Happy Thanksgiving to all!! I hope you all had wonderful a holiday weekend with friends and family. This past week I spent back home in Poughkeepsie, NY for almost a full week with the fam, which was such a blessing. It was filled with just the right combo of up and down time and all our favorite family things:
Brother’s new gadgets
My brother brought home some nifty new electronics he got recently. We spent hours playing around with his virtual reality goggles, Amazon’s “smart” speakers, and noise cancelling headphones.
Cooking for Thanksgiving + my new title
One of the biggest highlights of the week was making Thanksgiving dinner with my mom and siblings. We plan, shop, and cook together every year, and it becomes quite the event.
First step – planning the menu. This year, we waited to the last minute to do this, so we decided to stick to the classics and pick some of our favorite dishes: mac n cheese, garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and of course, turkey! We also made our own cranberry sauce and gravy. We eliminated some of the extra dishes this year to save time and stomach space.
Next step – SHOPPING. Errands are so much funner with someone by your side.
Then, it was time to cook on Thanksgiving day. We all took ownership of a dish or two, and it was a blast in the kitchen. Making less food this year was definitely a good choice, as we focused on quality vs quantity. Everyone noticed that food was just a little tastier this year 😉
The actual dinner was a treat. Hours at the table filled with telling each other jokes and riddles and enjoying our creations.
One nice surprise this year was my dad making the comment that I’m the *dessert Queen.* I so loved that. I’ve been obsessed with making desserts for my family since I was little, and my tiramisu and apple pies were definitely crowd pleasers this year!
Movie Nights
My whole family loves loves LOVES movies. It’s our favorite thing to do after dinner, and every single night we cozy-ed up in our family room for some featured films:
- Gilmore Girls revival – don’t get me started on this. I’m fairly disappointed despite being a huge Gilmore fan.
- Bridge of Spies
- Moonrise Kingdom
- The One Who Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
- Room
Lots of the time we were doing this:
Black Friday shopping
This was the first time I did Black Friday in YEARS, and boy was it worth it!! The secret we discovered: ~10am-1pm window~. The crazy morning crowed is gone, and the lazy afternoon wave has yet to arrive. There were virtually no more people at the mall than on weekdays! I got everything I was looking for!!
We love the kitchen appliance section a little too much 😉
Rainy runs
Got in some super low key runs at home. I love the running paths at home: hilly, no traffic. On Saturday I got caught in the rain during a 3-miler, but something about Mumford & Sons blasting in my ear and the sun shower made it feel pretty awesome, despite being 40 degrees :P.
I Run Like A Girl 