Love is Letting Someone Know When Their Shoe Is On Fire
So, Thanksgiving break = 4 days of glorious relaxation and fun with my favorite guy.
Here’s what we did:
Wednesday
- Holiday decorating at work with delicious catered Mexican for lunch – all theatre lobbies (especially those producing a holiday show!) need to be festive during the holiday season, and we all know decorating and Mexican food go hand-in-hand. It’s practically an equity rule ;) Fluffing garland and untangling lights is totally worth its weight in tacos.
- Saw Argo at the movie theatre. One of the awesome perks of my job is a partnership with the great little indie film house in town whereby we get free movie tickets on Monday-Thursday and they have popcorn with real melted butter. Be still my arteries!
Thursday
- Thanksgiving mass in the morning. The reason for the season!
- Enjoyed a bit of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with my roommate Cristina and her husband, who is from France and was experiencing the parade for the first time.
- We ate our big Thanksgiving dinner at Mario’s, an incredible eatery in town. Their fancy-pants Thanksgiving buffet was fantastic. I’m certain I ate both my body weight and the entire cost of my meal in champagne, fresh crab legs, pumpkin gnocchi, and delectable creme puffs alone. And that’s not even including all the real food….lamb, salmon, turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, various veggies and appetizers and pastas and side dishes and traditional Thanksgiving fare and the dessert table…oh, the champagne and dessert table! Bliss!
- Roosting, snoozing, digesting, cuddling, football watching – good games!
- A romantic sunset stroll through Highland Park.
- Saw Lincoln at the indie film house (cue more gratitude for free tickets and enter even more buttered popcorn!).
- Gobbled up generous portions of my homemade strawberry rhubarb pie and pear-apple pie with creme brulee ice cream!
- Lots of thankfulness for so, so many blessings! And so much food :)
Friday
- Slept in laaaate :) Perfection.
- Paid a visit to Stokoe Farms in the country. We played with the animals, walked through a forest of pines, firs and balsams hypothetically picking out our perfect Christmas tree, and drank hot cocoa and ate apple cider doughnuts while cozily huddled in front of a blazing bonfire. I may or may not have found, chased, and pet an escaped sheep, and my boot may or may not have caught on fire. Ted was kind enough to let me know before too much rubber burned off…oops?
- Did a little non-crazy mid-afternoon Black Friday browsing at a few local furniture stores for our (hopefully) future new living room furniture set. We got some ideas, which is all we really came to do.
- Shared some tasty MSG-and-sodium-laden mall Chinese for lunch.
- Dropped by Ben & Jerry’s for a delicious cone of ice cream while we walked along water and trails of the Erie Canal and fed the ducks some bagels.
- Went to see my theatre’s first public preview performance of A Christmas Carol with my roommate and her husband. We all dressed up, thoroughly enjoyed a sold out night at the theatre, enjoyed each other’s company, and a peppermint schnapps eggnog during intermission. New favorite seasonal cocktail = found.
- “Decorated” for Christmas (a.k.a. plugged in mini tree, which is all that fits in our apartment), turned on the fireplace app on the iPad (hey, you make do with what you’ve got), turned on Polar Express, cuddled up on the couch with plenty of blankets, turned out the lights, and promptly fell asleep. Getting old is awesome!
Saturday
- Showed off our city’s wonderful public market to Ted. We walked amid the aisles of farmer’s hawking their fruits, veggies, meats and cheeses, dined on breakfast sandwiches and split the world’s most epic apple fritter the size of Ted’s face at the bakery.
- Visited the beautiful Mendon Ponds Park and the fish hatchery at Powder Mills Park. Ted thoroughly enjoyed scaring (yes, scaring.) the 2, 3 and 4 year-old trout while I enjoyed throwing fistfuls of food pellets into the baby trout pond and watching them all flip and flop and splash for it. Apparently to scare pools of trout into scattering, all you have to do is throw your arms in the air and shake like a moron until all the trout are clustered on one side of the pool in terror of the strange human hopping around like a lunatic and bellowing “bugga bugga boo!” at them. It was blistering cold and snowing, but we had a great time.
- Window shopped the mall – when it gets too cold to walk outside, you just walk inside. People watching at a mall during the Christmas season is simply phenomenal. It’s amazing how much people rely on material possessions and money for happiness when we had an amazing weekend with a little bit of nature and free entertainment.
- Back to the theatre to see the matinee performance of the Sister’s Christmas Catechism improv show in the second stage. Audience participation, as always, is hilarious. Everyone needs a good few hours of laughter every now and then.
- Split a plate of Texas sausage, brisket, baby back ribs, cole slaw, beans, cornbread and rootbeer for a busy Saturday night dinner at Dinosaur BBQ, right on the river by the waterfalls downtown. It was great!
- Another relaxing night in cuddling, playing Snakes & Ladders and Scrabble, watching Ice Age Christmas (one of our favorites! Cartoons are so not just for kids!), and hanging out iPad fireside before turning in early :)
Hope your Thanksgiving weekend was just as wonderful as ours!
