Thanksgiving recap

My husband and I alternate holidays - it's our own way of attempting to maintain balance between families and also not stretching ourselves too much when it comes to travel (it can be a tricky part of marriage, that whole holiday thing. Some great discussion about it here if you're interested). This year it was "my" family's Thanksgiving, and my family traveled down from the East Coast to stay with us as we hosted our first Thanksgiving. Let me just say this outright: My husband is an awesome chef and I'm a super-lucky woman (he claims you have to be professional to be a "chef" - so I'll just say he's a kick-ass home chef). He and his father and brother went hunting for geese, forgoing the traditional turkey for another very holiday-esque bird. He also has butchery experience, so it was really great for him to be a part of the process from beginning to end - to hunt, kill, butcher and deliciously prepare the bird.

He did the menu planning...

I did the other planning, including our very rustic tabletop decorations, the pies, and the overall oh-crap-I-have-to-do-a-ton-of-cleaning-and-laundry stuff that always arises when your entire family is coming to town. Lists were made and crossed off (I am a planner, after all) - and with family having arrived, we were ready to feast and celebrate.

The meal eventually consisted of multiple courses, stretched throughout the day and well into the night. It was pretty darned awesome:

An oyster toast (freshly shucked by both my husband and my brother-in-law). Salmon pate. An amuse bouche of roasted black salt oyster with pancetta, fresh horseradish and chorizo oil on a bed of carrot top salad with lemon vinaigrette. Butternut squash soup with blue crab, garlic sage croutons and fried sage. Braised wild goose hash with sweet potato, chorizo, crab, bay oysters and winter herbs. Seared goose breast with rosemary potatoes and brussels sprouts, garlic sage and carrot top carrots. Finally ending with my grandmother's apple pie recipe and pumpkin pie.

This is a wonderful article that inspired my husband to make the meal reflect the eastern shore - a great read.

heaven.

I was feeling thankful, indeed.

Friday Links

I hosted my entire family in our new home this Thanksgiving. That, plus my adorable nephew passing along his cold means I've been out of the loop this week recovering from it all!

I did manage to get out this week to a fabulous get-together happy hour hosted by Capitol Romance - a blog you MUST check out if you're getting married in the DC area (or just love wedding related awesomeness). Met some fantastic vendors and had a blast (despite my sniffles)!

This is a great post on arranging centerpieces with vegetables from the always awesome Design Sponge. As you'll see in next week's post on my own Thanksgiving, I love rustic, simple table decor and this gave me a bunch of fun ideas for next year!

The Washingtonian has a great article in this month's issue in which a wedding photographer visits some of his old clients and sees how their marriages are doing. It's a beautifully written look at how relationships change over time - highly recommend.

And finally, for those of you who don't know Kinfolk (you must check them out) - they did a brief feature on one of my favorite stores from my old 'hood in Brooklyn, here. Made me a bit homesick, though I luckily have the fabulous Cheestique around the corner that definitely fills the void.

Happy weekend to you all!

Friday Links: tilapia, chalk, and nostalgia

Things have gotten quite busy for me this week – which is great news, but means I’ve been neglecting my blog! Hope to pick back up again next week. I was invited to a meal at a local caterer this week and though the food was delicious my favorite part was hearing about how green and sustainable they were. I don’t know why I was surprised, but I was. Below is a photo of where they keep tilapia in an aquarium and then use that protein-rich water (cause the fish secrete protein rich stuff…can you tell I’m super scientific?) to grow their food. Awesome.

Oh, and they have bee hives on their roof. Amazing (but no pictures, unfortunately).

Now onto some Friday links…

I’m not usually a very crafty person. Even the simplest of projects intimidates me. But this chalk spray paint (brought to my attention by the ever-so-cool oh happy day) is so rad and looks so easy that I just may have to try it sometime. How awesome is this not only for events (painting a welcome stencil or your party’s logo on your sidewalk ? hellooooo), but for simple at-home fun. I don’t have kids, but I imagine kids would go bananas for this. Heck, my Mom would go bananas for this. I’ll give you all an update when I give it an official whirl.

On a slightly more somber note, Bridal Guide wrote a great post about how to plan a wedding during difficult times. There are a ton of resources for bridal gowns, DIY projects, etiquette, and party favors (on and on and on and on)  - but in my opinion not enough for people dealing with tough times. So I was really glad to see this out there. Frankly, it’s a good read for anyone cause it brings a whole lot of perspective. With Thanksgiving around the corner, that’s never a bad thing.

Had to throw in one more super-random link – I just heard through the grapevine that Free To Be…You And Me is FORTY YEARS OLD. Can’t believe it. But it inspired me to revisit the album, which in turn made me smile like nobody's business. Here’s a little sampling, and an awesome article on the making-of. Go listen, read, get happy, and feel old. Oh, and if you have no idea what I'm talking about, read the article anyway and be sad that your parents weren't hippies.

