Getting Ready for a Joyous Evening

It's Thanksgiving Day and I'm sitting at my computer typing this blog entry which may seem like a crazy thing to do since I'm expecting to feed 8 adults and 4 children tonight. No worries. I finished all the side dishes last night and the turkey breasts are trussed, seasoned and ready to roast. I'm all done as far as I'm concerned save for a little housecleaning that shouldn't take too much time.

The other day my girls and I found these lovely fall burnt sienna, rust and gold leaves on the sidewalk in front of a coffee shop. We couldn't resist bringing a bushel of them home. Here's what we did with them. . .

. . . an autumn garland for the fireplace. We just strung these beauties onto fishing line {Alisha, thanks for the fishing line, I know I said I'd return it and haven't. It's come in handy for so many projects. I'll buy you a new spool, I promise. You're the best next door neighbor ever, and I'm not just saying that becuase you let me borrow the fishing line!}

I also finished getting the table ready for tonight's feast. I can't wait to see the food on the plates and the candles flickering. It's going to be a joyous evening!!

Here are some images from my table setting. I washed the tablecloth last night. I removed it promptly from the dryer and placed it on the table in hopes it would keep from wrinkling. Well, that didn't work. But who cares right? Oh who am I kidding, I may just get out the iron afterall. I don't know if the crinkle look is in this year.

And you should also know that this isn't my dining room. It's actually the formal living room that we transformed into a dining room. We do this every year. Our "regular" dining room space is quite snug making it difficult to seat 8 adults.

We swap the furniture from our living room with the furniture from the dining room. The dining room space becomes a cozy sitting area and then the living room, becomes the dining room. I love it because it means we get to dine in front of a roaring fire. {roaring may be stretching the truth a bit, but it is a fire nonetheless.}

Happy Thanksgiving!