Day 222: FIFTH DAY: I Am Grateful

Happy Thanksgiving to my gracious Blog followers. May your day be filled with abundance and may you be surrounded by the people you love and cherish. While many of us will celebrate this day with way too much food & cheers, millions go hungry today. What a shame in this country, isn't it?

Pictured here is our beautiful Thanksgiving table decorated by Aunt Jennifer! It was gorgeous!

We have spent many of Thanksgiving donating time and food to shelters and to those less fortunate. And I'm happy we have created these experiences for our boys. We've been blessed to host a long standing tradition of sharing this holiday with family and friends. Over the years the group has grown and has topped out at some 40 guests for our feast. Always beautiful, warm and wonderful. But this year I wanted and needed to change it up.

I wrote about the many reasons that this was the year to make the change. From the boys school schedule changing to the boys getting older, to family on the East Coast that wanted to host a holiday.... this was the year and I'm so grateful that we could make it happen. Not an easy task, change is a challenge, but here we are in Austerlitz, New York and I couldn't be happier.

It's another crisp, cool and glorious day in the country and the house was full of energy all day as we cooked and prepared for our feast. One of the most magical moments for me was watching our boys play football... it was a real East Coast day, you really felt you were in New England with it blistery cold outside and the boys running around with a football.

Jennifer was really an amazing host and chef. She prepared most of the dinner as I served as sous chef and on KP. Hubby Brian had made a wine store run back in Manhattan and so we had delicious wine to share with our yummy food.

Pictured here is Jen on a step stool to be able to mix those potatoes... check out Kevin's eyes as he walks by ... hmm he's saying ... can't wait to eat those spuds!

Watching Jennifer make our Mom's yummy mashed potatoes with pounds of butter and whipped cream was a real treat.

And watching Harrison and Brian prepare our turkey for the feast just warmed my heart. And isn't that what the day is about. Being wrapped in memories and by the people you share your life with... creating new memories and traditions, keeping some old ones, and being grateful that you even have a place at a table to share the holiday.

Pictured below is the family feasting at our beautifully decorated table!

One of the funniest and most memorable images I will take away from tonight's feast is what happened to the Simon boys after dinner... they all passed out on the couch from eating so much food... check these brothers out on the couch! Hysterical!

Brian and I congratulated one another for making today's Holiday happen... we broke from tradition, but created a new one with Jen's family and in New York. The boys LOVED being in the country, playing football with Zachary, eating yummy food and being together. What more could you ask for?

We were all very grateful tonight!

Day 221: FOURTH DAY: Turkey Shopping

Ahh, waking up in the country in upstate New York ...we are in a small (tiny!) country area called Austerlitz. Kid sister Jennifer and beau Kevin have a house up here and this is where we are spending our Thanksgiving Holiday.

Pictured here are Jennifer and I taking a walk on a blistery cold day in the country on the road outside her house. Isn't it gorgeous!?

So today Jennifer and I headed out to shop for the fixings for our special holiday meal. Brian stayed in Manhattan to greet the college boy Brandon who arrived early this morning from Oregon. Brandon took a red eye flight from Portland and arrived in New York at 6 a.m. this morning. I was of course worried all night while he was flying since a snow storm hit Portland the day he was leaving. Can you believe Oregon received snow before New York? Crazy.

There were a lot of logistics that went into making this trip happen... and getting Brandon here was one of them. I'm grateful he arrived safely. Brian and he headed to Carneige's for a real New York Deli experience first thing when he arrived. Then off they went to do some sightseeing before heading up to meet us at the house.

Pictured here is Brandon in Times Square the morning he arrived in the City.

Jennifer and I headed to Great Barrington, Massachusetts, just about 25 minutes from her home. What a beautiful quaint town! I loved it! We did a major grocery shop getting all the ingredients for our feast. Then off to Guido's market - picture Bristol Farms and Whole Foods combined, a beautiful specialty food market where Jen had ordered the turkey for us to pick up.

