Fall

Fall is my favorite season by far.  I love when leaves change colors, wearing 2-3 layers and feeling the cool, crisp breeze.  There is something about Fall that just smells of possibility; and  along with my favorite season came our annual Marine Corps Ball  - also known as DiploProm.  This year, I had brought my dress WAY in advance, when I was in home in July.  Unfortunately, the me in July was definitely smaller than the me 5-days-before prom.  Luckily, a no-carb week did the trick and I was able to wear my "toga" or "Greek Goddess" attire.  The only thing is that I never got around to getting shoes for it, and had to settle between silver sandals and my trusty TOMS.  The TOMS won.

Getting ready to party!

Later in November, Phil and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary with a trip to Southern Spain and Lisbon, Portugal.   I have to say that I used to be a Spain hater, mostly because people in PR LOVE Spain and I have always been the type to rebel against what the masses acclaim. After Madrid, I became a groupie, and now,I am officially the president of the "Spain is the best country in Europe" fan club.   We had a fabulous time.  We went to Seville and Granada and I just loved them both; the food, the drinks, the people, the stores and the artisy-ness.  Granted that I am a sucker for all things UNESCO, we went to the Alhambra, mostly because of the old saying by  "he who has not seen the Alhambra, has not lived."   The Alhambra was very nice and I recommend it, but the best part about Spain is just finding small holes in the wall to have some beers and tapas.  The beers are pretty small and for one Euro and you can just have one and move to the next place or indulge and have a couple.  Fun times guaranteed.  

I have lived!

The walls

Lisbon was cool, not as fun as Spain, but still very artsy and cute.  We had crappy weather, but we still enjoyed their wine and walking around the city.  Our friend V had recommended a short day trip to a little town called Sintra, and that was really quaint and fairy-tale like.  We spent the rest of the time shopping and sipping Porto Wine in little curbside kiosks.

Salud!

We came back to Belgrade right on time to celebrate Thanksgiving. Not once, not twice, but three times.  I must have had at least a pound of turkey and stuffing all by myself.   There were a couple of Serbs at one of the dinners, and they were really interested and curious to learn about the Holiday.  It was pathetic and funny to piece together random parts of the story, beginning with the Mayflower, Columbus, and Plymouth rock and ending with 'you HAVE to have marshmallows on the sweet potatoes!" Luckily, the Embassy's commissary really came through and imported true American staples like the French Onion toppings for the green bean casserole and some sweet potatoes and marshmallows, so Thanksgiving was complete.  When I asked one of the Serbian ladies, which dish was her favorite, she said 'the pumpkin'.  ???? How is beyond me, since the pumpkin was literally olive oil and salt and some rosemary, but I guess you have to grow up with the rest of the stuff to appreciate it.  Gooble, Gooble!