obligatory thanksgiving post

i won't do a full year wrap up until the first of the year (which will be very epic, i feel). my moves alone are worthy of some sort of self-actualization language. but that's for later.
as most of you know, joy and i went to new york to visit andrew and mo this thanksgiving. it was my first thanksgiving away from home and my first foray into twentysomething holidays: there were eight lovely people there with various connections to andrew (joy and myself), mo his girlfriend (hannah and kelsey) and both of them (drew and drew's girlfriend). best food i've ever had. joy and i decided that choosing thanksgiving with our friend who is the best cook we know was a phenomenal choice.
here's the crew at the table (and yes, i'm behind the camera -- didn't want to deal with the self timer).
i'm thankful for these people - new friends, old friends, and old OLD friend (yes, that's bacon). the thanksgiving day parade made me feel like a little kid, as joy can vouch. i shouted "DORA THE EXPLORER!!! (with that same excitement for every other balloon) and made sure that joy looked over the crowd to take pictures of the floats. looking back at the photos, i'm pretty positive that NO ONE needs 50 pictures of giant balloons. but that's the way it goes. and yes, it did get me into the holiday spirit. here's the rockin animatronic turkey:

i guess this year i'm most thankful for knowing friends who will always be willing to let you sleep on their couch, delicious organic food AND.... tattoo parlors open at all hours and jazz clubs and shuffle board and tiffany earrings and handmade hats and laughs and belgian beer and the east village and the west village and brooklyn and central park and boots and reminiscing and weird music and marzipan and spiked cider and arts and crafts and squash and florists and co-ops that won't let you in and old bosses who text you HAPPY THANKSGIVING and getting lost with joy because we're overconfident in our skills and macy's and balloons and future trips and falafel and self-serve yogurt and gilmore girls marathons and ikea and public transportation and watching joy sleep on public transportation and french press coffee and andrew's communication style and mo and joy tap dancing and good weather and and AND.

friends who always make you feel at home.