Lots to be Thankful For

I always love this time of year. The air gets cooler, cute winter coats come out,
holidays to celebrate every month and my birthday.

First up, I have a couple of pictures to share from my birthday party
(Thanks for the pictures Heidi!).
I decided to have an ice skating party the Friday the 16th, after I got back from London.
There was a great turnout and everyone had fun. Thanks to all who came!

L to R: Brenda, Lyndee, Kristian, Me, Brittany, Melanie,
Heidi, Libby, Alicia, Pamela, and Dave
Not Pictured: Rich and Whitney

Melanie, Lyndee, and I on the ice.

The following week it was almost time for the Thanksgiving Holiday.
I got off early from work on Wednesday and got some grocery shopping done with Melanie to prepare for Thursday. Later in the evening Whitney, Brenda, Melanie, and I went up to the Upper Westside to go see the inflated balloons for the Macy's Day parade. Besides a bad experience while waiting in the busy crowd, it was an enjoyable evening.

Here are some of the pictures: The Energizer Bunny

Ronald McDonald

Scooby Doo

Shrek

Mr. Potato Head

and my personal favorite, Kermit the Frog

Happy Thanksgiving!

While some people went to the parade, I decided to sleep in and enjoy
not having to go to work. So I took my time getting ready and then Melanie and I got in the kitchen to make our goodies. As 2 o'clock rolled around dinner was almost ready.
Originally we were going to have dinner downstairs in Whitney, Brittany, and
Heidi's apartment, but with such beautiful weather (around 60 degrees F) we
thought it would be perfect to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner outside on our terrace.

Some of the goodies before they went out to the dinner table.

Everyone contributed and everything I tasted was amazing.
Whitney made turkey and sweet potatoes
Carly made rolls, pie, and cranberry jello salad
Libby cooked a prize winning traditional turkey, stuffing, and helped with mashed potatoes
Heidi cooked green beans (I'm sure they were good)
Brenda made her amazing rolls, pies, and mashed potatoes and gravy
Courtnie made whipped sweet potatoes, cranberry relish, and stuffing
and

Melanie and I made the appetizers which turned out amazing.

These were the bacon and tomato cups that Mel and I made.

We also made hot spinich artichoke dip with crackers and
pita chips and a vegetable platter.

Melanie and I with our spread.

The dinner table(s) pre dinner.

Friends enjoying appetizers.

Heidi is super excited to eat dinner al fresco.

Dinner was sooo good. After stuffing ourselves with all the goodness,
we took a break and reconvened about 3 hours later for pie.

The rest of Thanksgiving was so fun. We all just sat around and talked
and then some of us went to the movies. A group went and saw
August Rush, which I eventually want to see, while Libby and I went
and saw Enchanted. It was so cute and I still have some of the
music stuck in my head.

After a long day and getting ready for bed, Brenda convinced me to stay
up and watch a movie and to snack on some more of the appetizers from early.
So we made some more bacon and tomato cups and heated up
spinach artichoke dip and snacked while we watched You've Got Mail.

I did good job of staying awake for awhile, but by 3 am I was out and headed to bed.
It was a great end, though, to a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Oh, and did I mention that I bought hockey ice skates the day before Thanksgiving?
I can't wait to actually try them out on the ice!

p.s. There are still more pictures from London, so be on the lookout!