celebrations and shopping

This was the first year that I didn't take many photos of our Thanksgiving day celebration.

I managed to get a photo of the food spread after all the dishes were dug into - not very

appealing! But wow, did we ever have a spread at my sister's house: tortilla roll-ups,

 deviled eggs, and chips and salsa for appetizers; then turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed

 potatoes, sweet potatoes with  a maple syrup glaze, fruit salad, corn casserole, 
roasted Brussels sprouts with mustard vinaigrette, homemade rolls and cranberry sauce
 for dinner; and homemade pumpkin pie, brownies, and cookies for dessert. *groan*

I managed to sneak a photo of my niece getting her hair braided by her friend.

Four teenage girls sitting at the "kid's table" in the living room with their talking and 

giggling was so cute to hear by us adults in the dining room. When I tried several times

to take photos of the girls, they'd always turn their heads or put their hands up in front

of their face. And somehow I didn't even get a photo of my husband or son (who was

able to come home from school for a short 24-hour visit).

I did some online Black Friday shopping today (Christmas presents) and I also took down

 all of my fall decorations in prep for putting up Christmas decor. I have to drag boxes

upstairs from the basement and I'm not in any hurry, so all I managed to get done with

any Christmas decor today was to put a pillow on my couch. Ta-da! Oh - and that'd be

the latest fiction book I'm reading on the couch- Jodi Picoult's latest book, "Leaving Time".

 So far, I'm really enjoying it.

When Brian got home from work today, we had to run to Home Depot for a few

household items and I suggested we go to Old Navy and Ulta (right next door to each

other) to see their Black Friday deals - IF the stores weren't packed. We were surprised

to find that all these stores weren't any more busy than any other Friday night. Old Navy

had a huge sale where everything in the store was 50% off. All we were looking for was

pajama pants and flannel shirts for Tim. We were disappointed to find that the quality

of both of these items was terrible - the material was so thin and cheap. With the kind

of weather we have here in Illinois during the winter, warm pajama pants and flannel

shirts are a necessity. I'd rather pay a bit more for quality.

Tomorrow we'll be spending time with some friends and going to an outdoor

Christmas event - "Merry and Bright - a Downtown Holiday". Hope your weekend

plans include time for a little fun, too.