Our Thanksgiving.

Hands down, my favorite holiday.

Perfectly situated in autumn with it’s crispy leaves, cool weather, and warm homes, Thanksgiving has all the wonderfulness of Christmas (festive relaxation, family, and ridiculously good food) but without all the hectic shopping and commercial craziness. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas and the act of giving and exchanging, but have really started to not enjoy the burden of shopping and giving gifts, just for the sake of giving gifts. I absolutely love giving a perfectly and thoughtfully chosen gift for someone, but don’t enjoy the feeling of buying and exchanging gifts out of obligation because you feel you have to. FYI: If you ever feel you need to buy me something but aren’t sure what to get, save yourself the hassle of shopping and spending money and lets go out to coffee or dinner and have fun together instead. I believe it will be much more enjoyable for everyone.

Anyways, I absolutely love Thanksgiving. After a wonderful lunch with Stephen’s family on Thursday, we gathered with my family at our house on Friday. Despite being a bit nervous about being in charge of the turkey for the first time, it was a lovely day filled with people I love and delicious food. Amidst the busy cooking schedule and crowded kitchen, I made sure to shoot a few images during the day. To document the process of my family together. Right now it seems that this is our routine for this holiday, but I know that someday it will change, and I’ll want to remember that this was our happy normal.

Therefore, welcome to Thanksgiving at my house.

BEFORE:

Stephen and I were brave and decided to try and cook the turkey on the grill. It was actually super easy, very tasty, and kept the oven free for everything else. We may have just found a new tradition.

Quite possible my favorite dish ever: My mom’s hashbrown potato casserole. I used to request this on my birthday. If I ever found myself in some sort of ‘last meal’ situation, I’d probably request it there too.

Any holiday in which every side dish is in casserole form is fine by me.

DURING:

Pumpkin cheesecake with nutmeg whipped cream made by yours truly. Quite heavenly if I do say so myself.

AFTER:

I hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours, and the leftovers just as tasty.