Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to take this early opportunity to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy Thanksgiving with family and/or friends, gathering at some point around a table to share a meal. Equally important will be everyone celebrating Thanksgiving by giving - charities need help now more than ever. If I could stand for hours (still difficult because of back pain), I would be serving dinner to those less fortunate. I'm grateful I can contribute money instead of person power.

I'm thankful for you! I have an extended family: my blog readers. The Internet has given us an opportunity to cross paths in ways most of us wouldn't have imagined 20 years ago. Now, I can chat with readers like Eileen, Val, Clarisse, Ava, and Lovethescents (to name just five of you) - so many miles away - and I get an occasional opportunity to meet a few of you at local events. It's fun to share our worlds and our love of beauty in all its forms. So, thank you for being a big part of my world and for allowing me to be a small part of yours.

I'm grateful for Giorgio Arman Beauty, Le Métier de Beauté, CREED, Chanel, Sisley, RéVive Skin Care - you name it, companies that make my days exciting. I'm also grateful to UPS and FedEx! Those guys make me happy. Maybe it's superficial, but days with a delivery are so much better than those without. I also want to mention my fellow bloggers - especially Gaia and Kari - whose friendships are important to me. Gaia had something to celebrate this week; she's now an American citizen!

You can tell I'm rambling...otherwise my Mom and Charlie would have been at the top of my list. Mom is 89 now, and she's doing well. Charleston (aka Charlie) is the love of my life. I have loved every cat in my life. Somehow, Charlie is different. He's literally a best friend. I think he feels the same way about me, although yesterday may have been an exception. He had to go his doctor for his annual shots. He was not happy.

I'm grateful for all the non-profits that help animals in need and the environment. What would we do without them? I'm afraid that there would be many more endangered species, more helpless animals roaming the streets, and a lot less green space. Please remember them (organizations like Best Friends and the Nature Conservancy) in your year-end giving. I'm also appreciative of the on-the-ground charities, like SHARE in our local area, that help those truly in need.

When I think about it, I have many more things to celebrate this Thanksgiving, including all my friends (one of whom just called from California). So, while I do the "usual things" tomorrow including watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (yes, dorky), probably drinking too much white wine or Champagne leading up to a full meal, and sharing that meal with my Mom, I will remember to be thankful for all of the people and things that are important to me on the other 364 days of the year.

Wishing you a great day tomorrow and a fun weekend,

Charlestongirl

Photo courtesy of theholidayspot.com

17 comments:

Gaby said...

Have a Great Thanksgiving!! I am grateful for many things too including your blog. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication. Enjoy your holiday especially the time with your mom and Charlie. Much Love- Gaby

Charlestongirl said...

That's so sweet, Gaby! Thank you!

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, doing things you love with those you love!

Clarisse said...

A Happy Thankgiving to you, Charlestongirl with your Mum and little Charlie!I hope you'll enjoy every moment of this celebration!
Like Gaby, I am very grateful for your blog and you know your friendship is very precious for me ♥
Tomorrow I'll think of you and all your American bloggers to whom I wish a beautiful Thanksgiving with their families and friends! Cheers (Champagne is wonderful for those celebrations, isn'it...)

Charlestongirl said...

Thank you, Clarisse! Love you!

I think other countries that don't have Thanksgiving on a different day ought to adopt the holiday. Who doesn't like to get together around a meal? If you don't like food, there's football and shopping. :)

Joey said...

Have a lovely Thanksgiving! Eat and drink a little extra for me: I work tomorrow, and I won't be attending any sort of dinner with family or friends. Instead after work I'm going home to drink a large (and spiked!) cup of hot chocolate =)

I am so grateful to know you! xo

Charlestongirl said...

Oh no, Joey! You are working? No meal with your mom? I'm curious...what do you use to spike hot chocolate? Bailey's? :)

I'm grateful for your friendship (ditto!).

Hope your day - even at work - is nice!

Eileen said...

