My Faux Thanksgiving Break

Remember when you were in elementary school and you got a whole week off for Thanksgiving?  Wasn't that the best?  I never knew how good my ten year old self had things.  All I thought about were Barbies, sequins, little brothers, and Thanksgiving break.  What a life.  Unfortunately, the adult me doesn't get a week off for Thanksgiving, in fact, I barely got a day off.  (When I accepted the assistant manager position at "the store" I was well aware what I was getting myself into.)  But never one to let the grown up rules ruin all my fun, I forced myself to celebrate Thanksgiving all week and squeeze in some fun where I could.  I ended up with a faux Thanksgiving break even the ten year Allison would have been proud of.

Last Saturday, Matt and I drove a few hours to small town Indiana to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with my dear friend/old boss Jenny and her family.  We hadn't seen Jenny and Dave since their visit earlier in the summer, and I was about at my limit with missing her.  So in the car we hopped, and one state over we went.  Jenny's extended family was so welcoming and so sweet to let us crash their family Thanksgiving.

Oh how I miss these pictures with me and my mini sized friend :)

Tuesday, my friend Christie and I had a much needed girl's day in the city.  She and I make it a point to find a weekday every month or so to take off work and spend time playing in the city.  We usually don't have a specific plan, but of course, it always involves eating.  On this girl's day, we had lunch at caffe De Luca, a great little Italian spot in Bucktown.  I went for the spinach and goat cheese quiche, and oh my goodness, was it yummy!

Our girls days are always so fun (see our last one here.)  A girl's day is fabulous any day, but something about sneaking away mid week makes it feel even more special.  If you've got some flexibility in your schedule, I highly recommend a mid week girl's day once in a while!

I worked liked a crazy person this past week getting "the store" ready for Black Friday.  Though it was a crazy week, it was a fun one.  Here is a quick pic of what I wore to work on Wednesday.  Who says full sequins are only for special occasions?

Dress/Tunic: Express
Jacket: Ann Taylor
Leggings: the Gap
Boots: Vince Camuto
Jewelry: vintage

Wednesday night Matt and I saw Harry Potter for the second time.  Yes, we are dorks for going to the midnight premiere and yes, we are dorks for going to see it twice :)  But this time we opted for our favorite dinner movie theater.  The only thing better than seeing Harry Potter for the second time is seeing Harry Potter for the second time with a fruity cocktail in your hand.

Thursday for Thanksgiving, Matt and I were so blessed to spend the day with Terri, my boss from "the store," and her family.  (When I took the assistant manager position, I knew I'd be giving up Thanksgiving with my family.  But in recent years, we've been spending Thanksgiving with Matt's family and Christmas with mine, so I've gotten semi-used to turkey without my family.  Plus my family is coming to Chicago for Christmas so I am ecstatic about that!)  Anyway, we had a fabulous time and Terri was such a fabulous host.  Terri is from Texas, so we share a southern connection that has been so comforting to me as I'm getting used to life outside of Texas.  Plus, she is an incredible chef which made for an extra yummy Thanksgiving.  Even though Matt and I were far from our families, we felt right at home at Terri's and are were grateful for such a fun and welcoming pseudo-family!

I'm thankful for so many things, one of which is an incredible husband.  I forget sometimes just how lucky I am to have him.

Saturday after two nonstop days at the store Matt and I went to pick out our Christmas tree.  When we moved from Texas, I was limited in how much Christmas stuff I could bring, so rather than waste storage space on our artificial tree, I donated it and decided we'd get a real one when the time came.  And since I am a huge fan of the Christmas season, I wasted no time in breaking out the decorations.  Two days after Thanksgiving was long enough!

Though I had high hopes for a grand tree, reality is, our apartment is tiny.  Therefore a tiny tree was in order.  The guys at the tree place laughed when we pointed to what we wanted, but they were super nice and friendly in getting it for us.  We laughed as Matt carried it out, especially since it took the family before us 30 minutes to strap it to the top of their truck lol.

Clearly the decorating part went quickly since there are hardly any branches to decorate lol.  Its tiny and sparse, but we love it!  And the fact that Christmas is coming means I'm that much closer to seeing my family.  (20 days to be exact!)

So while the past week wasn't filled with consecutive days off or days spent lounging in sweats, i can't say I didn't love it.  Because I have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to. And that is the best faux Thanksgiving break a girl could ask for :)