Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was wonderful.  My mom and dad arrived on Wednesday afternoon and helped me with a few last minute preparations.  Lisa and Steve made it in after a very long drive from Chicago with their two dogs, Maya and Addy (including 3 hours of traffic just to get out of the city!).  Over the course of the weekend we played many rounds of Scrabble, Cranium, Euchre, and FIFA World Cup '11 on the Wii.  What a blast!

This was our first Thanksgiving hosting and I think it went well.  We had rosemary roasted turkey (brined for 24 hours), mashed potatoes with celery root and mascarpone cheese, homemade gravy, green bean casserole, brussels spouts and carrots, fresh cranberry sauce, biscuits, and pumpkin chiffon pie with fresh whip cream.  I think the consensus was the cranberry sauce, although the underdog, was the clear winner.

After a little Black Friday shopping we came home to enjoy homemade tortilla soup (it was a CHILLY day!) before heading off to an Ice Bears game.  It happened to be one of the most popular game days - Weiner Dog Races. We didn't know what we had gotten ourselves into.  Basically 40+ owners bring their personal pets to the game and then after the first period they race across the ice rink - there were so many dogs that they had to race in two heats.  My favorite part was watching the dogs that stopped halfway and started doing donuts on the ice.  It was quite a laugh.

After the Ice Bears game

Julia and Wayne

Steve and Lisa

On Saturday Mom, Lis and I enjoyed pedicures at the Aveda salon.  It was nice to have some time to spend with "just the girls" before the family headed back home on Sunday.