Tag: Thanksgiving prep

Things That Help

Lauren4 Comments

Listening to LOTS of Sia.

Donating to Planned Parenthood and ACLU.

Talking to my parents.

In no particular order: Anna Kendrick, Kate McKinnon and Lena Dunham.

Joe Biden memes.

I’ve been a little MIA from this space — and the online space, in general — because I’ve been struggling to work through thoughts and emotions that frankly, I don’t really know how to deal with.  Should I be sad or angry?  Am I supposed to have moved on or should I be harnessing these emotions to do something helpful?  And if so, what exactly is that something?  I don’t think there’s straight answers to any of these questions, so I’m just taking it moment by moment and doing what feels like the right path for me.

I keep finding myself in moments of happiness and feeling guilty.  Like I should be in mourning and have no right to feel any sense of peace, but what can we do?  Life must and will go on.  This weekend I got to see my best friends, meet their puppy, eat pancakes made by my husband, spend time with my family, prep for my favorite holiday, enjoy Harry Potter Weekend and just feel genuine joy.  I think we all deserve a little happiness right now.

img_4556

Avery puppy is ADORABLE and I kinda lost it over her dumpling chew toys.  Beer and pizza with Hannah and Josh at Echo Brewing, followed by many YouTube videos made for the perfect Friday night.

img_4559

Joey and I have been alternating pancake-making the past few Saturdays and it’s THE BEST.  It was his turn this weekend and there’s nothing better than going straight from bed to pancake breakfast.  

That baby pancake, though!

img_4563

We braved the grocery store for Thanksgiving groceries and managed to get in and out before it got too crazy in there.  I also went on a run then headed to my parents’ to see my sister.  May or may not have taken a family trip to Whole Foods once my parents came home from work.  Just a typical Dorsey outing, ya know?

Meanwhile, Joey was fixing our front door (don’t ask…) and LOOK!  He uncovered a transom window!  It’s so awesome and I’m so lucky to have a handy husband to fix up our 108 year old house.   

img_4566

I came home and fixed us up some homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese which had us both wondering… “WHY DON’T WE MAKE GRILLED CHEESE MORE OFTEN??”  It’s so dang good!

img_4565

Sunday started with breakfast at Black Eye Cap Hill and way too many cups of coffee — cut to me cleaning and chopping veggies for the next 4 hours — and ended with yoga, dinner, Shameless and the AMAs.  I’m just gonna announce my formal withdrawal from music award shows now.  

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving Week!

5 Tips for Managing Holiday Stress

Lauren2 Comments

Okay, I know the holidays are supposed to be a time of pure joy and relaxation, but let’s face it, they can be kind of stressful.  There’s the whole issue finding a schedule that works for everyone, the juggling of multiple celebrations (and multiple families), the cooking and hosting and shopping, etc.  It can feel just a tad bit flustering.

And as someone who gets stressed out and overwhelmed pretty easily, I’ve come to realize there are some things I have to do to avoid any “oh my gosh, I’m supposed to be at a holiday party in 10 minutes and I have nothing to wear” meltdowns.  Anything that makes it easier to feel that pure joy and relaxation of the holidays is worth it to me!

IMG_1893

Tip #1: Realize you can’t do it all.

As much as I’d like to run a Turkey trot, watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, spend the day cooking and fit in all three family Thanksgiving meals, that would just make for one insanely busy day.  So something’s gotta give.  Or a few somethings rather.  And there’s always next year (or the next day, in the case of the parade!) to do the things you couldn’t do this time around.

Tip #2: Know what you’re wearing.

I envy those people that pick out their outfits the night before.  I think I did that for a week in high school but nowadays I don’t know what I’m wearing for the day until 10 minutes before I leave the house (doesn’t that just speak multitudes about my lack of fashion sense?).  BUT, during the holiday season, when it’s busy and I’m usually in a rush, it is so not helpful to not know what I’m wearing to this, that or the other family gathering.  It’s much easier to decide ahead of time and just be on auto-pilot come the day of.

Tip #3: Cook ahead of time.

If you don’t cook, go ahead and skip this one.  Your life is probably so much easier 🙂  As for me, I can’t imagine not forcing yet another Brussels sprout dish on Joey’s side of the family… And I also know most things are fine to be made ahead of time.  Or at least prepped ahead of time.  I leave only finishing touches or anything that just needs to be popped into the oven for the day of.  Except that time we forgot to cook the aforementioned Brussels sprouts and only remembered five minutes before we had to leave the house.

Tip #4: Use a calendar.  Or, if you’re in a relationship, share a calendar!

Ugh, that just made me sound so married, didn’t it?  Joey and I have our iCalendars (or is it iCal??) synced so that when one of us adds an event, the other gets a notification (or so it should be if your phone is working correctly…).  In a perfect world, that means no scheduling conflicts between you and your significant other or between all your social engagements, Butterfly.

Tip #5: Enjoy the moment.

This one is just as much for me, as for you!  Don’t get so caught up in what’s coming up that you miss what’s happening in the present 🙂

Bonus Tip #6: If all else fails, wine. 

Nuff said!

***************************

Do you have any holiday survival tips?