Friday, November 6, 2009

Welcome Guest Blogger, Taylor Van Nest

Friday, November 6, 2009
SIS Beth is holed up in her writing cave. A big deadline looms! Her friend, Taylor Van Nest (former co-worker at the library, current Broadcast Journalist major and all around super-cool guy), is covering her butt today. Not literally of course. Please give a big SIS welcome to Taylor!



As a college student I’ve been distracted lately. That’s nothing too surprising, but more than lately it’s become overbearing. Why? Because anticipation has taken over me. You see, I’m in the middle of my three favorite months of the year. Halloween is my favorite holiday, but that’s passed so I won’t get into it (we’ll be here for days!). Up next is Thanksgiving. And there in lies the problem. Thanksgiving and the holiday season that proceeds it are both a wonderful time. But here’s the thing: I’m not interested in just celebrating a single day. I want my holiday all month long!

Like a good suspense movie, it’s all about the build-up. The preparation, the planning, the anticipation itself is where the fun’s at. For I celebrate Thanksgiving as much as Christmas itself. I don’t overlook waiting for the December holiday’s to roll around; I embrace the one coming up sooner. I check the TV Guide to make sure when a Thanksgiving-themed show is on (Food Network has that covered). I read up on my favorite Thanksgiving books (“Twas The Night before Thanksgiving” - a Must-Read!). I even find Thanksgiving themed music – Vince Guraldi’s “Thanksgiving Theme” from the Charlie Brown TV special is cool and crisp, just like the season. I have even been ordering the hot turkey subs at the local convenience store more often (but I just use the holiday as an excuse to enjoy those)! Call me crazy, but investing all the fun into just one day when you can have a month-long build up is much more enjoyable.

So you can see why I might be a little distracted, I’m just trying to get into the Thanksgiving spirit. And the fun doesn’t stop with just one day. Wednesday’s before Thanksgiving are a college kid’s dream: you always skip your professor’s class to get home and hang out with all your friends as soon as possible. On the actual Thanksgiving Day, you get together with family and friends and enjoy the times over delicious food. And Friday morning…early, early morning – you get real crazy like me and go to Kohl’s at 3 in the morning. But as a college student I’m up at that hour anyway, so why not shop? I maximize Thanksgiving into a three-day event, the way it should be celebrated.

And why do I welcome it so happily? Because it’s all about what’s important in my life: that I should share the fun in my life with my friends and family, to share laughs and memories with, and to welcome new ones ahead. Our ancestors had the right idea when they shared all this good feeling over plenty of food. And if that’s not worth celebrating for a whole month, I don’t know what is!

So now I turn the (dinner) tables over to you: what do you look forward to most when it comes to Thanksgiving? Any special ways of catching that Thanksgiving spirit? What are your Thanksgiving rituals and events? I look forward to all your routines and memories, Happy Turkey Day!!

Here’s some links to my favorite Thanksgiving reminders!

‘Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving’ (Book)

Thanksgiving Theme – The Vince Guaraldi Trio (Song player is in top right corner of page)

~Taylor

13 comments:

Sisters-in-Sync said...

Good Morning Taylor and welcome to SIS! Thank you so much for being our guest. We are honored to have you.

These are my favorite months too. It has finally started to cool off down here in paradise and it really has an effect on my mood.

I love Thanksgiving. I love preparing the feast, the time with family, talking about what we are thankful for. Thanksgiving shouldn't be for just one day. We need to have it once a month!

The day after Thanksgiving, I usually put up the tree and we all decorate together, admiring the series of ornaments we've collected over the years. In the background, "A Christmas Story" plays over and over again and we all quote lines from our favorite scenes. I love that movie and my kids have learned to love it too. They know they have no choice!

I hope your day is wonderful and again, thanks for joining us here at SIS!

SIS Bren

BJ said...

Hi Taylor, Welcome to SIS! Happy to have you here. Brenda is right in saying we should have Thanksgiving more often. I tell my kids all the time that they should be thankful for what they have. Many don't have a home to even enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. Great post. Thanks for sharing.

SIS BJ

SIS Brandy said...

Welcome to SIS Taylor!!

In the past, I absolutely loved Thanksgiving. Waking up early to the smell of the turkey in the oven. Helping dad make the deviled eggs...

The last few Thanksgivings have sort of been a little lonely.Since Dad has been gone, we haven't really been doing any big family gatherings. I want my girls to experience big Thanksgiving festivities, so I let their dad have them most of the day.

This year though, we are going to have a big early Thanksgiving feast!! I am very excited. Even though its not actually on Thanksgiving day, I get to enjoy a big family gathering!!!

Great post and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Jerrica Knight-Catania said...