We have so much to be Thankful for!
Thanksgiving Inspiration from an Unlikely Source
Who knew A Christmas Carol had so much to do with Thanksgiving? A happy accident. You can see where my mind has been lately, can’t you? ‘Tis the season for us theatre folk.
“You see, there is generosity aplenty in the natural world. One need look no further than a simple farmer’s harvest or in the young child’s heart to learn how to be thankful.” – Ghost of Christmas Present
“It is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt and Abundance rejoices.” – First Subscription Gentleman
“Business! Mankind should have been my business. The common welfare should have been my business. Charity, Mercy, and Benevolence should all have been my business!” – Marley’s Ghost
“He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service a pleasure or a burden. The happiness he gives…is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.” – Ebenezer Scrooge remembering Mr. Fezziwig
We all have the power within us to be thankful for what we already have, big and small – and often it is the simplest of pleasures that bring us the most joy. We all have the power within us to share what we have with those who have not, especially when we have so much to share. We all have the power within us to take care of others like it is our job, because it is. And we all have the power within us to bring happiness to others or to add to their burden. The choice is ours.
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Sweet Dreams
I have seriously fantastic taste in winter pajamas.
Consider your Monday-Friday sleepwear officially covered.
You’re welcome.
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Well, you need something appropriate to tiptoe around the house in on Christmas Eve while you wait for Santa in your living room blanket fort, now don’t you?
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I feel strongly that a woodsy red flannel blanket, mug of hot cocoa, a blaze roaring in the fireplace, and a lodge in the snowy mountains would complete this ensemble. Does this remind anyone else of Topanga Lawrence from Boy Meets World? Also, you can’t pass up trendy reindeer. So, just give in to the adorable yet slightly impractical short-sleeved reindeer pajamas.
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Yes, those are indeed black velour footed pajamas (also available in red and plum). I know. Black velour footed pajamas. I’ll let that sink in for a moment.
You can rest easy now and thank me later. Life = complete.
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Thermal is terrific! To be fair, on the off chance that you don’t wear a knit beanie and waist-wrapped sweater to bed (what nonsense! I know I do.), I still think this cozy thermal union suit would be just dandy on its own. But thanks for the style tip, J. Crew!
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These Christmasy two-piece long johns totally come in adult sizes. I’m particularly drawn to the green stripes. They’re pretty nifty, and green is my favorite color. Better yet, they’re unisex! Now the man in your life can be Christmas-handsome too, and you’ll match! You probably had no idea I was so stylish.
(On that note, yes it actually does have something funny to do with these very same exact pajamas, please read this. Hilarious. Snarky. True. Match made in heaven.)
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Just kidding. Please don’t wear this. Or pose like this. Ever.
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You can also count these out (and the humans too). There is a line, and this is it.
I bet you think my five picks above are looking better and better, right?
Sweet dreams!
P.S. In all seriousness, those Xmas Eve hooded pajamas and the long johns need to be mine ASAP.
Our Plans Unveiled
Thanksgiving is the BEST.
Easily in my top 3 of the “Best Holidays” category.
With that in mind, and after much time and consideration, our Thanksgiving menu is at last complete!
This year we’ll be having…
- Roasted turkey with giblet gravy and caramelized onions
- Glazed ham with maple-dijon cream sauce
- Roasted leg of lamb with fresh mint jus
- Grilled salmon with a traditional herb crust
- Sweet potato gnocchi tossed in a wheel of parmigiano
- Butternut squash ravioli with sweet fennel cream sauce
- Rigatoni and homemade turkey & arugula meatballs
- Baked acorn squash with brown sugar, cinnamon, and oranges
- Candied yams
- Italian green bean and mushroom casserole
- Rustic mashed potatoes with roasted garlic
- Sweet sausage and fennel stuffing
- Baked brie with almonds
- Stuffed sausage mushrooms
- Clams
- Crab cakes
- Fried oysters
- Corn fritters
- Mixed vegetable frittura
- Sicilian style fried calamari
- Shrimp and crab claws
- Aged and imported cheeses with smoked salmon, marinated artichokes, mussels, clams, and roasted peppers
- Tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella caprese
- Deviled eggs and relish tray
- Romaine salad with fennel and orange
- Croissants with herb-infused butter
- Chocolate fountain with assorted dippers including fresh fruit
- Flambé with vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries
- Pie: Pumpkin, pecan, apple, berry, cherry, and lemon meringue
- Canollis
- Champagne
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…clearly, we’re dining out this year.
–
I love planning fantastic dishes – traditional with a twist. A few family recipes passed down through the years and a few of my own adventurous creation. I love a good home-cooked meal made from scratch and with love. I love having my home filled to the brim with family, friends, food, wine, music, games, gratitude, and laughter. I love the sweet and spicy scent of a busy kitchen. I love decorating the table beautifully for the ultimate feast of thanksgiving. And I love celebrating Thanksgiving at home – where ever that may be.
