OPEN THREAD: Thanksgivukkah Forever

Hey queer bait! It’s our favorite time of the year: Open Thread Season! When you have feelings/stories and we have a place where you can put them. WE ARE SO SERVICEY. We love you. That’s the important actual real thing — that we love you. HELLO I LOVE YOU that was like free-falling into a pool filled with beanie babies. I liked it.

ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE TURKEY

ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE TURKEY

How’s your Thanksgivukkah going so far? Did you light a menorah last night? Did you put a too-large turkey into an oven this morning? Have you turned on Pieces of April yet? Are you biding your time until you can hide in your parent’s garage with your laptop and a bottle of Chardonnay? I mean not that I’ve done that. It was Maker’s Mark and a smartphone. Oh hey here’s some Pieces of April to get you started.

Either way you slice it friend, Thanksgivukkah is UPON US and we’re super glad we can share it with you!

ARE YOU FRUSTRATED BY THE TURKEY

ARE YOU FRUSTRATED BY THE TURKEY

While you’re waiting for everyone to get their shit together today, why don’t you enter to win our Holiday Sweepstakes! All you have to do is create a profile, tell us what you love to read on AS, then keep being part of the conversations! Winners will be chosen on December 15 and you can get all the gory details on the announcement post! Also why not swing by our dazzling new Events Page and see if there’s a Holigay Party for Good happening near you this season — maybe even consider putting one together yourself or with some friends.

DO YOU EAT GRAPES ON THANKSGIVING FOR SOME REASON

DO YOU EAT GRAPES ON THANKSGIVING FOR SOME REASON

Wow today is really packed full of opportunities and delights. Is this the best Thanksgivukkah you’ve ever had or what??

If you do find yourself locked in the garage with a bottle of chardonnay or feel like you suddenly need to buy a stress ball, some soothing visualization DVDs or a cuddly hoodie, this is your friendly reminder that we have both a merch store and a variety of affiliates to help you do so!

Visit the Autostraddle Store ┊ Shopping online? Use our affiliates!

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116 Comments

  4. Being European, the only thing I associate thanksgiving with is when I won a depressing book for my English class thanksgiving day rendition (I did a puppet show).

    Anyway by some random chance I am eating turkey for dinner, so happy Thanksgiving to you all!

  5. This morning I have been letting my niece (3) and nephew (4) choose music off my computer to listen to based on the album artwork covers on itunes. They have chosen Lisa Loeb because of the cat on the cover of Tails, and I picked Vampire Weekend which they jump around and dance to. Meanwhile, I am also texting wildly inappropriate things to a cute girl. It’s a good Thanksgiving so far.

  9. Can we get a vegan solidarity thread going? My non-veg dad actually went out and bought a pre-made multiple course Thanksgiving lunch because I’m making a vegan dinner. *facepalm*

    • Ugh, that sucks. Awesome that you’re doing a vegan dinner though! My family is pretty accommodating but they would definitely whine if I hosted and forced them to abstain from eating a bird for one meal (plus my mother is paleo or something now). The forums at theppk.com are a good place for vegan solidarity.

    • Solidarityy from a vegetarian trying to adopt a more vegan lifestyle. I will probably fall short tonight if my aunty is making mac & cheese though… hehe

    • I feel you… major props for the vegan dinner. I, unfortunately, will be eating meat tonight because things are going so amazingly well with my dad for the first time in three years that I don’t dare turn down his cooking. But by a fortuitous accident the stuffing (my favorite part!) is completely bird free!

  12. This is my first Thanksgiving that I am spending completely alone. This means getting to eat the pecan pie I made last night for breakfast, not having to deal with family arguments about how my nephews are behaving, snarky comments about my haircut from my mother, my grandma asking me if I have a boyfriend yet, or weird food like baked beans (which my aunt makes for every family meal regardless of season). This may be the best Thanksgiving ever.

    • This is my first Thanksgiving alone too! Solidarity! Mostly it just means I’m sitting on my bed in my pajamas eating chips and reading autostraddle.

    • ngl, thanksgiving alone is my favorite thanksgiving. And because I still cook enough for an army I’ll have enough leftovers for weeks of thanksgiving sandwiches!!! (Ok, really just days of thanksgiving for breakfast, lunch, and dinner but STILL)

  14. in my house we are actually having thanksgiving tomorrow because my partner has to work on thanksgiving but that means that tonight is instead taco night, making this TACOSGIVING (tacosgivukkah???)

