SEASONAL LIVING AT ARCADIAN REVIVAL

Gratitude. Only November has a way of connecting each of us with such powerful conviction through the use of a single word. November is very much the beginning, if not height in many ways, of the holiday season for us at home. We spend the month as a family discussing and deeply considering all that we’re thankful for with the passing of each year.

We take tremendous pride in hosting both sides of our family for the entire long holiday weekend at Thanksgiving. With growing numbers of children, babies, and dogs each time around, I often wonder how large of a net we’ll be able to cast when it’s all said and done.

We pace ourselves in the kitchen all month, enjoy bits of cold weather spices, but keep things simple with soups and chili. Warm seasonal baked bread, and the end of any local produce we can get our hands on. We enjoy planning a menu not just for Thanksgiving dinner, but for at least four or five days of guests.

Each year, my husband and I pride ourselves on doing just one a few things each year to make the holiday more special, more memorable, to engage each family member in a way they haven’t yet before.

We take in as many last autumn hikes as we can squeeze in. And although it’s been years since I’ve been living in Ohio on a permanent basis, I still manage to sneak back to join my mother’s highly anticipated holiday open house shows as often as I’m able. Always the Saturday before Thanksgiving, it often coincides with her birthday making it a sincerely heartfelt celebration to kick off the holiday season with so many of our family and friends.