Of all the holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorites.  Of these two holidays, I only began celebrating Thanksgiving shortly after my arrival in the US over 22 years ago.  I remember eating turkey for the first time with my mom, my eldest sister, Sonia, and her family, and my second sister, Ging who drove up to Northern California from Los Angeles.  I remember reuniting with my family here in the San Francisco Bay Area from Madrid, Spain just two weeks prior.  I had just completed my graduate studies in Spanish language and culture in Madrid, Spain back then as a scholar of the Spanish Government and I had just likewise received my immigrant's visa to reunite with my family here in the US.

It was really only after I became a school teacher here in the US did I realize the meaning of Thanksgiving to Americans.  I had heard about this holiday as a child growing up in the Philippines but my idea of the holiday was really just that, a day when people in the US did not work and a day which Americans celebrated in November.  That was that.  As to its real meaning, I had no idea.

Thanksgiving for me, just like countless Americans and immigrants who now call America their own, is giving thanks to the Lord Almighty for all the blessings he has showered upon us.  While the US is still recovering from a bad economy, there is no denying this country continues to be the land of plenty where people with perseverance, hard work, ambition, and, of course, luck can still live the American dream.

I couldn't help but get excited about all the preparations everyone was doing for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends.  Marc and I went to Safeway to do last minute grocery shopping on Wednesday night and the atmosphere was electric.  I certainly could feel it.  The lines at the checkout counters were long but everyone was patient and orderly.  I was quite glad to see that even foreign students mainly from Japan were themselves busy buying turkey, ham, cranberries, and pumpkin pie.

I also love Thanksgiving because it also marks the beginning of the Christmas season here in the US.  The Friday after Thanksgiving is so much fun with everyone literally going crazy shopping.  Stores have huge sales and they entice people to part with their hard earned money by offering huge discounts on TVs, appliances, and apparel.  This year, stores even decided to open on Thursday night, Thanksgiving night in order to get a head start.

In my case, I too did some shopping even before Thanksgiving by traveling to the outlet stores in Vacaville two hours north of San Francisco.  On the way, I couldn't help but admire the colors of the leaves as they turn yellow, red, and orange before they eventually fall in the winter.

Although I am not particularly a fan of outlet stores, I do enjoy visiting Vacaville's since they have branches of my favorites stores in San Francisco.  I can spend hours inside the Restoration Hardware for the quality beddings, TUMI for their leather goods, J. Crew for their clothes, and just recently the US Polo Association for the cute polo shirts with the huge polo player logo.

I have spent a ton of money on TUMI products in the last three years.  After purchasing a brown leather bag from their store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, I was hooked.  I have bought wallets in black and brown, luggage tags, backpacks, and totes.

This store is definitely one of my favorites.  I love their products and their huge showroom in the South of Market in San Francisco is impressive.