    • I’m having thanksgiving tomorrow too! My brother has work today, so we moved thanksgiving. I’m glad we’re not the only ones doing this.

    • Same here re: moving holidays! My family’s thanksgiving is on Sunday.

      Hope your Thanksgivings were all good :)

    • There used to be a place here (Nantes, France) run by an American who made Thanksgiving burritos all week around Thanksgiving: Turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy and dressing all rolled up into a ball of yum.

  15. It’s only 11:30 and I’ve already eaten half of the stuffing under the dubious-but-delicious reasoning that you have to taste it every 5 minutes to make sure it’s still good.

    Thank god we made the mashed potatoes last night or it’d be food coma time already.

  17. Happy Thanksgivukkah from Canada! How have I never heard of that movie before? Grungy dysfunctional Katie Holmes? What? Added to the list.

  18. Happy Thanksgivukkah everyone! Sadly I don’t celebrate either holiday but I baked a pumpkin pie for the first time ever and it was SO GOOD!

  19. Guys I am unnecessarily nervous that someone in my family is going to discover the article I wrote about how I am sneakily making our Thanksgivukkah less dairy-filled/kinda vegan and that my WHOLE PLAN WILL BE RUINED.

    But the brussels and beets have already been made and the stuffing prep is underway, and it’s all gonna be damn good, so I think it’ll be ok. Relatives arrive in 40 minutes.

    Happy turkey turkey!

  20. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This is my first Thanksgiving with my family in 9 years and my first one in the US for 3 years. I’m ressslly excited snd almost cried wstching the psrade. Feelings.

  21. HAPPY THANKSGIVUKKAH EVERYONE!!!

    My alone-in-France plans are: 1) eat croque monsieur, 2) eat two tartelettes, 3) skype with family, 4) try to avoid crying by reading Mockingjay until I fall asleep. I LOVE THANKSGIVING WHY DID I COME HERE ANYWAY

    On the happy side, one of my adorablest students gave me a Thanksgiving card. She confesses, “I always dream of going to usa but parents are told but do not know about! Later I will work there!” I now have the honor of guarding this secret. There is also a picture of a pumpkin pie with “pumkie pie” written above it.

    PUMKIE PIE THO <3

    • “pumkie pie” is really making me laugh right now. as a former EFL teacher, i love that kinda stuff. pumkie pie.

  22. I’m springing my cousin from rehab for the afternoon. I’m excited to see him but also nervous about how to act around him…any advice anyone?

    Happy Thanksgiving friends!

    • Taking about everything EXCEPT rehab has always been best for me…I also liked marathoning shows because when I was in, there was little to no tv and not what I wanted to watch anyway

  23. Parish potluck for me tonight – the challah is on its final rise, the hair is sufficiently alternative, and the house is empty. Veg*n Holiday, go! It’s my second Turkey Slaughter Day not at any variety of relative’s house, and I really really am thankful for that. (Now when do the mimosas happen??)

  24. I am thankful that my wife is finally sleeping peacefully next to me. She’s a Paramedic and worked a horrific car wreck a few days ago and hasn’t been able to sleep since. Sometimes it’s nice to hear snoring (adorable, cute snoring of course).

  25. i had to wake up early for a redesign meeting! marni’s gonna make a pie!

    also i am very thankful for all of you, smokin’ hot autostraddle community!

  26. I just thankful for Autostraddle in general and the beautiful and accepting community they have created. I love you too.

  27. I’m thankful this year for new work opportunities, a decent internet connection, and all you wonderfully awesome fellow Straddlers. Has been a long time since I felt like I had a virtual space that I could call a home. Many thanks to all of the various writers, web gurus, and AS acolytes who work so hard to make it that way! YDY :)

  28. I just woke up with christmas music from work ringing in my head. I’m anticipating it to be a rough sort of day.

  29. I am thankful for my amazing cabinmates that I can talk to while dealing with family. Also for my amazing cat that loves me

  30. My family isn’t meeting up until tomorrow for our thanksgiving dinner so I’m just hanging out in pajamas watching tv. I could go to a thanksgiving dinner today with my brother at his mother-in-law’s but I would rather just stay in pajamas. Broke my mom’s mind last night when I told her that Christopher Plummer’s singing in The Sound of Music was dubbed and not actually him singing.

