Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Thanksgiving Alternatives {Friendsgiving + Thanksgiving Day Brunch}

Each day my mind flip flops more times than I can count between Thanksgiving and Christmas - I guess you can sense my priorities and I'm barely thinking of anything non-holiday related.  Each holiday deserves proper attention but let's face it - the holiday season is a little more enjoyable if you start planning, shopping, etc. for Christmas well in advance.  Plus you get to enjoy the season longer.

I like to respect the turkey (fact - I didn't actually really enjoy turkey until high school.  extra fact - we used to do Thanksgiving at the Four Seasons here in Philadelphia growing up, you could see the parade from the windows perfectly then we'd have a big group for dinner.  Until I was at least 5 or so I wouldn't touch a thing on the plate - mom packed me snacks.  I slowly acquired a taste for this holiday).

Christmas I loved from day one, actually day five.  I celebrated my first Christmas when I was five days old and have been obsessed ever since. (is there such thing than more than obsessed? If so, that's me.  I blame it on my birthday being so close to Jesus' but I go crazy.  I even had a conversation with Derek BEFORE we got engaged about how important celebrating the holidays are to me and to be home most of the time for them).

Enough about my love for the holidays, let's get onto today's topic - two additional alternatives to add along to the actual Thanksgiving meal.

Friendsgiving:
This new form of the holiday grows more and more popular and our group of friends from college has been trying to get this together for years - the only part is, we don't live in the same town, or even states so planning is a little tricky.  We finally got our chance this year while they were in town for Derek's birthday.  The only way to make it work was with a Friendsgiving Brunch but that was more than okay with us - we'll be celebrating with the real food next week.

Like I said, we didn't want to fill up on all the actual dishes so we improvised. Hoagie and petite sandwich trays with pasta salad from our favorite deli, a fabulous onion dip, bake brie, bruschetta, stuffing, chick fil a nuggets, shrimp, a pizza roll and frosted brownies for dessert.  


Just like the holiday, we were all ready for naps afterwards.


No afternoon gathering is complete without a mimosa bar.


Yes, that is my mom in the middle their.  She's one of the gals too - the girls always request to see her when in town and she also helped us out in the food too.

Thanksgiving Brunch:
This year we'll be doing Thanksgiving dinner with Derek's family out of town so of course I thought up some alternatives here before we leave.  We've always been big "Eve" people - the eve of the holiday in my mind is just as fun or usually more fun with all the anticipation.  We always do a special Thanksgiving Eve dinner the night before anyway so I won't miss out on all of my traditions.

We're not leaving town until late morning, I thought why not throw in a brunch too? I mean let's make the most out of the holiday, right?! I thought I'd share some of my inspirations today for anyone still figuring out their holiday plans.

I'm not sure of the exact menu yet since we don't want to load up on too many calories early in the day but some of my inspiration is below…

 scrambled eggs, canadian bacon pinwheels, fruit
pumpkin bread, apple cider mimosas, apple donuts

'Tis the season
{flopping back to Christmas tomorrow, See I told you I was holiday obsessed…}

Linking up with Jenn & Jessi for "What's Hap-pinning Wednesday"

26 comments:

  1. So many yummy foods! I didn't really like turkey until high school either. And I still kinda prefer all of the sides anyway haha.
    Link this up with Jessi and I today!

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  2. Both of these look like super fun thanksgiving traditions. I love the addition of brunch and HOW COOL you used to eat at the Four Seasons to watch the parade, I LOVE that!

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  3. All of this looks delicious! Love the idea of Friendsgiving but my friends and I never manage to pull it off. Maybe next year....

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  4. I love the idea of a brunch!! It sounds so fun that you used to eat at the four seasons!! I have yet to see a thanksgiving day parade anywhere and thing it would be so neat!!

