December is upon us, and I am now 3 years out of college. Yikes. Where did the time go?
I had a good time in Vegas with good friends, spent mostly eating and walking the strip. A few partook in gambling, but I’m way too risk-adverse to invest in luck and would rather invest in things with guaranteed positive return—like shoes! Or not shoes. I don’t know. I really like shoes.
All the fun I had in November—crab fishing, Reduced Shakespeare Performance, Paramore concert, Vegas—culminated in my 4-day Thanksgiving trip with Reid to his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri—my first trip to the Midwest! I wasn’t sure what to expect there, but if Missouri’s attractions were proportionate to Reid’s anecdotes and descriptions, St. Louis should have a restaurant on every block that served toasted ravioli and Budweiser, all under the Gateway Arch.
Needless to say, St. Louis wasn’t quite like that. What I’ll probably remember most is the Yokoyamas’ home—downright cozy with beautiful exposed brick walls and blue-checkered walls, sprawling lawn, trees everywhere, deer and birds frequenting the garden, and a very warm, hospitable family. Oh, and leaves. Leaves EVERYWHERE in St. Louis. As a member of the Facebook Group “I Will Go Slightly Out Of My Way To Step On A Crunchy Looking Leaf”, I lived up to my name and stepped on as many leaves as I could that were slightly out of my way—and the crunch of leaves was particularly gratifying in Missouri. I also saw the Mississippi River for the first time. I sort of expected to see Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher on steam boats floating down the river. And I DID. Sorta. Okay, they were tourist steamboats named Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher. That’s okay.
And Thanksgiving dinner—oh my! Thanksgiving dinner to me usually means huoguo—Chinese hot pot, similar to shabu shabu—and maybe a rotisserie chicken. A family of three like mine has trouble eating any-sized turkey and/or ham. But in St. Louis, we deep-fried a 12 pound turkey (along with coconut macadamia nut shrimp and wontons—a delicious deviation from traditional Thanksgiving fare), baked a green been casserole and spinach-and-yam gratin (adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s recipe), and made pumpkin pie, cornbread, fresh cranberry sauce with golden raisins, stuffing, gravy, and fresh mashed potatoes! Oh, what a delicious meal by the Yokoyamas!
After Thanksgiving, we spent one day at the St. Louis Art Museum (the special Five Centuries of Japanese Screens exhibit) and at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, and then spent another day doing the tourist rounds at the Gateway Arch and Anheuser-Bursch Brewery, ending the trip with Reid’s old favorite eateries: Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, the Posh Nosh, and Steak ‘n Shake!
I had such a pleasant holiday with great food and wonderful company, that coming back into work was pretty rough. I’m back home for a good while now after an exciting month. The Christmas wreath has been dusted off and hung up, Starbuck’s gingerbread latte is now in stores, and the annual snowboarding trip to bring in the new year has been planned; ladies and gentlemen, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.