happy thanksgiving

thanksgiving weekend has been wonderfully nice so far.

my friend kelly had me over to her family's turkey dinner, which honestly i was initially wary of. joining in some other family's holiday celebration sometimes has the reverse of the intended effect: i can get really sad & lonely, making the absence of my own family feel really sharp. i always walk into these situations with trepidation. in this case, though, kelly's family really made me feel part of their family. i even decided to spend the night with them, and i'm glad i did. it was a very relaxing couple of days at their lovely house about an hour west of portland. kelly and i thought about using that friday to go to the coast or visit a couple of wineries, but in the end we just stayed at her parents' house, lolled about in our pajamas all day, ate leftover pie and watched sappy movies on tv. and it was perfect.

i've been spending the bulk of the rest of this weekend cleaning up the old apartment (i want my deposit back) and unpacking boxes in the new house. i've needed to do a little shopping in order to get the house into shape, but i haven't wanted to venture to the stores. i finally ran to home depot yesterday afternoon, and it actually wasn't bad at all. i think i might try ikea today.

last night my new friend april invited me to a dinner party, thrown by her friend kate. april is a reporter (and recent morning edition host) at our local NPR station; i've adored her work for a long time, but we only met a few months ago when she showed up at my divaville listeners party and told me how much *she* adored *my* work. go figure.

anyway, april took me to this small dinner party, and it was the most exciting social event i've been to in a long time. there were 8 of us around kate's table, and these 8 people were so fantastic -- kate herself is a producer of a really inventive and creative live-staged radio show (i guess it's sort of like 'prairie home companion', only way more portland, way hipper and way younger). and it turns out that she's been on a couple of dates with chris, the first guy i seriously dated here. but that's another story for another post.

also at the table was the *host* of this 'companion'-esque radio program; a former member of the band everclear and his wife; a local award-winning playwright and his partner... and me. the conversation was constantly stimulating and funny, and the meal was simple and gorgeous. we sat by the fire afterward and talked about celebrity, poop, dating, books, the coen brothers -- it was just a free-flowing evening of talk and ideas, and i can't remember the last time i felt so excited to be meeting new people. they made me feel very welcome in their circle, though it was obvious that all 7 of these people knew each other exceedingly well. kate even invited me back for her new year's eve party, and you bet your sweet bippy i'm going.

i'm lying here in bed now, on this sunday morning, feeling happy and rested. i've got some great new friends, my social circle is once again expanding, and i'm in my new house. i uprooted myself from north carolina about 18 months ago, and now i feel like once again i'm starting a new phase of my life. now all i need is a date! :)