Unfortunately, the weather last week foiled our plans to travel to North Carolina for Thanksgiving with our families, but with a few last minute adjustments and preparations, we were able to celebrate a wonderful holiday together, successfully filling out an unexpected weekend home.

Since we missed the chance to pre-order our usual Thanksgiving turkey from Whole Foods, Meredith and I read through some holiday issues of Food & Wine, Bon Appétit and Martha Stewart Living, and decided to try our hand at the New England Express punch, roasted acorn squash, carrots and greens with dilly bean vinaigrette, and rich and creamy mashed potatoes.We made our turkey from scratch, and after a brunch with good friends, we spent the day cooking, dancing, drinking, and eating – just the way every Thanksgiving should be spent! We even finished the day off with Meredith’s oh-so-delicious apple crisp, thanks to this recipe from Martha.

On Saturday, we took a day trip to New Hampshire (more to come), where we did some shopping and hiking with Orvis, and on Sunday we braved the rain to make a trip to our local Christmas tree farm to partake in one of my favorite new holiday traditions. After we dried our tree out, we decorated our home for the holidays, aided by some holiday tunes from James Taylor, Ella Fitzgerald, and Elvis Presley. Afterward, we cozied up on the couch under the tree and watched Meredith’s favorite holiday movie – Love Actually.

It’s crazy to think that last week our plans for the holiday and weekend were completely different than how they played out, but after a weekend of laughter, adventure, good food, and good company, it’s hard to imagine a better way to spend a few days away from work.