thankful.

I committed the cardinal blogging sin. I didn't take any pictures of Thanksgiving this year. not a single one. but as Phyllis reminded me: sometimes you need to live your life, not photograph it.

I might not be able to show you what I'm thankful for, but I can still tell you. [don't worry, I won't further my transgressions by missing the obligatory Thanksgiving post. even if I'm a few days late.]

I'm thankful for the wonderful little community of expats we have here. for friends who are crazy and generous enough to invite 35 people over to their tiny apartment for a potluck dinner. I'm thankful for ironic conversations on the topic of artificial insemination for turkeys, for chubby babies and camping chairs and paper cups of red wine, for peppermint bark and cranberry sauce. and for green bean casserole, despite the gluten hangover it gave me.

I'm thankful for Husband. for the mornings he brings me coffee, for the times he wraps me up in blankets like a burrito, and for every single laugh. I'm thankful that he let me drag him out and shoot some photos to send my Mom for Christmas cards this afternoon. and for the hilarity caused by the people who stopped to take pictures of us taking pictures of ourselves. I'm thankful that my Husband has a job that allows me to spend time with him, but also allows me to spend time with myself.

I'm thankful to live on this funny little island, where sometimes you can wear tshirts in December. [though sometimes it's freezing and I'm thankful for space heaters and the miracle of sweatpants.] I'm thankful for the mountain I climbed this morning, the view from the top during our workout, and even the pushups Husband made me stop and do every 2 minutes on our run back down. I'm thankful that even though my knees feel old sometimes I can still run and move my body.

I'm thankful for the internet, and for the ability to connect with friends and family back home. I'm thankful that they support me, even when I'm far away. I'm thankful that I've found expat friends both online and in real life who can understand both the struggles and the awesome sauce that being an expat can bring into your life. I'm thankful for scooting and the opportunity to travel and that the theatre plays movies in English.

I'm thankful for you - yes, you - who are reading this blog. and that you probably won't judge my grammar too harshly.

I'm thankful... for a lot of things. I'm thankful for how much I've grown this past year. and I'm thankful to be thankful.

thanksgiving, taiwan style

as promised: the long and elaborate story of how I celebrated my first Thanksgiving as an expatriate.

my thursday morning started off rainy and kindof mopey, with coffee [as usual] and checking the happenings on the internet. which led to me writing this last post and pumping myself up to make the best out of what I had.

step one? deciding that even though I do not have an oven or a mixer or even measuring cups I would bake something to bring to the potluck dinner. because mashed sweet potatoes are tasty but not really a fun party food. because as much as I try to tell myself I don't miss baking because of the gluten and it's too difficult/expensive to keep that hobby in Taiwan I actually do miss it. and because I knew that Husband was bummed about having to work on Thanksgiving and making one of his favorite things from home would cheer him up.

enter: the olive cheese tart. something that requires minimal baking time, no harmful raw ingredients [in case the toaster oven under cooks], and has been made gluten-free with success in the past. AND I had most of the ingredients on hand. all I needed was some cheddar cheese and butter.

the morning that had started gloomy and rainy had turned into a gorgeous day. I'm talking 75 F and sunny. so I scooted over to Big City Mall for some seriously overpriced dairy from the fancy import store. [seriously. same price at Costco for 2 pounds as the little 8oz bar at City Super.] I wandered around a bit and then nearly fainted when I spotted this display:

essie. in Taiwan. I don't even know if it is legitimately supposed to be sold in this country. but there it was... the fall 2012 collection and a handful of completely random shades. including the ever-elusive mint candy apple. [seriously, I was starting to think it was an urban myth] how could I not buy it? the amount of joy from snatching up that bottle - completely irrational.

then again, I don't think joy is supposed to be a rational emotion. what makes us happy, makes us happy. and for me that includes finding not only my favorite brand of nailpolish, but a color which I had searched for high and low in the states and could. not. find. anywhere.

coincidence? serendipity? just the night before I had read the chapter of the happiness project on money, and this seemed the perfect small splurge. completely irrational, yes. but I practically bounced out of the store and smiled the whole way home. worth it.

