Thanksgiving 2011 was a lot of fun and full of family. My side of the family was at our house for Thanksgiving meal. My brother and his family stayed at Embassy Suites so the kids got to go swimming while my mom and I worked on the meal. I've hosted Thanksgiving 3 times since we've been in this house and I absolutely love doing it. 

Having the island was incredibly handy. All the big kids sat there for the meal:

And the little girls sat at a little table. I don't think the little girls ate anything, but they were sure having fun together.

I did a horrible job of taking photos, but it was just really, really fun. My family left on Friday and then on Saturday and Sunday we spent time with RJ's side. More cousin time, bowling, eating out, and having fun. 

I had won a $25 gift card to spend for Small Business Saturday so we went down to the East Village. It was hard to decide, but I spent my money at Domestica on 2 uber funky oven mits (mine were getting so old) and a little card to frame and put above our coffee station in the kitchen:

How fun, eh? 

One of these years I'm going to give a very good try to buy only local. I already blew it this year since our presents for the kids are all bought and are from the big chains. It's so hard to resist Target! And the mall! And the sales! And the mall!!! But let's face it, they don't even hold a candle to the uniqueness and one-of-a-kind-ness you can find at a locally owned store.

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and enjoy the anticipation of Christmas this week!