{the image is mine}

When we were pregnant with Jack we were living in Adam’s Morgan in DC.

I was about three months pregnant with Jack on Thanksgiving that year.

Without family  to spend the holiday with we decided to just keep it low key and have a simple meal at our home and watch movies all day.

{Right now that sounds pretty dreamy}

I don’t know why we thought King Sooper’s “Thanksgiving in a Box” sounded like a good idea…but we did:-)

To tell you the truth I really believed that we would go pick it up Thanksgiving day and it would be hot, ready to eat and kind of like picking things up from the deli.

We. Were. Wrong.

When we got home we opened the lid of the box and everything inside was in separately sealed plastic bags.

The mashed potatoes had to be boiled and then squeezed out of the plastic into a bowl.

Just think about that for a moment before we move on. SQUEEZED.

The turkey had a weird caramel color, coagulated jelly substance around the entire bird.

I have to admit that I cried a bit at this point.

Or a lot.

I was pregnant.

It was Thanksgiving.

The bird had a jelly substance around it.

I don’t think I could handle all the weird foreign elements around my food, the boiling and squeezing with almost everything in the box…and I missed being with my family.

What I learned that Thanksgiving:

1) Don’t ever think you can get a holiday in a box

2) Pregnant ladies are not emotionally stable. At all.

3) What is acceptable for my husband is not always acceptable for me.

4)A day sitting on the couch and watching movies all day is pure heaven.

5) When you can’t make the whole Thanksgiving meal it is actually better to just make another meal and make the best of it.

That brings me to this year.

We were supposed to spend it with my sister but they decided last minute to head to Texas and spend it with her husband’s family.

We didn’t take that personally at all.

{awkward}

We then decided the nicest thing would be to drive to Illinois and spend time with my mom and brother.

This was the plan until about a week ago when my husband had to pull the plug because of his busy work schedule.

So here I was days before Thanksgiving and wondering what we were going to do.

I didn’t want our friends to know before now because I knew we would get pity invitations and they would not have room for us at this point…and we would be sitting at the kid’s table.

{But let’s be honest…..those kid’s tables kind of rock and I am now rethinking my hesitation}

I hadn’t planned anything….because I didn’t think I had to.

We were in the middle of finishing up videos and editing of Creatively Made Home and I was just thrown and couldn’t focus for a moment on how to pull it together….until I realized I didn’t have to.

I sat down with my kids and asked them what was most important to them about our Thanksgiving mea/day and I was told they love my cranberry chutney, watching “Little Women” together and making homemade caramel corn.

Whew….that took a load off.

I instantly felt relieved and had a game plan.

Tomorrow morning we will go on a hike (we can do this because I won’t be in the kitchen all day).

I will be making Boeuf Bourguignon, homemade bread and pomegranate salad…with cranberry chutney of course:-)

I will pick up a gluten free pumpkin pie (because I have decided I don’t need to bake one) but the star of the day is the caramel corn.

We will cuddle up together and watch “Little Women” and start the Christmas season.

We will begin pulling out our Christmas boxes and spend our Friday decorating our home (like we do every year).

I am so glad I asked them what was important…otherwise I would have hurried around thinking things were needed that weren’t.

I hope you have the most wonderful, relaxing and thankful day.

I hope you focus on what is really important and don’t get side tracked…it is easy to do.

I will be hiking, eating yummy food, eating too much sugar and watching movies:-)

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Just a reminder that you can still sign up for “The 12 Artsy Ornaments of Christmas” at the discounted price.

Before Thanksgiving the price is $19.95 and then it goes to $24.95.

Here is a peek at my project (I will share more next week of all the projects).

All of the projects are new from last year!

It is a mini course, all online and you get everything in one week…pretty fun and perfect to do with friends and children!

You can register HERE.

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My main shop is empty to make room for new new line coming November 30th!

I can’t wait to show you the beautiful vintage items I brought back from France and all the new bags!

{we even have a new camera bag for you}

I have moved anything left from our last line into our Etsy shop and I have a coupon for you to use through this weekend.

This is good in my Etsy shop only.

Please use code THANKFUL at checkout for 30% off your entire order.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!