What's Up Wednesday

Happy day-before-Thanksgiving! I have been MIA the past few weeks due to work commitments. I can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Let the holiday festivities begin. :)

Today, I am linking up with Shay for my fourth "What's Up Wednesday," which consists of answering the following questions, plus the bonus question, "What is your favorite Christmas tradition?"

1. What We're Eating This Week
It's been chilly here this week, so I made a big batch of turkey chili in my crock-pot for lunchtime.

And of course, I'll be having the traditional Thanksgiving meal with family (my favorite dish is turkey and pumpkin pie). If you're looking for a new spin on pumpkin pie, try this pumpkin squares recipe I posted earlier this month.

2. What I'm Reminiscing About
Childhood Christmas in Germany. We used to put real candles on the tree and light it. Thinking about it now, I'm surprised this was allowed (major fire hazard!) but the tree was so beautiful. Here's me as a four year old (on the bottom left) with the tree.

3. What I'm Loving
The short week!  I don't have work on Thanksgiving or on Friday. Yay for the long weekend.

4. What We've Been Up To
Work, work, work and more work. This time of year of work is always super busy.

5. What I'm Dreading
Nothing...I love everything about this time of year.

6. What I'm Working On
Trying to go to the gym at least 3 times a week during the holidays. This is always a struggle for me because there is so much to do! I bought some new shoes recently (in pink!) so I'm hoping that will motivate me.

7. What I'm Excited About
Family visiting over the holidays. We have the best time! We play card games, sit around the fireplace, bake, cook, and exchange stories.

8. What I'm Watching/Reading
I love watching my favorite Christmas movies this time of year. Some of my favorites include Christmas Vacation, Elf, The Holiday, and my favorite, Home Alone. I can watch that movie over and over and never get sick of it. So good!
 

9. What I'm Listening To
Christmas music! Here in L.A., KOST 103.5 FM starts playing Christmas music in November, so I've been listening to this station on my iheartratio app nonstop.

10. What I'm Wearing
This cozy tunic sweater I bought from Banana Republic last month.  It's finally sweater weather here in California.

11. What I'm Doing This Weekend
Baking holiday goodies with my mom! We bake each year Thanksgiving weekend, because the cookies we make are so time consuming (they are German hazelnut jelly cookies) and require two people (one to do the baking, and one to fill them with jelly and dust them with vanilla powder and sugar). I also hand-dip pretzels in white and dark chocolate to give to friends, family, and coworkers.

12. What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month
All the Christmas decorations! I usually put up my tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, and I usually help my parents put theirs up the weekend of Thanksgiving. Here is my tree and my parents' tree from last year.

13. What Else is New
This is back!  I wait for it every year.  It's my favorite peppermint bark.  After much searching, I found it at Walmart and Home Goods.

14. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?
My favorite Christmas tradition is staying up late on Christmas Eve and opening gifts at midnight. This is a tradition that carried over from when we lived in Germany. We've never opened gifts on Christmas morning-- that concept is a bit foreign to me. Instead, we have breakfast, attend Church, and then have Christmas lunch/dinner later that afternoon.

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving.