So how are we doing?  Is everyone happy with the season so far?  We’ve survived Halloween and now it’s onward and upward to the best holiday of the year, turkey day, otherwise known as Thanksgiving.  I am grateful every day for so much, but I’m especially thankful that  there’s a specific day during the year when we can reflect on the people and things in our lives we feel fortunate to enjoy.

via the little book of secrets

via vignette designs

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My friend Carla told me she put pumpkins in her bird bath this year.  I’m going to try the same thing (copy cat? why yes, there are only so many original good ideas out there). 🙂

What I love about Thanksgiving is there are no presents to shop for, just ‘splurge on calories’ food.  Even if you don’t love turkey (I know folks that feel that way), you have to admit, it’s a holiday that easily adapts to whatever “traditions” in menu selections you and yours decides to embrace.  Branch out, try at least one new dish, maybe create a dish that is similar to the annual _________[fill in the blank] …it will make cooking so much more fun.

We’re fortunate enough to be hosting our future daughter-in-law, Sarah  (Kevin’s fiancé {he’s the baby of the family}) and her very fun family.  Kathy, her mom, Tristan, her brother and Charles, her grandfather are delightful, and we’re thrilled to be able to share Thanksgiving in our home, with soon to be family, for the first time in a few years.

via Ralph Lauren

The past few years have found us at a dear friend’s home and one year was spent in Arizona, which turned out to be my mother’s last Thanksgiving, so I’m so happy we made the trek.

So, let’s get going on the planning, shall we?  Oddly, as important as the menu is, and believe me, it is, I think of the table first.  This year I’ll have my early Christmas gift from future DIL…“Redfern”, the pheasant, to decorate the room with.  I have mentioned to anyone who’ll listen that I’ve always wanted a taxidermy pheasant.  (I understand if you’re asking, why?!).  Fortunately, my sweet DIL-t0-be surprised me with this in October, assuming (as only a thoughtful person would) that I would want to use him for the fall decorations.  Note: he’ll be out year round, he just may move from one piece of furniture to another.

It took me a few days of walking past the dining room table and my new friend to not jump (we have all kinds of critters in our neighborhood and it made me think a giant bird had landed, uninvited, on our dining table!

Redfern, the pheasant

via Party Resource

I happened upon a Pottery Barn sale on their fall linens (the only silver lining to the stores rushing all of the holidays by starting to sell fall items in August, by September they want to usher in Christmas and you can often find some pretty hefty cuts in pricing for the items  you want/need for Thanksgiving).  I found the table runner in our local store and then a very nice sales person helped me by ordering the 8 napkins to match and having them delivered to my house.  They came from Minnesota (I live in California).

I’ve always thought this (above) was a very nice way of using a place card that adds to the seasonal feel of the table.  I really like pears, can you tell?

*Turkey plates were purchased years ago through a Ross-Simons catalog for a song.

I’ll use my white chargers and the PB table runner with Churchill’s Thanksgiving plates.

As far as the menu, it’s still in the works.  I know I’ll prepare Creamy Mashed Potatoes, I salt the turkey (as opposed to brining) and I’ll prepare stuffing.  Kevin has volunteered to prepare a side dish and I’ve given some thought to a gingerbread trifle that my friend, Linda,  introduced me to.  Beyond that I’m still in the planning stages.  I’ll keep you posted.

There’s a truly clever and delicious sounding recipe for a Deconstructed Pear Salad HERE:

Happy fall, I’d love to hear from you regarding some of your favorite sides for the Thanksgiving feast!

I’ve joined Sherry for her Open House at No Minimalist Here…stop by for a visit.