Thanksgivukkah

This year was the first year in over a hundred years that Thanksgiving and the first night of Hanukkah have overlapped, leading the Internet to coin the term Thanksgivukkah!
Seeing the opportunity to host a big dinner and loving the concept of being part of a once in a lifetime event, several friends and I decided we'd get together the day after Thanksgiving to commemorate the day.
Frying in oil, as is tradition: Potato latkes.

Pretty delicious..but what's not to love about fried potatoes and onions?

Getting everything set before people started arriving. I started making desserts and seasoning the brisket a couple days in advance. Then, for about 10 minutes before everybody came, I popped everything onto sheet pans and warmed it in the oven so it would be warm, flavorful, and delicious when we all sat down to eat. 

My twist on an Ina Garten brisket recipe - tender and delicious..falling apart! (I studded mine with slivers of garlic cloves, added a little brandy and red wine to the vegetables as they sauteed, and covered the brisket with chicken stock and water before popping into the oven for 3 1/2 hours)
Roasted carrots from the same Dutch oven as the brisket, roasted balsamic red onions, fingerling potatoes with garlic aioli, Brussels sprouts, latkes, several different flavors of rugelach, a rustic pear, apple, and cranberry tart, and a huge challah to break with friends. Wash it down with a little manischewitz, and you've got yourself a feast!
There were leftovers....but there weren't THAT many leftovers! The sign of a successful night :)

Party time :)

In addition to just doing things because they needed done, we had the added incentive to finish projects because I had a housewarming party this past Saturday! I invited several good friends from school, and lots of people from around town. Lots of food, lots of drinks, and lots of good people – it was a really great time J

I stayed up late the night before finishing up the window painting project in the solarium. I wanted to get those done and the grilles painted so that people could get a feel for the direction that room was headed, and I’m glad I did. A little more touch-up painting on the walls and everything was ready for deep cleaning!

2:00am aaaaand DONE!

I even received a couple new plants! Greenhouse, here we come ;)

I dusted, scrubbed, and swept EVERYTHING really well…I’m always amazed how well the house cleans up. When we were covered in insulation and plaster dust, I thought – for sure – I’d never get the house cleaned ever again. Luckily, I was wrong!

Housewarming party turned Slumber party!

This was after we had been semi-cleaning throughout the night..

Thankfully (but against my instructions) my friends were kind enough to help clean up before they left. I suppose, in retrospect, we did make kind of a mess. The true sign of a successful party.

With the landscaping stones put in place last weekend, my leftover siding sold on Craigslist, and the lot next door cleaned up, even the outside of the house was looking pretty good. The pallet the siding was shipped on was going to be used for a fire the night of the party, but we had such a good time inside, we never made it back OUTside. Sunday morning after my friends had gone, I decided I would go ahead and start the fire anyway. There were a couple other things for the pile, too…..I decided to burn everything all at once J Mwahaha!

My little fire ring before being loaded up with scrap wood.

Who knew the driveway was so big?! I'm now down to two piles left up here :)

...oops.

Otherwise, a pretty quiet day. A little more cleaning..a little movie watching..a short nap, and all was right with the world.