The Post You've All Been Waiting For....

Ahhh, Thanksgiving. It came and it went and I would say overall, I would give myself a B+. I am not going to lie, despite the fact that I did a trial run, the turkey stressed me out. That and I went into the day on three hours of sleep. That was my first mistake. While my family was helping themselves to the bloody mary bar we set up, I was shotgunning coca-colas trying to keep my eyes open. I have taken 5 naps over the past two days just trying to recover.

Here are a few of my favorite highlights from the day complete with (gasp!) pictures:

My fabulous uncle, who did my wedding flowers, graciously offered to do the centerpieces for the tables. This photographed really blue, but picture the blueish-purple being more plum. He told me, "It's the changing of the times, Lis. No need for cornucopias here. We need something contemporary!" People, when the man has a vision, you go with it. And I have to say I loved it!

As my uncle whipped up the centerpieces, I continued to work on the other items that would make their way into my make shift buffet. Even though I vowed never to make this stuff again, I decided I would give it another try for my loving husband. And folks, it will never make another appearance at any Thanksgiving I host. The first time he lied and told me it was good...we weren't married at that point. I am not even sure if we were engaged. This time, he straight up told me his mom's was better. And always will be. And so I say to him, "So long cornbread dressing! My sourdough, sausage and apple stuffing kicked your dressing's ass in the taste department anyways!" (mic drops. Lisa exits stage left.)

Back to cooking. After removing the stressful turkey, it was time to juggle the sides. At one point my oven looked like this. And there were still four more sides to go. My game plan ultimately worked, but it was at this point that I madly starting waving my arms and demanding someone turn on the fan and get me a drink of water. The heat was definitely in the kitchen.

After my loving husband carved up the birds....wait let me stop right there. Yes, we had two birds. My loving husband decided he would smoke a turkey and I am really glad he did as he just volunteered himself to always smoke a bird from here on out. It was delicious! I dare say it was better than mine. And if you know me really well, then you know it took a lot for me to admit that on the ol' blog. But it was really good!

Back to timeline. We gathered the family and held hands for grace. People, I lost it. I don't know if it was the three hours of sleep or the weeks of preparation I decided I needed to put into the day, but I broke down in tears and could not get it together. My immediate family is used to me crying at the drop of a hat and just rolled their eyes and grabbed a plate and hopped in line. My extended family had to close their dropped jaws and dart their eyes away from me as this caught them a little off guard. In my defense, it just really meant a lot to me that my family had gathered in my home for such a momentous holiday. It was kind of a stamp of approval and it meant the world to me. Ok, the cornbread dressing was mushy enough. Moving on.

The Beaujolais Nouveau flowed throughout the meal and into the afternoon/evening.

After the dishes were done, everyone went outside to throw the football around and be American. I slipped away and decided I could sneak in a 30 minute nap. My nap didn't last long as my loving husband came racing in to awake me and inform me I was missing the salsa dancing that was going on in the street. I looked at him like he was crazy and he told me that I had heard him right, I was indeed missing the salsa dancing in the street. That's right. My crazy ass family decided throwing the football around wasn't diverse enough. Salsa dancing needed to be danced in our front yard and if they spilled into the street, no biggie. It was Thanksgiving after all. Here is my 86 year-old grandfather and my mother getting the party started.

We all joined in with the Cupid Shuffle when this song came on thanks to my uncle's ipod blaring from his door-ajar Volvo seen here in the background. My dogs were upset they were missing out on the action so we propped them up in the trunk of the car so they could watch my family, well, act like my family.

After the sun set we moved the party back inside, I am sure to the delight of our neighbors. Most of the crew sat down to a game of Left, Right, Center (a dice game). My father and uncle broke open the scotch and discovered Wii bowling. A blog post could be dedicated to just this act, but let's just say the Wii bowling ended with my father removing his shirt and my mother loudly announcing it was time to go home. To my father's credit, he just took off his sweatshirt, revealing his undershirt but that was all it took for us to realize it was probably time to call it a day. All in all a great holiday.