Anna - My husband and I are not very traditional now. When we first married, we'd make the trek to Pennsylvania, spending one holiday with his family and one with mine (alternating Thanksgiving & Christmas). We live in the Washington, DC area, and the traffic was hellish--traffic would come to a standstill on the Pennsylvania Turnpike! Actually, it was all very stressful because we'd drive all that way in heavy traffic only to deal with parental and sibling squabbling, etc. (his mom didn't dig the fact that I'd rather hang out w/the guys then chop onions with her and Brian's sister---they always gave me the most unpleasant kitchen tasks). Our families are dysfunctional and neither was very close growing up, so it isn't a sacrifice not to see them at the holidays. Now THAT is very American! It wasn't long before we got tired of the whole thing and after we passed age 30, we decided to start our own tradition and spend the day alone together. We get up early and take a long hike at a local park (Great Falls, right along the Potomac---awesome views of white water, cliffs, etc). We'd eat our turkey and fixings around noon, sleep in the afternoon, play with our Golden Retrievers, and for dinner, eat dessert!!! It is the best. Suzanne