Thanksgiving

My favorite holiday. I just love Thanksgiving. Julia from "The World is my Oyster" has a fun thing on her blog (like that description? Thing. I can't figure out what to call it -- oh wait! Post. It's a "post" not a thing.)





Let's try that again... Julia from "The World is My Oyster" has a fun blog topic: Stuffing blanks instead of Turkey. Let's go:



1. My Thanksgiving plans this year will include hosting the family dinner -- my extended family and my aunt and cousins for the turkey dinner with all the fixings. Then turkey sandwiches several hours later when the rest of the cousins come from their first meal.


2. My favorite Thanksgiving was ... hard to narrow down to just one, really. It's my favorite holiday: family, great food, relaxing. Better even than Christmas in my book (except that on Christmas we have beef brisket, which I much prefer over turkey).



3. My signature Thanksgiving dish is Pritz Pie. It may not be spelled correctly, because it's a Dutch word. I once attempted to make a cheesecake that I'd found a recipe for in a magazine. Keep in mind that I don't cook. Ever, really. But for some reason I thought I'd give it a shot. Impress everybody. That. So. Didn't. Happen. I'm not exactly sure what I did wrong (besides attempt to spend time in the kitchen) but nobody would try it. Not even me. Finally my Aunt Coral caved and tried a bit. She promptly ran to the trash can and spit it out. Much laughing ensued and it ended up with the name Pritz (which I'm sure mean's tastes-like-shit in Dutch) Pie. I was so traumatized by the whole thing I haven't stepped foot in the kitchen since.



4. My favorite Thanksgiving food is my Aunt Coral's homemade stuffing. Yum, yum, yum. But generally speaking I like almost all of the TG side dishes. What a feast.



5. Thanksgiving free association! Stuffing... cranberry... pecan pie... Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin cheesecake... Chicago... cold... snow on Thanksgiving... playing bball outside on a warm TG with my cousins.



6. Thanksgiving is about family and food fest.

7. I am thankful for so many things, but family, friends, and good health top the list.

This is what my niece is making for decorations this year -- an apple turkey!Fatherhood site at About.com

I've been to the Thumb!

It's true, I've been to the thumb. This likely has no meaning for you if you're not from Michigan -- the mitten state. But if you are then you probably know just what I'm talking about. Rico and I went to a wedding this weekend in the THUMB of Michigan -- in Bad Axe. Hold up your left hand... then take your right hand and point a the middle right edge of your thumb nail. That's where we were for Danielle and Aaron's wedding.

This is the happy couple just after they said they're "I Do's" -- this blurry photo courtesy of Rico (how, how, how can nearly every pic he takes be blurry?). Don't they look happy?


She was beautiful -- and her dress was stunning. Sophisticated, and gorgeous, and just so Danielle. OMG if I was a I've-always-dreamed-about-my-wedding-day kind of girl this dress would be the one I would have picked -- well, that is if I was a size 2 and perfectly proportioned like Danielle.

It was the most beautiful wedding dress I've ever seen. Gorgeous cream color. Beautifully beaded with pearls. A graceful silhouette with just a bit of tulle floating out at the bottom. Stunning. Here they are surrounded by the our American Cancer Society crew -- Danielle used to live in G.R. and work at the ACS office there. (we miss her!). Aaron lured her back to the thumb -- where they both grew up -- and that's where they make their home now. G.R.'s loss is Ubly's gain.

It was a pleasure to be a part of their big day. All the best to the lovebirds!

Zebra. Really?

The girl wants her room redone. Have I mentioned this before? The main theme she's requested is based on her favorite animal. The zebra. Oy!

Animal prints were strictly taboo in our house growing up -- my mom absolutely hates, hates, hates them. No way, no how, no animal print -- or anything even remotely resembling one was permitted.

As a result, I'm thinkin', I'm not all that fond of them either. But the girl is a fashionable tween and she has definate ideas on how she wants her room redone.


I'm all about vibrant colors -- fresh and lively -- coral, greens, yellow, oranges, shots of pink. But, alas, Auntie M (that's me) has no vote in this room makeover. Zebra. And purple. Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh. In a fairly small space. Just thinking of it makes me think dark and dreary, and I was picturing stuff like this...

And believe me there's plenty of this kind of stuff available (this courtesy of Amazon.com). Is is just me, or does this look really oppressive?

So I hit the web to see how these two color/pattern requests could work together in a fresh way. I gotta admit it's tough. But I keep digging through websites hoping to find something that appeals to me -- all the while keeping the girl's more sophisticated style in mind.

I have to admit that it's hard to grasp that hip, latina, fashion-queen, paint-em-on-skinny-jean-wearing-vibe when I'm a polar-fleece and well-worn-jeans kind of girl. S-t-r-e-t-c-h, stretch, stretching.

I found some nice looking sets that have zebra influences in horchow.com:

Majella Marzipan is nice, but it's not purple, and it may not be fashion-forward enough for her -- I think it's a bit too sophisticated and not enough "attitude":

I really like the one called "Aubrey" -- but holy-Horchow we can't afford these prices -- so this might be a contender for how we use zebra and purple but make it pop with some other colors or patterned fabrics. Lively-er. than just purple zebra, don't you think?
So the quest has begun. Zebras for all!