  32. This year I am thankful for authenticity and everything that being honest brings with it (good and bad), for the opportunity to go to A-Camp, and for the incredible and supportive humans that I got to know and continue to have in my life.

  33. I am feeling anxious about roasting a cauliflower. Thanksgiving this year is petite and mostly meatless (hey there fancy italian prosciutto! I’m sure you’re secretly a vegetable) But we wanted something large to hack up with a big knife and I found this recipe for a whole roasted head of cauliflower. I have never roasted a whole cauliflower before and I have CONCERNS. But too late to back out now. May be compensating for anxiety by spontaneous addition of Irish Soda Bread to menu, which is getting ready to come out of the oven.

    • Whole roasted cauliflower is one of my most favorite things! I recommend covering it with sage butter! I’m sure whatever you do it will be delicious.

  35. It’s a day for cleaning house! My wife and I both have the day off, and we aren’t celebrating the holiday until Saturday with family friends. I’ve cleaned under the stove and the sink, cleaned out the fish tank, done laundry and dishes, and am now taking a tea break and looking at Autostraddle. What a lovely day! It’s days like today that I appreciate that the kids I watch are home with their families and I have a day mostly to myself. Or at least that’s what I tell myself when I know that I really want a kid of my own. Patience.

  36. So every time we have a traditional family gathering my mom constantly talks about how she does the traditional 50s woman role so much better than everyone else (in not so many words) and I have a really hard time not rolling my eyes through the whole thing…

  37. Dad’s out of town with his girlfriend and mom’s boyfriend is working so we’re either declaring a second annual thansgiving trip to Golden Corral or going to her friend’s place to eat all of their food and drink all of their wine and I will maybe drunkenly hit on one of her friend’s like five teenage daughters so HAPPY THANKSGIVING GUYS!

  38. Quiet Thanksgiving with the parents and brother here in this cold snowy place. Autostraddle and all you guys keep me warm and very thankful this past year. *hugs* Hope everyone has a great day!

  39. Having dinner with my stereotypically super conservative Catholic Southern family, and their special guest, a Catholic priest… and did I mention that I can’t drink alcohol because I’m allergic?

    I see this going badly.

    (Not trying to hate on the Catholic church — just my dad’s and the priest’s vile interpretations of its teachings.)

    • i just liked this but i wanted you to know i am liking it because i like you and wish you good luck, not because i like vile interpretations of catholicism ya know?

  40. i woke up today feeling really lucky and thankful. it has been a weird year of ups and downs but my brother bought my favorite beer and it turns out it is his favorite beer too, and my family has a house and a home cooked meal and we are being kind to each other today (so far!), and my mom met my girlfriend properly for the first time last night and told me sincerely today how much she liked her and how happy she was for me and then i tentatively shared some of my feelings about the relationship with her and she like, listened and was supportive and didn’t immediately look away or pretend to be busy doing something else, and i get to work with this cool autostraddle team of incredible humans who make me feel loved and important and listened to every day, and i get to connect with the autostraddle community all the time, and i am embarking on a big journey in about a month that i am scared of but i feel brave and also blessed (in a not very spiritual way but blessed nonetheless) that i am able to make such choices, and i am about to turn 25 and i never thought this is where i’d be at 25 but i think where i am is home and i think i should be saying thank you all the time, so, thank you.

    • I think your blessed-ness might be contagious because my evening was much more survive-able than I predicted, so thank you for passing on the good luck! I hope that your journey will turn out to be successful/rewarding/all that you are hoping for.

  41. Just had lunch with my grandparents, my grandmother seems to believe if we raise the minimum wage to $11 here in MA it will actually be like raising it to $15 because “we’ll have to give everybody benefits now” (um, what?).

    But in ten minutes we’re going to my other grandparents house and my grandmother loves to talk about civil disobedience and the time she got arrested so that should be fun.

  43. This is my first holiday totally alone. I’ve been away from my family for Thanksgiving before, but I was in student housing at the time and so we had this gigantic potluck dinner, so I was surrounded by people. So today is a really weird feeling. Not bad, just weird. I went out to breakfast stupidly early this morning because WHY NOT and the waitress and I totally bonded and talked for a while because I was the only one there and we decided together that today is going to be amazing even though we are both away from our families because we will MAKE it amazing by doing whatever we do.

    idk what I’m saying here except that I love you all and stuff. And that today is a good day.

