While I do love Thanksgiving I don’t put much time to set the table. So this year I’m thankful for perfectly set, simple tables made by lifestyle bloggers and Crate & Barrel stylists.

This year I'm having a love/hate relationship with Thanksgiving. I typically love Thanksgiving although it's a holiday everyone else would rather skip over in order to get right to Christmas. I think my love of Thanksgiving stems from when I was a kid because when Thanksgiving was finally here so was Christmas. But now Christmas pretty much starts in July essentially ruining the season by the time Christmas actually comes around. But I digress. I think this year's Thanksgiving is upsetting to me because the year is almost over, and I just don't feel like I've accomplished anything I truly wanted to do.

Well with the long periods of time I spend in the kitchen, I must have music to accompany me. A few years ago I created a mix for my Thanksgiving prep and just something to have playing while people hang out. These mixes differ from my usual mixes in that they include jazz music. There's something about this time of year, and when I cook in general, that just says jazz to me. This time I decided to mix some "on theme" songs about Thanksgiving related things (like being thankful and mashed potatoes), and some other mood fitting songs.

I can't believe that there is less than a week until Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year despite the mountain of stress I put on myself. Yes, I cook an entire Thanksgiving meal (turkey, mashed potatoes, and even pies) all by myself. Everyone else just gets to enjoy their morning watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, eating well thought out light snacks, and, well, watching me like I'm some kind of Food Network cooking show. Then there's my dog who spends the entire afternoon tripping me in the kitchen when she gets tired of watching the post-parade airing of the dog show (okay fine, she's just sleeping).