Wednesday, November 30, 2016

holiday time

My family had a different sort of Thanksgiving this year: for the first time ever, we ate at a restaurant! My grandmother and great-aunt were probably rolling over in their graves. I remember Thanksgiving dinners as a kid...grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all gathered at the designated house; the tables laden with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, my great-aunt's famous bourbon sweet potatoes, my grandma's beautiful jello mold, and several different homemade pies. If there were vegetables, I don't remember those. ;-) 

This photo cracks me up...Tim hates when I take his picture, so he had to make a goofy face. Starting from the front, that's Brian, Tim, my sister, her husband, and my cousin. Not shown are my mom, nieces, and my sister's friends that joined us. So, what are my thoughts on eating at a restaurant on Thanksgiving? I didn't care for it. It's just not the same as eating at someone's home. I didn't get to talk to anyone at the other end of the table. Some of us did go back to my cousin's house for wine and chat though, so that part was fun.


I've just started my Christmas decorating and I'm doing it slowly, so no photos of Christmas decor in my home yet. However, this past weekend I went to some nearby antique shops that were having their Kris Kringle days. It was a sunny day, not too cold - perfect for walking around. 



Usually I'm with my husband, mom or aunt, or a friend ~ but this time, I went by myself. I had a pleasant few hours just looking around.


I wasn't looking for anything in particular...maybe some bottle brush trees at a decent price, but none to be found.


There were a lot of Shiny Brite ornaments (not pictured) for $1 - $2 each. Do you remember those? I didn't buy any since we don't put up a big tree anymore, nor do I need anymore ornaments to fill bowls or vases for decor.



Loved this vintage ceramic Christmas tree, but priced at $75, it didn't come home with me.  I thought this was an unusual one with the snowy garland and the woodland animals.


I did find a couple of inexpensive treasures...

This vintage hand mirror, which I'm planning on using in a small gallery wall in my bathroom. I've been collecting various hooks (for necklaces) to use on the wall, and I thought it'd be neat to incorporate some vintage mirrors, as well. 


I also found this adorable vintage pair of carolers. There's space on top of their hats for little candlesticks, but I think they're cute as is.


Hard to believe tomorrow is December 1st already. How are you doing on your decorating and shopping?


22 comments:

  1. Hi Melanie, your Thanksgiving sounds really nice. I'm thinking about going out for Thanksgiving next year, actually. My birthday will be on Thanksgiving next year (I was born on Thanksgiving Day, and my birthday will coincide with the holiday every few years). I just don't want to think about all that work on my own birthday! It seems like a real drag to me. My husband will probably be against going out, but he's not the one who does all that work, so I'm going to push for it. I love that mirror you found, it's really interesting. I think it will look great in a gallery arrangment. I'm glad you like doing those because I do too. I have two main ones, and I'm thinking about doing another small one in my bedroom now too. Hope you're enjoying the Christmas prep, take care. :)

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  2. I agree, restaurants just don't do Thanksgiving that well - unless it's like a country house setting and those are hard to find around here! This year we shared dinner (and the cooking) with our next door neighbors, and our granddaughter joined us. Rest of our family was scattered and we weren't invited! It was lovely and we had a great time with a real home-cooked meal.

    Loved all the pix of what you found at the Kris Kringle sales - the mirror is beautiful for the bathroom vignette. Tomorrow evening I'll be enjoying the Christmas Open House at the Vintage Village where SuzAnna's Antiques shop (granddaughter works there) is one of many places which will be open for business and fun. Santa will arrive, live music played, refreshments served etc., and a lovely mild evening promised by the weather people!

    I'll not buy anything, well unless I just can't resist, as we will not be decorating this year. Heading back to Europe next week for the holidays!

    Hugs - Mary

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  3. Since we had our Thanksgiving early (on Sunday before), my husband and I went out to dinner on Thanksgiving day. First time ever for me, too! I guess it wasn't too bad, since we had a 'real' dinner a few days before that, but it sure felt strange not being at home.

    Your day browsing in the antiques stores sounds lovely. It's fun to go with other people, but sometimes I like the quiet time and just getting lost in thought in places like that. I find I buy less these days, but still enjoy the window shopping.

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  4. I don't know that I could do a restaurant for a holiday although years ago we celebrated Easter, just the six of us, at a steakhouse. Sort of strange and I can't remember why!!

    I love to shop alone. I go into a trance! lol! Lots of cool stuff at this Kris Kringle place. I know how you feel in a way...I'm trying to sort out things at the lake to have in a summer garage sale. Once I find space in the garage up there, I'll cart things from here up there. I am so tired of the endless clutter and I won't use half of this stuff in a thousand years. I've learned my lesson for not buying something unless I truly know I want it and have a place to put it, such as your vintage mirror.

    No decorating here yet. Just tired and trying still (!!!) to get back in the game after this infection. I postponed my tooth implant to mid January. I'm not having any problems but I'll have to bite, ugh, the bullet then.

    Take care, my friend!

    Jane x

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  5. We did the same thing at Easter this past year. When my son and DIL started to think about the dinner, it felt as if we had just done that...Ham, Turkey, etc. I suggest on a lark...let's do Chinese. We did! A big long table of many family members, great food, fun and RELAXING! :)

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  6. Love that little sailor in one of the shop pictures! We ate out one Thanksgiving - well, my sister, my mom and I did - because I was down in Florida after dad had an aortic aneurysm and couldn't get home for the holiday. It was the best thing to do because we were all exhausted and Mere's husband and boys were up in Wisconsin. But, you're right - it wasn't the same!

