A Very Vegas Thanksgiving

Nov 29

By Kelly Kinas ‘17

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, whether they went home or stayed on campus! I went home for two days and came back in time for the Notre Dame Game (Fight on!) but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. That might have something to do with the fact that my birthday is November 29th ( today !! ) and Thanksgiving is the closest holiday. Truthfully, it probably has more to do with the food. For all of you who stayed at USC or didn’t get to celebrate, here is the rundown of my Thanksgiving and you can live out your holiday fantasies through these photos.

Happy Turkey Day!!

I’m originally from Las Vegas, so it’s not a horrible drive… USUALLY. Let me set the scene for you, my sister and I have made it to Vegas in 3 and a half hours twice but it usually takes a little over 4. We apparently chose the worst time to leave USC because we were stuck in traffic leaving LA for 2 hours. It took us 6 hours. We didn’t have anything to do so we weren’t stressed to get home but traffic is just naturally stressful. The Christmas music helped us calm down though. This entire story leads to the point: we were really relieved and happy to be in Vegas and start cooking for Thanksgiving.

The night before Thanksgiving my mom and I made her *famous* spinach and artichoke dip. This is usually the only green thing I eat on Thanksgiving. Ready to see this beauty…

YES that is a hollowed out bread bowl and YES you use the bread you hollowed out of the bread bowl to eat the dip. It is heaven. It’s my favorite thing ever. I am constantly bugging my mom to make it or help me make it.

This Thanksgiving was really special because, not only did we have the entire family together, we also had my sister’s boyfriend and my aunt join us! I hadn’t seen my aunt in a couple years so it was really special for everyone to get together for Thanksgiving. Luckily we have just enough chairs and place settings.

Family is the most important to any thanksgiving. Whether you spent your thanksgiving chilling with your friends and just called your parents to say hello or flew home, being thankful for the support system you have in your life is the whole point. Recognizing the amazing things you have in life and the privilege you were born with is what we all need to focus on during this holiday.

BUT NOW: Let’s talk about food (because really that’s what we come home for)

I made the yams, my sister made the cranberry sauce, my mom looked over the stuffing, turkey, and asparagus, my aunt made the mashed potatoes, and I think my dad might have bought the rolls. No, my dad cut the turkey and my brother ate the turkey leg, just like a viking. My mom and dad also chose the wines for the afternoon luncheon.

Just look at that photo again makes me hungry. Starting at the 1pm Thanksgiving dinner time, we ate, we drank, we watched football, and then went shopping because Black Friday keeps creeping on to the actual holiday of Thanksgiving, which makes me upset.

Anyway, this holiday season makes sure to remain thankful, even after Thanksgiving, and remember to always eat all the food.