A Thanksgiving Weekend of memories

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving this year was so much fun. I was very focused on creating an environment that I was proud of and was very excited to have my family over to eat.

My lovely table. The table runner was perfect. I usually don’t decorate for Thanksgiving, but things are very different this year and I wanted to do something special.

mmmm. The food was great. I even made cornbread sausage dressing this year. No Stove Top on this table. The turkey was divine thanks to Teri brining the bird for 24 hours. *drool*

The Menu

Appetizers:
Smoky Salmon Spread
Herbed Cheese Ball

Dinner:
Turkey and Gravy
Potato Salad
Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes
Corn Bread Sausage Dressing
Candied Yams
Cranberry Sauce (homemade)
Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Dessert:
Pumpkin Pie with whipped cream

Drinks:
Hot Spiced Cider

Friday, Day after Thanksgiving

Black Friday is my day off from everything. I don’t go shopping at all. It seems too frenetic and crazy and I get all jumpy. I putter around the house, make plans for the weekend and decide what I am going to do that afternoon. If it’s nice I usually venture downtown. And now that I live so close, everything is so much easier to access. I love spending time looking at all the different holiday displays that are around town. It makes me so happy and really gets the season started for me.

The old Westlake merry go round. It now sits at the Seattle Center near the former flag pavilion during Winterfest.

Some more pictures from the day:

Seattle Center Holiday Train Display

The Macy’s (Bon Marche) Star. This star has been on the Bon Marche Building for 52 years.

Part of my holiday tradition is to see the sights around downtown. First stop is the train display at the north end of Macy’s on the Fourth Avenue side. There has always seemed to be a train display at Macy’s. There used to be controls on the windows that when you pressed your hand against the window, the trains would move. It is more automated now.

The next stop is the Sheraton. Every year they have the most amazing gingerbread creations. I hardly ever stand in line. Yes I could get amazing photo’s of the creations, but I don’t really like waiting in line when I can just see them from the other side of the rope.

The day ends on a high note.

The great gathering at Westlake to enjoy holiday songs performed by so many great local groups. The bonus this year was having the cast from White Christmas sing a few tunes.

I remember when you could see the star from the freeway. The anticipate is fantastic. I love how the star has to get ready to be lit. You know it’s almost time when the center of the star is glowing. :)

Then it was time for Santa Claus to lead us in the count down to the much anticipated tree and star lighting.

I can’t remember what year they started doing the fireworks. Some years the weather doesn’t cooperate and the fireworks won’t happen. This year it was clear and not windy at all. A good night for the fireworks.

It really isn’t holiday time in Seattle until the star is lit on the Bon Marche, at least not for me.

My day was complete and I was happy. Yay. Time to get the tree out and start decorating.

Happy Turkey Day Eve!!

The past couple of days I have been frantically running around shopping for my thanksgiving meal food items. Yesterday at Safeway I had to yank cans of pumpkin out from the very bottom shelf. Personally, I think someone was hiding those last 4 cans as they were on the in the wrong shelf all the way in the very back. I found them, by golly and put them in their proper place for the next person. No fair hiding!

This morning on my way to work, I was glad to see that the Westlake tree is nearly done. Yesterday the bottom part was still not completed. I'm sure it is a long process to get all the lights and ornaments on the tree, evenly spaced and tied down securely. I'm just glad it will be ready for tree lighting and Macy's Star lighting. I can't wait until Friday.

I was able to get this shot of my reflection in the ornament. I like how you can see a wide view of the street behind me.

the tree and the geek

The tree…

Here is today’s post for the Westlake tree. One more week until it is lit up….like a Christimas tree..lol.

The Geek…

The new Star Trek movie came out on DVD this week. Target has an exclusive DVD collector set butI wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the money. Once I saw the package I just had to have it. Here’s what it looks like:

This is really cool. The disks are in the saucer section. :)

It’s getting closer….

I have been making it a point to walk through Westlake Park this week. On Tuesday, the tree was up. It only had a few decorations at the very top. Yesterday, it looked like they were able to get a few more added.

I have also been checking Macy’s to see if they have gotten the star is up yet. Yesterday, no. Today, yes! It was up!! Can you believe it has been over 5o years this star has graced the corner of the Bon Marche/Macy's building?

The tree didn't look any more decorated today than yesterday.

I can’t wait. Only one more week. I really do like the whole tree and star lighting ceremonies. It makes my heart feel full.

This is what I saw on my way home tonight. Someone has already decided the Christmas season should start now.

*sigh* I can’t wait to decorate. :)

Almost Thanksgiving

I guess with Thanksgiving only a little more than a week away, the tree would have to go up now. I'm going to have to walk through Westlake every day and take pictures of the progress.

A cold, cold Saturday in November

This caught my eye. I don't know what this person is trying to grow, but each of these nubs is laid out so neatly. You can see the roots and leaves starting on some of them.



















Close up view of the nubs, roots and leaves














This shot is from Saturday evening. The contrast of the orange leaves highlighted by the street light and the blue sky was so beautiful. I didn't know if I would be able to capture the blue sky and the orange leaves, but my camera was up to the task.