I have been back here on the East Coast celebrating with my family and catching up with some friends (although I didn't get to see ALL my friends, which made me sad, but I will be back in a month, so hopefully we can reconnect soon!).
We flew in on Tuesday evening and headed right to my parents house in Western Mass, which according to my city slicker husband, is "the boonies". I assure you it is not "the boonies", but it is quieter and more spread out than San Francisco, and it is just the perfect place to be to slow down, relax and spend time with the family for the holidays. My life in SF is so busy, so on the go, that I really look forward to quiet nights at home, drinking wine with my mom and catching up on gossip from the hometown. Anyway, when we arrived, sure enough, the wood stove was all fired up, and the chardonnay was chilled! It was the gateway to the perfect Thanksgiving break.
On Wednesday, we braved the supermarket to pick up some last minute ingredients for some desserts we were making, and made our way back home for an afternoon of baking with my mom. Well, I guess I should clarify... I spent the afternoon baking with my mom, while my husband spent the afternoon reading and watching some television.
Homemade apple pie, homemade pecan pie, and whoopie pies were all successfully created after just a few mishaps... one being that the pecan pie stayed in the oven a tad too long, so a new one was made. The other involved unknowingly making whoopie pie dough with self-rising flour... "whoops" for sure! I'm telling you, life is difficult when you are not in your own kitchen! Anyway, in the end, all turned out yummy and the feasting began!
Thanksgiving Day was spent at my sister's house with her children, her husband, his cousin, a student of my brother in law, my parents, my aunt, and my brother. Now, that might not sound like a lot to many people out there, but I come from an AMAZINGLY small family (interesting, considering that BOTH of my parents families are Irish Catholic...go figure), so anything over 8 people is quite an accomplishment! The food was great, the company was even better!
Since then, I have been relaxing, working on some projects, and catching up with some friends.
We fly out on Tuesday evening from Boston, so today, my husband and I drove back to my sister's, which is closer to Boston, and we'll stay here until we head out. We always like to spend the last few days of our trips out here because it gives us a chance to spend time with my sister and her husband and most importantly, spend some QT with our nieces. Today we went to the local Y where they showed off their swimming prowess. I was quite proud of both of them and had an amazing time.
So, this entry has nothing to do with anything I normally write about, but sometimes it's good to just relax a bit and enjoy life.
I have been working on a few things, however, and should have some photos up in the next few days.
Again, Happy Thanksgiving, and let's all remember the real beauty of the holiday season that is now upon us in full force: spending time with friends and family and appreciating all the wonderful things in life.