Maryland, I love you

  I love love. I wouldn't (and couldn't) be in the wedding business if I didn't. And so while I try not to get too political on this blog, the one thing I never shy away from is my support of marriage equality. Though I'd like to believe I'd support it no matter what, it is personal. I have too many family members, too many great friends, too many wonderful colleagues that are directly impacted by marriage equality to ignore this basic civil right.

So I am delighted (and thrilled, and giddy, and basically jumping and leaping around my house) that Maryland's people came out and voted yesterday - a historic day in which, for the first time ever, the people upheld marriage equality by vote.

Politics can get me down sometimes - but the basic awesomeness of love always makes me feel better and gives me the warm fuzzies. I simply do not believe our nation can be hurt by having MORE love in this world. More commitment, more love, more marriages, and more weddings in the Metro area? Yes, please. Just, yes. So thank you, Marylandians - you truly inspire me and give me a sh*t-ton of hope.

From Obama's speech last night:

"What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth. The belief that our destiny is shared; that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations. The freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as rights. And among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. That’s what makes America great...

I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try."

Friday Links - I heart NY

What an odd, crazy week. Still getting back to normal after Sandy - and sending lots of positive vibes out to all of those who are still suffering in the aftermath of that terrible storm. It didn't feel right to focus too much on events these past few days, so I'm ending this week with a couple of random links cause I'm in a New York state of mind. My sister was supposed to have an Anniversary party this weekend up in NYC. It was cancelled for obvious reasons. And though I'm really sad not to be back there and see family and friends, this makes me realize it was probably a wise decision. Damn you, Sandy. But I love that in typical fashion, New Yorkers are pushing through. And I especially adore that Bill Cunningham is already back on the street. If you like documentaries by the way, check this out. It's fantastic.

And for a bit of a laugh (couldn't we all use one?) - this hilarious gif reenactment of the hurricane.

And finally, some Brooklyn love for my old 'hood. I'm obsessed with Anthony Bourdain's show, No Reservations. It's his final season, and his final show? Will be Brooklyn. Well done, Bourdain, well done. Don't miss it this coming Monday.

Here's to a better week next week - stay safe this weekend everyone and be grateful for what you've got.

10/23

Today is my anniversary! I'll be spending my day reflecting on how garsh-darned happy I am to have found my person (and a hot, amazing, one at that). So in the meantime, here's a link from my fantastic cousin's blog to give you a taste of what my wedding was like, as well as a taste of something sweet: In the Name of The Cookie (and you should really be reading all her stuff, cause she's amazing and an actual writer - unlike someone who shall not be named - coughcoughme).

Anniversary Gifts

  My wedding anniversary is coming up tomorrow (yay!) and this past weekend we threw a surprise party for my in-laws' 40th anniversary (wrap up on that to come later this week). All these anniversaries have got me thinking about anniversary gift ideas. Last year I had the poem my sister wrote and read during her maid-of-honor speech custom designed into a poster for our home (by the amazing Alfie Cooper - checka check them out). I love walking past it and being reminded of that day - and what our relationship is all about.

This is not a new idea, by any means.  But I think it's a great (fairly inexpensive) gift idea that has emotional significance while also looking pretty dang awesome and adding some style to your home. I had fun finding other options around the internets. Enjoy!

Bubbly optimism

  A wise woman (aka, an awesome friend) once gifted me with a bottle of champagne and told me that you should always have a bottle in the fridge for out-of-the-blue celebrations. I popped the bottle she gave me when my husband had a surprise promotion and was so thrilled we had it.

I love this recommendation. It's easy. It doesn't have to be a fancy, expensive bottle. It could be Prosecco, or any other kind of sparkling wine you enjoy (but you do need to enjoy it). And it doesn't take up much room in the fridge. BUT - it makes a small celebration feel awfully special in an awfully easy way.

And I love knowing it's there. The antici....pation feels great. Every time I reach into my fridge for that morning's milk, or to help prep for dinner, my eyes linger over the bottle and I consider when we might open it. What will life throw in our path that will give us good cause to celebrate? I guess it's my small way of not only being a good hostess, but a bit of an optimist as well.

Non-White Wedding Dresses

  I am so digging Amber Tamblyn's yellow dress (and bare feet!) for her wedding - stunning against the foliage. I love me some non-traditional choices when it comes to dresses. Gorgeous!

a spicy gathering

What I love about owning a home is being able to entertain on a whim. And what I love about having the amazing husband I have is being able to eat all of his delicious food. We had an impromptu gathering the other evening - nothing super-special, just the two of us and my in-laws watching some Redskins. But it FELT more special than that because my husband is great at getting inspired by food and sharing that food with others (oh yeah, and cooking the food). Our gatherings always seem to start with him wanting to make something and share it. I think it's so key to any evening, any event, any party.

This time, it started with the chili. He had the urge to make chili and it had to be done. Home-made chili powder, beef cubed himself, a dash of Sol beer. YES. Please.

While at the grocery store we realized we really wanted bloody marys as well. So we picked up the fixings and had those ready to go when the in-laws arrived. I was the one who reminded him to use his grandmother's fabulous glasses. And to rim those glasses with Old Bay (amazing and delicious if you've never tried it. You'll never go back).

a spicy evening, for sure