Friday, November 28, 2014

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.


14 comments:

  1. You were brave to tackle the shops. I avoided Target yesterday even though I needed my allergy medicine. Today shouldn't be too bad.

    Like you, I managed to get a Christmas pillow on the sofa. I will do more today and we are expecting rain all this week so I should get a lot done.

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    1. I have never gone out on Black Friday before. We had to go to Home Depot for some regular home stuff - not Black Friday shopping - and were surprised to find the place pretty much "dead". We drove by Old Navy and Ulta to scope it out first. When we saw the parking lot wasn't crowded, we figured the stores wouldn't be busy. We were right. No different than any other Friday night.

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  2. I didn't take too many photos this year either...too much else to do! Since I don't do well around crowds i never go out on black friday...makes me nervous! Glad you found some bargains! Enjoy you time with your friends!

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    1. I don't like crowds either. That's why we scoped the place out first before we went in!

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  3. I'm always surprised to see that in the USA some stores offer 50% off on the whole store. Here in France, it's always only on selected items, usually the ugliest ones ;)

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    1. You know the saying...if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Well, I think the original prices are set too high, so that when they say 50% off, it sounds like a good deal. But in reality, the 50% off price is just a halfway decent sale price.

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  4. Glad that you had a good day on Thursday! Your cushions all look seasonal to me, the tree of course, the white one looks like a snowflake and then the circles are snowballs to me! xx

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    1. I found that off-white cushion cover at a resale shop. It's a nice thick sweater material. It was originally from Pottery Barn.

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  5. Hi Melanie! Happy belated Thanksgiving! How did it already get to the end of November so fast??? And Christmas just around the corner is just scary. I am so not ready. But I did finally post on my blog again which is a major thing for me. I was thinking of just stopping with them but...

    I was sorry to read about all you are having to go through right now! I will be keeping you in my thoughts and hope the therapy will help.

    Have you had the snow we have heard about in the US?

    Hugs from Holland,
    Heidi

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    1. So good to hear from you, Heidi. And glad to hear you did another blog post; glad you're not giving up on that. Not much snow here yet in the Chicago area. Just a dusting so far.

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  6. Wow, what a feast you had at Thanksgiving!!! Sounds fabulous and such a good time!
    Mary Alice

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  7. That is one huge spread, Melanie. Oh, I'm way past Thanksgiving so my mouth was actually watering readng this!!!. It's so neat when everyone contributes a gift because you get that variety. Yum! I didn't get family pics. No one likes to pose, and since I have a blog, they all cower if I have the camera at hand.

    You are really right about Old Navy, I like to get knock around clothes in the summer, it is rare anything lasts a season. The prices are super low and you get what you pay for. Too bad pajamas are so expensive. Abby has been getting flannel pajamas at Target. You might look there, they aren't bad for just hanging out in like guys do in the winter. I wish we lived close so we could shop together.

    Take care with the arm. Can you get a coat on over the compression thingie?

    Stay in touch!

    Jane xx

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  8. Sounds like a good time was had by all, with scrumptious fare and lovely company. Isn't it so refreshing to see teenagers hanging out among the adults, laughing at their exclusive, inside jokes, and bonding. Ah, to be a young woman again, (but with a 50+ wisdom!). Thanks for sharing your cozy Thanksgiving pics, Melanie. Looking forward to reading about your outing!

    Poppy

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  9. That was quite a spread! I didn't make a ton of food because it was just my husband,my daughter and I since my husband had to go to work on Thanksgiving day this year. Which I think is just what it's going to be like from now on. His stores did great business on Thanksgiving Day AND Black Friday.

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