lunch is served

gee golly frankenstein, thanksgiving sure is a lot of work! we made the turkey, a jalapeno red pepper cranberry relish, traditional stuffing, a gravy and some pies, and loverboy's mama contributed most of the side dishes. i think after we'd all stuffed ourselves silly and had played with the baby to our heart's delight and the grandparents had gone home and it was finally bedtime, loverboy and i looked at each other and were really thankful for all the mamas in our lives who have made thanksgiving for us all these years.

per tradition, i made apple and pumpkin pie again. however, i used a new pumpkin pie recipe from bon appetit (is it just me or do the BA recipes never seem to come out as good as they sound??), which i wasn't too thrilled with. and also, i used a food processor to make my crust for the first time and it wasn't up to its usual standard either. frankly, it was a bit of a thanksgiving tragedy. because as we all know, pie is really what thanksgiving is all about. i mean, that and giving thanks of course.

i've been making best friends with my bed again lately. loverboy took an extra day off work, which has been wonderful after the past few rather tiring months of him working late every day. so this weekend we spent some good time trying to go to bed early and sleep late. no, actually, that's a total lie. we didn't do that at all. but i think we got a few naps in there.

mama also finally got to use her birthday massage gift so i have to say that all in all, this thanksgiving was pretty great.

thanksgiving breakfast, reading up on how to make a turkey...we do things last minute here:)

contain your excitement lars.

the turkey. who doesn't love a raw turkey photo? :/

lunch! 

pie-making. i'm convinced that bon appetit always leaves a step or two out of their recipes. 

these two are always laughing together.

biggest ratio of dishes to mouths at thanksgiving ever. 

smitten kitchen's apple pie far outshone this BA pie. sadly.

i'm so in love with this face.

bedtime reading with papa is the best.

baby feet!

so thankful for this sweet family of mine. they are kind of where it's at.

to next year! when everything will be made from a box! except the pie of course.

family thanksgivings growing up

thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. growing up, my extended family would gather at my grandparents' house in west texas for thanksgiving, which was spent eating too much pie, playing spoons or canasta late into the night, drinking wine, climbing their mountain, and sometimes, going to a star party at the McDonald Observatory, or taking a trip to Marfa for the famed modern art museum. i also spent lots of time holed up with the huge collection of sci-fi books my grandfather had acquired and avoiding chores. it was always a highlight of the year, especially seeing all my cousins. i remember one year we made 11 pies (for 40+ people). i also seem to remember that my uncle james made a stellar dressing. and my aunt roberta usually contributed something very untraditional but delicious. i will never forget that green chili with venison. i loved that my grandmother always had cheese and bread in the fridge when we arrived from our 8-hr long drive—and espresso and a big tin of biscotti for breakfast. and my favorite was to see all my aunts in the kitchen, laughing and reminiscing together while they cooked.

i really miss my family during this time of year, now that we live in Georgia and it usually doesn't work out for us to get back to texas. but this year, we are making thanksgiving at our house! it is quite exciting, though i would much prefer to have all my family around me to help make (and eat) it. and since the only thanksgiving dish i've ever in my life made is pie, i thought that this year we'd go ahead and make everything! sounds reasonable, right? actually, my in-laws are making most of the sides, but still.

yesterday i got a head start with the gravy and a spicy red pepper cranberry relish. today it's dressing and pie-prep, so that hopefully tomorrow there won't be a crazy amount of chaos (of course there will be, otherwise it's not thanksgiving, right?).

i'm so excited. especially for the pie. :)

backyard feast

thanksgiving/rehearsal dinner

for JM & A

in dori's enchantingly decorated backyard, 

with a huge thanksgiving spread and 

many dear, much missed faces. 

wonderful. 

it's late and there's a wedding tomorrow, 

so here's just a few pictures for now: 

the feast.

the man of the hour (and wife-to-be).

pre-thank

what i'm thankful for now:

the sweetest dog on earth

(evidenced here, here and here, jtnaf)

living in a house*

tomorrow's trip to austin!

candles

scarves

having friends in our house

Bible reading schedule

having reasons to travel (and dress up)

with handsome husband (i ♥ him)

hot yoga
trader joe's gouda with crackers

early mornings & time to write

my little bro, can't wait to see him!

*at least not an apartment

just another manic monday.

actually, no, a pretty nice day. 

i did some tutoring, helped a friend

pick out her wedding makeup (woohoo!),

and then i went back to hot yoga (so hard).

but i'm ready to be at thanksgiving.

this is thanksgiving last year:

we went camping in the mountains we have around here.

there was lots of coldness, drinking of apple cider, wearing of mittens and 

never taking them off, trying to get the dog to eat, looking around in wonder

at nature, taking pictures of ice crystals, hanging out in the heated "rest station"

(or that was just me) and eating of food that got cold once it touched your plate. 

i think i'd do it again.