//end of nail polish tangent.

once I got home it was time to start cooking. I threw on my most random but favorite playlist and got my butt in the kitchen. I started the sweet potatoes without really thinking about it being a potluck and just followed my usual recipe for 2. so then I got to make a second, larger batch while my butter was coming to room temp for the tarts.

it took a bit of internet hunting to figure out how to convert the olive cheese tart recipe to grams for butter and ml for the cheese and flour. [did you know that the "cup" measurement is not actually standardized?] I halved the recipe and still ended up with extra dough... not my day for portion estimation.

I measured the ingredients in our "water/juice" glasses and mixed it with the back of a tablespoon... and in the process broke a nail. kitchen ninja. I baked the tarts in our toaster oven and they came out just the crispy side of perfect. and just in time to head upstairs for the potluck.

we had ourselves a nice little feast! Jackie and Sean hosted, and they [and Jackie's mom who was visiting] made mashed potatoes and green bean casserole, Ruth and Ben ordered a turkey for a restaurant and used the school's oven to cook it, and I don't know who else brought what but there was food aplenty.

I was definitely not my best photographer-self that evening. I couldn't hold my plate and my camera at the same time... or my wine. but it was a great evening with lots of friends and good conversation.  [a few who are pictured above.] Luke and I feel very thankful that we are in this great little community of friends, and that we were able to have a little bit of home here for the holiday.

[then I skyped with my family the following morning, so I still got to "see" everyone and catch up a bit.]

and that concludes your Thanksgiving expatriate tale.

thanksgiving thoughts

 [NYC 2009]

I woke this morning to the sound of pouring rain, and Husband pulling me close to tell me Happy Thanksgiving... I'm thankful for you. not a terrible way to start our first Thanksgiving on foreign soil.

Husband goes to work and the typical morning routine commences: make coffee, check email, facebook, twitter, instagram, etc to see what the rest of the world was doing while I was asleep. a tweet from my best friend, reminding me that she's my best friend. a wall post wishing me happy thanksgiving from someone thoughtful enough to remember the time difference. an email from my mother-in-law with a picture of one of my kittens napping, unaware that 2 small boys and 2 loud dogs are about to invade "her space".

also, this tweet from one of my favorite bloggers: Don't forget: most people's Thanksgiving tables don't look the way they do in magazines. And imperfect Thanksgivings are the most memorable. 

and I sat down with my coffee to start writing this post, because it's true. Thanksgiving has always been kindof a big deal in my family. my Dad's side, the Austins, all get together for a giant feast, board games, lots of drinking, and an early Christmas celebration all rolled in one. I have a lot of Thanksgiving memories, but the imperfect ones seems to stand out most.

trying to arrange the antennas just so on the tiny, fuzzy tv at the cabin [usually involving someone having to stand next to the tv and hold one of the antennas] so we could watch the Macy's parade. the year someone brought the karaoke machine up north. being banned from coming back to the Crowne Plaza. I don't remember the exact circumstances [maybe during a game of gestures?] but I distinctly remember the tree being knocked over one year at the cabin. my first Thanksgiving in NJ, when I played a board game with my family via text message and Husband went all out cooking a feast and taking me black friday shopping to cheer me up. hotel security kicking us out of the pool/lounge area of just about every place we've stayed at. the year my Mom wanted to drunk dial Husband [who was then Fiancee.] delays at Newark airport leading to making new friends. and then the year before last year, when a huge ice storm knocked out the power in our hotel... I think it's safe to say that nothing can keep the Austins from having a good time.

one more thing I found this morning: a comment on my last post saying cannot wait to see how you celebrate thanksgiving over there. [thanks, India] and it got me thinking.

it's easy to think of ways I wish this holiday was different. that we were with our family. that my fiestaware and kitchaid mixer weren't boxed up in a basement 7,500 miles away. that Husband didn't have to work today [or tomorrow.] that we had an oven. that it wasn't pouring rain. that our apartment had the light from my parent's deck. that I could make a cheese board and bacon-wrapped figs and buffalo chicken dip.

but I can't change any of that. so here's how I'm going to celebrate Thanksgiving: by being where I am, and by doing what I can. I don't know exactly what that looks like just yet. but I'll be back tomorrow to show + tell you.

Happy Thanksgiving. xo

flashback: thanksgiving 2011

last thanksgiving, there was cake. because my little sister got married. in a cute little chapel with flowers and family and friends. husband and I got all nice and cleaned up [but we were still our goofy selves!] I got to catch up with old friends, and spend some quality time with two of my most favorite Katies.

also, I made this pie.