The holidays are almost here. I was reminded of this by the abundance of Kay® Jewelers commercials last night. In my mind, it is still September. But the calendar, not my mind, has won and Thanksgiving will be here in the blink of an eye (tomorrow in fact!).

I have lived in Greenville for 12 years. For the first 7 of those years, and the 4 prior that I spent in Virginia going to college, I flew home to Rhode Island for Thanksgiving. Yes you read that correctly, I flew on Thanksgiving, the most widely traveled holiday in the US.

Each year that I flew home to share turkey with those I love, something was bound to go disastrously or humorously wrong. I’ve slept in airports, been bused through snow storms in hopes of arriving at another airport that could get me to my destination before maybe the pumpkin pie was served, rented a car only to get stuck in traffic because whomever wasn’t flying was driving … sigh. To this day, the luck (or lack thereof) that I have when traveling remains a family joke.

Then I decided to stop the chaos. I was so frazzled by the traveling that all the enjoyment of going home was quickly waning (and no one wants that to happen!).

My mother had moved to Greenville a few years after I did. Five years ago she and I decided to start having Thanksgiving just the two of us, in Greenville. We were hesitant because we knew it would be a holiday much quieter and smaller than we were accustomed to.

That first Thanksgiving we had in Greenville, was different, but surprised both of us. When we were sitting by the fire at my house that night, she remarked about how it was the most relaxing holiday she could ever remember having. And I agreed, it truly was. So, over the past 5 Thanksgivings, she and I have made new traditions that we’ve combined with some that we carried with us from Rhode Island. One of our new traditions is to start Thanksgiving with Bellini’s, an Italian version of a mimosa.

Our shortcut version goes like this:

• 2 parts chilled Prosecco (or dry sparkling wine or champagne)
• 2 parts canned nectar, such as Kern’s. (The canned nectar, available in the juice aisle of the grocery store, comes in Peach, Apricot and Pear. Pear is our favorite.)
• Pour into a champagne flute or wine glass and toss in 3 fresh raspberries.

Cheers and give thanks!