Thanksgayving: My Favorite "Holiday"

First and foremost, before I get into a picture post about my favorite event of the year, I just wanted to say thank you to all the lovely ladies that made me feel so much better after my last meltdown post! Knowing I'm not alone in being overwhelmed and occasionally short on patience makes me feel much better :)

OK, now moving on to the fun stuff!

As I've mentioned the past two years (2009, 2010), I'm involved in an annual Thanksgiving potluck that functions as both a major party and a charitable event. It may come as no surprise even if you don't know me well, but I have always been and will always be a friend to the gays. In fact, prior to David, my friends consisted of 99% gay men, but now we're just getting off topic.

Anyhow.

Each year ten of us come together to host a huge (over 800 invites went out this year, with about 450 attendees!) party at a bar downtown, where everyone brings a dish, participates in a silent auction (botox, anyone?), and brings canned food and other items to donate to those in need. I am so, so, so incredibly blessed to have such generous and wonderful friends, and look forward to this event more than almost anything else about the holiday season (well, aside from A's birthday and Christmas moments for her!). I should mention that unfortunately this year David and Ava stayed home, and though I was disappointed, I totally understand why he wouldn't want to spend the afternoon/evening wrangling her in a bar packed to the brim!

Without further adieu, here are pictures from this year's shindig (I should note that we hired a professional photographer this year, and so my pics were few in comparison. I'll post those when we get the images!):
This year the location changed, as the bar moved to a bigger space, so I made sure to get a good rooftop shot:

Most hosts, some others:

Ava's godfather and me:

One of my very best friends:

One of the best parts of Thanksgayving is that it brings in out-of-towners I only see this one day a year!

Young Folks:



So very many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, starting with amazing friends and family! Happy Thanksgayving, y'all!