Thursday, November 27, 2008

Plaza Lighting at Thanksgiving

I had a very peaceful Thanksgiving morning watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and enjoying Sara Lee Pecan Coffee Cake in memory of my grandfather, Max Hilton. My favorite memory of time with "Pop" is getting up early (before anyone else was up) and sharing a SL Coffee Cake with him. It was our little secret - and he always had another one to throw in the oven when the others woke up. I was sad to not be with my family but it's just hard and expensive to travel at Thanksgiving when it's so close to Christmas - especially since my family are all so far away.
My wonderful friend, Lesa, invited me to her house for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. I made a pecan pie for the occasion (I just learned how to make them!) - as well as our family tradition, Cranberry Ice. It's similar to a frozen cranberry sherbet but we eat it with the meal. I was late getting there so most people had already fixed their plates and I didn't have a chance to tell people what it was so I ended up bringing most of it home. On Friday I actually had to bake a turkey just to have leftovers to eat with my cranberry ice.

We decided to go down to the Plaza for the annual Plaza lighting ceremony. My friends, Meri Ann & Kim, live very close to the plaza so we parked at Meri Ann's house and walked down to the plaza. It was a beautiful evening - perfect weather! The plaza didn't seem as crowded as it has seemed in the past and we managed to make our way down to the very center of the plaza. It was a great place to enjoy the countdown and the flip of the switch lighting up the whole area with gorgeous lights!

As soon as the lights were on, people started streaming out but the show wasn't over. We made our way closer to the stage as people left and the show ended with a giant singalong with David Cook (American Idol winner from Blue Springs, MO) as we all joined in some good old fashioned Christmas carols. It was a surreal and awesome feeling! It absolutely made my Thanksgiving!
We headed back towards the car but as we passed the Seville Square theater it sucked us in to go see a movie. Why not? It's a holiday! We bought our tickets and had a little time to kill so we walked around taking pictures of the lights - and of course, Penguin Court. What's a trip to the plaza without playing with my favorite penguins? I'm very thankful for a family that I miss being with when we're apart and for friends that bring so much fun into my life.

No comments: