2nd Annual Friendsgiving

            It's that time of year again.  The time when I get all crazy about things like sweet potato souffle, handwritten placecards, and haven't-seen-you-in-so-long hugs from my siblings.  The time when I believe that anything tastes better when it's pumpkin flavored and a drive up I-95 in Wednesday night traffic makes me giddy, not grumpy.  That's right, it's Thanksgiving week and to kick off the celebration some favorite friends and I spent Friday night in my cozy grown-up house eating turkey and toasting to the second annual Friendsgiving.  Last year at this time, I was still a Music City resident (hard to believe, right?) so my participation in the festivities was only as an out-of-town guest.  I was thrilled to make the upgrade to hostess (with Liza as my co-hostess, of course) this year.

My cozy little home...just waiting for guests to arrive!

            Along with volunteering to host this little party, I got ambitious and also signed up to make the turkey.  Quite the feat for this beginner chef.  But with a little help from Whole Foods and a few hours reading up on turkey prep advice from my favorite food blog friends, I think we ended up with a pretty delicious bird if I do say so myself.

Sorry for the lack of a group pic...it was way too hard to wrangle all 16 party guests into one room in my little mini house.

            And though the food was delicious and definitely a huge part of why I loved this night, I think what I loved even more was the combination of turkey coma, new friends, fire in the fireplace, James Taylor on Pandora, best friends, red wine buzz, and the underlying sentiment that this year, and every year, we all have so very much to be thankful for.  Wishing you a happy, thanks-filled week with those you love the most!