What a fun post! I love the holidays and I embrace them all at once. Around late September, I start playing Christmas music, but I also decorate for Halloween and Thanksgiving. This year, because our first baby is due around Christmas, we're staying in NY rather than traveling to visit family in the south like we usually do. I'm looking forward to starting our own traditions. First up, a Thanksgiving-eve sleepover with a few friends who aren't going home for the holiday, either, followed by breakfast and parade-watching in our jammies. And of course, the big Thanksgiving feast in the late afternoon, which I will cook all by myself :)

As for Christmas, we can't really say yet...who knows...I may be in labor! Which would make it the best Christmas EVER! :)

Taylor said...

Bren - I like your train of thought with 12 Thanksgiving's a year! The more the better! And what a wonderful film to start off the Holiday season, good to hear you're raising your kids on outstanding films :) Thanks again for letting me be blogger for a day!

BJ - The older I got the more I kept appreciating the holiday more and more, happy holidays and thanks again for being part of the SIS team!

Brandy - I forgot to mention that my parents, my grandmother, and myself all have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday before the real event every year. It's a weird little tradition that started out of nowhere, and it's nice before we make the big move to the larger family gathering...of about 5 or so more people. Yep, I got a small family but two Thanksgiving's in a week isn't such a bad thing haha! Happy to hear you'll be indulging in a Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving like myself, enjoy the double dipping! And thanks again for lettin me guest blog!

Jerrica, congrats on the baby! Being a Christmas baby myself (actually the 27th) I can say with much delight that your baby is going to be very happy with their birthdate - because they'll always have off school from it! And you have some great traditions coming up! The parade is always a must for me, but being a dog lover I also enjoy the Purina Dog Show following the parade. Just another Thanksgiving tradition to add to the list! Thanks for stopping by!

Mary Stella said...

Thanksgiving used to be all about family when I still lived in New Jersey. Now it's still all about family -- just different. I spend Thanksgivings with part of my family of friends. It's been a little different each of the last seven Thanksgivings. A couple of years I went up to a friend's house where they don't like turkey so dinner is always ham. I met my friend's father-in-law and brother-in-law and enjoyed hearing their stories.

A lot of my co-workers also don't have blood family living in the Keys so there are always a couple of "host homes" where different groups gather and everybody brings something to share. It's great to spend some relaxing time with the people you usually work with.

One year a friend from Jersey was down and we cooked at my house. Another Thanksgiving saw me up in Miami with friends.

Two of my friends live at a beautiful state park in the Keys. Last year they hosted Thanksgiving for the park's volunteers and some staff and invited me to join the gathering. I had a great time helping get dinner on the table and talking to so many new people -- several of whom are "professional" volunteers. They spend a few months at one park, then move on to another and volunteer there for awhile and so on and so on. It was so much fun that I'm doing it again this year.

Locations and traditions might change but the essence of Thanksgiving remains the same -- sharing time and food with the people in your life.

Tori Lennox said...

Great post, Taylor!

I love Thanksgiving too. The foot, the family, the friends, the fun! :)

When I was working, the holiday season meant almost constant grazing between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yum!!!

Sisters-in-Sync said...

Hi Taylor! So glad you could join us today.

Thanksgiving is always one of the most relaxing days for me. I hear a lot of horror stories about in-laws and such but I'm thrilled to say that I love mine! We always hang out in our sweats and cook and eat all day long. Nothing fancy.

This year I will be partaking in the early Thanksgiving at Brandy's. I'm really looking forward to it and have high hopes that we'll get the karaoke machine out!

SIS Barb

Tori Lennox said...

LOL!!! I just noticed I typed "fooT" instead of "fooD".

Beth Ciotta said...

You really put a fabulous old fashioned spin on Thanksgiving, Taylor, and the holidays in general. I got the warm fuzzies reading your post and the comments it inspired. I hope to take a cue from all of you and to slow down enough this year to embrace the magic of the holidays.

Although you won't be finding me at Kohl's at 3am. YOU are hard core, my friend! :)

SIS Beth

Taylor said...

Mary Stella - Having a small family helps remind me that friends are family too. Love your past Thanksgiving stories, hope this one inspires new memories for you!

Tori - Notice how I make food a priority for the holiday? There's no better thing to share memories over :)

Barb - That sounds like a wonderful Thanksgiving to me! Although heading up to my family's requires me to dress nice, it's always great to lounge out Thanksgiving night in some warm PJ's. As for the karoke, I might just have to come join you guys, that it something my family is not too inclined towards haha!

Beth - Glad to keep ya warm on these blustery days!! I know these deadlines are keeping ya tied down but hopefully some holiday cheer (and not to mention some turkey) can boost ya right up! Or maybe not, since turkey does make people sleepy...oh well, either way works! As for shoppin, will twisting your arm a little convince ya to join me?!

Olga said...

Welcome to SIS, Taylor! I love anticipation of good things to come, too. As for Thanksgiving, I'm looking forward to remembering the things I should be grateful for...

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