Thanksgiving Living

Autumn aesthetic.

Squirrel girl.

Charlotte's new favorite book.

Hallway harvest.

Coat: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Mom's place settings.

Mom's tablescape.

Top: Madden Girl, Macy's; Skirt: ModCloth

Garland: Michaels

A can-do Thanksgiving.

Bag, pouch: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Acorn ring: Decoration from some old dessert

The holidays are never perfect.  Still, I sometimes often succumb to the hype that they should be.  So this Thanksgiving, in addition to the posing and pageantry, I'm serving reality.  

In this last pic, Char Bar has collided with my lipstick for the third time, staining her clothes.  And I'm handling it with my usual grace and equanimity.  Granted, a makeup malfunction is a bogus thing to bemoan -- especially considering my sister missed Thanksgiving because her youngest was sick.  But in that moment, my micro-misfortune was magnified, blocking out all thoughts except momlife is hard.  

Three slices of pie later, I was feeling more zen.  So much so that I remembered something.  Five Thanksgivings ago, I was gearing up to start fertility testing, which I started but never finished.  The whole thing made me panicky, and I decided it wasn't meant to be.  And now here I was with this beautiful baby.  Sure, she snatched my bookmarks and deprived me of sleep and flung her pears on the floor.  But I loved her more than anything and couldn't imagine life without her.

So Charlotte, you're what I'm thankful for, this Thanksgiving and every Thanksgiving after.  

Also that for Christmas you can wear red, camouflaging the lipstick.