The Sunday Savoring #10

We will NOT be discussing that at Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a time to gather with friends and family. 

With this country being split nearly in half politically, it’s likely those seated around your table will have differing political ideas and opinions. And they will be drinking. What could go wrong? 

My very proper grandmother used to say to me, “Steffie, a woman should keep her political and religious views private.” 

I am not a fan of that sentiment. I think we should all talk about both and more importantly listen. Intently. Without thinking about what we are going to say. 

But, not this year. This year, in my house, everyone is going to do just what my Mimi suggested and keep their politics private.  

I don’t often get the whole family together around my table these days as our oldest lives in Texas, our youngest is away at college and while our middle son still lives here, he is looking to move east so it’s gonna get even rarer. I savor these special moments and we aren’t going to waste them arguing over politics. 

We are going to put aside our differences. We are going to be grateful for the food on our table, our health and the roof over our head. We will also be grateful that we live in a country where we can vote, that we have the right to discuss our politics openly without risk of harm (on any other day of the year) and most importantly that we have each other. 

Someday these politics will be a distant memory, just ask your parents or grandparents, and if we are lucky we will still be here together, gathering around a table, grateful we have each other. 

In case you missed last week’s Savoring, I shared a Thanksgiving Guide and Checklist for those of you who are hosting.

These Thanksgiving Discussion Questions That Aren’t Political
I put together some questions for our dinner talk to keep it light and fun. 

• If you could invite any celebrity to our Thanksgiving dinner, who would it be? 

• What has been your most favorite TV series this year? 

• What is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish? What is your least favorite? 

• If you were a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, what would you be? (Good luck with this one if you have boys.)

• What is your favorite Thanksgiving leftover and how do you like to eat it? 

• If we all went on a trip together and you got to choose the destination, where would we go? 

• What is your favorite Christmas movie/show? 

• What would the title of your memoir be? 

• If your memoir was made into a movie, who would you want to play you? 

• Which Christmas song would you remove from existence if you could? (Mine is All I Want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey. Yours?)

• If you could invite any historical figure to dinner, who would you invite? 

• If you could create a new holiday, what would it be and when would it be celebrated? 

This Martha Interview
I am calling this my Martha era. I have always been quite smitten with her but lately I can’t get enough. This week she was on fabulous on Jimmy Fallon.

Why yes I did purchase a Martha on the Mantel. I will be hiding it for myself every night before bed. Right next to my new Snoop on a Stoop. I’m not kidding. Not even a little. 

This Substack 
Well, actually, THESE Substacks. I posted a note this week on Substack and asked for women to share other women they love in the lifestyle genre and they did not mess around. Women supporting women is STRONG on this platform.

I am working on putting them all in a directory and will also be sharing one here each week. This week I’m sharing Caroline Cala Donofrio and her beautiful short story about losing her faithful dog, Mia, of 16 years and finding a way to love another.

The Curious Case of the Dog and the Hair Tie

This Bridget Jones Trailer
She’s back.

This Quote 
I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. - Maya Angelou

A rainy day and lost luggage? You’ll find me cool as a cucumber. The Christmas tree lights? Psychotic. 

This Playlist
Upbeat, offbeat and sometimes even sexy. This is my favorite Christmas playlist for driving and cooking. 

This Book
I am loving this reimagined story behind Charles Dickens' Christmas classic. Mr. Dickens and His Carol is absolute magic. The perfect book to read during the holiday season. 

This Rom Com
I like a good rom com, my husband LOVES one. On my quest to find one we haven’t seen I did a quick google search and stumbled upon this list of 35 Best Romantic Movies on Netflix. We snuggled in for Set it Up, with my new fave Glen Powell, and we weren’t disappointed. 

This Recipe
I have loved the idea of beef stew my whole life. And yet, I have found every beef stew I’ve eaten my whole life to be a sad disappointment of overcooked beef and lackluster flavor. And then I tried Ina's beef stew recipe in her Modern Comfort Food cookbook. Truly marvelous.

This Nature Moment
Some people love summers at the beach but I prefer a fall or winter day in sweats and a long oversized sweater.

This Reel That Brought Me Joy
The other night JJ and I were laying in bed scrolling through Instagram separately when I received a message from him. He immediately regretted it as I spent the next 20 minutes watching this over and over and singing and dancing in bed.

jtjtimberlakefan

A post shared by @jtjtimberlakefan

These Old Photos
JJ and I used to go to dinner and we would pick a table of diners and create what we thought their stories might be. Sometimes we would enlist our waiter or waitress to find out if we had any of their stories right by eavesdropping for us. Other times we left not knowing if we were even close. Every time we had fun doing it. 

I have a box of old photos that I shoved in my suitcase after my grandmother passed. Everyone was busy fighting over anything of financial value so I took what I wanted that had sentimental value and no one even noticed. 

I don't know who most of these people are as they died long before I even existed. And anyone who might have told me their stories has also passed. I long to know everything about each one of them.

This week I had an idea. What if I play the restaurant game with them? Since I’ll never know their true story, I’ll make one up. I’m going to choose one photo each month and write a fictional life for them. If it’s a success, I’ll share them here in my newsletter.

P.S. Please look at the Christmas tree in the photo on the bottom left. Apparently no one in my family owned a tape measure.

Wanna help? Which photo should I start with? Hit “comment” below and let me know your pick.

That’s a wrap on this week’s Sunday Savoring. Please hit the 🤎 if you enjoyed it and forward to a friend (or two) you think would also love it.