But this year it’s just me and Ted. And though when we are together, we are always home, we don’t have a permanent place to call our “home” just yet. We may feel like squatters, but at least we’re together!
And so we’ll sleep in, cozily huddled beneath the blankets while the crisp winter wind nips at the windowpanes, instead of waking up at 5 a.m. to prep a turkey. And we’ll go to church, and share our blessings, and give thanks for all that we have and hold dear, and then we’ll go out to eat. Clearly, Ted found a stellar place; that delicious menu isn’t a sacrifice in the least! And we’ll eat and drink to our hearts delight. Champagne for everyone!
And when we’re finished, we’ll go back to the apartment and change into our pajamas, and roost, and relax, and nap, and watch football, and hang out with my wonderful roommate and her husband, if they’re around. We’ll turn on the music, and sip wine, and dig into a slice of freshly baked pie (that I will be making this year), and play a board game, and cuddle up in blankets, and maybe even build a fort in the living room, and laugh, and simply be together – thankful.
And we have so, so much to be thankful for.
What are your Thanksgiving plans?
Blissful and Glorious
So, I don’t know about you, but I can’t help but love a chunk of time that looks like this: 4-day work week, 4-day Texas vacation, 4-day work week, relaxing weekend with no obligations, 3-day work week including rehearsal visitations and decorating the theatre for the holidays, and a 4-day Thanksgiving break with Ted.
That, my friends, is excellence at its finest.
I’ve already shared with you the food and family coma that was my trip to the Lone Star state, and my 4-day work week was mellow yet fulfilling after the previous week’s rush of student matinee performances and discovery workshops. My no-obligations Saturday of relaxation and getting stuff done around the place time included the glorious feeling of sleeping in and waking up without the chime of an annoying alarm, checking out some local fish shops to find our new fav for supplies, plants, RO water, and eats for the crays (I may or may not have found a few I’d like to add to the brood!), bumming a few parks and cute little small-town shops in this mild winter weather, mall browsing, cooing over a herd of cows at a dairy farm, reading a great book I can’t put down, and checking out this city’s food truck & ice cream scene. I’d call that a successful Saturday. Re-reading that last statement, this image comes to mind:
The no friends things totally isn’t true, but I think I’m starting to sound old and gray at 26. Granted, my Saturday is not what I would have pegged as the “ultimate day of fun” – not in the least. I’ve got plenty of rad ideas for that! But it was relaxing and enjoyable. I wonder if my 16-year-old self would have been mortified by my concept of a successful Saturday? Anyhow, onto the goods:
How was your Saturday?
There Are No Words
I die.
Epic Tomfoolery, Part 1
If you’re anything like me and deeply appreciate the obscene tomfoolery that is magazines like SkyMall, Williams-Sonoma, and Anthropologie that charge approximately $178 for a stylish yet utterly stupid and/or impractical object, like a digital talking jewel-encrusted soap dish, that you could not fathom ever needing yet alone paying a tidy portion of your paycheck for, (and if you don’t mind a bit of profanity in exchange for a hearty laugh) then this quick read will make your day. This dude’s humor had me in stitches. Because, really, 25+ smackaroos for a twine acorn holder? What the hell IS that anyway? And pray tell why on earth anyone actually needs that crap? Do you really need to be buying a motorized alien butler, waistband stretcher, Siamese “slanket”, bug vacuum, or toilet roll iPod docking station 10,000 feet above the ground? Astonishing.
Clearly, I’m a lady. And being such, I can respect the desire for a sweet pair of eye-catching earrings or a fancy foodie cooking appliance as much as the next lady. After all, I’m only human. I’m not saying you won’t see a jar of dreamy Door County honey mustard, a doughnut baking pan, gourmet loose tea, mason jar wine glasses, moccasins, girly earrings, footed velour pajamas, a rustic wooden bathtub tray, or a waffle maker in the shape of Texas on my Pinterest wish list. Are these items fantastic? Yes. Are these items totally useless? Also, yes. But are these items ungodly, catastrophically, immorally, and unreasonably expensive? Comparatively, no. And will I ever actually cough up the cash to own them, of my own accord? Probably not, because thinking “heh, that’s weird” and actually buying it are two different ball games. But, honestly, how can an intelligent being with even a lick of common sense not enjoy browsing such magazines and simply marveling at the stupidity of what asinine objects we Americans will plop down our hard-earned money for? Put stupidity to the tune of sarcasm and I’m hooked! There’s a pretty handful of great articles out there, detailing the ludicrous items from the likes of the magazines listed above for your purchasing and wallet-emptying pleasuring – wittily penned, of course. Sometimes I Google search for them when I need a good laugh. I suggest you do the same if you ever find yourself in need of a quick midday pick-me-up. Like magic and without fail.
What are some of your guilty searching and/or reading pleasures?