After all our shopping we stopped at a charming French bistro in Great Barrington for a delicious little nosh before heading back to prepare. Why is everyone so friendly when you are out of Los Angeles?

While we got things in order for Thanksgiving dinner, Kevin and his adorable 6 year old son Zachary and Brian and Brandon made their way up to meet us. What a joyous love fest it was when we all finally were together on the eve of Thanksgiving.

Are these the most gorgeous men or what? Pictured here are Harrison, Brian, Kevin and Spencer. Love these boys!!

After another yummy meal in a neighboring town called Chatham, we headed back to the house to chill. I breathed a sigh of relief that we had all made it. As I said above there were a lot of logistics... everyone with a different schedule, 8 bodies to move, two cars to load, lots of meals to prepare and flights to schedule so when we were finally all together on the eve of Thanksgiving in this beautiful, cozy and warm home it just all felt right. I knew we had made the best and right decision to change it up for our family this year.

Off to bed now to be fresh for the big feast tomorrow.

Day 220: THIRD DAY: Central Park and the Country

Another glorious day in the city! Brian and I explored the neighborhood while the teenagers snoozed .... our days have been full and our evenings very late.

We walked to the East River just blocks from Kevin and Jennifer's new apartment. Magnificent is all I can say. Beautiful parks where children were playing and folks were walking their dogs on a cool crisp morning. I mean breathtakingly beautiful.

We took a brisk walk and soaked in the way of life for New Yorkers. Very different then our Southern California lifestyle, but equally as magical. The city is intoxicating and invigorating, that is for sure. But you gotta have a lot of strength, chutzpa and dough to play and live in this town.

After our wonderful morning we headed back to the apartment to get ready for once again another yummy meal. We headed over to Seriphina, another spot I wanted the boys to eat at. Truffle pizza again with delicious pasta. What could be better? It was a late lunch but the place was packed and the people just kept comin' in. Talk about a lunch crowd ... any of our joints in LA would die for the action this Italian place was getting. Great food & great energy.

From there we walked to Central Park. I could spend hours in this park. It is beautiful and full of life. Babies in strollers, joggers, walkers, Zoo visitors, lovers, old, young, it's all happening at this jewel smack in the middle of an island separating the Eastside from the Westside in Manhattan. Just amazing!

Then the boys and I hooked up with Aunt Jennifer to head up to the Country to prepare for Thanksgiving. Kevin and Jen have a home in a small country town called Austerlitz, about two hours out of the city.

The afternoon was all about logistics!
The four of us -- Jen, Harrison, Spencer and I - headed out of town while Brian stayed back to have a "boy's night dinner" in the city with Kevin and also to greet college boy Brandon who was flying in from Portland on a red eye flight. He wasn't able to join us the entire week because he had school so he arrives at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning and will hook up with Brian then.

Jennifer is quite the New York driver ... she maneuvered the insane traffic getting us out of the City up through the Bronx and Harlem to the highway. Whew, you know me I was a wreck with how those New Yorkers drive ... but there was Jennifer, cursing and nudging her way into the lane she needed. Thank goodness it was her driving and not me.

She was so sweet to offer to take the boys to Mo'Griters... one of the eateries profiled on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives located in the Bronx in a car repair shop. Well, oh my gosh is all I can say about this little adventure.

Here we were in her shiny new Lexus driving in an area we ought not to be to find this dive. Harrison spotted the sign and we made our way in only to learn that City officials had shut down the joint a few months before. What a disappointment. The boys were really looking forward to grubbing on good BBQ, but heck we gave it a try and it was a fun excursion.

We made it to the house in Austerlitz, New York and just melted at how beautiful it is. Nestled on 3 acres of land with endless trees and no neighbors on top of you. What us Angeleno's wouldn't give for a little land like this!

Pictured here is the house and their very own backyard pond!

It has been a long day and so tonight we just snuggled in front of a fire and chilled. Tomorrow it's off to prepare for Turkey Day!