Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving break with equal parts relaxation, chaos, food, and family. We packed so much into our holiday that it sort of feels like after Christmas, as if everything is over. But it's not!!! It's just beginning and that's exciting.

Since Dan and I got engaged, we always flip holidays with our families every year. So this year it was Thanksgiving with my side of the family and we will have Christmas in Kansas with his side of the family. We hosted the holiday this year and it was the first time all of us were together. The last time we hosted only my parents and Mandy came. But this year my older sister Jessy was able to come too!!

My parents arrived last Tuesday night and we had pizza waiting for them. Wednesday morning my twin sister arrived and we spent the day getting ready for Thanksgiving. We got tacos in the neighborhood, picked-up some things for sleeping arrangements (pillows and a mattress pad), and then went grocery shopping for the meal. We played games that night.

My older sister took a red-eye flight from LA and arrived in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving Day.  We watched the parade, played games, prepared the meal, did some coloring and napping, and arranged the living room/dining area to host eight of us. My mom's cousin and her husband joined us for the meal.

Our kitchen is tiny and hosting thanksgiving was a crash course in maneuvering a 15 lb turkey, multiple side dishes, and lots of moving bodies. But we managed and only one batch of crescent rolls were burned!

Everything was delicious and we had Turtle and Pumpkin pies for dessert made by our friend who is starting a new business. Check out her website and try her pies!!

On Friday we went to 86th street for a little shopping and we took everyone to our favorite Indian food restaurant for lunch. Yum! This isn't the best photo but you must document Indian food.

Friday night we headed into the city to check-out the holiday cheer and Winter Village in Bryant Park.

We tried to all cram into a selfie and ended-up with some pretty good shots! My phone is blurry.

But my Dad's phone got a great one!

Then we crammed our way into Times Square to see Something Rotten on Broadway. Dan and I got these tickets back in September as a treat for everyone traveling out to see us. I was somewhat worried it would be a bust show since it isn't super popular. We were all pleasantly surprised. IT WAS GREAT! It is one of the less expensive shows but hilarious and very well done. Them music was awesome and overall performance fantastic. It was unanimously everyone's favorite part of the trip. We all loved it! See it before it leaves the great white way in January.

We had back mezzanine seats but still had a great view!

We got back late to Bay Ridge and then Mandy, Dan, and I woke up early the next morning to get into the city to snag rush tickets for the matinee show of Matilda. My mom really wanted to see it and it is also leaving Broadway in January so we made it work. It was pretty chilly standing outside for 2.5 hours but we brought UNO and had fun. Read more about Broadway rush here.

My parents and Jessy met us in the city later for lunch at Carmine's which is a well known family-style Italian restaurant in Times Square. We managed to get a table before the lunch rush and thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

Then we walked around the Winter Village again to kill time before the show.

Our rush tickets were partial view and not next to each other but we still enjoyed the show.  Matilda is super cute and you all know how much I appreciate child actors. This was my second time seeing the show and it did not disappoint.

After the show we had snacks and drinks with my mom's cousin at their apartment in Little Italy and then we headed home to eat leftovers and relax. I convinced everyone to join me in my current obsession with the housing crisis and we watched Too Big to Fail, again. 

Jessy and Mandy left Sunday morning and so my parents, Dan, and me went out for German food for lunch, did 10 loads of laundry, started decorating for Christmas, watched a documentary about the housing crisis, and had more leftovers for dinner. My parents and Dan enjoyed the Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs football game. It was a bit of a rivalry since the Broncos are my parent's team and the Chiefs are Dan's.

And now it's Monday, my parents are headed home, and I'm sad it's all over and back to routine. Boo. But we had a great visit and kicked off the holiday season right. It had its stressful moments but the good outweighed the bad, I think. Now, onward to Christmas!