Oh, Cahrlestongirl, what a great post! And, the picture of the woods dressed in all it's firey color is splendid in the way that only autumn can be. While reading the things for which your are thankful, I felt like I was on a walk in the forest with you; sharing thoughts while taking in all the beauty of the gorgeous woods around us. You have a generous heart and an infectious enthusiasm which spreads joy like sunshine and I thank you for that. I hope your day with your mom and beloved Charlie will be filled with the kind of peace and contentment we find when we are with kindred spirits and loving souls. And, if all else fails, as you so rightly said, there's always football and shopping :-)

Hi Clairisse,

My aunt and her husband, who live in France, always host a potluck Thanksgiving dinner party for friends and neighbors. It's become a bit of a tradition in the small town in Brittany where they live. She roasts the turkey and fixes the stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce but everything else is la cuisine française cheerfully contributed by their friends and neighbors who look forward to the Yank's and Brit's Thanksgiving party every year. Listen carefully, Clarisse, and perhaps you'll hear the champagne corks popping :-)

To everyone else, I wish you a wonderful holiday. Whether you spend it with family, friends, or on your own, I hope you'll feel touched and blessed by all the wonders around you. Happy Thanksgiving!

Charlestongirl said...

Thank you, Eileen! I hope you'll have your "kids" with you for the holiday - the human ones. I know the darling dogs will be there.

Speaking of Huskies, have you seen that YouTube dog saying, "I love you"? It's so silly-cute!

Taking a walk in the woods sounds nice. Unfortunately, this week, I took a walk in a "mud pile" that was a forest just a few weeks ago. Made me want to cry. With mild weather this weekend, I'll have a chance to hose down my sailing boots, which have come in handy for that construction site.

We'll get Mom drunk tomorrow afternoon (only takes a full glass of wine) and enjoy the meal, hopefully. Since Charlie doesn't eat "people food," he'll have his fave Fancy Feast. Savvy will too. I'll be popping a cork tomorrow. Maybe Clarisse can join us!

Happy weekend!

b.clay1 said...

happy thanksgiving! i'm loving your blog and i'm thankful for it. enjnoy your day!

Charlestongirl said...

Thank you, b.clay1! That's so sweet!

I hope you have a wonderful day. I've been watching the parade, with a big kitty in my lap. :) Lazy morning.

Walls said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Charlestongirl! May it be full of love, joy, and good food. Hugs to Charlie for braving his shots!

Charlestongirl said...

Thanks, Walls! Happy Thanksgiving to you!

He seems to have forgiven me, since he spent most of the Macy's parade on my lap. :)

Clarisse said...

Hi Charlestongirl, hi Eileen!
Thank you for the suggestion: I'll adopt the Thankgiving holiday next year and invite friends to celebrate our blessings, it's lovely to seize the opportunity to say Thank You!
Eileen, I didn't hear the pop of the champagne corks at your aunt and uncle's...maybe because at my Sephora, champagne corks were popping too:-) The owners of the Gold Card were invited to a private session after the shop was usually closed (from 19h to 21h30)and there were all sorts of reductions on the products, the sales assistant were ready to help, there were trays of canapés (salted and sweet, champagne was flowing and each customer left with a rose...I was there with a Japanese friend who found it fantastic...I began my beauty Christmas shopping; and I granted me some gifts too: the Prisme Visage Rose cashmere by Givenchy and 2 lipsticks by Dior which are gorgeous!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you ♥

lovethescents said...

Dear Charlestongirl, I'm late to the party, but I so appreciate you! Thank you for your wonderful and informative blog that I always look forward to reading, even if I don't have enough time to comment. A very happy Thanksgiving to you and all of your readers. May it be beautiful and plentiful, in both cosmetics and fun :-)

Charlestongirl said...

Thank you, Lovethescents! I know you already had Thanksgiving in Canada, but we are just completing ours. I think I'm in a food coma. :)

Charlestongirl said...

Clarisse, that was at Sephora? You gals in France are treated WAY better than we are!

lovethescents said...

Clarisse, what a wonderful Sephora experience! I'm so envious of your lovely gifts. Enjoy them, and the post-Champagne buzzzzzzzz :-)