Some Happy Scribbles...
Hello everyone, and a hearty welcome to all the new subscribers!
I hope you’ve had a good week - it’s beginning to feel a lot like winter around here: with temperatures below freezing every night and our first snowfall! Cheerful holiday lights are strung along the trees and stores in our village, and at home, we’ve embraced nightly fires, flannel sheets, and this cozy playlist.
A highlight of my week was seeing long-time friends for lunch on Monday. It always feels good to be with close friends who you can freely share your dreams, secrets, and fears with. Funnily enough, on the way to lunch, I listened to this surprising podcast about the substantial joy to be derived from brief interactions with strangers and acquaintances. I knew of the theory of “weak ties” and how less-close relationships can help in job searches but I had never appreciated the fact that those quick chats with the helpful man at the post office, the lady who checks out your groceries, or a few kind words from a stranger walking by on the street, can actually enhance our sense of wellbeing and happiness.
Which is a wonderful thing to know, as the whirl of family life and work can prevent us from spending time with our closest friends and family. The researcher interviewed on the podcast, Gillian Sandstrom (Senior Lecturer in the Psychology of Kindness- I want her job!) outlines ways to overcome the barriers to interacting with strangers, in order to increase these tiny moments of connection, and feel happier.
Speaking of relationships, we’re heading to St. Louis next week to spend Thanksgiving with Jim’s family, where, for the first time since 2019, all four of his brothers, spouses, and their children, will be together! We’ll have plenty of time to catch up, and inspired by this piece, I’m going to encourage Sadie (16) and Teddy (12) to ask their grandparents, aunts, and uncles probing questions about their early years!
The author advises:
Specificity is key, so after asking a relative about the home they grew up in, follow up with requests for details: What did their windows look out onto? What did they hear when they woke up in the morning? Ask about their worst first dates and where they bought their clothes. And remember that the most important questions can also be the plainest. One of my favorites is just “What do you wish people knew about you?”
Now, on to the real Thanksgiving conundrum: what to wear for the big feast…
Given that we’re traveling, I have been thinking about what I’m going to pack, and how to square my desire to look nice with my much higher priority: feeling comfortable enough to eat as much as I want. I was standing in front of my closet, assessing the waistband forgiveness capacity of my pants, when the realization hit me: why wear something with a waistband at all?!
This, of course, lead to the next big question: if I “ban the band,” what will I wear? In an ideal world, I’d look like Naomi Watts in The Watcher, reclining elegantly in oversized sweaters, flowy dresses, and skirts; a glass of wine in hand. However, to emulate Naomi, I would be dressed in creams and beiges, which is not ideal for indulging in turkey gravy and cranberry sauce. And I don’t own anything in those colors. What I do own are two loose silk slip dresses, one black, and one animal print, which I can pair with oversized sweaters. In addition, those dresses take up little to no suitcase space: bonus!
As guests, Jim and I are not responsible for cooking anything, but we have been put in charge of procuring and assembling the appetizer board of cheese, charcuterie, olives, etc. Jim’s typically also the unofficial bartender, and this year I’m going to suggest we “Tuccify” the cocktail hour with Stanley’s martini recipe and this playlist. This Pomegranate Spritzer looks great for non-drinkers. I will also be decorating the dining tables, and inspired by Stanley, I’ll collect rosemary, pine cones, thyme, clementines, apples, and magnolia leaves to place along the runners.
If you are cooking, Alison Roman’s newsletter has a full Thanksgiving menu that controversially includes just turkey legs, not the entire bird. In the past, Jim’s parents have had great success (and very little stress) with the Ina Garten make-ahead turkey and gravy. As a non-turkey lover (and foreign-born American), I do sometimes fantasize about a turkey-free feast: if it was up to me, I’d probably serve roast chicken, or I’d do this!
When the kids were little, after we put them to bed at the end of Thanksgiving Day, the grown-ups observed a sacred tradition of watching Love Actually, in order to get into the Christmas spirit.
Now that the kids stay up later, we all watch holiday movies together. My very favorite Thanksgiving film is Miracle on 34th Street - I know it’s sacrilege, but I prefer the 90’s version to the original. And we all love Home Alone, closely followed by Trading Places (the wildly inappropriate 80’s-style nudity is worth overlooking for the priceless morality tale), and Elf. This year, I’m also looking forward to the new Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds movie, Spirited. And I’ve downloaded Sleepless in Seattle and The Holiday to watch on the plane.
I’ve been inundated with “gift guides” lately, but none of them have provided a creative idea for the gifts I struggle with the most: what to bring to say thank you to a generous host or hostess. This year, I’ve stocked up on fancy candles, as that’s something I love to receive myself - here’s an excellent assortment of options. I think you can never have enough Christmas tree ornaments (and they’re so portable!) so I’m also giving those. John Derian in New York City has the most incredible selection, and I love these from Amazon. So far, I’ve bought the hen, the barn swallow (with a tail of real feathers!), and the squirrel, which also has a fluffy tail!
That’s it for me this week! I hope you have a fun weekend planned - we’re going to be busy with an epic sleepover party to celebrate Teddy’s 12th birthday, driving lessons for Sadie, ski-season rental pick-ups, and, of course, packing for our trip.
Thank you, as always, for reading, sharing, commenting, and subscribing. My goal is for you to have as much fun reading this, as I do writing it.
xoxo
Amelia
P.S.: for my Aussie readers (and Kath and Kim fans everywhere), I kept seeing this meme pop up on Instagram this week. IYKYK!