I have been happily catching up on all your posts this week, and have loved seeing how everyone around the web spent their Thanksgiving. It’s easily one of my favorite holidays – spending a whole day with loved ones cooking and eating, what’s not to love?

As you know I was down south in New Orleans last weekend. Can I just tell you, it’s my new favorite US city. I’m aware of the overuse of superlatives online, but it’s really the greatest place to visit. So much history, such a mixture of cultures, such specific regional cuisine and so much to do.

First up was dinner on Thursday night at our friends’ in Mid-City. New Orleans isn’t all about Bourbon Street and bars, people. The folks who have come to call New Orleans home are welcoming, resilient, artistic, and loyal people – whether native to the area or not. My friends were no exceptions to the norm, as they opened their home for 6 of us on Thanksgiving Day.

We’re all big foodies, all 8 of us are, so we all very much enjoyed preparing, discussing, and eating the feast on Thursday. We went a pretty traditional route: Turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, sweet potatoes, roasted veggies, biscuits, and a green bean salad. EVERYTHING was homemade, which make EVERYTHING better.

The beauty of Thanksgiving with Friends, or as we called it – #franksgiving – is the ability to establish your own traditions. Whether it be a specific dish, or an after-dinner event, it’s fun to make the holiday your own. Our tradition was the fixing of temporary tattoos between dinner a dessert – something that kept us pre-occupied for a good hour, letting our stomachs make a little more room for something sweet.

The all-around winner of tattoos went to my friend Donna, whose LATE watch just screamed 2013 SS Fashion week. That Dons, always up on the latest trend.

Because we couldn’t get enough of each other Thursday night, we all met Friday afternoon for the obligatory leftover lunch. I dare say, it was a better spread – the 7 of us had 7 varieties of sandwiches to boast. YUM.

And finally, a long post-lunch walk to the park to enjoy newly installed Christmas decorations. The perfect ending to a perfect Thanksgiving!

Many of the old oak trees in the park survived Katrina, and during much of the year are covered with weeping strands of Spanish moss. So beautiful!