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  7. Hi Cindy, my decorating is done :) If I could type that smiley face any bigger I would, LOL. Now I have time to relax and enjoy. We only purchase gifts for our daughter and granddaughters, so that keeps it simple. Steve and I each plan a date-night instead of a gift and that has been fun. At our age we have too much stuff as it is, LOL.
    I agree that Thanksgiving is better with family in the home, but it doesn't always agree with what's happening around you. We thought that we would be having Thanksgiving alone at the Olive Garden, because our daughter and granddaughters flew home early on Thanksgiving Day. The airport is 70 miles away, so eating out sounded perfect, until we received an invitation for our sister-in-law. She even said that she would set the time back for us, if we would come. That's family love, right :)
    I love that church turned antique shop; what a great way to revive an old church:) Thanks for the tour.
    Have a marvelous week and keep smiling.
    Connie :)

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    Replies
    1. Hmm...I've mistakenly been called different names close to Melanie...Melody, Melaney, Melinda, but never Cindy. ;-)

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  8. I love all the vintage items. So much fun to browse through. I have the same little couple candle holders and love them, tiny things make me happy! Hugs!

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  9. I grew up having the same kind of Thanksgivings as you...and still have them. As a matter of fact, for the past several years, I have been the hostess. This year, I really, seriously thought about a restaurant. Of course, no one else would hear of it...maybe because they weren't doing the cooking! ;)

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  10. Glad you had a good time even though you ate out. I had dinner out also and we all agreed that it isn't like a home cooked Thanksgiving. We will be having a home cooked Christmas though and I am looking forward to that spent with my sis in laws family.

    What a fun place to walk around 'window shopping'. Your hand mirror is pretty. For some reason I'm a sucker for Christmas trees. We found a Charlie Brown Christmas tree in 2012, curbside, our last 'junkin' time together before my DH left this planet. We have found quite a few nice fake Christmas trees curbside, especially after Christmas. :-)

    I am slowly decorating this year and savoring it all.

    Have a wonderful holiday season and a lovely Christmas ~ FlowerLady

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  11. Oh I loved this. Our Thanksgiving was almost as simple. My daughter's church Blessed her with an entire meal. She invited us over! I did have to make the gravy though. I love all the festive things you found at the fun shops. I would have loved to visit them! I love anything Christmas! So much I have a link party! Come over and share your fun post!
    Come over and link your post at The Count Down To Christmas party.
    You can link all your Christmas posts!
    http://ourholidayjourney.blogspot.com/2016/12/count-down-to-christmas-link-party.html
    Merry Christmas!

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  12. We've gone out for Thanksgiving, but always missed the leftovers! The photo of your son is so funny!

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  13. Many years ago my Dad was in the hospital fighting for his life really, my sister and Mom and I went out to eat for Thanksgiving, my husband and family were away in Wisconsin, it was so horrible. Partly because my Dad was so ill, he recovered and lived years more but the food and atmosphere were all wrong. The restaurant had bacon in everything! We don't eat bacon, it was in the stuffing, green beans and even the mash potatoes!

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  14. We went out for thanksgiving, and had leftovers because they gave us so much food! I agree though, it's not the same.

    I love to shop by myself.. I actually prefer it most times, especially if I'm looking for something special. It just keeps me focused more.

    Enjoy your weekend!

    xxx

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  15. I admit I've toyed with the idea of eating that meal out but I think you've convinced me to skip it. Besides I'm pretty sure my family would have a fit!

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  16. We've had our Thanksgiving at restaurants for a number of years now, mostly because of my old job at Kohl's. As the store opened earlier and earlier, our Thanksgiving shrank down to almost nothing. Now that I'm not working, we occasionally cool for ourselves. But it's just no fun when it's just us two. Thanksgiving doesn't come to Pickerington, nor does Christmas. We have to go to it instead. Since the kids never visit here for the holidays, we don't bother decorating. But we spend time with them up in Detroit for Christmas, so it's fine!

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  17. David and I enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal on Thursday but I'm glad we also had the opportunity to share a home-cooked meal with our adult children on Friday. The best of both worlds, I would say.

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  18. Last Thanksgiving my sister and her family rented a huge old house in the town where we live and we all brought potluck for the dinner. It was so much fun and the cost to rent was no more than a hotel (4 bathrooms and 5 bedrooms and a huge main floor). This year I cooked for just our family and kept it super simple. At least you got to visit at your aunt's house afterwords.

    I've not bought anything old at antique stores or the thrift for so long, but this time of year I do like to look. You found the perfect hand mirror for your gallery wall!

    Decorating is coming along slowly as I'm downsizing each Christmas bin I
    empty. I can't believe that ceramic tree was priced at $75!!

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  19. Happy December! Holiday meals for me as a child were always at my Mammaw's house, with lots of food and family, and always a kiddie table for the cousins to sit at. This year it was just me and hubby ... a vegan meal with a serving of turkey for him that I bought at the deli. Not even a pumpkin pie because there was no pumpkin to be found. But I'll definitely be making one for Christmas when the boys are both home. Right now trying to organize and clean. Decorating will be simple. Best wishes, Tammy

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