Thankful for Thanksgiving

When November rolls around and we think of things we are thankful for, I always think of how thankful I am for America's very special holiday:  Thanksgiving.  It's such a heartwarming feeling to see how so many families come together to enjoy this day.  Over the hills and through the woods to grandmother's house we go.  The airports are crowded with travelers trying to get home sweet home.  It's a holiday without "presents" but rather the gift of togetherness.  When I sit down to dinner with my family, I smile thinking of all the families sharing pretty much the same meal:  turkey, stuffing, yams, cranberries. maybe that green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and all those traditional dishes that we often only have once a year.

Here's one of my favorite photos of a turkey I cooked a couple of years ago.

Pretty proud of how it looks- almost magazine worthy!

This is my "Special Yam Casserole" I make for Thanksgiving.

  Recipe follows along with another family favorite,

Auntie Joy's Zest Carrots:

Click to enlarge

"Auntie Joy's Zesty Carrots"

Let's dig in and be thankful for all we have living in America!

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Autumn in Southern California

CHATTERBUG BLOGHOP
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I know people don't think there's a change of seasons in Southern California but there is.  It may not be as dramatic as other areas of the US but there are plenty of changes if you just look for them.  One thing we in the LA area can do to help it feel autumnal is to plant deciduous trees and bushes that change color.  Two very popular boulevard tress are liquidambers (aka sweetgums) and crape myrtles.  In addition to planting those two trees, we also have a mini forest of birch trees in our backyard.  Sycamores are also very popular.  Here's a photo taken out my upstairs windows of our neighborhood showing off it's fall color.

This photo was taken late in the year, probably late November, so our fall is a little delayed from what it is in other areas of the country.

Here's a photo of our backyard birches taken from our living room.

  Crape Myrtles have brilliant pink flowers in summer but beautiful fall color later

The other thing I do once it's fall is to change decor in my house.  One of the easiest changes is to have throw pillow covers that you can change seasonally.  Mine all come from Pottery Barn.  I also change out placemats, dining room table centerpiece, decorate the chandelier, bring out my autumn Longaberger baskets and add an autumn wreath on our front door.

And then of course there's Halloween and I have to bring out my Dept 56

And decorate the front door in my black and white theme!

BOO!

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Bora, Bora

Justin and Sarah had non-stop rain the two days they were in Tahiti and were pretty disappointed to say the least.  Being Survivor fans, I pointed out at least they were staying in posh digs rather than outside in the elements!  Kind of the ultimate "First World Problem!"  Fortunately, their move to Bora, Bora brought them the sunshine they were hoping for.  They are staying at Le Méridien Bora Bora  in one of those iconic over the water bungalows.  Justin says Bora Bora is easily the most beautiful place he has ever seen.  Here's a photo of their bungalow with famous Mount Otemanu in the background.  I made this photo my iPhone lock screen wallpaper.  Couldn't be more perfect!

Inside their bungalow showing the glass-bottom floor

Justin going for a swim right off the ladder to their bungalow

Looking through the glass bottom floor as he swims by

Sarah's turn

The Bride

The Groom

Justin Stand-Up Paddleboarding

Spelunking and Little Lambs

I've mentioned before that Sarah is such a great travel planner and finds the most unique places to stay and things to do.   So far, in New Zealand, they went zorbing which is rolling down a hill in a large inflatable globe.  They also went spelunking and rafting in 43 degree water in a glow worm cave- see Black Water Rafting Company.  I'm pretty sure these activities were planned with Justin in mind.  But for Sarah, the main reason they were staying at Kamahi Cottage billed as New Zealand's only 5 star farm accommodation, was so she could pet baby lambs.  Well, she got her wish!

 

Sarah is a vegetarian and I don't see any lamb chops in Justin's future now!  

Honeymoon in New Zealand- Day One

Justin knows I am not a fan of flying and especially not in small private type planes so they didn't tell me or Sarah's mom what they had planned for the first day of their honeymoon in New Zealand.  Here's the post they left after the fact on Facebook:

"A floatplane came and picked us up at the jetty a few steps from our room, and took us for a flight over New Zealand's geothermal area...volcanic craters, sulfur bays, geysers, etc. Neat experience! Sorry Sue Bringhurst and Darylynn Mills, we figured it was best to tell you after we were done so you didn't worry. — with Justin Mills at Black Swan Lakeside Boutique Hotel."

They got that right... I would've been very worried but now I have to wonder what else they aren't telling us about their plans!  Here are photos from their flight.

Next they move on to Kamahi Cottage, a luxury sheep farm resort so Sarah can hold baby lambs-   That sounds a bit tamer but I wonder what else they have up their sleeve?!?

The Wedding!

I will have to wait a few weeks until Justin and Sarah are back from their honeymoon but I have a few photos from friend's cellphones that I can post for you.  The wedding was held on the sand at a lake/lagoon area in Irvine (Orange County) and we were fortunate to have a picture perfect afternoon and evening.  The wedding began at 6:30 pm so it went from a warm glow of a setting sun to little white lights at night twinkling over the water.  Everyone agreed the setting was lovely and most appreciated the casual nature of the wedding.  Here's a photo of the new Mr. & Mrs. Mills.  It gave me a start when I heard that!