    • I love your optimism and courageousness and autonomy and stuff and I hope that you’re having an awesome day!

    • i had an alone thanksgiving like six years ago and it was totally fine! i’ve never really understood thanksgiving as a big deal holiday since the whole thing centers around a meal, and specifically a turkey, and i hate turkey, so. but i do love mashed potatoes

      that is really fucking cute about bonding with the waitress

  44. I’m in the airport, on my way to my mom’s. I’m probably going to spend the whole weekend studying so I don’t have to deal with family.

    My best friends and I got together last night to have our own tiny Thanksgiving before we scattered across the state. We just hung out and got Applebee’s, and played video games all night. I’m pretty damn thankful for those two weirdos.

  45. I went to a brunch on campus and the allergens were labeled in the foods and I smuggled home two bags of meat (one turkey, one whiskey glazed ham) so really this holiday is so far so good. Plus I made a gluten free pumpkin pie this morning that my friends and I are going to dig into later when they come over and bring me gluten free Polish thanksgiving LEFTOVERS. and my sister is about to call me on the googles so I can admire their Thanksgiving spread/say hello to my siblings.

  46. I forgot to wash my underwear, so I’m secretly going to be wearing my rodeoH during thanksgiving dinner.

  47. Today’s Thanksgiving was surprisingly normal and fine! Minimal comments from relatives about politics/economy/social issues, the main topic of conversation was “what is the secret ingredient in the sweet potatoes?”, I got to eat 2 different kinds of pie, yay!

  48. My siblings are home for Thanksgiving, which was less awkward and nerve wracking than i was expecting. (my sister was not home last year because she was in Colorado visiting a friend.)

    i wore a blazer for the first time ever.

    and I can’t get my ex out of my head, perhaps because the guy texted me earlier to wish me happy thanksgiving.

    and i’m going black friday shopping tomorrow -and to get ethiopian food for lunch, because YUM- for the first time in several years. mostly because for several years i can afford to do so.

    and i am thankful for a lot of things, including being employed. i was not a year ago.

  49. I am thankful for cats, cheap wine, family that loves me, good therapists, turkeys basted with sweet tea, Britney Griner, Vanessa being a grandma and the runagayhearts. Among other things

  50. My introverted self made it from 10am-6pm of being around small talk. I promptly excused myself after the last card table was put away and dish was washed. I can feel my energy being restored as I sit comfortably and happily with me, myself, and I. ahhhhhh feels so good! :)

  51. I just want to watch The Muppets Lady Gaga Holiday Soecacular that’s on at 9:30, but my family wants to keep watching football. Why??? You guys!

  52. I went to (very conservative/gross) church in the dress I wore to A-Camp prom (aka the dress in which I first kissed a girl in), and it felt awesome. Then I came home and texted about sex and goofy things with my partner and messaged cute things with my girlfriend and felt so grateful that I have sexy people in my life who like and support me while also knowing a lot of things about me.

    Life’s pretty great.

  53. First Thanksgiving home in 9 years was awesome! Lots of food and we sang karaoke. My cousin and I sang ‘toxic’, ‘girls just want to have fun’, and ‘complicated.’ Them my little cousin started dancing around to ‘i’m too sexy’ and it was hilarious. Good times were had

  55. Happy Thanksgivukkah to everyone in our big, beautiful AS family! I’m so thankful for you, and for A-Camp for being such a big part of my life this year. I hope you all had the most amazing day, with family, and friends! Now I’m off to work overnight for Black Friday, but trying to stay positive. Sending so much love your way <3

  56. Autostraddle, I’m super thankful for you this year. Without you, I don’t know how I would have survived some of the shit I’ve been through lately. So, Thank You!!! <3

  57. My step-dad had to work today, so my mom and I sat around watching the MST3K Turkey Day marathon on the internet. It was awesome! I was especially happy that they featured our all-time favorite episode: “The Final Sacrifice.”

    Considering our belated Thanksgiving celebration plans involve going to see ‘Catching Fire’ again and going to a little French cafe, I think today was actually closer to “traditional.” At least it involved the word “turkey” in the title!

