Happy Thanksgiving

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, 1937. Photo: Walter Kelleher

Good Morning!

Can we just take a moment to appreciate that nose? 

Will you be watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? My sister and I are going to be baking pies and dinner rolls while it's on. It's one of my favorite traditions, the smells of fresh cooking food and baked goods while the parade is on. And being dog lovers, we never miss the National Dog Show either. It always seems to set the festive mood for the rest of the weekend.

Lately I've been saying that our little girl can arrive anytime now. While talking this morning with Grandma L, I told her that now baby can wait until next week to come because we've got too many fun plans this weekend. She just laughed as we talked about how I have absolutely no control over it. It's hard! I'm realizing that I really like to have control over things in my life - more so, things going on with my body. So for the next couple of weeks, I'm going to try and not think about when she's coming. (yea, right)

Thank you for following along on my blog, I always look forward to hearing your comments. I really enjoy creating this little space and appreciate you following along. 

PS.
Here's some history on the Thanksgiving Day parade (see if you can spot some of the oldest balloons!)

Thankful Thursdays

I thought I'd start a mini-series this month, being that it's the month to give thanks and be giving. Being grateful is important all the time, but it always gets special emphasis around the holidays. So, in light of all that biz, here is a list of what I've been thankful for lately.

Having a healthy pregnancy. 

A healthy, active baby girl in my tummy.

A hardworking, healthy, loving husband who keeps our home safe and happy. 

Trustworthy vehicles to get us back & forth to where we need to go. 

Having a comfortable home to call our own.

Living in the country and having sweet, sweet neighbors.  

Our four-legged family members who greet us with a tail wag and a kiss.

Our two-legged family members who provide us with eggs to fill our bellies. 

What are you feeling thankful for lately? 

Making Memories

Hello Lovelies :)

I hope you all had a wonderful, meaningful Thanksgiving weekend. I was not ready to go back to work Monday. A nice, relaxing, four day weekend then Monday rolls around and I can barely open my eyes.

Remember this post about Thanksgiving traditions? A few suggestions were game playing and watching old home videos. By no doing of mine, we did both!

After we stuffed our faces with turkey at my moms, we played the name game. It's where each person writes a name on a piece of paper and you put them all in a bowl. It can be any name. Some from this past time were Rumpelstiltskin, Blues Traveler, Kim K., Snuffalufagus, Kevin Harvick...you get the picture. Then someone reads all of the names and each person gets a turn guessing who is who. If you guess the correct person, they are on your team and you get to help eachother. It gets a little tricky at the end because sometimes a name will get forgotten and there's no re-reading the names.

I will have you all know that for the final game, I won. I had everyone in the house on my team and Kelly was the only person left. Who was he? Bill Cosby. Winner Winner Turkey Dinner.

 

From there, we went on to Kelly's Aunt & Uncle's house where we got to see all of his family, dogs included. They have a German Shepard, a Mastiff, a three or four month old mini Austrailian Shepard and a Hound dog... I sincerely apologize right now for not photographing of all of that cuteness to share!

When we walked in, everyone was snuggled cozy in the family room watching old videos. They videos started from when his grandparents were dating, through them getting married and all the way until their youngest daughter (Kelly's Aunt) was born. There was no sound to the videos, but you could just feel all of the love by simply watching. It was so sweet to watch their interactions and the progression of life over so many years.

On the way home, Kelly and I were talking about the videos. I'll admit (although I blame it on one too many drinks) I was a little tear-eyed because they were so touching. We were talking about how the videos weren't about the clothes they wore. They weren't about how their houses were decorated. Not about how many hours per week they worked or getting that promotion. Not about having the best toys for their children, or buying the latest and greatest iPhone.

They were about family and love. Flirting with your husband while your kids play in the garden hose. Visiting your sister while her husband is in the service. Worrying that your daughter is going to topple off of the hammock because her 17 other cousins are also piled on. And okay, maybe a little bit about your grandpa's favorite old car in the driveway.

I think those family videos were the perfect reminder of what Thanksgiving is all about. Loving the people in your life. Being happy with what you have. Making memories that will last for generations to come.

I think it's safe to say that this has been the happiest Thanksgiving yet!

