Celebrations

Thanksgiving

This year my birthday fell on Thanksgiving - not that it really mattered, since Thanksgiving is an American holiday that is not at all recognised in New Zealand (although some more well-informed colleagues wished me a happy Thanksgiving).  Thankfully, we know enough Americans for a respectable ex-pat Thanksgiving.  Our friends with a house hosted and we had a delicious pot luck Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday!  Nearly half the people there were not American, and were experiencing the holiday for the first time.  I'd say we did the US proud!

We brought sweet potato casserole and corn pudding.  Not pictured - the massive dessert table.

I'm thankful for everyone in this picture!

My birthday

We've formed a habit of going out of town for our birthdays, but wanted to be in town for Thanksgiving this year, so did a weekend of Megan things in and around Auckland.  First we headed down to the Zealong Tea Estate in Hamilton, which is about an hour south of Auckland.  We did a tour, participated in a tea ceremony and finished off the afternoon with a high tea. It was even better than expected, and I'd highly recommend it to any tea drinkers - or for lunch if you're not!

Among an embarrassment of perfect birthday gifts that included Harry Potter legos, a Harry Potter shirt, and Frozen on blu-ray (because I'm 8) and vintage knitting magazines, a vintage necklace and a History of Knitting in New Zealand (because I'm 80), was a much-coveted selfie stick! 

I'm still getting the hang of the selfie stick - lots of blurry picks and boob shots - but I think I'm figuring it out!

The day after Thanksgiving we woke up still full from dinner and headed to the Puhoi Cafe and Cheese Store for a day of eating cheese, drinking wine and hanging out in the sun. I got a bit of a sunburn, but it was well worth it!

Is this what Heaven looks like?

 

Thanks to everyone who came out - I am a very lucky birthday girl!

Christmas, Day 1

 The Sunday after Thanksgiving has always marked the beginning of Christmas season for us, and this year was no different!  Even though it's warm and sunny and today marks the first day of summer, we are determined to get in the Christmas spirit this year.

Left: The tree skirt I made and some ornaments from our travels over the last year (plus an old favourite!); Right: Our Christmas corner - which is about all we have room for in our apartment