“To kindness and love, the things we need most.”  The Grinch

Our Thanksgiving party of three multiplied by seven in a matter of hours.  It all indicated that we would be spending a quiet evening at home, just Stan, Bella and I.  Perhaps a small turkey, a few side dishes, dessert and a movie to end the day, but the beginning of last week my cousin called and said that they would be flying in from California to spend the holiday with us, we could not have been more ecstatic at the fact that after all, we wouldn’t be spending Thanksgiving by ourselves!  Holidays have always been a little bittersweet for me not having extended family around, but somehow we’ve learned to navigate them and make the best of them.

A day before my cousin Claudia and family arrived in Chicago, we all got an invitation from a family friend to join them and their extended family for Thanksgiving at their new house.  We gratefully accepted the invitation and prepared ourselves and (whatever we would be bringing) to join them for their celebration.  That evening we reconnected with close and dear family friends we hadn’t seen in years and visited with other friends we don’t have the opportunity to see often.  If I could describe the evening in just a few words it would be… laughter, great conversations, delicious food, cozy home, and LOVE!!!  We all ended that night with a fuzzy feeling, the cozy kind of fuzzy! 😉

On Friday we ventured out to breakfast with at least 700 of other brave “Thanksgivers”.  Ok, to be fair, we had a good plan, and sent the guys out first to get a reservation.  I believe we said to them “can you please go ahead and put our names in? That way you have time to talk and catch up!”.  Amazingly, it worked!  How clever of us! 😊  The food was great, we loved our time together and then we proceeded to plan the rest of the weekend. 

 On Saturday, we all went to Christkindle Market downtown (also with at least another 1,000 of our “best friends”, who apparently enjoy everything German just like we do) and joined in the festivities and by festivities I mean, indulging in Gluhwein, potato pancakes, hot pretzels and lentil soup, yum!!!  We also walked by the beautifully Christmas decorated windows at Macy’s and ended the night with dinner at Giordano’s!  Yes, everything revolves around food in our family… ok, and lots of chatting and laughing too. 

Lucky for them, my cousin and family left on Saturday night and escaped our winter storm, otherwise, they might’ve been stuck in Chicago until probably May.  Ay!

This year was the very first holiday that one of our kids wasn’t with us.  Michelle has had a rough time dealing with a few illnesses lately and since she had just started to feel better, we decided it’d be best for her to stay at school and get some needed rest instead of putting herself at risk in a germ filled plane cabin and weaken her immune system even more.  She only had two days off from school last week, and the decision to stay in New York ended up being the perfect choice.  She made plans with two of her school friends who weren’t going home for Thanksgiving either (one from Australia and one from South Africa, a far hop for Thanksgiving) and the three of them had the time of their lives.  They ate a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant in Brooklyn and then explored the city.  Over the weekend they also visited Greenwich Village and the East Village.  She is so busy when school is in session that she hasn’t really had an opportunity to explore New York, so this was perfect.  Happy kid, happy mom!

As many of you may know, Chicago was hit with (according to the news) the worst November snowstorm on record.  And a first one for me, and Stan, a snowstorm accompanied by thunder that was a little scary and unpredictable.  Schools were cancelled and Stan and I were stranded in the house unable to go to work until a snow removal company was able to come to our house and clear the many inches of snow that covered our driveway and entry way.  A beautiful mess it was.

In the midst of it all, my debit card was hacked this morning and I had to deal with that while tying to keep Stan away from the shovel and an unnecessary trip to the hospital. 

Stan, Bella and I were having dinner tonight and reflected on the fact that despite all the hurdles we encountered this morning, it all got resolved and in the best of ways.  It’s a good thing when you have people around you that always focuses on the silver lining in life.  Sometimes the “little” things in life, are the ones that allows us to pay even more attention to the things that really matter.

On Saturday night on our way to the airport to drop off my world travelling cousin and family, she said “you can travel the world, but nothing can compare to spending time with family.”  And I couldn’t agree more.  Beyond thankful for the memories made and the loved we shared these past few days.  I hope everyone had a lovely time as well. ❤