Turkey Day & A Hidden Gem.

It’s December!!! While our tree isn’t up quite yet, the holiday movies are being watched and Christmas music has been on replay. I cannot wait to bake some cookies this weekend, watch Elf with my sister and maybe get outside and enjoy the six inches of snow we’re supposed to get tomorrow (though, this IS Ohio so the weather predictions change on a daily basis…we’ll see.)

Anyways-before I get ahead of myself with all of the December excitement-I wanted to recap the wonderful Thanksgiving holiday weekend I just experienced. I’m not just saying this but I think this Thanksgiving was my best one yet.

Marty and I began the day by running in the Columbus Turkey Trot. This was my second year running and Marty’s first (it was also the first race we ran together! Whoo-hoo!)

As I’m sure you’ve seen from other Thanksgiving races, it was quite a cold day. Frigid to be more exact. I think the temperature was somewhere around 20 degrees and lingered there for most of the day.

The race took me longer than I originally expected. I was around fifty-eight minutes for the five miles (around a 11:40 pace.) I was hoping for a 10:30 pace but, hey, we’ll blame it on the low temperatures. ;)

After the Turkey Trot, we headed to my aunt’s house in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was thrilled to spend the day with my side of the family this year (last year we were with Marty’s family.)

My aunt has the most perfect house for hosting Thanksgiving. So much charm.

Before the feast began, the women took part in a creative game my aunt created while the men watched football. Would they really be doing anything else??

I didn’t capture a picture of my plate plates; however, I did get a nice shot of dessert.

After a truly wonderful day we headed back to Columbus so I could wake up early and steal a few Black Friday deals. (Side Note: I’m embarrassed to admit that I stood in line for 70 minutes at Old Navy with my sister. Hey – we got some great deals and we enjoyed one anothers’ company. That’s all that matters…right?)

On Saturday, we headed to the Morgan House for our traditional day after Thanksgiving brunch (we had to push it back a day since my mom ended up having to work on Friday.) Our group typically consists of my mom, sister and aunt (mom’s sister); however, my aunt is in Europe this year so we invited along my dad’s sisters and their daughters.

Our trip to the Morgan House is one of my favorite traditions of the year. Not only do I love spending time with my mom and sister but it’s hard not to catch the Christmas spirit when walking throughout this hidden gem.  (Another side note: The Morgan House is located in the suburb of Dublin, Ohio, about twenty minutes from downtown Columbus. Once a log cabin owned by a civil war veteran; the ‘house’ is quite different now as it consists of mini boutiques throughout eighteen thousand square feet of beauty and charm.)

So there you have a recap of my Thanksgiving weekend 2013. I hope you all had just as wonderful of a time. Let the countdown to Christmas begin…

Do you have a ‘hidden gem’ like the Morgan House in your town? If so, please share! Marty and I would love to add it to our list of places to see throughout the U.S. (or overseas ;) )