My aunt Carla was in town, so she and I got up at 4:45am to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. The parade was amazing - my experience was so much better than last year, where I got stuck at the back of the crowd on a side street by myself. This year, we were right in front, on the side where the sun wasn't in our eyes, right up against the rail. We were able to high five people in the parade.Plus, Kermit was there!It's actually very weird for me to see Muppets in real life because I really do feel like they're real and I feel like I'm seeing an actual celebrity in real life.
Anyhow, after the parade Carla and I headed home to nap and cook. When we got there, JP had already moved the living room furniture around and set the table and it was GORGEOUS. (Side note: That brown tablecloth? Yeah...it's a bed sheet. How awesome is that?) This is the first time we used our wedding china, which was so exciting. (Of course, several jokes were made about the episode of Friends when Monica is such a freak about her wedding china.) JP was also already working on the turkey. We arranged the flowers we'd gotten and set out the chocolate Thanksgiving-themed lollipops straight from Jacques Torres.Our friends brought delicious food to go with our turkey, dressing, and roasted green beans. Molly brought squash casserole, her sister Katie brought sweet potato casserole, and Harper brought apple dumplings and pumpkin pie. It was all so delicious.
The whole day was far more perfect than I could have imagined. It really made me realize how thankful I truly am for the friends I have here and the life I have with my husband. I had a defining moment during dinner (I describe it as my movie moment). JP and I were sitting at the head and foot of the table (another first!) and at one point everyone at the table was laughing really hard about something. So there we are surrounded by friends who love us and the sound of their laughter and JP catches my eye across the table and gives me a little wink. Now JP will probably read this and roll his eyes at my sentimentality, but for me...it was just one of those awesome moments when you feel such a rush of happiness and contentment with your life.
I hope your Thanksgiving brought you happiness as well. Now on to the Christmas season!
