I love a well-set table! I am thinking about lovely table settings today because I just finished a chapter in my new book in which I tell about a time I set a glorious table right before it came to DISASTER! You will read about that soon enough. Until then, I thought I would share some pictures from a fun table we set last year at Thanksgiving.
For as long as I can remember, I have spent Thanksgiving with my best friend’s family out at their ranch. The laughter rings loud in the afternoon, and in the frosty evening, we pile on down jackets and flannel blankets and head out for a silent ride around the property in the Mule. We point out the glow of what we hope are deer eyes and then finish the night with hot chocolate on the balcony before we head off to bed.
But part of my heart always stays back home, where my sister-in-law and her family and mine get together to enjoy her stellar cooking and her sister’s stunning floral arrangements. If I didn’t think starring in TV shows ruins people’s lives, I would want Tiffany and Tara to have their own show. You would love it! I have never had better cooking than Tara’s and never seen better floral and decorating than Tiff’s (check out my Hunting Hope launch party for evidence). Last year, I was helping them set the table the night before Thanksgiving, and we were all feeling a little uninspired until I started writing with Sharpie all along the brown butcher paper they had laid down as a runner.
It was so fun, thinking of what to write! My nieces helped us brainstorm, and pretty soon we had every spot covered. As I said, I was out in west Texas the following day, but I’m told every guest came in and laughed as they read all of the “place cards” and chose where to sit. If you want to do something like this, I think conversation starters on the table can make gatherings fun, but the key is to make all of the labels as positive as possible. Even the ones that are a little negative, like “the con artist” or “the troublemaker” can be kind of funny when someone picks it for themselves and tells you why. Trust me, we wouldn’t have used those labels on the table if we thought it was going to be a sore spot. We thought of several other funny labels that we decided against because someone could have taken them the wrong way. I would never endorse anything that might hurt someone, so be careful. You know your family. You know how to take actions that promote unity and bonding and how to avoid actions that sting and create division.
In this case, it turned out to be fun for everyone, and when my sister-in-law finally sat down after all the food preparations were complete, she found that her family had saved a spot just for her: “the servant.”
And my brother smiled as he sat down at “the lucky one.” Truly, he is.
Happiest Thanksgiving to you and yours. Eat some pecan pie for me.
