Thanksgiving Prep

I hope everyone's getting excited for the upcoming holidays. I know we are.  I've spent the last week or so trying to get everything ready for Thanksgiving. We're hosting at our new house this year for the first time and I'm sure it will be an adventure ;)

We've been doing lots of cleaning, organizing and meal prep.  So far, I have the menu planned out and it's long, but what we have to do looks manageable.  Our families are all helping out and bringing dishes, so it's going to be a great mix of food that everyone loves.

Here's our menu:
Appetizers:
Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Stuffed Mushrooms
Bruschetta
Crudité Platter
Caramel Corn & Assorted Nuts

Mains:
Roasted Brined Turkey
Glazed Ham
Gravy
Stuffing
Green Bean Casserole
Mashed Potatoes
Turnips
Macaroni & Cheese
Sweet Potato Casserole
Cranberry Salad & Sauce
Cornbread
Croissants & Yeast Rolls

Dessert:
Pumpkin Bars
Pecan Pie
Chocolate Chess Pie
Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake

I even put the menu up on our chalkboard in the kitchen for everyone to see.

I've also been working on the tablescape for the tables. I'm going to do centerpieces of pumpkins with flowers in the middle, that look like this:

  

I'm also going to have assorted gourds with place cards attached on a napkin in the middle of the plate at each setting, similar to this:

I've already started working on these, I think they'll be really cute. Plus, I love how some of the gourds are so unique!

Tonight I'm going to work on cleaning and more prep for Thursday.  I'm also going to try to get all of my trays, baking dishes, platters, and serveware out to see if there is anything that I need!

I hope everyone has a wonderful, short work week! :)