How To Have An Amazing TRADITIONAL Thanksgiving ⧸⧸ You got this, ladies!
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Summary
In this video, I talk about 5 ways that we can have a more classic Thanksgiving and make it feel a little more special. 1. Think about what you're grateful for 2. Cook with family 3. Remember what Thanksgiving is really about 4. Be grateful 5. Embrace tradition
Transcript
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Hello Classic Crew and welcome to today's video where we're going to be talking about
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Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It's an amazing time to spend with family
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and reflect on the things that we're grateful for and the food is great. Although I will say
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I'm not a fan of turkey so let me know in the comments. Do you like turkey? Are you not a fan
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of turkey? I feel like it's a very polarizing topic. Personally, not a huge fan, but like stuffing
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is great and pecan pie is amazing. Also leave in the comments whether you say pecan or pecan or pecan.
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I don't remember how many ways there are to say pecan, but I say pecan pie. That's how I say it.
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So I'd love to know your thoughts on that. But in any case, I think that we can have a very classic
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Thanksgiving. There are ways that we can make Thanksgiving feel even more special and embrace
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the tradition of the holiday. And that makes the holiday feel so much more fun and so much more
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memorable. So I really want to talk about five ways that we can embrace the tradition of the holiday
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and make it even more classic by using these five techniques and tips. So before we get into today's
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video, are you subscribed to my channel yet? Are you? Make sure to hit that subscribe button and make
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So now that we're through that, let's get into today's video. The first way to have a more classic
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Thanksgiving is to actually think about what you're grateful for. I think a lot of the time we get
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wrapped up in the situation of Thanksgiving. The fact that there's so much family around and there's a lot of
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preparation to do. But we don't remember what Thanksgiving is really about, which is thinking about the things that
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we're grateful for and that we're thankful for. And that is probably my favorite part of Thanksgiving. Besides the
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wonderful food and the wonderful family, it's also about remembering what you're grateful for and thinking about those
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things. And it's a way to reflect on the best things that have happened to you over the course of the year.
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So for example, this year, I could definitely go down a path of thinking about the many awful things that have
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happened. But Thanksgiving asks me to reflect on all the wonderful things that have happened. I'm
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pregnant. We have a roof over our heads. We can afford to eat. We have good friends. We are very, very lucky people.
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And it just is such a wonderful way to remember that we really do have what we need. And that's
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such a wonderful thing to remember and to reflect on. And it is funny to go from Thanksgiving to like
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Black Friday where you're thankful for some things and then immediately shopping for all the stuff that
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you think you need. But it's funny. My family's never been Black Friday people. So I've never felt like
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I've needed anything on Black Friday. Of course, if there are things you need on Black Friday, get them. And being
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grateful doesn't mean that you can't recognize the hardships or the things that you do still need. But it is also
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just such a good reminder and such a classic thing and such a wonderful way to embrace tradition to reflect on the
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things that you are so happy to have and that we are lucky to have. So I did a podcast on my sub stack about how you can
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actually be more grateful. I did a whole podcast, three ways that you can be more grateful before
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Thanksgiving. And if you're interested in listening to that, make sure to subscribe to my sub stack
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newsletter because I put some thought into ways that you can start incorporating the practice of being
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grateful into your life. Number two is to cook with family and friends. Now, if you are hosting at your
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house or even if you're going to someone else's house, ask if you can cook with other people. Cooking is
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such a wonderful way to bring people together. And I know that from personal experience and kind of
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from my mother's example, we didn't really ask people to cook with us growing up. My mom would
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ask the kids, but we didn't have like families come over and cook together. And I still am not the best
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about asking for help when I'm cooking. But I've been thinking a lot more lately about how much I would
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love to cook with friends and to make it into a kind of process that we share. And that to me is
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such a classic, beautiful thing to be able to work together to create something that you can all enjoy
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and just kind of moving around the kitchen and enjoying each other's company and preparing food
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together is one of the most beautiful things that we can do. So on Thanksgiving, whether you're hosting
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or someone else's, either ask people that you love to come over and help make it into a day or ask the
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hostess if she'd be comfortable with you coming over to help. Because not only is it a kindness, not
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only are you giving her the gift of another set of hands, but it's also kind of a way to elongate the
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festivities of the day. Because now you're not showing up at three o'clock and eating, you're showing
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up at noon and helping prepare. And I think that that is such a lovely way to embrace Thanksgiving,
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to make it feel really tender and loving, and even feel more classic. Number three is make your
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favorite pie. I associate Thanksgiving with pie. I don't think I eat pie like any other time of the
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year. But Thanksgiving is pie day. And if you're going to have pie, make it your favorite. Now,
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there are a ton of pies that people love. I personally only like one. And I know that that
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sounds funny, but I'm not a fan of most pie. I know there's lemon meringue, there's key lime,
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there's pumpkin, which is very seasonally appropriate. And there's apple pie. But I only like
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pecan pie. But whatever you like, take the time to prepare it. Now, you can buy a ready-made crust
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at the store. That's what my mom always did growing up. But recently, I've been considering
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trying to make my own crust rather than purchase it. Make the pie something like the centerpiece
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of the meal. And even though it's the dessert, even though turkey is the shining star of the day,
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pie is such a unique thing that we have that really I look forward to all year.
