Thanksgiving in North Hollywood

(these pictures were taken both by me on my little iPhone 4, as well as JP and Mary on her kickass real camera)

So, I celebrated Thanksgiving with a bunch of good friends at mr. Stephen Dudyacha's (we call him 'Dudy') house in North Hollywood. Here's his garden, where we were setting up to play some corn-sack game. Dudy and I destroyed Rose and J.P. (just thought I'd mention it)

 J.P. and Jeff thinking they're the shizzle

 Me and Dudy actually winning

Afterwards there was some pre-feast snacking inside....seemed appropriate to lay a good foundation of food to prepare our stomachs for, well, eh, lots more food!

(Whoa! Check the reflection of the TV in the window! It looks like there's a football player about to gate crash our little party)

 Mary and J.P. setting up the romantic dining area outside.

The carving of my first Thanksgiving Turkey (yeah, turkey with a capital T!)

Dudy's vegan so there was also Tofurkey. It was...actually not bad. If you manage to get over the mental block of consuming something that's clearly not turkey, but made to look like a turkey, (and with the help of gravy and cranberry sauce) it was actually a-ok.

 Iiiiiit's feast-time!

Me and Leo were both Thanksgiving virgins, but I was the lucky one who had the honor of attacking the food table first. Happy times!

My first Thanksgiving meal!

 My first Bloody Mary! (Ok, maybe not. Maybe not at ALL, but it was my first Thanksgiving Bloody Mary)

Doug, J.P and Hope's arm

Rose, Mary and Jack

Leo and Rose

(Leo was my fellow Thanksgiving virgin. She's an exchange student ...also from Denmark... at Boston University and just in town for a week to visit Rose who is my neighbor ...and also from Denmark...hehe)

 Jeff, Andrea and J.P.

 It got a little chilly if you weren't sitting close to the heater, so Rose busted out the gnome-look. But Leo has established what I believe to be true: Rose is P.I.A. (Pretty In Anything)

 Marie-Therese and the Dude

(Mary's dog - and yes, he's called 'Dude'. Probably the coolest dog name of all time)

Mika and Hope

 Blue, green (the celery in my drink) and red composition. I don't know what I'm doing, so don't ask.

 The guys watching American football, which is apparently as treasured a tradition as eating the turkey. Needless to say there was a little European soccer vs. American football-fighting going on, but it was all fun and games (seeing as I don't really care about neither).

 The game

On to the desserts!

(these are just some of them...there were seriously crazy amounts of food at this party)

 Rose had made traditional Danish apple cake (æblekage) and in the lack of a glass bowl to arrange it in, she thought she'd pop it in a vase instead! I like her style! Practical? Not so much. Cool? Hell yeah!

 Tadaaaah!

 I'd made vegan pumpkin pie cupcakes

...and here's the host, Dudy, consuming one of them!

 So, I don't exactly know how it happened, but as people congregated around the dessert table, instead of returning to a seated area, everybody just stayed there...and started dancing...while eating desserts. It was the oddest thing!? But fun! I shall, henceforth, enjoy all my desserts while dancing.

 M.T., Mary, Rose and Andrea mid-dessert dance

 Dessert makes happy

 ...and wild!

 Dudy's dog, Hudson, joined the dessert dancing.

 Check Dudy's face! Priceless!

 Mary's cookies were the ish! 

(somebody named them 'Crack Cookies' because they were so addictive)

'Hey Rose and M-M! Strike a pose!' - so we did! 

 The Dude was on a diet.

 M.T.

 Dudy

 J.P.

Hudson

 Ooh, and there was a bonfire and everybody loves a good bonfire. Especially when you get to crack jokes about 'big logs'.

Cozy times

 Bonfire foreground

Dining area in the middle

Football background

 Mary and her aura

Mmmm....fire! (fire warm, me cold)

Doug

So, there was a hot tub too...

Rose and Jack post-hot tub leg sculpture

 There was singing too...well, Dudy didn't really sing so much as preach. Drunkenly.

...and after preaching, he went on to worshipping. He's a great believer...in M.T. it would seem. I can dig that - she's awesome. And here, I have more proof:

 M.T. as a very chic dog in Hudson's crib

 ...and it didn't take long before she had her first gentleman caller in the shape of the Dude.

'Quick, guys! Look fierce!'

I fell asleep in a sleeping bag on the floor (with Hudson there to keep me warm) and the next morning, I woke up to a somewhat God-like scenery...

...oh yeah, and to Hudson and the Dude fighting over my shoe!

So, do you remember Rose's impressive vase-dessert? Yeah, this is what it looked like the following day. Now, that's what I call a hangover.