This year I had an awesome Thanksgiving holiday with my guy’s family in Rockford, IL (last year I was here!)
We drove there on Wednesday night and helped set up the extensive holiday table for 40 ppl (wow!!!) Was just like a sitcom: full place settings with water AND wine glasses – so much fancier than what goes on in Hawaii. His mom has this crazy event down to a science, complete with checklists & things prepped a week in advance.
Woke up early on Thursday morning to run the Turkey Trot. Well, just my guy and friends – I’m not a runner (due to the KSBE physical education program) so I mainly cheered from the sidelines & held everyone’s stuff.
Huge family holiday dinner = four turkeys (two cooked traditionally, one on the grill and one in a fryer, all so delicious) + appetizers + sides (bread rolls, two types of stuffing, three types of mashed potatoes, green beans) + desserts (three types of pie, chocolate pudding, pumpkin crunch) + booze. Was in a food coma for the next two days and I’m still bringing turkey for work lunches!
The rest of the weekend was so nice & relaxing (no Black Friday shopping madness for me) – we met up with Rockford friends (most who live in Chicago) for drinks, went Christmas tree shopping, had Five Guys burgers with Cara & baby Clark and saw the newest James Bond movie, Skyfall in an actual theater (our first movie date ever!) Couldn’t have asked for a better mini vacation!
So very grateful to be able to spend quality time with some of my favorite people. I’ve foolishly spent too many past holidays working or doing the Chinese-food-&-a-movie-routine. My guy’s large family reminds me of my own back on the islands, so all the chaos and tons of people milling about is all really familiar & comforting. Thankful to have him (and them) in my life.