Maria = MIA for months and months? Yes. Life is complicated. AHHHH. Yes. But very soon I will be eating Pecan Pie. So.

(1) Bear To Do Notepad. (Little Otsu, $6) Grocery lists. Beer lists. Wine lists. Room assignments. All the better if your to-do list is encouraging — flip the page after you To-Did-It, and the pad itself exclaims, “You Did It!”

(2) Fill-in-the-Blank Cookbook Log (The Small Object, $14). A unique way to organize your cookbooks. Better than post-its?

(3) Anne Taintor Paper Cocktail Napkins (Kitchen Kapers, $5). Subtly tell your family what you really think. (The “Ta-daa! Let’s have a cocktail!” napkin would be particularly apt for me.)

(4) Dysfunctional Family Bingo (Knock Knock, $8). Get the fun ones to play.

(5) Winter Iris Apron (Anthropolgie, $32). Because this is the only piece of clothing in Anthropolgie under $40.

(6) Big Wish Life Size Wishbone Necklace ($32, soradesigns on Etsy). So apparently Jennifer Aniston made a dainty little, tiny wishbone necklace popular because she wore it in “He’s Just Not That Into You.” I prefer my jewelry non-dainty.

(7) Wood Rings Bottle Opener (The Curiosity Shoppe, $34). Much harder to lose when attached to the wall.

(8) BONUS! Not included because has little to do with Thanksgiving!!! But, this is what I’d wear to T-day if I had $88 to spare:

(PJ by Peter Jensen Bunny Sweater, Urban Outfitters, $88)

So, in the spirit of truly weird holidays, my family and I have an annual Turkey Making Contest. Our turkeys are made out of not meat, but out of paper grocery bags, construction paper, and tape. (We also have one made of meat, but that comes later.)

The Rules: Partners chosen randomly out of a hat. They may be occasionally adjusted to avoid catastrophe or to avoid couples working together (because you are supposed to spend time with a family member you don’t see often). Time limit set at beginning. Usually about an hour. A brown paper or grocery bag must be used as a main part of your turkey.

The Goal: Family bonding and a creative turkey. The winner is usually humorous and looks kind of like a turkey.

The Winner: Voted upon by all turkey-makers. Cannot vote for your own.

Trash Talking: Allowed. Clean only if children present. (ie “You call that a turkey? It looks more like a stork to me.”)

Hint: Must complete contest prior to dinner or else everyone will lack motivation. Dinner is an acceptable bribe to encourage participation, ie “You can’t eat unless you participate in the Turkey Making Contest.

Over the years, we’ve had a Picasso Turkey, a Why Did the Turkey Cross the Road, a Turkey Crime Scene (turkey parts and caution tape), and a Leftovers Turkey (a turkey whose neck stuck up through the top of a sandwich).

As you can see above, there is always stiff competition and often the theme of death:

1. Dead Turkey. Looks like this one was marked since the beginning.
2. Sliced Turkey. Look at the creative spiral with the red-meat, balloon body!
3. Beer Butt Turkey. A favorite recipe in our family is “Beer Butt Chicken.” Basically, you shove a can of beer up the rear-end of the chicken and cook it just like that. This is a Thanksgiving variation.
4. Siamese Turkeys. Introducing Rob & Bob, sadly connected at the back. This guy could even stand on its own! (One of mine!)
5. Marilyn Monroe Turkey. Maybe a disguise so she won’t be eaten? (Also one of mine!)
6. Pork-orican Turkey. Some of my family is Puerto Rican, and they are big fans of Pork for every holiday — including Thanksgiving.
7. Tofurkey. For the vegetarians.
8. Grace: Thanksgiving Day [Turkey] Barbie. Look at that: she comes in a box with plastic wrap and everything! (Another of mine.)

If I asked you for your turkey ideas, my family would claim I was cheating (part of the trash-talking). But, if you happen to think of a turkey idea on your own and want to post a comment about it… it’s a free blogosphere.

PS Long weekend for S&D! See you Monday & have a great T-day!

I psyched you out with that one, didn’t I? Stickers & Thanks-Giving rather than and Donuts?

So, a few weeks ago my kind associate Tricia interviewed Susan Eslick, the Creative Director at Mrs. Grossman’s. We loved Susan & all the Mrs. Grossman’s people, and after the interview, Tricia and I were even more sticker-obsessed than usual. And, each having recently acquired stickers, we wanted to do a follow-up post.

Since I am now frightfully unemployed, I was thinking of inexpensive ways to say thank you, you’re cool, and happy birthday, without spending too much money. Stickers are a GREAT way to do this. They are also very helpful around Thanksgiving when it’s advent calendar making time (wait, you don’t make advent calendars on thanksgiving?!).

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are some ways you can give your stickers (ps if anyone doesn’t like to get stickers, you should probably not be friends with them):

1. Hostess Gifts. Especially if you have to travel a long distance (say, the 500 mile journey I’ll be making this Wednesday), it’s hard to carry things like fresh flowers or fresh fruit. I am completely enamored with Mrs. Grossman’s line of Extraordinary stickers, which are PERFECT for this. (Look at the image above: Do you see how big that flower is? Almost as big as my face! THAT IS AN EXTRAORDINARY STICKER. Also, look at those grapes. You could almost eat them!)
2. Place Cards. Susan herself said she liked a side of irony with her stickers, so adding some funny stickers to table place cards could certainly entertain you and your guests alike. What about a big pile of fast food for a Thanksgiving place card?
3. Sticky Birthday Surprises. So, even though I’m not employed anymore, I faintly remember what it’s like to have to consider the birthdays of many co-workers. Even if you just know someone peripherally, it is imperative that you recognize their birthday. Giving a birthday sticker — or better yet sticking stickers around the birthday girl/boy secretly throughout the day — will certainly show that you’ve remembered them.
4. ADVENT CALENDARS! I am from a family of complicated-tradition makers. One of those traditions is making advent calendars thanksgiving weekend. (Yes, I have made advent calendars for people who don’t celebrate xmas. EVERYONE loves opening doors.) We pick names out of a hat and have to make a calendar for that person. We have template that we cut out with an X-acto knife, but since I can’t find that at the moment, I found this template online for you. What do we put in the doors of our advent calendars? Magazine cutouts, funny inside jokes, and lots of stickers! Our favorite thing to do is tear stickers apart and combine monsters and cheerleaders, xmas stickers and halloween stickers, etc.

Can you think of any other ways to give with your stickers? Susan likes to put them on waiter’s checks!  Tricia has discovered that they are a lovely addition to her baristas’ tip jar!

ALSO, I just discovered this feature on the Mrs. Grossman’s site where you can FAVORITE different stickers. Here are my favorites thus-far, and here are Tricia’s favorites. (And no, Mrs. Grossman’s is not paying us to be obsessed with them. We just are.)