Gobble Gobble

Who has their stretchy pants washed and ready to wear? I do. Plus a nice long, non form-fitting chambray shirt.


One of our good friends who recently moved out of state is back for the holiday weekend, so we're planning on sticking a giant frozen lasagna in the oven and having a little game night tonight. Then in the morning- Baileys, coffee & pie making!

If you're feeling bad or worrying about a that third helping of stuffing, just keep singing this song.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! 

History of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

 Macys, Inc.

          
I'm so looking forward to watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Here are some random facts and history, if you're interested...

Thanksgiving Traditions

What kind of traditions do you practice at Thanksgiving?

On Thanksgiving Day, I've always watched the Macy's day parade in the morning while cooking, baking or cleaning and simultaneously consuming a pot of coffee (with a smidge of Baileys:). After that, I get to catch a glimpse of the National Dog Show before heading out to visit with family.

My favorite tradition started when I was a child and actually happens the day after Thanksgiving. My sisters and I slept in, then woke to Christmas music being played throughout the house. All of the decorations were brought up from the basement and we spent the day in a wonderland of carols, decorating, potpourri simmering on the stove, and leftover turkey and stuffing sandwiches.

When I moved into my first home, my sister would stay the night with me and help to decorate the next day.

Since this is the first year that Kelly and I have lived together for Thanksgiving, we don't have any traditions as of yet. Although, I'm very excited to have a new house to decorate!  I've already started getting boxes out of the attic and stacking them in a corner upstairs so that they're ready to go. We're even planning on hanging lights outside the house, I'm so excited it's sickening!

I love traditions. They give us a sense of season, a sense of belonging. Something to look forward to and something to remember fondly.

Here are a few ideas that would be fun to start...

• Break out the home videos. After everyone's eaten, dig into that old tub of VHS or DVDs and laugh at all the old times. Kelly and I have never seen videos of eachother back in the day, I think it would be fun!  And getting to laugh about so-and-so's stylin' mullet or cousin Susie's floral mumu? Bonus.
• Take a hike- two and four-legged family together. Between my parents & sisters alone, we have 8 dogs between the lot of us. It would be great for everyone to get all bundled up and, with the dogs, head out as a family to walk off that pie!
• Gametime. Growing up, we were a family of all girls so afternoon football wasn't really our thing. On the other hand, we do love a nice competitive round of Catchphrase or the name game.

I'd like to know, what are your Thanksgiving traditions?

Let's get into the filling...

I'm talking pies, people. Thanksgiving Day pies. Last year was the first time my mom has ever let me bring anything to our Thanksgiving Day dinner. I always ask and it's always, 'No, no need to bring anything, just be there with bells on!' What does that even mean, mom?!

It's very sweet, but in the past few years I have realized that I really adore cooking and baking. I love it. So after begging last year, I now get to bring the pies! All but pumpkin, because that's her man's favorite and she likes to bake it for him (I secretly think she's afraid I'll ruin it!).

Anywhoo, I must have done a good job because she's letting me keep up with the new tradition!

A Beautiful Mess

This Carmel Apple Cheesecake recipe from A Beautiful Mess was my one complicated 'pie', then I didn't even get to try it! I used the caramel sauce that we bought when we went apple picking at Crane's Orchard. My sister vouched that it was yummy, so I'm definitely making it again and tasting it this time. I don't care if Kelly has to roll me out of the house.

Any guesses for this one? I'll give you two hints...it's my absolute favorite, and it's also a song by Warrant. Yep. Cherry Pie.

And for the life of me I cannot remember the other one I made. Oh well. So cherry pie and the caramel apple cheesecake are on my list again this year, then I'm going to try and swing a raspberry pie along with Kelly's request for chocolate.

Which brings me to the predicament of transportation. We're just two of us, so we travel to our families houses for the holidays. Do you know how hard it is to transport a bunch of pies in pie plates? And if you take a corner a little too fast- forget about it!

Pie Box

My solution? I ordered this adorable pie box. It will save at least one of our pies from splatting against the car window. And I'm super excited to use our new Thanksgiving pie plate that we recieved as a wedding gift from Kelly's grandma!

I'm already salivating thinking about stuffing and mashed potatoes. What are your favorite dishes? Do you have any specialties or family recipes?