Knowing that I had Thursday off, and hoping to maybe sleep in till at least 10:00, I hunkered down in our dark, and cozy basement Wednesday night where I would fall asleep to the background noise of an all night FRIENDS marathon on Nick-At-Nite. I had set myself up for success. A warm blanket, a dark room, and my cell phone alarm on silent. Promptly at 8:30, I awoke to the excitement of the TODAY Show staff getting ready to anchor the 85th annual Macy's Thanksgiving day Parade. Maybe, just maybe, I could convince myself to go back to sleep until 10:55 where I was due to make an appearance for our 11:00 brunch. Epic fail. At 8:30, I was officially up for the day.
After a wonderful and intimate brunch with Mom and Dad, it was time to hang around and watch Lauren Alaina of American Idol fame flub the National Anthem at the Detroit Lions versus the Green Bay Packers football game. Totes Awk. The Packers did their work, and maintained their perfect season. Miami Dolphins for life.
Promptly at 2:30 I began to get ready for the Thanksgiving we had all been waiting for. With the bus leaving the station at 4:15, I figured 90 minutes to get ready outta do it. Impeccable timing if I say so myself. By now I'm sure you're saying, "Man, she sounds high maintenance".First off, I'm not. Second of all, I don't like to be rushed as I actually enjoy getting all gussied up. And for a holiday like this, I had to build in extra time to look my best. Needless to say those 90 minutes paid off. Don't worry, you'll see a picture later. Just hold your horses.
Finally! The moment we had all been waiting for had arrived and it was time to sit back, mingle, and take some serious blog notes. We had been told to arrive promptly at 5:00. Did that mean 5:00 for a thirty minute happy hour or 5:00 to introduce ourselves, and then sit down and eat. I was really hoping for option two, but I was okay with option one. I'll take option one for 1,000 Alex. Wait. Did I say a 30 minute happy hour? What I really meant to say was a 90 minute happy hour. That could be another blog in itself. But I'll give you some highlights. Open the door, and BAM! Within ten seconds of my arrival, I was greeted by two well known PFM customers. This honestly made me want to cry. I can't have a simple holiday meal with my family without any customers? Thank goodness for Christmas. Among the family, one of Mom and Dad's college buddies happened to be dining with us. Of course I "just happened to be walking by" and I was introduced to the individual as the youngest daughter. His response? "Oh wow, so you must be what? 19?" Uh no. I just turned 23 two weeks ago. Nice try though. But the real highlight of the happy hour or should I say night, was this story I'm about to tell you.
Earlier in the week, I had seen this "cousin" of mine come into Paul's to do his weekly shopping. This shopping trip is where I would discover what was on the menu for Thursday night. Both of my bosses had become rather invested with my cousin in helping him trying to figure out what would be good on a meat and cheese tray, what the best tomatoes were to serve in salad, and helping him get bushels of green beans that would serve 48 people. If there's one thing we fight for at work, its the large orders. I know it's odd, but maybe it's the adrenaline rush of so many items. Who knows. As the shopping trip came to a close, it was time to check out, and of course, I was the one available while the other girls were busy. With a big order like this, and my boss being invested, she would come and help me bag. Making conversation, she said, I wanna come to his house. The relative promptly replied, come on over. What's one more person when I'm cooking for 48? Let's just go ahead and make things even more awkward when I jumped in and said, "I'll be there!" He quickly laughed, but little did he realize I wasn't joking. Back at Thanksgiving happy hour, mom was making her rounds, and one of her stops was the cousin who I had checked out. "Sara, come here, I want you to meet someone." Please I beg of you, please don't tell the story. It's already weird enough that I checked out Thanksgiving dinner. Insert face palm number one. "Oh, now I see how this is all coming together. You certainly were bold to say you were coming. And now you really are here."
After the awkward run in, it was time to go preview dinner, and there were three things that caught my eye: A REAL TURKEY, signs that said "watch for steel shots" (meaning someone went out and shot the dove,venison, and quail) and homemade Macaroni and cheese. "Sara writes a blog so she is taking notes for it." Insert face palm number 2. It would be the cherry on top if he had asked for my blog address. Crisis averted. That was a close one.
Following 90 minutes of "and you belong to... or how do I know you" introductions, dinner had been presented and it was time to get my grub on. On the menu? Turdunken, Dove, Venison, duck, quail, Turkey, Ham, Green Beans, Greek salad, macaroni and cheese, broccoli, wild rice, sweet potatoes with apples, mashed potatoes, and bread. I'm sure I'm missing something, but you get the gist of it.
In an attempt to keep families together, they placed our family at one table. Yay for semi normalcy. Of course, it can't be a holiday without ridiculous conversations, and a rousing rendition of "He's A Jolly Good Fellow".
To help contribute with dinner, our family was asked to bring two pies. Derby pie and a pecan pie. Don't get me wrong, I love Derby Pie. It's delicious, and something totally different from the Pumpkin pie, but while surveying what was for dessert, the heavens must have opened up, and some genius had brought a dozen of Panera Mint Krinkle cookies. You don't understand how good these things are. Just around for the holidays, these are filled with chocolate chips, mint flavoring and powdered sugar. Whoever brought these, I thank you.
Don't think I forgot about my picture. Because I didn't.
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| Thankgiving 2011. |
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