Happy Black Friday!
I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving! We had a relatively quiet Thanksgiving. We hosted this year- it has been probably 7 years since the last time we hosted (before kiddos!), the last time we planned on hosting our oven and stove top all died basically a week before Thanksgiving and then couldn't be installed until after the new year... that was fun! (And at the time I suggested we replace the refrigerator and really take advantage of the bundled deals, but we didn't... and 5 months later we came home after a week in VT at my sister's wedding to a dead fridge- funny how that works, huh?!)
Anyway, our appliances all proved their worth over Thanksgiving and I realized that I really don't know how to just sit down and relax. Wednesday I baked all the pies, prepped all the sides in an attempt to serve dinner at the time we said we were, because I didn't want to be stressed and I wanted to hang out and relax with my husband and kids. I should have known that wouldn't be the case though. I have been really lacking any holiday spirit this year, which is not normal. I told my husband I feel like Todd and Margo instead of my normal Clark Griswold self. (He told me the fact that I used a Christmas Vacation reference to describe how I was feeling was a sign that my inner Clark is still just under the surface.)
So typically I have my "table-scape" decorations all planned, but this year I didn't even think about it. Until 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning when I realized I hadn't planned it and people would arrive in 2 hours. I found fabric for a tablecloth, but then suddenly thought I needed cloth napkins to complete the look. And my cloth napkins either needed to be bleached or the printed ones didn't look right and there weren't enough. So at 10:30 when my family all sat down to relax I was digging through all my fabric trying to figure out which would look best with the tablecloth, if it was doing a disservice to Thanksgiving to make Christmas napkins (and should I take the little trees off the table and do just turkeys?) and since I didn't have enough to make 8 napkins were there 2 fabrics that would coordinate and then I would press a fabric, change my mind, press a new one- and I went through 8 fabrics, even cut out a few and then at 11 a.m. realized that:
1) I was stressing myself out for absolutely no reason, I had my parents and grandmother and her boyfriend coming- they wouldn't notice the napkins
2) I wasn't relaxing like I had spent all Wednesday prepping (with a sick kid) so that I could relax...
3) I always make additional work for myself
4) How my table looked wasn't nearly as important as the fact that I almost burned my chocolate pie filling for the 8th year in a row (seriously, I said I would try a different pie recipe this year and then forgot why I said that... and remembered when I could smell it getting toasty... next year!)
5) Do I have some sick need to always feel busy and stressed? Why can't I just sit still and relax like everyone else?
6) I should stick to Twitter on holidays to read funny stories about people's crazy families and avoid Instagram... IG was full of beautiful tables that probably set this idea in motion.
7) There is a reason I am an IKEA napkin hoarder. Every visit to IKEA I pick up a bunch of packages of their huge luncheon napkins because they are cheap, great quality and have the best patterns... thank goodness for that pack of solid navy blue napkins that went perfectly with my table.
I realized I had an hour to shower and clean up one last time so I skipped making napkins and put away my sewing machine. It may sound ridiculous to a lot of people, but it took a lot of persuasion in my head to nix the idea and prioritize (like a shower was way more important than cloth napkins.) Although, I will be totally honest, I now have making a ton of napkins so that I always have them on hand, on my never ending to-do list. AND it's also a New Year's resolution to start trying to slow down a bit and not have to have spend every awake minute of the day doing something.
So anyway, we had a mostly relaxing Thanksgiving. The kids put themselves down for a nap which never happens (turkey and marshmallow sweet potatoes-something we have never made before! for lunch everyday?!) I introduced my husband to The Lost Boys (how he never saw it I will never know- I even own it haha) and then the kids and I watched Home Alone (and I did some work... because you know I don't do sitting well!) And I can't be the only person who finds the most unbelievable part of Home Alone is how a house full of all those kids (and Fuller being a bedwetter) actually slept in... first I don't sleep well before an early flight, but second, my kids would never let me sleep in like that! The battle plan Kevin set up is way more believable if you ask me ;)
Today I am not doing any shopping. I used to love going, but I can't brave the crowds anymore. Last year we spent the day playing games and I am hoping we will play some as soon as I am done typing this- and maybe go out for a hike. Maybe tomorrow I will venture out to see what's left? I don't even know what we are getting the kids this year. Last year I had raided Toys R Us when they shut down so I was halfway done, but since Todd and Margo took over my Christmas spirit I am behind... and we also don't need a million toys... even though I love to see them open them and it takes me back to Christmas Day and feeling the magic.
And now that it's officially "okay" to discuss Christmas... there are so many events this weekend and in the upcoming weeks! I know I will find the Christmas spirit... especially when we go to the North Pole Express tomorrow! And don't forget to enter the awesome giveaway for a 2020 Membership from the Railway Village! Plus the Sparkle Fireworks during Boothbay Lights! And getting our Christmas tree too! There are so many tree lighting events, visits with Santa, etc. on our FREE CALENDAR that any Grinch will feel like Clark after!
And of course I missed a letter from the publisher last week- I was in the midst of planning my daughter's birthday, which was so much fun! She has been wanting to go to an Escape Room, but is a little young. I have always wanted to have my own Escape Room... but didn't want to be locked in a room with 19 kids under 6. So we used our Scooby Doo costumes and made it a Scooby themed escape room/scavenger hunt party. We had things you had to search through with magnets, letter puzzles, decoders, a spy glass to find the hidden lock combo in an upstairs window, compasses to map out directions in the yard, a laser maze, balloon drop (with a key hidden in the balloons they had to pop)... and I had so many other ideas so I will have to do one again (or open an escape room ;) ) A few photos from the party...
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and takes advantage of all the fun events happening this season! I am hoping to get a guide up of all the events, but there are some other things I have to get done for my design business so we will see if I get it done- the calendar should have everything though!!
Cheers to the holiday season!
Whitney
