Thanksgiving Itinerary Suggestions from Your Mom. After your flight gets in at 11 p.m. on Wednesday night (you’re sure you can’t get an earlier flight?), we have to take you to the new taco place that opened in town. I know you live in L.A. and there are pretty good tacos there, but this new place next to the Nordstrom Rack (the good one where I got you that Fila jacket once, not the bad one with the smell) will knock your socks off. Dad loves their beans! I don’t remember what the restaurant is called, but I bet if we just drive in that general direction and circle for a bit, we’ll find it.

1. I’
Daily Shouts
Thanksgiving Itinerary Suggestions
from Your Mom
By Susanna Wolff
November 23, 2023
m so glad you decided to come home for Thanksgiving this year! I know
you said you can only manage a short trip, so I want to make sure we make
the most of it. Here’s what I’m thinking so far:
After your ight gets in at 11 P.M. on Wednesday night (you’re sure you can’t
get an earlier ight?), we have to take you to the new taco place that opened in
town. I know you live in L.A. and there are pretty good tacos there, but this
new place next to the Nordstrom Rack (the good one where I got you that Fila
jacket once, not the bad one with the smell) will knock your socks off. Dad
loves their beans! I don’t remember what the restaurant is called, but I bet if we
just drive in that general direction and circle for a bit, we’ll nd it.
Now, for Thanksgiving Day, we have a lot of cooking to do and I haven’t had
time to start prepping at all, so we’ll want to keep things simple. First, breakfast
at the Pancake Palace—remember how much you used to love their M&M
pancakes? They’re under new management now and, honestly, it’s not as good,
but it’s still worth stopping by even just to see how long the line to get a table
Photograph from Getty
Save this story

2. but it’s still worth stopping by even just to see how long the line to get a table
is.
After breakfast, I promised Dana we’d join her for the Gobble Trot 5K. I told
you what happened to Dana’s brother-in-law, right? She really needs this. Don’t
forget to pack your running shoes this time!
Then, while I get started on the pies, you can nally help me digitize all the
photo albums and go through those boxes of your stuff from high school. I
didn’t want to throw out your old calculus notes in case you needed them!
Once that’s squared away, we should really visit Nana, who just isn’t up to
travelling to our house for dinner. This could be her last Thanksgiving, so we
should at least stop by! It’s only a four-hour drive in each direction.
On the way back, we can take a little detour over to the botanical garden.
They’re doing a whole holiday light-display thing. It doesn’t actually start till
December 1st, but you said you can’t stay that long (you’re sure you can’t change
your ight?), so we can just watch the guys wrap the lights around the trees and
imagine what it will look like.
All the cousins are grownups with their own family obligations now, but you
come to town so infrequently that everyone has decided to pop by to see you at
random intervals throughout the afternoon, so we won’t actually sit down to eat
until 6 P.M.—but that’s O.K. because the turkey won’t be ready till eight.
Luckily, I got us a new ve-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle to do while we wait. I
actually got it used from that church consignment sale where I found those
great snow pants, so it might be missing a few pieces, but that means we’ll be
able to nish it even faster!
After we’re done eating and cleaning up, we can take a walk over to
Wimbledon Drive to see if they’ve put their Christmas decorations up, then
maybe go buy a tree ourselves so you don’t miss out on the tree-trimming
experience. You’re sure you can’t make it for Christmas, too?
If you want to go out that night to see some old friends from high school, I

3. If you want to go out that night to see some old friends from high school, I
won’t be offended. But also feel free to invite them to come by the house! Did
you know that Jeremy Brandstetter just bought a place over on Wimbledon?
Must be doing pretty well for himself. You two should reconnect!
But try to get to bed early because you said your ight is at 6 A.M. (you’re sure
you can’t move it later?) and we should probably swing by Nana’s again on our
way to the airport. It could be her last Black Friday, you know.
Anyway, these are just some ideas. Happy to add more!
I’m so excited to see you!!! Please give me a call as soon as you’ve had a chance
to read this single, seven-hundred-word text. I won’t answer.
Love,
Mom ♦
New Yorker Favorites
The killer who got into Harvard.
The contested legacies of Napoleon.
Why 1956 was a radical year in hair dye.
The legends of Lizzie Borden.
The skyscraper that could have toppled over in a windstorm.
The day the dinosaurs died.
Fiction by Amy Tan: “Immortal Heart”
Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker.

4. Susanna Wolff has contributed humor pieces to The New Yorker and newyorker.com since
2012.
The Daily Cartoon, Shouts, and other funny stuff from our Dept. of Hoopla.
E-mail address
By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. This site is
protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Read More
Under R i
The Upper West Side Cult That Hid in Plain Sight
In the sixties and seventies, the Sullivanian Institute had a winning sales pitch
for young New Yorkers: parties, sex, low rent, and affordable therapy.
By Jessica Winter
On and Off the Avenue
A Guide to Getting Rid of Almost Everything
Once you’ve thanked and said goodbye to the items that do not spark joy, what
can you do with them?
By Patricia Marx
A Reporter at Large
Elon Musk’s Shadow Rule
How the U.S. government came to rely on the tech billionaire—and is now
struggling to rein him in.
E-mail address
Sign up
Daily Humor

5. struggling to rein him in.
By Ronan Farrow
A Reporter at Large
The Titan Submersible Was “an Accident Waiting to Happen”
Interviews and e-mails with expedition leaders and employees reveal how
OceanGate ignored desperate warnings from inside and outside the company. “It’s a lemon,” one
wrote.
By Ben Taub
Sections
More
News
Books & Culture
Fiction & Poetry
Humor & Cartoons
Magazine
Crossword
Video
Podcasts
Archive
Goings On
Customer Care Digital Access

6. © 2023 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement
and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our
A몭iliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except
with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad Choices
Shop The New Yorker
Buy Covers and Cartoons
Condé Nast Store
Newsletters
Jigsaw Puzzle
RSS
About
Careers
Contact
F.A.Q.
Media Kit
Press
Accessibility Help
Cookies Settings