Holiday Traditions

The holiday season is my favorite time of year. Starting with Halloween through the New Year, I am the happiest girl in the world! I love the food, the time with family, the weather- but most of all, I love the traditions. This is somewhat of a paradox, I know. I generally prefer to break the mold, but in this area, I am perfectly content to staunchly follow tradition!

Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. For me, this means the entire family gathers at my mom's house for the day. We usually play some sort of game- basketball, volleyball, kickball, depending on how much of our extended family has joined us. Then there is the food, of course! As a child,  I HATED Thanksgiving because the only thing I liked were the rolls! I am still not a fan of stuffing, cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie, but I do love the turkey, green bean casserole and of course, the rolls! After lunch, we all sit down with the ads for Black Friday and  map out our shopping plan for the next day.

I happen to be a huge fan of Black Friday. I rarely go for any big ticket items, make more than a couple purchases, or make any real progress on holiday gift buying. I simply go because I thoroughly enjoy the mayhem. Traditionally speaking, this is the day people begin playing Christmas music (although I am aware that there are the unbalanced few who break the rules and play it earlier!!!). The hustle and bustle of the crowd, with so many crazed individuals that people-watching is at it's best! And then there is the weather. Here in Arizona, it doesn't truly feel like fall until now, with a crispness to the air and a chill that signals the holidays have arrived!

The weekend after Thanksgiving is also when I put up my Christmas tree! I prefer a live tree. I love going to buy the tree, picking the perfect one off the lot! The smell when you bring it into the house screams "Christmas is coming!!!" Decorating the tree is a family event, with Christmas music playing, stories about different ornaments told, laughter and love radiating as anticipation for the season grows. Then we all sit in the darkened house with only the lights from the tree glowing, soaking up the serenity of the moment together.

There are so many traditions I pack into this time of year, I could write on and on about all the things we do! Instead, I will sit here and reminisce on them as I sit on eternal hold with an insurance company at work. I wish you all happiness and peace this holiday season.

No regrets, Just lessons learned

No regrets. Such a simple statement, but it is the mantra I live my life by. I believe this so deeply I have it tattooed on my body as a statement to myself and the world that those are words that speak to my soul.

There are many moments in my life that I am in no way proud of, decisions that will haunt me for the rest of my life and memories that are best left untouched. Having said that, I do not waste my time wishing away pieces of my life. I find myself reflecting in quiet moments, not with sadness over where life has taken me, but with heartfelt gratitude that I not only survived, but have evolved into a woman I am proud to be. These are some of the lessons I have learned in the most harsh manner, but are what I consider to be the core basis of values I now hold dear.

Family is the most important thing.

Being open and honest is essential in discovering true love.

Becoming a parent will enhance every aspect of your life.

Respecting yourself is essential in finding peace.

Happiness is worth every ounce of effort you exert to posess it.

The Quest

My quest to find the perfect pair of boots has become all consuming. To qualify that statement, "the perfect pair of boots" is perhaps not quite accurate. There are many styles of boots that I would currently love to own, but I am looking for a very specific pair. Now I have not seen these boots anywhere, I simply envision them in my mind and therefore assume that someone is as genius as myself and they must exist!

The boots I am obsessing over need to be knee length, motorcylce or riding (I know- it must be a miracle... I actually want a pair of shoes that have no heel!!!) and the color- this is the most important element- must be fawn brown. Now I know what you are thinking- leave the 70's where they belong! However, I firmly believe that in a buttery soft leather over a pair of dark wash skinny jeans that fit like a second skin, this color will be perfection!

I have been to more stores hunting for these boots than I care to list, and consequently I have found several more pairs of boots that I love. I am sorry paycheck- I have a feeling you will be seriously depleted!

Newbie

So I have been reading several friends' blogs and have found them to be very interesting and a nice way to keep up with their lives. In what I will probably come to view as a moment of madness, I have decided to join the ranks of the bloggers! (Please forgive my lack of knowledge on this, hopefully I will catch on quickly!) I am thinking this will end up revolving around the three F's that seem to define my life- Family, Fashion and Food.

For today, I am consumed by the third word in that list- Food. I have no earthly idea what possessed me to volunteer to make the turkey for Thanksgiving this year, but I did- and subsequently set in motion a crazed search to figure out how to make the perfect turkey. If I had only known when I started the array of methods I would have to sort through, I might have thought twice and kept my traditional offering of the green bean casserole! (As a side-note: I am immensely proud of myself for looking into this as early as I did, because typically I would be frantically scavenging the day before Thanksgiving for everything from the how-to down to the necessary supplies!)

I started my search by googling "how to make the perfect turkey". (You should try it... It's amazing how everyone thinks that 'their' way is fool-proof and will result in the most succulent meat every time!) The options are endless- To brine or Not to brine; Organic free range, or good old frozen Butterball; On a roasting rack, in a roasting bag, breast up, or breast down...and on and on it goes!

With my head spinning, and words such as aromatic and divine dancing through my brain I have managed to begin formulating my plan via process of elimination. First, I am going to use a frozen turkey because I have no time or energy to figure out where you even procure an organic turkey, nor any true desire to have a freshly butchered turkey delivered to my door. Secondly, I have decided to go with a brine, and I found a recipe involving apple cider, orange peel, peppercorn, rosemary, brown sugar and salt. Mmmmhhh. Sounds delicious to me!

My goal is to have the rest of my plan firmly mapped out and all supplies for this adventure purchased by this weekend. I refuse to procrastinate on this, as is my usual MO! Wish me luck in remaining steadfast in this endeavor, as well as success so my family doesn't end up having to order pizza for Thanksgiving dinner!!!