All the World's a Plate: A California Thanksgiving

This year's Thanksgiving was one of my all time favorites (I probably say that every year - especially the Watson Skreet Thanksgiving - but it really is the best holiday). On Wednesday afternoon, Rob and I flew to Los Angeles. Because of airline delays (we hate you, US Air), we had to sprint through the parking lot to the Airbus that took us from LAX to Santa Barbara.

After a glorious night of sleep, we woke up at 6:45 thanks to jet lag and headed out for a Turkey Day 5k down to Butterfly Beach. Unfortunately, it was pretty foggy, but the run was a really good way to start the day. I bribed Rob with Coffee Bean so he was a happy little camper.

The rest of the day was spent cooking and waiting for Emily's arrival. She had to work on Thursday and so my grandparents picked her up at 4:30 and then got to Montecito around 6:30. A late Thanksgiving, but we were so happy she was able to make it! Since dinner was actually at dinner time instead of the usual Thanksgiving 3:00 pm "dinner," we grabbed tacos from El Bajio for lunch. El Bajio has some of the best tacos in town and my dad is best buds with the guys who work there. Carnitas on Thanksgiving? Yes please. Back to dinna....we had turkey, mashed potatoes, mashed yams, roasted root veggies, arugula salad with goat cheese and apples, FOUR kinds of stuffing, and corn bread. Lots of wine and champagne. Pretty delicious.

Hanukkah came early this year and my parents gave us treats from their various world travels (scarves and candles and necklaces, oh my). I couldn't resist the gift giving season and got matching pajamas for Emily, Hilary, and Gillian. This was my dream come true. Matching outfits and a photo shoot? Yes please.

The rest of the weekend was obviously lots of fun, too. We saw Skyfall and Silver Linings Playbook, went wine tasting in the Santa Ynez valley, hosted a big brunch and met my parents' friends, went to the beach to see my aunt's open ocean swimming group, watched lots of football, and went to Grauman's Chinese Theater in LA. We mostly ate at home, but Saturday night we went to Plow & Angel at the San Isidro Ranch near my parents' house (where Drew Barrymore had dinner the night after her wedding!) and Monday night, my mom took Rob and me to AOC in LA which was phenomenal. We had such an amazing trip, I miss my family already, and I'm counting down the days until I go home again.