflé; Grace, Steve, Gaby and Marco are bringing mashed potatoes, cheese cake, and homemade cranberry sauce; Eddie and Terri will bring the wine; and Tere and Lito are bringing Tere’s eggplant specialty and bread. Lisa, Dan and Paige might join us if they get back in time from Nashville.

As Grace suggested… ;-) Matt will be making the “official” ;-) announcement during dinner.

I also started to look at wedding dresses online. What’s a girl gonna do? ;-) Many months ago, I had seen an article of “El Comercio” with some dresses that had called my attention. As I always do, I kept them in my Wardrobe Design folder. (I have a Design folder for pretty much everything and I dig through them when I am preparing a show.) I pulled the pics out.

The designers name is Elie Saab. Have you seen his stuff? It is absolutely amazing. I love how he goes beyond what has been done till this day when working with texture. He’s a genius! I found his site online and also the line he designs for Pronovias in Barcelona. Of course – do I need to say it? – these dresses start at about $6K!!!, so that is out of the question. But, it is possible I might be able to adapt one of the locally available dresses with the similar sleeves to look like the design I like.

I also found sites from China on eBay that claim can sew any dress. Gotta look more into it. The prices are unbeatable but, as you can imagine, I don’t know about that…

Wedesday, November 25, 2009

Today we finalized details for tomorrow. As usual, I set the table during the night and left anything I had to done taken care off (except cooking) so tomorrow I can get ready without having to rush.

Matt got the grill and porch ready for his cooking session tomorrow.

When everything was ready, I continued looking at wedding dresses. Man! There is so much stuff out there!!!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I just love the Holidays! Getting together with everybody, eating, talking, laughing; well, you know.

During Grace, we went around the table and everybody mentioned something he or she was thankful for. I know this might sound a bit corny, but I think it is very healthy and important, specially in time of challenge like the ones we are all living, to remember even one thing – if not the many things – that we should be thankful for. And I know this has been said endlessly, but there are so many that don’t even come close to having the life the we have in this wonderful country, in the beautiful town we live in.

Having been raised in Peru and having taught catechism in really poor areas when I was in high school, I have seen first hand the extreme poverty that others can endure. My schoolmate and I used to take bread with butter and jam every time we went. And I can clearly remember to this day how the little kids sometimes fought for a piece. Dressed in ragged clothes, wearing no shoes, studying in a school that had no roof and no windows, with bricks as chairs and no desks, these children came to listen and t learn.

We also get so caught the demanding rhythms of our lives, sometimes stuck in the system, automatically doing what we have to do every day, that we forget, how truly blessed we are, if at all because we have the opportunity to pursue our dreams if we so choose to do. I have lived in this country most of my adult life. And, even though I have roots in Peru, it is here were I grew into the person that I am today.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

So here I sit writing these words, without a second thought, knowing I will be sharing them with the people I love. And I think, there are so many places in the world where I could not be doing this for so many different reasons…and I feel, once again, so truly blessed…

And, in being thankful, we “officially” shared our news with all those present during dinner, laughing, eating, taking pics, and enjoying our wonderfully blessed lives!