Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It was very strange to be living a holiday from another time zone — madre texted me that the bird was in the oven when we would usually start eating in the GMT time zone. Not going to lie, it was definitely a bittersweet day for me in London…but at least there was definitely some sweet.
I started the day at St. Paul’s Cathedral for the Thanksgiving Service for the American Community in London. It was very strange heading out into a city that was not on the same festive wavelength as me, but as I headed east across the city the American accents became the majority in an even stranger way. Inside St. Paul’s, I had a new cultural revelation: Americans–no, WASPs–are definitely an identifiable race. Thanks to flying solo, I snagged a seat within the first section of seats and enjoyed belting out my favorite Thanksgiving tunes (my neighbor even complimented me at the end of the service) and hearing the President’s Thanksgiving Day proclamation, something I never really heard in full, read by the US Ambassador.
I thought I had a celebrity sighting during the service, and it was confirmed on the steps when leaving: Chris Matthews, host of Hardball on MSNBC! I wasn’t the only one who noticed (there was a group of Georgetown University students) but I was the only one who interned in the same office as his public relations agent this summer 
Chris Matthews
Afterward I headed home to a bustling kitchen where my Vassar flatmates hastily decided to whip up a feast. I tracked down the full Charlie Brown’s Thanskgiving Special on YouTube but failed to find a live stream of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Finally, it was 6:30pm, and I headed over to the Texas Embassy Cantina where I met Annie Black, her visiting parents, her cousin who is here in graduate school, and Jenna Sterling. It was so sweet of the Blacks to include us in their holiday celebration and it was great to spend time with some sort of family…especially one actually from Texas at the so themed restaurant! They served a Thanksgiving dinner, but they also put chips and salsa on the table and our first round of drinks were margaritas. It was a delicious meal out, and I did have turkey, cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes, but it just wasn’t quite Thanksgiving…most perfectly embodied in the small sliver of pie that equaled about 1/3 of my usual first-round dessert serving.
I headed home again to stuffed Vassar students and a turkey in the oven for a Marist flatmate and his visiting sister. And that, my dear readers, is when I became that adult who goes out to dinner for Thanksgiving with one family and joins another group for their post-dinner festivity. So strange…but it was very comforting. We had a great night listening to holiday music, playing games, and just enjoying each others company. Isn’t that what the holidays are all about?
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- Chris Matthews
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- Texas Embassy Cantina
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- Margarita Cheers!
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- hitchhiker
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- Texas Lady
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- “the daughters”
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- mom & real daughter
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- mom, niece, daughter
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- Vassar gals
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- The Best–I mean–Black Family
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- “the daughters”
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- £3 Champs Champagne
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- ambiance
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- Mike’s Pumpkin Pie
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- Sarah’s Butter Tarts
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- Vassar!
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- ambiance
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- water with tomato garnish…?
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- real man
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- ghosts
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- staying hydrated ;)
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- Grant’s turkey
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- working it
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- Pie-covered Pat
