So, yesterday while I was enjoying the culinary delight of a feast that my future son-in-law had prepared a thought occurred to me…
THE STORY
…Thanksgiving is the one holiday when it is perfectly acceptable, encouraged actually, to take a perfectly healthy good-for-you vegetable and pervert it into something unholy, unnatural, unhealthy…and freakin’ delightful. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy me a good vegetable in it’s natural state. But when you take said vegetable and mix it with every unhealthy, fat laden, cavity inducing ingredient in your kitchen, I am definitely on board.
Take the humble sweet potato. In it’s natural state, it’s a nutrient dense fiber-rich one two punch of healthy goodness. But my son and his man transformed fresh raw sweet potatoes into something decidedly…well, dessert like. As in my ass got bigger just smelling it. Even the young nephews were thinking that sweet potatoes were perhaps the best idea ever. Won’t they be crushed with disappointment the next time their mom says, “Hey, we’re having sweet potatoes for dinner” and they rush to the table full of excitement, only to find…an actual sweet potato.
And then there’s the corn. What fun is it to simply serve up a dish of plain old corn? None at all I say. Especially on Perversion of the Vegetables Day. Nope, we take that corn and using a recipe I handed down, mix it with an entire container of sour cream, about ten pounds of butter, some sugar and cornbread mix and bake into something that will make you thank God that you wore baggy loose fitting clothes to dinner.
Let’s not forget the Thanksgiving standards…potatoes and green beans. Of course we load up the potatoes with milk and butter before smothering them in gravy. And the green beans get the full treatment too; smothered in creamy sauce and then baked with greasy crunchy fried onions and cheese on top.
Ya, Tuesday I was waxing poetic about how Thanksgiving is all about family. Maybe that’s not what it’s really about at all. Maybe it’s all about celebrating human ingenuity in the kitchen. Maybe it’s about celebrating that one day a year that we have the collective ability to make little boys actually beg for more “vegetables” and grown ups wish that all pants came with elastic waists.
THE OUTFIT
I happened upon this boho midi dress at Target last weekend when I was out my first Christmas reconnaissance mission of the season. The colors immediately caught my eye, but what really roped me in was that it was on the clearance rack for $14.
Funny thing about this boho midi dress though. For some reason the colors just did not photograph well. I thought it was just me, but if you look at it on the Target site it really isn’t all that eye catching (and it’s still regular price). If I had just seen it there I probably would not have bought it. In person though? The colors are the perfect Autumn dream. Add in the floaty feminine chiffon material and the fact that it comes with a nude slip underneath (which you can use under a variety of other things in your closet) and you have one fabulous dress. Trust me, if you’re looking for an easy no-brainer Autumn bohemian look, even at full price, you’re going to want this dress.
The boots are from ASOS from a few seasons ago. I had picked them up along with a black pair on insane clearance for something like $19 each. In hindsight, I should have gotten back ups. I wear both pairs all of the time and I fear that come next Spring they will be on their last leg and I’ll be on the hunt for replacements. The rust/brown color of this pair was right on the money with the dress. They picked up the deeper shades in the print and made the whole thing all the more gorgeous.
THE TIP
When you see an item online that you love, but it’s still full price and it’s from a brick and mortar retailer (particularly Target, JCPenney and Old Navy), check in store before you purchase. Oftentimes, pieces will be on sale in store when they are still full price online.
THE LINK UPS
Check out the weekly link ups I participate in for even more fashion and style ideas…
Dress: Target; Boots: ASOS (Similar); Sweater: Military Hippie (Similar)
