Friday Favorites is a series where we share small, seemingly mundane moments from the past week – little details, often overlooked, that comprise this thing we call life.
How is it already mid-November?
My, my – what a month!
In case you’ve been blissfully unaware, next week is Thanksgiving. It’s also our four-year anniversary (on the same day, actually), but the frenzy doesn’t stop there – oh no!
Just today I’m attending both a funeral and a baby shower. What a strange, almost symbolic occurrence that both events should fall on the same day. Then on Saturday our church is hosting “Open Table” – a Thanksgiving dinner open to the entire community, so if you’re in the Chattanooga or Cleveland area, you can learn more at this link.
We also have family coming into town today (and staying with us!), because on Sunday we’re all attending the wedding of another relative… Then next week we’re having a grand family celebration (I’m talking 50 relatives) for which I have to decorate…
Just typing out all that has to happen between now and next weekend is exhausting. At the same time, I know it’ll fly by at the blink of an eye, so I remind myself to stay in the moment rather than dread the anxiety that accompanies the holidays.
Speaking of holidays, have you started decorating for Christmas yet?
I don’t feel right putting up a tree before Thanksgiving but totally understand why others do! Once the holiday hoopla starts, it’s impossible to find time for anything else. That explains why in the past two years we put up the tree just a few days before Christmas Day.
But hey, we make up by leaving the tree up until the Russian Old New Year (January 14)!
I’m a little bummed that we won’t be going anywhere for our anniversary this year. Last year we drove up the coast of California – from San Diego to Napa Valley. The year before that, we spent a few days in St. Petersburg, FL – nowhere near as fancy, but it was nice to get away for a few days. There’s something to be said for a couple’s getaway in celebration of a wedding anniversary. This year we’re celebrating in the midst of family, which really isn’t that bad – but I could really use a vacation right about now…
How do you typically celebrate anniversaries?
As for other news this week, we finally cleared out one of the spare bedrooms in preparation for the above-mentioned visitors. But it’s far from being a real guest room. I honestly cannot wait for April’s One Room Challenge to come around so I can once again tackle a much-needed transformation in the remainder 90% of our house.
By the way, in case you missed it, tour our living room – the space we tackled for our very first One Room Challenge. Anyone else plan to join me next April?
We honestly haven’t done much work on the house since wrapping up the living room. I desperately wanted to finish the dining room before the holidays, but that’s not looking like it’ll happen. I still need to find geometric wallpaper for a feature wall, assemble the dining room table, sell our current table and chairs set, install a mirror that I DIYed earlier this year, hang drapes, and so on and so forth.