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[bigletter]This year turkey day is bound to look bit different, with less loved ones and perhaps al fresco, but that doesn’t mean our celebrations have to be any less exciting, in fact it might be easier to factor in the aesthetics given the lower guest count. And at least for me, a chance to use our new dining room table, freshly shipped from India, bright blue with the most intricate of designs made with mother of pearl and century old craftsmanship.[/bigletter]
Silver linings are here to be found, despite how much 2020, quite frankly, sucks.
Fortunately our new table serves as enough decoration to avoid a tablecloth or runner but since it’s a holiday I figured why not add some more glam with flowers, candles and of course, pie!
I admittedly hate pie, however, it is Thanksgiving and humility seems to be the most gracious word I can muster to sum up 2020 thus far. Of course my husband made it for me after I found this awesome vegan pumpkin pie recipe on Pinterest, perfect for the two pie loving, vegans in our little family.
However, I will take credit for the Thanksgiving cocktail, a simple mix of your favorite bubbles, grand mariner, a slice of blood orange and cinnamon stick garnish. Pro-tip, you can easily turn this into a kiddie cocktail or mocktail with sparkling apple cider, the virgin spirit my sister and I spent hours fighting over in every Turkey Day memory of mine. One year my mother just gave up, making the intelligent choice of purchasing two separate bottles and adorning each with our name and saying a small prayer that we wouldn’t finish the entire bottle.
The rest of the decor was easily thrown together after finding these amazing vintage scalloped placemats with matching napkins my mother in law gave me. Their perfect Thanksgiving hue on the edges ultimately inspired this entire table setting. She also gave me these glass candle holders with some patterns etched in gold leaf, another hard one to source new but a little piece of history I’m happy to have on our first holiday we are hosting in our new home.
Instead of place cards I opted for a little gratitude prompt, given this is one of those years we all could use one. The pinecone could also serve as a festive name display if turned over sidewise. For flowers I went simple with lighter tones of pink and orange roses, a color combo I am starting to love more than the typical reds and burnt oranges that tend to take over this holiday.
A small and simple setting, surprisingly now one of my favorites. It’s the little things like this that happen to make all the difference during a year like this one.
But no matter how you choose to celebrate this American holiday, I hope the gratitude for what we do have is able to shine though, reminding us that joy can come from smaller gatherings too, breaking some traditions and embracing others.