    • Oh yeah, and I’m thankful for my family, being able to build a daily devotional practice to my Gods this year, and the incredibly awesome comics that have been coming out lately.

  58. I’m thankful for all the holiday stories and feelings that get posted here. Makes me feel less alone. Also celebrating my first holiday “out”!

  59. Well, so, as a Canadian I am not celebrating Thanksgiving today…however, I had really great conversations with both of my girlfriends (one about unconditional <3; one about communication) and I'm feeling so good about that. And one of my girlfriends is American so that kind of counts?

    Also, I just came out to my grandma last week and hadn't really talked to her since. She called me today and I was a bit nervous about what she was going to say, but it turns out she just wanted to know how to spell my [Canadian] girlfriend's name, as said girlfriend is joining us for Christmas!

    And because my family goes away every Christmas, and because of my dad's work schedule, my family is actually having our Christmas dinner + celebration on Sunday evening, so I'm pretending that all of these vegetarian [American] Thanksgiving tips are actually just a few days early for my family Christmas situation!

  60. I’m so thankful to be a part of this community and for my family – blood and chosen – always being so supportive. This year has felt very solid and I’m making steps in the right direction for my life and it feels good and I have so many humans in this community to thank for helping me be brave enough to make them.

  61. This is the first year I’ve had a Thanksgiving with a lot of different food sensitivities, so I’m thankful I live in a place where I can easily re-create some of my favorite dishes even with many restrictions. And for friends that were willing to invite me to their table since I could not be with family.

  62. i made a kick ass vegan blackberry bramble pie and my brother bought me a 3 pack of muppet movies, so all in all i’d say this was a pretty successful holiday.

  65. As my old boss used to say ‘To the people we love and the people who love us back. IF the people we love don’t love us back, screw them.’ *raises flask*

    PS
    i think this is the HENNNNNEY talkin’. I love this website and I’m thankful for those who make it come together. To the peolw that love uand accept us without question. CHEERS

  66. I was able to spend the day with friends at school instead of alone in my dorm like I have the past few years. It was really nice to be able to celebrate a holiday for the first time in a long time without stressing about being at my parents house. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

  67. Happy Turkey Day! Or sommat. Spending it watching as much TV alone in my room as possible. I am thankful for netflix and Jennifer Lawrence and Love Actually :)

  68. I spent the day with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law, we ate delicious food, and it was great. I love my family, we get along really well and we have always been really close. BUT I also feel sad and scared, because I am not out to them, and while I guess I’m not entirely sure what will happen when I come out to them, I think it will most likely mean that I don’t have any contact with them ever again. (They are all pretty religious, and their religion is sort of cultish, so they probably won’t be ALLOWED to have contact with me.) I kept finding myself wondering if we would still be speaking this time next year. I would miss them, a lot.

  69. I’m thankful AS exists and for the little community I’ve formed because of it.
    I’m also a little bummed that no one in my family wanted to try the peanut butter sriracha cookies that I made.

  70. I’m thankful for Autostraddle and Mt Feelings. All the friends I made here on the website and on the mountain keep me going everyday. Happy holigays, guys! Hope it’s the best.

  72. I listened to a gay, Orthodox Jew talk about his love of Rush Limbaugh.

    What I’m really thankful for, though, is this new project I started, where I’m interviewing people with mental illness, and I got my first response last night. I actually teared up.

  74. I’m thankful I come from a country where there is no societal pressure to eat turkey. Seriously, turkey is the worst, I don’t understand why you all get so excited about it…

  75. I am thankful for the fact that, after about 4-5 years of experimental gluten-free stuffing recipes that have ranged from “strange” to “soggy/downright gross,” we’ve finally found a good one!

  76. probably no one will read this since thanksgiving was almost a week ago but venting is good so I’ll post anyway. My week home for thanksgiving was pretty good until today, the day before I leave. I tried on cute lace shoes and asked my parents their opinion.
    my mom said she would only buy them for me if I wore them out to pick up guys. And my dad said I “looked like a ho” I could wear them on a date with a guy but if I was “walking around by myself people would ask ‘how much'”
    …so much for being a strong independent woman. I was so pissed I decided I needed to have the overpriced, too-high, impractical shoes so I bought them for myself and my new goal in life is to pick up a really hot lady to have sex with in those shoes. Just as my own little fuck you. But overall the week/thanksgiving day was better than expected

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