Just wanted to say a quick Turkey Day weekend hello. So much to be thankful for this year, the list goes on and on. My mom was in town for a visit, which was SUCH a great thing. We had a fun time exploring Norfolk restaurants, shopping (for deals and cute babies...scored on both), and just hanging out. I even made Mom dye her eyebrows, which I've been 'dyeing'--so bad, I know--to do for months. I'm huge believer in the importance of eyebrows and since the Rau girls don't seem to have any, I spend an embarrassing amount of energy faking them. When my sister Meg came for a visit in August I took her for a little brow color and I still have the perfect mental picture of the horrified look she had on her face when she first saw her new and improved arches. I took this as more proof of how much they can change way your face looks by framing your eyes. Unfortunately she took it as a cruel joke and the next few hours were a little rough. Thankfully, she got over it. Though I don't think she ever grew to love the brows. Oops. :-D Love you, Meggy, you and your white blonde eyebrows are gorgeous. Dining out-wise, it was great to share some of my favorite Norfolk spots with Mom, and try out new places I haven't been able to try (afford). :) We had great late-night tapas at Empire the night she flew in. Tasty soup and salad at Green Onion and an AWESOME dinner at Luna Maya. This one was a highlight. I had the Tamales, my bf tried and loved the Pastel de Choclo, a corn casserole dish that he is already craving more of. The margaritas were great too. For lunch one day we went to 3 Way Cafe, one of my absolute favorites! They only do lunch and the boyfriend and I get it almost every week--my mom loved it too. Again for the locals, I'm a diehard Figgy Piggy fan (no fat jokes, Adam and Matty), B loves the Corned Beef Special and my mom's salmon salad was really good too. She also got a tour of the TV station! I will forever love the gradual realization of TV peoples' family and friends--as they see more and more newsrooms the dingy reality takes over whatever glamorous image they formerly had of the TV business. Although I can't complain about the catered Thanksgiving meal the station provided for us! Very tasty. I also had the pleasure of meeting a great Hampton Roads family--The Higgs family in Hampton open their home every year for soldiers who are far from home with no place to go. I so enjoyed doing this story and I hope I have the opportunity to do this someday. Here it is if you'd like to watch! http://www.wvec.com/home/USO--134466093.html After work, Mom and I ventured down one flight of stairs from my apartment and joined my neighbors, John and Shelley, for a homemade turkey dinner. It was wonderful! Great conversation with great people. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for lots of reasons (color scheme, cute cartoon turkeys, stuffing, I could go on and on...) but one of my favorites is the fact that it seems this holiday more than any other, brings out the best in people. It's Christmas without the stress, Fourth of July without the sweat, and the perfect time to give thanks for family and friends-- new and old. I hope you had a wonderful holiday. Hopefully with more time away from work than me and as much or more joy thanks to really special people. Thanks for reading! P.s. How could I forget!!? One more story, I know this post is long already... This is just so typical of my dear mom that I have to share. We stopped by the wine store on the way home one night, and being the always friendly lady that she is, she started conversations with anyone (and almost everyone) who walked by the Cabernet section. Trading selections and stories, we were discussing which bottle to take with us to my neighbors. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a familiar face--to me, not her-- approaching and immediately knew what was coming next. As a I reached out to intervene/warn/desperately attempt to stop her, my mom turn to the suited man and asked what he would take to dinner. He tried to avoid and move on, Mom gleefully went to work drawing the shy stranger out of his shell. I tried to remember to breathe. Finally, I had to step in before she invited him to dinner with us. "Mom," I said, "this is the Mayor of Norfolk. Let's leave him alone!" You are one-of-a kind and I adore you..thanks for the visit! :) The beautiful lights of Downtown Norfolk from 'The Boat Club'.
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