Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Yesterday was my first Thanksgiving in Philly, and it was a GREAT one! I most definitely missed being with my family (I will be seeing them in 24 days!!), but I'm glad I decided to stay in Philly. My brother wasn't able to make it home for Thanksgiving either, so I decided the money and the time it was going to involve just to be in NC for 3 days wasn't really worth it. I will be staying for almost 2 weeks at Christmas, though. I miss my family!!

Okay, Philly Thanksgiving. First, my mom was worried that I wouldn't have anyone to eat with. She did NOT need to worry!! I was invited to at least 5 different meals! I only made it to two of them, but still feel really blessed to have so many wonderful people around me!!

I started my day at the Hinsons. They were having kind of an open house for the day where people could just come by and hang out whenever they wanted, for however long they wanted. It was SO GREAT! I got there when several people that I really enjoy were there and we had a good time eating and laughing (Frank is an AMAZING cook!). I can't remember the last time I got to hang out with the Hinsons, so yesterday was such a blessing!! I LOVE THAT FAMILY!!

(The pic is actually me with the Santiagos...their first Thanksgiving as a married couple!)

Of course, Frank and Carisa are awesome people that I always enjoy being around (and really make me feel like family, even if I don't get to see them all the time), but their kids...well, their kids are who really suck me in. I fell in love with their oldest (he's 7 now) as soon as I met him and nothing has changed. They have since had 2 more that I was sure would never be as awesome as their oldest...but I was proven wrong with both of them!

When I came in, their middle child immediately took my hand and showed me where I needed to start getting food. In fact, he told me exactly what I needed and even put it all on my plate!! Of course, to get the cheese off the knife he just used his hands and it didn't bother me one bit. He was SO SWEET!!



I didn't eat too much while I was there (seriously!), because I knew I had a huge meal coming. At 2:30, I left with my friends the Varasos to go pick up Shera and head to Maggiano's, an AMAZING Italian restaurant where we had reservations. We all agreed that none of us wanted to do dishes this year, so we decided to splurge and go out to eat. It turned out to be a GREAT decision!

First, I will start with the food. I may never eat again! It was a 5 course meal, served family style. So, we made our choices as a table and they just brought us food until we were full! I had to take pictures of everything (on my new digital camera that I got on a GREAT deal pre-black friday deal), so here is our meal in pictures:

First, we had an appetizer: bruchetta:

Next, came 2 salads: spinach salad and cesar salad:


Then we got to choose 2 entrees (each came with a side): turkey with stuffing and ham with sweet potatoes; AND 2 additional sides (mashed potatoes and spinach):




(the spinach was REALLY good!)

We ALSO got 2 pasta choices: 3 cheese ravioli in pesto sauce, and mushroom ravioli: (it is an Italian restaurant):



And then finally, we got 2 desserts: pumpkin pie cheesecake and chocolate cake:


(please remember that we shared all of this food, these were not our individual plates, haha)

The best part...it all tasted SO amazing! Seriously, the pasta was some of the best food I have ever tasted!!

Of course, the company was wonderful as well! Shera and the Varasos are some of my favorite people in Philly, so spending Thanksgiving with them was absolutely perfect (next to time with my family, of course). And of course, baby Selah is ALWAYS a joy to be around! Unfortunately, she didn't want to be with us, haha. This is how she spent most of the night:

She's so funny! She really wanted to be a part of everything around her, we were apparently too boring, haha. I just love this little girl.

I finished off the night by heading back to the Hinsons with the Varasos so that Selah could meet Lili (they are about 6 weeks apart in age). That was HILARIOUS! These two girls are SO different, yet I love them both! Selah is a mover (she's already pulling herself up and standing on her own, at 9 months!), while Lili is just laid back and chill. I plan on having sleepovers with them when they get older, and I already know its going to be a lot of fun!!

Ashley stayed in town for Thanksgiving too and cooked dinner with a friend, and they left a lot of left overs in the fridge. So, I will be eating well for days! Yay! Overall, a very successful first Philly Thanksgiving!

And, I actually got up at 4:30 this morning to go to Target for some Black Friday shopping with Elizabeth! (Another first for me). I really only needed one thing for my brother, and I got it! We also got $3 toasters and I picked up a lot of toys for Prayer Pals Christmas presents. (I am doing a lot of the shopping this year to the pals can save on shipping; and the economy has left many of them struggling financially but they still want to bless their pals!). I pretty much picked up anything that looked cool for the kids and was on a "Black Friday Sale". I will do the rest of my shopping in the coming weeks.

Thankfully, both Elizabeth and I got exactly what we needed, and even went to Kmart when they opened and got what we wanted there too! I was home and back in bed by 6:30. It was awesome!!

Now, I'm off to enjoy some Christmas decorations in Center City with Ashley and her friend. We need to work of some of that Thanksgiving food! I will be going for a run (or two) tomorrow...