Thanksgiving

My little sister Jillian came to visit us for Thanksgiving week, and we LOVED having her here. I tried to get out with her as much as I could... her first day she went to the Frick Museum, and then we headed out on the town later that night. We just waked around in TImes Square area, and went to Rockefeller Center where they were putting up the HUGE Christmas tree, which by the way is REAL. Jill and I were looking at it thinking that for a fake tree it was a little stout, but when we got closer and the scent of pine started penetrating our nostrils, we decided we could forgive it's stoutness since it was real... and did I mention it was HUGE? We checked out the ice skating prices... yeah, it would cost one person $30 to ice skate at Rockefeller Center. I'll just watch, thank you.

We also headed down to Macy's and watched them paint the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade star on the street. It was so exciting for us, as we have been watching that parade for years.

One night we went and saw Mike Babiglia's "Sleep walk with me" one man show. It was hilarious. After the show, we saw Oscar from the Office. He was nice enough to take a picture with us. Bold color combo for a man I'd say!

On Thursday, we decided to brave the crowds to see the Thanksgiving Day parade. We didn't leave nearly early enough to get a decent view, but we still had fun.

Josh and Asher waiting at the bus stop. Asher loves Josh!

First we stopped on 79th street to see the balloons and floats all lined up and ready to go. Asher loved seeing the balloons up close.

After that, we went down to 76th to see what we could of the actual parade. It wasn't easy, and we didn't see much, but it was still a fun experience.

Getting a better view

And of course, what would the T.D.P be without an appearance by SANTA?! I can't tell you how excited I was when he came into view. I don't think I have ever been so excited to see Santa. It was such a fun and magical atmosphere, I just couldn't help but get into the spirit. I may or may not have gotten a little teary eyed. Probably just the wind in my eyes! What can I say? I love Christmas!

When we got home, I got right to work on dinner. I have this thing where I feel like meals for holidays have to be made from scratch. It's more of a sickness, I think. I really should have just bought pie crusts to help simplify my life, but NO, I just HAD to have everything homemade, or how could I face myself?! I was glad the we made everything though, it was stressful, but so yummy! Jill helped with chopping and rolls. I tried a new Rachael Ray stuffing recipe, which was good, although a little too sweet for my liking. We had Turkey, asparagus, garlic mashed potatoes with sour cream (YUM), stuffing, homemade rolls, and gravy, and for dessert, chocolate chip pie, and then I tried this delicious apple pie. I am not normally a big fan of apple pie, but this was a little different, and oh so scrumptious, and very easy. I definitely recommend it.

Here is a picture of our meal...

I was really sad not to have any of my nice dishes or serving ware. So don't mind the ugly plates and bowls... so not aesthetically pleasing!

The pies...

These were my best pie crusts ever. I usually have a really hard time rolling them out. But this year, I consulted the Smitten Kitchen blog for her recipe and tips on rolling out.

And just a little reminder of what we cooked our thanksgiving dinner in...

Ok, so I did use my neighbors oven for the Turkey, and Jillian did roll out the rolls down there too. But still! Yay us!

All in all, we had a really nice Thanksgiving. We were so grateful to have Jillian and Josh come into town for it. We have so much to be thankful for, and family and great friends are on the top of the list. Thanks guys for being here!!

On Friday, Jillian, Josh, the kids and I headed down to Macy's, which I realized after we got there, was a HUGE mistake. Your normal Macy's would be crowded, but the Macy's in Manhattan was HORRIBLE. I had a stroller, and there was literally no where to go. Oh well, I did get some ornaments, and at least I will know for next year not to try that again (at least not with kids).