I’m not very good at, you know, getting posts out on the actual holiday… but I figure being thankful is being thankful and whether it happened last Thursday or happens this Thursday doesn’t really matter. Right? So here it goes, 20 things that I’m thankful for at the start of this holiday season:

1.) A husband that loves me, shares a love of cheese and pineapple, will let me watch hours of Diners, Drive In’s and Dives and who happens to be one of the greatest people I know. I heart him.

2.) Days where you just have to eat your feelings — and friends/family that are more than happy to join in.

3.) The most ridiculous, ill-mannered, sweet dog ever.

4.) Cheese. What else is there to say?

5.) A glass, or 5, of good wine.

6.) The best friends in the world. Ones who repeatedly remind you of all those times you laughed until you peed your pants.

7.) Knowing that rum cake is less than a month away. Oh, yes. Holiday desserts.

8.) The ability to spend a night snuggled in blankets watching movies from the 90′s (Ahem, Father of the Bride 2).

9.) A house, while needing immeasurable amounts of duct tape & love, to hang Christmas lights on.

10.) The best family a girl could ask for.

11.) My health and the health of those around me.

12.) Christmas – I just love it. Christmas trees, twinkle lights, joy.

13.) Pinterest. The amount of things I’ve learned and the amount of time I’ve wasted are both astounding.

14.) Red shoes because they can inevitably make any outfit glamorous.

15.) *Fingers Crossed* That we’re done car shopping for several years. Two new cars in less than 1 year is a bit much.

16.) Chapstick. My chapped lips live for you, and my addiction to you means I couldn’t go more than a day without you.

17.) All the amazing things that happened in 2011 – engagement, wedding, travel, new house, and the list goes on.

18.) A safe, warm (though Christian and I differ greatly on the definition) and nice place to call home.

19.) Truffle oil – on french fries, on burgers, in mac n’ cheese, in anything really…

20.) Snowflakes. But only when they’re falling. Once they’ve hit the ground they might as well be the scourge of the planet.

I truly am thankful for everything I have, all the friends and family in my life and so much more. Hope you had a fabulous Thanksigving (only a week late)!

*Image by: jessicaNdesigns

I took Charles for a walk tonight, right at dusk. I hate that the sun drops so early these days. The passing of summer with its sense of adventure and warm weather always brings a mixture of emotions for me. I love fall with all my heart. The feeling of coming home, being centered and knowing that it will all be alright. The changing leaves, soup season, start of a new school year, temperatures that call for a sweatshirt at night, Halloween, Thanksgiving, they all do it for me. One by one and as a whole.

It just hit me tonight that it’s really fall despite my best attempts to hold it off. Walking by sprinklers and wet grass through piles of dropped leaves really sealed the deal. This is my favorite time of year (though Christmas holds a special place in my heart as well) and all I want to do is make some potato soup and go wrap myself in a sweater and spend the last few nights I can outside.

Here’s to fall, the very best season.

1. My mom always losing her keys, her credit card, her mind… and allowing me to mock her.

2. My sisters varying degrees of laughter. You never know what you’re going to get.

3. My Dad’s random and off the wall comments sometimes referring to turkey s**t.

4. All of my friends, their floor dancing, chats over wine, unwavering support, and all the hysterics that go with it.

5. Charles. I’m just thankful for my dog. He’s a jerk and he can be a pain in the butt, but I heart him and his trash eating ways.

6. Chapstick… you never once have let me down.

7. My iPhone. I am truly naked without it, as in can’t function.

8. Spandex, and it’s insertion into many styles of pants. Thanksgiving pants can now be fashionable.

9. My electric bug killing raquet.

10. Everything that I’ve forgotten and will remember tomorrow. Yeah, I’m thankful for that too.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Hope you ate yourself into a coma and took a nap. Then watched some football… essentially living the American dream.

On the other hand I am not a fan of the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade. I don’t really “get” parades. Especially the ones that show case ambulances and have convertibles reserved for the “Pork Princess”.  Maybe I sat through one too many Corn Carnival parades in Iowa over the past 23 years. Tractor, after tractor, after tractor followed by fire trucks and baton twirlers sort of wore me out. Once you reach the age where you can’t shove small children out of the way for Tootsie Rolls and Dum-Dums, parades sort of lose their sparkle. So, I’ll be skipping the parade, wearing sweats and gearing up for a tryptophan coma starting somewhere around 3:00. Not sure it gets much better than that!

Hope your Thanksgiving is equally as fulfilling!