Top Ten Things about Thanksgiving I am Looking Forward To

We are only 16 days away from my very favorite holiday, Thanksgiving!  Yay for turkey!  Yay for cranberry sauce!  Yay for black Friday shopping!  I can't wait.  I have always loved this holiday since I was a little kid.  There is nothing like getting the entire family together for a big dinner.  Add in the fact that Thanksgiving really ushers in the Christmas season and the crispness in the air and it is such a wonderfully happy day.

So what ten things am I most looking forward to about Thanksgiving?  So glad you asked. 

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1)  Turkey.  I love me some turkey especially if it is cooked right and is juicy and not dry at all.  Yay for a tryptophan induced food coma.

2)  Stuffing.  This was something I learned to not take for granted as dressing as they call it in the south is not the same thing at all.  Growing up in Michigan we always had a stuffing that was made with sausage, bread, celery, onions, and seasonings.  When we moved to Tennessee (and I started going to boyfriends Thanksgiving dinners) I discovered dressing is made with boiled eggs and cornbread.  Totally different than what I was used to.

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3)  Cranberry sauce.  It isn't nearly as good if it isn't cut in circles.  This was a bit of a problem when we would eat Thanksgiving lunch with Mr. Destructo's family.  But the problem was solved when my love of circle cranberry sauce came out and Mr. Destructo's dad started cutting it that way just for me.  I feel loved!

4)  The jello desserts that my grandma used to make.  One is pistachio pudding, marshmallows, crushed pineapple, and cool whip all mixed up.  The other is raspberries, raspberry jello, and cool whip.  As a child, I looked forward to eating these at Thanksgiving.  When we moved away, this was one of the things I missed so badly.  But good ole Gigi (as Destructo calls her) came to the rescue and taught me how to make them.  She also rescues me yearly since I can never seem to remember the recipe so Thanksgiving morning she gets a call telling her to walk me through it.  I love my Grammy! 

My grammy, Destructo, and I on vacation in 2011

5)  Christmas music.  The radio station I listen to starts Christmas music on Thanksgiving and will play it non stop until Christmas.  I love Christmas music.   It just puts me in a shopping, baking, giving sort of mood.

6)  Black Friday shopping.  There are some awesome deals to be had if you are willing to get up at the butt crack of dawn and/or just stay up all night.  But trust me when I say I enjoyed this sooo much more before Destructo when I was well rested to begin with.  But I am looking forward to it more this year since I am bringing my friend who is in the states from Italy for her first black Friday shopping trip. 

Best Black Friday deal ever.  Shermag glider and ottoman set from Babies R Us for 149.  Worth every penny.

7)  Getting to see both sides of the family and not having to decide who to see and who to not see on Thanksgiving.  Mr. Destructo's family does a lunch and my family does a dinner.  This works out awesome and eliminates any decisions to make about whom not to see.  (It also works at Christmas since we go there Christmas eve and to my parents Christmas day.)

8)  Coffee cake and cherry cream cheese pie.  These are two of the few desserts I really love and look forward to eating.  I am not a dessert person and really not a cake person.

9)  Seeing what elaborate decoration Grandma Destructo uses.  She has the nickname Martha Stewart Jr. for a reason.  I will be sure to post a picture after so you guys can see what I am talking about.

10)  This year I am looking forward to kidnapping my bestie Michela since she is abandoning me to go back to Italy the week after Thanksgiving.  I figure she can see what a good old US Thanksgiving is all about before she leaves.  Plus I am planning on taking her hostage after this and locking her in my closet so she can't abandon me after all.  Hehehehe  Shhh don't tell her!

So what are you guys most looking forward to about Thanksgiving?

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