Sarah is an avid reader so all of the bouquets were crafted of flowers made from book pages.  Very unique! Here's a photo of Sarah with her flower girl, niece Gabriella, who looked adorable!

Ryan and Jacob were the ring bearers and here's a photo of them along with Justin and Jessica who was one of Sarah's bridesmaids.

Sunday night, they left for their honeymoon in New Zealand, Tahiti and Bora Bora.  While at LAX, they ran into Elijah Wood who was on the same flight as Amy, Sarah's sister who is living in Australia.  Here's a photo of Amy and Frodo himself headed back to the Shire no doubt.

I will try and post more photos as I get them.  I always like to track their travel itineraries as Sarah is such a great travel planner.  She finds the most interesting places to stay.  For example, for part of their time in New Zealand, they are staying at Kamahi Cottage billed as New Zealand's only 5-Star Farm Bed & Breakfast Boutique.  Yes, it's a sheep farm and Sarah is determined to hold baby lambs.  Their travels to Tahiti and Bora Bora will have them staying in one of the fabulous over-the-water huts which I always say is on my bucket list!  

All of this going on in the middle of a kitchen remodel which has actually gone to a worse state then the photo I last posted.  Walls are even gone now so they can do all the new electrical and plumbing!  We are also dog sitting Justin's dog, Sierra, so I have 3 dogs, 3 cats and 2 grandsons all in a house filled with plumbers and electricians.  Luckily, the boys return to school on Wednesday.  Jacob is beginning Transitional Kindergarten as the cut-off date for kindergarten is now September 1 and he won't be 5 until September 22. I'm the one who needs that Bora Bora over-the-water hut!

Where Was I?

So, what was I saying?  I know, I know... it's been a long, long time and I'm sorry for worrying a few people (emails I received) that something bad had happened.  I'm not returning to regular blogging but thought I'd post occasionally just to let you know I'm alive and well.  We are finally about to begin our kitchen remodel so I'll post some photos of drawings of the design.  Justin and Sarah's wedding is about 6 weeks away so I'l have photos to post about that and then the fabulous honeymoon they will take to places like New Zealand and Bora Bora.  We have been on a real roller coaster ride with Jeff's mom.  She is slipping further into dementia and Jeff found her a nice assisted living facility from which she keeps escaping.  It's not fun having the sheriff pull up to your house and knock on the door!  There's a whole post in itself.  But for now, on to the kitchen.

I can't believe how patient I've become.  Normally, I want things done yesterday but this has been dragging on for months and I'm still pretty nonchalant about it.  I guess I've finally learned not to sweat the small stuff.  We have a nice contractor who is working with a kitchen designer that we chose and they have been cooperating together to design our kitchen.  It involves combining our current kitchen and the adjoining breakfast room into one big kitchen.  So everything will go including the ceiling and floor.  We've bought all the appliances and the cabinetry is ordered.  This next week, we are having a electrical panel upgrade (to handle all the new appliances and lighting) which involves digging a trench from the street to the current electrical panel.  Phooey!  Who cares about this stuff... just get on with my new kitchen!  We still have to select all out granite, tile, faucets, hardware and lighting but here's some drawings of how the kitchen will look.  You can click on the drawings to see them bigger.

Here's a top view of the new kitchen.  Showing this view so you can see the angles- like the right wall has almost a hutch-like area that is set out... a lot of angles makes for an interesting look with the crown molding.

A side view.  Having an island was a must since we always gather there

This is the back wall.  All the appliances are Thermador.  The dishwasher is next to the sink, that's a pro-cooktop six burner range with pro-hood, and on the far right a double oven.  Only need that on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I requested the feet on certain areas to give that furniture-look to the cabinetry,

This is what I call the decorative wall.  There's the hutch area I mentioned.  It has a plate rack and the two cabinets on either side are glass with led lighting.  On the right is a wine rack.  The glass will have the same v-groove etching that our living room windows have.  There's one more glass cabinet that you can see in the previous photo next to the sink.

This is the view of the refrigerator and pantry.  The refrigerator/freezer comes in columns.  The freezer on the left side is 18 inches wide and the refrigerator is 30 inches so it's large at 48 inches total.  It will be paneled in the same wood as the cabinets.  The cabinets are pearl white with pewter glaze which only goes in the lines.  It looks really nice with all the stainless appliances.  Our appliances wont even have those vents at the bottom like in the drawing so it really blends in seamlessly.  The pantry is on the right.

Finally, the island.  It's the trend here to not have your island match the rest of the kitchen so the island will have the same cabinets but in cherry with an oynx glaze.  Also something new is a microwave drawer.  Everyone tells me they are fantastic as you can slide it open and look down on what you're cooking rather than tippy-toe to see a higher mounted micro.  There will be seating for four.

So there you have it.  Our contractor is estimating 6 to 8 weeks.  Once the kitchen gutting begins, we will have to have our current refrigerator in the garage and set up coffeemaker and toaster oven in our mini bar. We will BBQ a lot and get take out.  I don't think I'll have a problem with that but we'll see!  I'll add more photos as the demo and rebuilding progresses.  Happy 4th of July!