Our (Early) Thanksgiving 2021

My family and I celebrated an early thanksgiving this weekend, so I thought I'd take you along for a little bit of it!

My wonderful boyfriend and I started the morning early on Saturday (at about 6 am although we originally planned for 4am) to get started on some of the prep. It was one of those quiet moments I really appreciate these days; I pulled up a chair, swaddled myself in a blanket, and sipped on coffee while I watched Paul prepare a gorgeous 20lb turkey for us to eat later. He dressed it up with some butter, lemon zest, thyme, and a few other tricks I can't quite remember. We stuck it in the oven and went on with the rest of our day. 

Something I love to do on Thanksgiving (and I'm sure most people do) is reflect on the things that I'm grateful for, and for me, one of the things that come to mind is lolita fashion. I have a supportive family and loving boyfriend who allow me to express myself through my clothes, and this year I've finally been financial a financial spot where I've been able to invest in building a wardrobe. I reflected on the 12-year-old me who wanted to be a lolita so bad, and how happy I'm sure she'd be if she was able to see me now. 

I thought it only fitting to wear lolita for the day! I threw together a quick coordinate with Alice and the Pirates'  Secret Adventure and Winery of Happiness JSK II. It felt like a festive print and was one of my favorite brands at 12. It still is to this day, in fact! My outfit breakdown is as follows: 

      I got these super comfortable shoes and socks off of Amazon; the shoes are just some burgundy Mary Janes and the socks are the ones designed to go under cute winter boots, but I find that they go perfectly with a lot of my coordinates! 
     The jumperskirt, of course, is Alice and The Pirates' Secret Adventure and Winery Of Happiness JSK II which flaunts some somewhat plus-size friendly measurements! I really love this JSK, the feeling of the material is almost similar to a textured cotton or linen despite being synthetic. 
     The blouse is one of those generic short sleeved crop top blouses you can find on most taobao retailers, this one is from the brand Smiling Angel. The fuzzy coat is one I actually found on clearance at Forever 21! It's super warm. 
     The necklace and earrings I'm wearing are from BB&B Deco, these are from the Queen of Hearts set they have! They are the cutest little burgundy and brown macarons with a gorgeous heart design on top. 
     The bow on the left side of my head is the matching bow from the Secret Adventure and Winery of Happiness set, but in green (I accidentally purchased the wrong color lol). The bow on the back of my head is a satin burgundy bow set on a barrette. I believe it's from Forever 21. 
     Lastly, I got the red heart purse from taobao. 

So, after I got all dressed, boyfriend and I headed out to Nino Salvaggio's, a grocery store in the area that flaunts fresh produce, freshly baked goods, a beautiful pastry setup, and is all around a good place to go to burn through some money. Upon coming in I was pleased to find gift baskets galore, and plenty of festive decorations already set up for the holiday season. 

We came in for only a few things but left with more than we anticipated, including these gorgeous pastries.

Paul's choice is on the left, a bourbon pecan pie. Mine is on the right, a fruit tart with flan filling. 

After our excursion, we picked up some donuts from Tim Hortons for the family and headed home so Paul could start on a family recipe of his, ham and pineapple. While he worked on that, I got started on the deviled eggs. 

We took a much needed 10 minute break (at this point it must have been close to noon or 1 pm), and resumed our activities in the kitchen again. I whipped up my green bean casserole and then cleaned and decorated for our guests who were arriving shortly. Paul stayed in the kitchen, working on mashed potatoes butternut squash soup. 

My guests arrived shortly after! It was my aunt, uncle, cousin, and her daughter. Between them and my family at home we served a total of 10 people. We popped open some wine and Paul finished up on the turkey and gravy just in time for us to eat around 5:30. 

The food was amazing! I was too hungry to snap photos of most of it, but I did get this photo of the soup Paul made - best soup of my life. 

We wrapped up the evening after dinner with some Harry Potter while my boyfriend, dad, and uncle played drums and guitar downstairs in the garage. Our dessert options, kindly provided by my aunt, were cheesecake, pumpkin roll, and pecan pie - all of which were amazing. 

All in all, I had an amazing thanksgiving surrounded by people who make my days so much brighter. I'm so happy to be where I am today - even when things get difficult I know I have a great hobby, a steady job, a loving boyfriend, and a supportive family. 

What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving? Do you have any traditions you're excited for? Let me know!