Ungrateful

I have to confess that I am not the biggest fan of Thanksgiving food. It's not like I hate it--it's fine. But I don't eagerly look forward to chowing down on yams and pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce, because in fact I don't like any of those things. I do like turkey, and mashed potatoes, and stuffing, and gravy. But those aren't the types of things I crave the rest of the year.

I'm much more about Christmas food, at least the way we do it at my parents' house. My dad usually cooks a roast beef and makes Yorkshire pudding in a throwback to his British heritage, and I have to say, OMG delicious. Plus there's eggnog, and we've more or less moved past the pumpkin thing by the time Christmas rolls around. So, all in all, Christmas dinner is much more my speed.

But I still love Thanksgiving. I like that it's a relatively stress-free holiday. I love the hustle of Christmas and I love giving and receiving gifts, and I love Christmas trees, but I don't think anyone can deny that the preparations, the gift purchasing, the gift SELECTING, the decorating, and all the rest--it can be stressful. But Thanksgiving, at least for me... you can sleep in, you don't really have to worry about it ahead of time (other than buying a turkey and figuring out how to fit it in the oven), and then you just gather with family for a relaxed meal, and then it's over and you have three more days off. Very simple. And lovely.

Even though I suspect that part of what makes Thanksgiving so relaxing for me is that my parents handle it all (and there's no guilt about not celebrating it with Torsten's parents, since he is German and therefore his parents don't celebrate it). I mean, I don't have to figure out what size turkey to get, and then try to jam it in the oven and make sure not to overcook it. No, all I have to do is sit around drinking eggnog and possibly offering to help peel potatoes. Except the one year, my first Thanksgiving after living in France, when my dad and I prepared a French Thanksgiving meal--there was still a turkey with stuffing, but all the rest of the side dishes were French and taught to me by my French host mother. That was a fun year.

But what I really look forward to is someday hosting Thanksgiving ourselves. I want to own a house, not a huge mansion, but a house big enough for guests to stay over. And maybe one year on Thanksgiving I'll be too pregnant to travel, or have a very small child, and the whole family will have to come to us. I look forward to having a home that is ours, and family staying with us, and dealing with the turkey ourselves, and serving Thanksgiving dinner on our own dining room table. A table that, most likely, we don't even own yet, unless we decide to keep our Ikea dining room table even after we have a proper dining room.

Lastly, in the spirit of contrariness, since everyone else is doing posts about the things they are grateful for, I thought I'd mention a few things that I'm coveting at the moment. Don't worry, this isn't a hint--they are way too pricy for that. But ooh, they are lovely. And after all, there will be plenty of time for giving thanks tomorrow. Right? (Note: this is a joke. Mostly. I have lots of things to be thankful for and I am well aware of that.)

• This Kate Spade bag. It's just so pretty! And structured! I could totally bring that to a business meeting and not worry that it looked out of place. And it's a steal! On Kate Spade terms, anyway.
• This Tiffany cocktail ring. Yes, it's huge and flashy--definitely not an everyday piece. But it's purple! And gorgeous! And, if you compare it to the $700k rings they also have available for purchase on their website, it's DEFINITELY a bargain.
• This computer, in purple. Except actually, I'm already getting that. I needed a new computer and Torsten sacrificed his birthday present so we could pay for it. And then I got an awesome bonus at work that paid for the rest. It is already on order and I cannot wait for it to arrive. And in case anyone is wondering, the fact that it was purple was definitely a contributing factor to my desire for it, but it is not the only reason I'm getting it. It's also an awesome and super-fast machine. I know, because Torsten told me and he is an expert on this stuff. So there.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!