I am not away this holiday weekend. I am very much at home, ¼ of the way through a Thanksgiving menu prep list and so thankful to get to celebrate with family for the first time in my new home. As I prepare to gather my family for a totally plant-based Thanksgiving, complete with some delicious desserts by my favorite local vegan bakeries, I wanted to share some of my favorite resources for luxuriating in being at home, no planes, no trains, no traffic, probably not even any shoes. 

Tablescaping
Tablescaping is my new mindfulness exercise. After years of tiny-apartment living, I have a dining table (like, not just a couch and coffee table). I am 100% enthusiasm and 0% on experience, so have been relying on these gorgeous tables, including one by Well + Away friend Abbye Churchill.

A 2017 Classic
This post by The Atlantic from 2017 is my go-to for anyone who thinks that ditching plastic straws is really doing all that much for the climate and water waste. Hint: it’s not. This investigative style report on water waste and animal agriculture shares how much of a change we can make by swapping beef for beans.

Just move. 
I am preparing my body for a feast to end all feasts by kicking off Thanksgiving morning with a SoulCycle session to get my metabolism revving and ready to eat and drink. My goal for after dinner is to get the family on an easy 15-minute walk, probably with drinks in hand, to break up all the sitting (and because I have no interest in football). 

Cut out some of the booze
More and more people are not drinking, going either sober, ‘California sober’ ie just cutting booze, or just being mindful of what their alcohol intake is. I’m making it easier to still feel festive and not drink by offering a sparkling cranberry punch. And there will be plenty of cola-flavored LaCroixs. 

Give plants center stage
I am not a blogger. I am not up-to-date on what is happening in the blogosphere, I don’t know who is winning blog awards and I when I write it is either for our Well + Away VitalGuide guidebooks or for traditional media outlets. As amateur a blogger as I might be, what I do know is that blogger Stacey Homemaker and her complete ‘how-to’ guide for a vegan Thanksgiving is the most useful blog post ever written. Enjoy.