nomadreader

Last year at Thanksgiving, I had a lot to be thankful for . But I was also somewhat frustrated and bitter. Mr. Nomadreader and I had been trying to get pregnant since April. I couldn't believe it still hadn't happened, and the holidays were imposing that sadness. We spent the year before we started trying to get pregnant enjoying "one last" everything. It was a wonderful year, and I loved every minute of it. I did not imagine I would face another Thanksgiving without a baby on the way, but there I was. "Fuck it," I said. "I wish I were pregnant, but I'm not, so let's get drunk." And I did. It was not the Thanksgiving I wanted, but it sure was fun. And little did I know then that less than two weeks later, I would take a pregnancy test, certain I wasn't pregnant, and discover I was. And this year I got to celebrate the first Thanksgiving with the nomadbaby. What a difference a year makes. Happy Thanksgiving!

It's one of my favorite days of the year! It's also perhaps the only day I willingly and excitedly wake up early. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is one of my favorite past times. I'm settled into my lady lair (where the digital antenna can actually pull in NBC) with a glass of sparkling wine with a splash of cherry juice (yum!) And Paleo cinnamon rolls are almost done baking in the oven. The Meal Mr. Nomadreader and I are once again hosting my parents and grandmother for a Thanksgiving feast. The main event this year is a maple and spiced apple cider brined pork loin. It's been in the brine for 24 hours, and I cannot wait to taste it. Hosting Thanksgiving is a newer tradition, but this is the third year in a row we've done it. I particularly love not having to travel, so I can just relax and enjoy a long weekend with family...and books. I'm blessed he does most of the cooking while I enjoy the parade too! The Rest of the Day...and the weekend Aft...

It's so nice to be Salon-ing two weekends in a row. I'm planning to hunker down at home today, as even my cold-weather-loving self finds single-digit temperatures when the sun is out quite cold. While I should  run a few errands, when facing a two-day work week, it's easy to find reasons to just stay home and read This is the Story of a Happy Marriage  by Ann Patchett, one of my favorite authors. I've read some of its essays before, but I'm still enjoying them again. Look for my review on December 10th. On Catching Fire Yesterday, Mr. Nomadreader and I had a rare day off together. Even more rare: it was a Saturday. We celebrated by having a delicious brunch at Le Jardin , a recently resurrected Des Moines restaurant. In typical Des Moines fashion, we ran into friends and acquaintances while we were there. Then we headed to the mall (the horror!) and enjoyed a few martinis before settling in for an afternoon showing of Catching Fire.  I adored the book when I r...

As I read back on last year's Thanksgiving post , I was struck by how little has changed (and what a first for me to be in the same place doing the same thing two years in a row!) I'm still up early to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I'm enjoying my coffee, waiting for Mr. Nomadreader to wake up, and hoping I have enough time to finish The Middlesteins  by Jami Attenberg before he does. Soon we'll open up a bottle of sparkling wine to truly toast this annual tradition. There are once again cinnamon rolls in the oven, but this year they're  paleo cinnamon rolls  to correspond with our new eating lifestyle (and by new, I mean five months and counting.) In a few hours, my parents and my grandmother will arrive for Thanksgiving dinner. Mr. Nomadreader is once again slow roasting pork shoulder, a far tastier option than turkey. Tonight we'll be putting up our Christmas trees (yes, two people in a one bedroom can have two trees!) Most importan...

When Thankfully Reading Weekend was launched two years ago, I wasn't able to participate much because I had to work most of the weekend (oh, graduate school...) This year, I'm blessed (truly) with a five-day Thanksgiving weekend, and I'm spending much of it reading. I'm also catching up on neglected review posts. My plan Seriously, waking up today and realizing it's only now the true weekend left me feeling relaxed, thankful and blessed. Mr. Nomadreader and I have planned a Mexican lunch out (festive, right?) followed by a matinee of The Descendents  (review coming this week). I'm excited it's movie award season and all the films I'm most excited about are finally coming out. We plan to be back home and lounging on the couch before five o'clock. I'm hoping to finish Winter Garden  by Kristin Hannah tonight. Then I'm excited to start A Bitter Truth , the third Bess Crawford mystery by Charles Todd. It came out at the end of August, and I...

Last year I wrote about my love of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade . It still baffles those who know me how much I love it. The cinnamon rolls are in the oven baking, but I'll wait to open the sparkling wine until Mr. Nomadreader wakes up (or at least have a few cups of coffee first.) We're hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, which I'm incredibly excited about. Tonight we'll be putting up our Christmas trees (yes, I take on the fully nostalgic tree filled with ornaments of childhood, while Mr. Nomadreader decorates a display window-worthy grown-up tree.) We're a two tree family in a one bedroom apartment, and I'm so excited to celebrate our first Christmas in this apartment. This year, as I contemplate how incredibly different my life is than this time last year (is it possible I was still in grad school and fretting about pending unemployment this time last year?), I'm quite moved by the spirit of Thanksgiving and giving thanks. Here's an ...

The backstory: I saved  Strangers at the Feast  to read over Thanksgiving, when the book is set, even after everyone has been gushing about it . The basics: Strangers at the Feast is the story of three generations of the Olson family on Thanksgiving day. My thoughts: I adore novels told from multiple points of view, and Jennifer Vanderbes did a fantastic job with these characters. The reader is drawn into their present lives and treated to backstory and family history. For such a short novel, Vanderbes was able to manage an immense amount of depth for all of the characters. I often find myself identifying with one character more than others in multiple narrator novels, but this novel was completely balanced. Foreshadowing was prominent throughout the novel, and it was clear something bad happened on Thanksgiving. Despite my eagerness to solve the mystery, there were no unnecessary diversions. I was as invested in the characters and the story. I read the book in a sin...

Thanksgiving is one of the few days of the year I look forward to waking up early (and by early I mean before 9 a.m.) For reasons that baffle even those who know me best, I adore watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC. Yes, it's horribly commercial, silly and cheesy, but there is something magical about it I've never quite outgrown. My favorite part is always the showtunes from current Broadway shows, but I love the floats adorned with teen pop stars I've never heard of, the high school marching bands, the Rockettes, and, yes, the balloons. Today, I'm sitting ready with a glass of sparkling wine, a cinnamon roll (or three) and a giant smile on my face. After the parade, I'm enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with family and settling in to read. I saved Strangers at the Feast by Jennifer Vanderbes, a novel set on Thanksgiving Day, to read this week, but I managed to finish it yesterday because I could not put it down. Today I hope to enjoy The Orange Ea...