Sometimes I am a procrastinator. There. I said it. But you know what? That’s okay. At least I’m trying to let it be okay. One day I’ll write weekly posts and never forget to send birthday cards and post all my photos on time and read all the books and make only the healthiest of foods all while loving my job, exercising every day, being a good partner, checking in on all my friends and family, and taking time for myself. Yeah right. Either way, life is mostly good folks, and sometimes doing it all is overrated. And even though it’s almost Christmastime, it’s still the season to be thankful. Which is why I (over one year later) wanted to do a post from last Thanksgiving. Because it was the first time we’ve ever hosted a holiday and I was proud of how it turned out. We had Jake’s family out West to celebrate with us and some neighbors as well. This year we did something very similar, just without our families. Since everyone will be seeing us soon for the wedding, we are all doing small holidays this year.

Last year’s menu included oyster stuffing, as I attempted to get into my new PNW spirit that nobody actually ate but me; turkey; homemade noodles from my family recipe; green bean casserole; cranberry sauce; rolls; pecan pie; pumpkin pie; and mini cherry pies because Jake’s dad loves cherry pie. I rubbed the turkey with butter, salt, pepper and that was it. Cooked in a turkey bag, it turned out much better than this year’s brined turkey. (My mom never did like brining. Should have listened to you, mom.)

Aside from the food, I made a tablescape out of corn kernels, which I copied this year. Only this year since we only had friends over, Thanksgiving got a little wilder than normal and I forgot about the candles in the corn kernels until they’d burned down and were charring the corn. In the middle of a game of Cards Against Humanity we all started sniffing. Something was on fire. Nothing says “time for leftovers” like melted candle wax stuck to hot, half-way popped black corn kernels.

But I had to laugh because as “corny” as it sounds, this is our life and these are the times. Thankful to have these memories and a place to share them. Ending with a few photos from 2017 to prove we aren’t completely uncivil, mostly. But also because I made a killer charcuterie table and it demands attention.

~ Cheers to being thankful whether or not it’s Thanksgiving.