And so it begins -- the most wonderful time of the year! Cheesy? Maybe. Accurate? Absolutely. Of course I can only say this openly now that's it's officially December, but truthfully our household started hitting the Christmas movies and songs hard starting November 1st. Some say that slights poor little Thanksgiving, but I beg to differ. For us, Christmas isn't religious (*insert gasps here*) and Thanksgiving just doesn't have it's own bad Hallmark movies or traditional songs (minus Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie, of course). I love Thanksgiving just as much, but until it steps up it's celebration game, Christmas songs will just have to fill in for both. On that slightly ramble-y note, here's a look at my highlights from the month I call the official start of the holiday season.
November kicked off with a bit of an unusual family tradition of sorts: seeing The Bruce Katz Band at the Zoo Bar. Every time they announce they're coming to town again I brace myself for an email from my dad arranging for us to get ticket. My uncle also loves them, though they rarely seem to venture up to Chicago where he lives, so my aunt and uncle used the show as an excuse to come down, see us family and enjoy a few beers at the dive-y-est of dive bars. The atmosphere at the Zoo Bar is always fantastic (you can practically feel the history seeping out of the walls -- or maybe that's just the aging wallpaper of old show posters), the show was amazing as per usual and seeing family is always special, especially when the whole night culminates with family dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant.
The next weekend was decidedly quieter, but still quite enjoyable. On a few scattered Sundays throughout winter, one of the summer farmer's markets reforms inside for a special winter market. There's produce, some tasty baked goods and a few handmade items. Even if you don't need anything, it's fun to meander around and take a look at all that's on offer -- especially when there are free samples. John and I joined my sister and my brother-in-law for a little adventure. We hit the market, refueled with the most delicious vegan pecan roll I've ever eaten at Goldenrod Pastries and then did a little shopping at paper kite, a cute kids shop, and Home & Closet, a vintage furniture and clothing store where we found the most 90's Husker national championship sweatshirt, complete with a black and white gradient Husker logo and gaudy picture of the championship ring. Naturally my brother-in-law pulls it off like no one else could.
Lastly, I've been loving all the beginnings of winter and the holidays that have been popping up. We have already seen snow three times this year which is a little bit insane, but since it's just enough to give you that cozy feeling and not enough to really stick around too long or make you curse while shoveling, it's been lovely. We've had more fires in the fireplace, enjoyed seeing little kitty prints on our front porch and cuddled under blankets watching Christmas movies and cracking open shelled nuts with a nutcracker. It's pure wintery bliss. Let's hope it still feels that way by the end of next month...
November kicked off with a bit of an unusual family tradition of sorts: seeing The Bruce Katz Band at the Zoo Bar. Every time they announce they're coming to town again I brace myself for an email from my dad arranging for us to get ticket. My uncle also loves them, though they rarely seem to venture up to Chicago where he lives, so my aunt and uncle used the show as an excuse to come down, see us family and enjoy a few beers at the dive-y-est of dive bars. The atmosphere at the Zoo Bar is always fantastic (you can practically feel the history seeping out of the walls -- or maybe that's just the aging wallpaper of old show posters), the show was amazing as per usual and seeing family is always special, especially when the whole night culminates with family dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant.
The next weekend was decidedly quieter, but still quite enjoyable. On a few scattered Sundays throughout winter, one of the summer farmer's markets reforms inside for a special winter market. There's produce, some tasty baked goods and a few handmade items. Even if you don't need anything, it's fun to meander around and take a look at all that's on offer -- especially when there are free samples. John and I joined my sister and my brother-in-law for a little adventure. We hit the market, refueled with the most delicious vegan pecan roll I've ever eaten at Goldenrod Pastries and then did a little shopping at paper kite, a cute kids shop, and Home & Closet, a vintage furniture and clothing store where we found the most 90's Husker national championship sweatshirt, complete with a black and white gradient Husker logo and gaudy picture of the championship ring. Naturally my brother-in-law pulls it off like no one else could.
Then the marathon began. Thanksgiving day we always go to John's cousin's house for lunch with all of his (very large) extended family. Then, because my brother-in-law's birthday happened to fall on Thanksgiving this year, we headed over to my parents' house for birthday dinner with my family and another aunt, uncle and two cousins and their respective significant others. The next day kicked off with an 11am football game (we lost 😢) and then my family's Thanksgiving meal which we capped off with a 7pm volleyball game (we swept them 🎉). Saturday we had a slow morning of reading and putting up Christmas decorations and then we headed to Omaha for Friendsgiving. This was the first year I didn't host Friendsgiving at my house and it was also my first ever fully vegetarian Thanksgiving meal. It was great! I'll have to share the full menu in another post here soon because it could easily work for any other holiday. Finally, on Sunday we woke up to a blizzard warning, but that didn't stop us from making our fourth Thanksgiving meal, this time with John's immediate family. All in all, I had nine different kinds of pie, saw many people I love and thoroughly enjoyed four days off of work.
Lastly, I've been loving all the beginnings of winter and the holidays that have been popping up. We have already seen snow three times this year which is a little bit insane, but since it's just enough to give you that cozy feeling and not enough to really stick around too long or make you curse while shoveling, it's been lovely. We've had more fires in the fireplace, enjoyed seeing little kitty prints on our front porch and cuddled under blankets watching Christmas movies and cracking open shelled nuts with a nutcracker. It's pure wintery bliss. Let's hope it still feels that way by the end of next month...
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