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  5. Both of these are fabulous ideas! Brunch and mimosas are always a hit, and I love a good friendsgiving. Good food over laughs with good friends <3

    Green Fashionista

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  6. Cam sounds like you. He has barely touched anything on his plate at thanksgiving dinner. I'm hoping this year will be different. :) Friendsgiving is so fun and I'd love to do that with our friends. :)

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  7. Those brunch foods YUM! You're making me want to throw a brunch here soon - now that I think of it, I never have!

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  8. thanksgiving brunch is such a great idea - and mimosa bar for the win! and i love a good friends giving. so fun to bring everyone together - that's actually how i'm going to celebrate thanksgiving day!

    xoxo cheshire kat

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  9. I'm glad that y'all could make friendsgiving brunch happen this year- it can definitely be hard when others live out of state but always worth it :)

    xo, Kristina
    Medicine & Manicures

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  10. Yes, mimosas are important! Any brunch just wouldn't be the same without them! I'm liking the fruit and some type of pastry idea for your brunch.

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  11. I LOVE the idea of Friendsgiving! And great idea to do it with out of town college friends - I'm going to try and coordinate that next year! Now I want a mimosa :) Can't believe Thanksgiving is almost one week away!

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  12. Yum, mimosas! Can't wait until I can partake again! ;) Brandon's birthday is December 4, and before we were even engaged, I knew how important it was that his birthday had nothing to do with Christmas and that none of his presents were wrapped in Christmas paper!

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  13. Wow you guys go all out for your Friendsgiving! Love it! My dad's birthday is the day before Christmas and he always hated having a birthday so close to Christmas because he never really got to celebrate it. Glad you love it though! <3, Pamela Sequins & Sea Breezes

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  14. Yay!!! So much festiveness in here, I love it!!! I love that you all went to the FS and watched the parade!! I would love to do something like that with our family in the future, but will have to wait until the kids could appreciate it (like your mom, I'd have to be packing some snacks haha).

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  15. I love the brunch idea, the food inspiration looks so good! Its fun that you did a friendsgiving...I tried to with my roommates last year, but it didn't end up working out so we just went out to eat instead, haha!

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  16. I love the idea of doing a brunch for Friendsgiving! Especially because it can include mimosas. :)

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  17. I'm cracking up at your "history" behind loving the holidays. I'm always fascinated by people that don't LOVE turkey just because I always have been obsessed with it. And, I guess since Derek still married you, he was ok with your rules for Christmas and the holidays, ha! :) (I'm the exact same way, no worries). These all are great ideas for Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving! I wish our friends were closer to do something like this.

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  18. Now that I'm starving... and kind of want an adult beverage.. haha. That spread in your one picture looks amazing. Chris's parents always come here for Thanksgiving, and then we usually spend Christmas with my family. I like how you had the discussion with Derek BEFORE you were engaged too, just so he knew ahead of time. I probably should have done that haha. These are all great ideas. You are always sharing such fun ideas!! Your mom is adorable too!! :-)

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  19. I have my friendsgiving this weekend and as I am reading this we are in a mass text putting the menu together - I cannot wait for it!!

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  20. Ah yes, we wouldn't want to forget the mimosas!! All of these dishes look delicious!

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  21. I love that you didn't like all of the Thanksgiving food growing up! I'm still a little picky about some of the sides, but I've grown to love most of them! And I love your Friendsgiving brunch idea! Sometimes life just gets so chaotic, that you just have to use the time your given.

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  22. The friendsgiving spread looks like quite the feast.

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  23. How fun! I love that you made the day work for your group of friends!!
    www.amemoryofus.com

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  24. Love the idea of a Thanksgiving brunch! Someone at work mentioned they're hosting one this year and I thought it was a great idea! Your Friendsgiving looks like a lot of fun :)

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  25. You know, I STILL haven't acquired a taste for most Thanksgiving food!! I much more prefer your brunch idea! One of my friends that I studied abroad with had a neat tradition where they did Chinese takeout Thanksgiving, so we did that in Italy with her... and it was absolutely amazing. Best ever, at least in my book!!

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  26. My birthday is Christmas day so to say I love Christmas is a bit of an understatement so I totally get your obsession.

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