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So if you can make a pie that you love and that you know people around you will love,
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take the time to do that. Find something you love. Maybe ask other family members which ones
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they like. That's what my mom always did. She would always make two or three different kinds
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of pie. She would always make pumpkin and apple and pecan. And I just thought that was really special.
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So making pie is such a classic thing to do for this holiday. Definitely take advantage of
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Thanksgiving to enjoy some pie. Number four is if you are the one hosting, make sure to make everyone
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feel at home. And if you're not the one hosting, make sure that you are helping the hostess.
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Something I really want to start doing more is hosting dinner parties and taking joy and pleasure
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in setting up the eating space. I love tablescapes. I love the way that people decorate their tables to host.
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And I would love to start incorporating that practice into my own practice when I host.
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So it doesn't mean I'm going to have a million different kinds of plates. I know some people
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will literally buy like different settings. I mean, who can afford that? But just like finding some
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pretty things to throw on the table and always making it look really decorative and inviting,
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I think it's such a beautiful way to A, enjoy it myself, take joy in that beauty of decorating.
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But it also makes my guests feel like, wow, you really took the time to prepare. You really wanted
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us to be here and you were ready for us to be here. And making your guests feel at home on the holiday
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is the best thing ever. So one way to do that is to create a beautiful tablescape. Doing something
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like that, like the decorations I have behind me, that will really make people feel ready for the
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holiday and feel welcomed. Another thing you can do is have good beverages for people to drink.
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Whether that mean that you have alcoholic beverages that people can enjoy or just some seltzers and
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sparkling cider, that can make people feel like, wow, they had drinks on hand. It's not just a spur of
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the moment thing that they invited us. Now, are there times that you can have a wonderful event where it
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is spur of the moment? Absolutely. I do that very often, but it is also really, really nice to have
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something that you've prepared for and you've planned for. And Thanksgiving is like the perfect
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holiday for that because there's so many things you can buy decor wise that will make it feel really
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special and also things that you can do to prepare in advance. So making sure that you have those drinks
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on hand is another way you can make sure people feel really welcomed in your home. And the last thing
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that you can do if you're hosting people is make sure that you have a few little snacks for people
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to kind of have throughout the evening. Because usually Thanksgiving is a pretty long day. So it's
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not just the meal and then people leave. Usually it's the meal followed by hanging out, watching
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something, and having those snacks on hand. Whether that mean you're going to make a charcuterie board
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later in the afternoon. I would make the kosher version without the cured meats. Or if you just want
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to have a few like pretty chocolates and some pretzels or popcorn, stuff like that just to make sure that
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everyone stays full. Now if you aren't the one hosting, which I think many of us are not, I'm not
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hosting personally, make sure that you ask the hostess what you can do to help. So if that means
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setting the table, if that means helping with the food like I mentioned earlier, if that means helping
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clean up afterward, just being somebody who can really, they can depend on and they can look to
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you to help make everyone feel at home, that is a really lovely thing to know that you can ask someone
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to help you. And of course you'll be ready to do it. And it is very classic. And it does embrace the
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tradition of being thankful that someone else is hosting, that you get to be in their house and
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participate in this holiday. Last but not least, at the end of this holiday, set up for the next holiday
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so the festivities can continue. So if you are Christian and you are celebrating Christmas,
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make sure at the end of Thanksgiving, it might be nice to just set up that Christmas tree right
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that weekend. So there's this kind of flow from Thanksgiving into the Christmas season, if you
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haven't already set up your Christmas tree. But just making sure that you don't have that little bit
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of like down after a big holiday. I think that's very common is this feeling of like, oh, there was all
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this buildup and then you're like, your emotions kind of fall down. But if you recognize that the
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next thing that's coming is another holiday, then you can set up right afterwards and it gives you
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another thing to look forward to. If you're Jewish this year, Hanukkah is the Sunday after Thanksgiving,
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which is super early in the year. So setting up for Hanukkah right after Thanksgiving is a really
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beautiful thing to do as well. You can pull out your decorations or pull out your Hanukkiah,
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your menorah, and start to set that up so that you again are looking forward to another holiday.
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And something I really love about this as a concept is that it does kind of prevent that emotional
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down that you might experience after such a big holiday because you are just ready and excited for
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the next thing. So those are my five ways to have an incredibly classic Thanksgiving. Let me know in the
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comments what you think. If there's anything that you're doing for Thanksgiving this year that you
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think is really classic, I'd love to know. Thank you so much for watching today's video. And if you
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aren't already subscribed to my channel and notification bells and Substack newsletter and
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media, it's classicallyabby absolutely everywhere. Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, you can find
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me everywhere. So thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you guys in my next video. Bye!