Take a look at our newsletter this month.
November 2018
365 Canal Street, Suite 1680, New Orleans, LA 70130 • 504-894-9653 • www.SmileyFirm.com
GIVING THANKS WHAT I’M GRATEFUL FOR
As I write, the weather is finally beginning to cool off, though I expect we’ll still be seeing plenty of folks in shorts well into December. It’s hard to believe the holidays are right around the corner. But just as the pilgrims made the journey to Plymouth Rock and celebrated a Thanksgiving feast, our family will pile into the car and make our own pilgrimage this holiday season. Well, okay — we won’t be crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the Mayflower. But we will be spending plenty of time with relatives on both sides of the family this year, which means lots of time on the open road. Thankfully, our boys are great at road trips, despite the fact that we limit their device use. My wife and I want to do our best to limit their screen time, especially when they’re young. Jude and Luke are more than content to chat with us, draw in their coloring books, or just stare out the window and let the pastures and bayous put them to sleep. “Whether it’s laughter around the dinner table, cheering on the Saints as they take on the Falcons, or bonding with the kids on the drive home, the fact we’ll all be doing it together is what makes this time of year so special.” The Smiley family pilgrimage is worth it though. Seeing relatives from near and far is always a great time, especially for the kids. My sister has a boy and a girl just a bit older than our boys, and my wife’s brother has three kids of his own who are around the same age. So, no matter which side of the family we’re having Thanksgiving with, our kids always have cousins they can run around and play with. We adults will usually join in the fun too, tossing the football around just like I remember doing when I was a kid. Of course, my main Thanksgiving memories revolve around eating way too much food, and that hasn’t changed a bit. I like all the standard fixings, from the stuffing and potatoes to cranberry sauce and
pumpkin pie. But nothing tops my dad’s deep-fried turkey. We take the bird outside, of course, and keep a fire extinguisher at the ready, but that crackling bird packed with Cajun spice is well worth all the extra preparation. But more than the food or football games in the yard, the real magic of Thanksgiving is in the time we get to spend with family. Whether it’s laughter around the dinner table, cheering on the Saints as they take on the Falcons, or bonding with the kids on the drive home, the fact we’ll all be doing it together is what makes this time of year so special. It’s a time when you’re able to reflect on the people in your life and how much they mean to you. I am so incredibly lucky to have such loving family members to spend time with over the holidays. I’m grateful that my parents are in good health, my boys are growing into fine young men, and I’ve been able to raise them together with my wonderful wife. From friends and family to my incredible team at the firm, I’m blessed to have such meaningful relationships in my life.
From our family to yours, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
–Seth Smiley
504-894-9653 • 1
A Boutique New Orleans Law Firm Resolving Your Legal Matters
ENJOY THESE 6 AUTUMN ACTIVITIES
FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!
GIVING THANKS As Thanksgiving draws near, we’d like to take a moment to say thank you to all of our readers. Every month, through this newsletter, you invite us into your homes. You let us share advice, recipes, maybe a few laughs, and stories from our own lives. We deeply appreciate this and want this communication to be a two-way street. We love hearing from the people we’ve helped over the years, no matter how long ago or recent your case was. Whether you send us a note, drop by the office, or leave a review online, hearing from the people we’ve represented is always rewarding, and it helps us ensure that we’re living up to the high bar of quality service we’ve set for ourselves. If you haven’t joined the conversation already, we’d love to hear what you have to say! And we’re not the only ones. As a personal injury firm, we can say from experience that many of the people searching for our services are in need of some peace of mind. Recovering from injuries while dealing with the financial burdens of treatment and pressure from insurance adjusters can very easily make people feel trapped in a stressful situation. Reading success stories online can be a very, very powerful thing in their moment of need. Throughout November, everyone is eagerly looking forward to Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, but you shouldn’t let the rest of the month slip past you! Enjoy these other fall activities with the whole family. Homemade Caramel Apples Homemade treats are no doubt far better than their store-bought counterparts. Try your hand at making your own caramel apples for the whole family to enjoy. You can also add a number of toppings to liven things up, such as nuts, white or milk chocolate, coconut, sprinkles, or pecans. Backyard Bonfire During these cold months, you may be tempted to stay indoors, but heading outside for a bonfire is a great way to spend time with your family while enjoying the brisk weather. If you have a fire pit in your backyard, now is the perfect time to take advantage of it by bundling up with some hot chocolate and s’mores. Autumn Arrangements It’s time to get crafty! Creating your own fall arrangements will ensure that your home has the seasonal decorations you want. Making beautiful fall flower arrangements for your kitchen table or wreaths for your front door to greet guests will create the desired autumn vibe you’ve been searching for.
Movie Night Gather your loved ones in the living room with popcorn, blankets, and a great film. Make the most of your autumn evenings by cozying up and spending quality time with each other while watching some family holiday favorites, like “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” or the Thanksgiving comedy-drama “Pieces of April.” Home-Cooked Food When autumn rolls around, pie and warm cider may be high on your list of tasty treats you’re eagerly anticipating. This fall, encourage your family to take part in making annual goodies and sharing them with your neighbors. Nothing warms the heart more than receiving a loaf of freshly baked pumpkin bread during these increasingly cold days.
Your words can mean a lot, both to us and to people in need. It means the world to us that so many of our clients have come through referrals from people like you. It means you gave someone the confidence to seek us out, secure in the knowledge they were going to get quality representation. That is something our whole firm is grateful for. We may not be with you at the dinner table, helping carve up the turkey and watching the Saints game, but this Thanksgiving, we’ll be raising a glass to you regardless. Thanks to you, we can raise our families in this wonderful town doing what we love: helping people in need.
Cheers,
–Smiley Law Firm
2 • www.SmileyFirm.com
JUST ONE DRINK … Staying Safe During the Holiday Season
THANKSGIVING Thanksgiving didn’t become a national holiday until over 200 years after the first Thanksgiving! Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who actually wrote the classic song “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” convinced President Lincoln in 1863 to make Thanksgiving a national holiday after writing letters for 17 years campaigning for this to happen. Historians say that no turkey was served at the first Thanksgiving! What was on the menu? Deer or venison, ducks, geese, oysters, lobster, eel, and fish. They probably ate pumpkins, but no pumpkin pies. They also didn’t eat mashed potatoes or cranberry relish, but they probably ate cranberries. And no, turduckens (a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken) were nowhere to be found during that first Thanksgiving. Each year, the president of the United States pardons a turkey and spares it from being eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. The first turkey pardon ceremony started with President Truman in 1947. Celebrating with friends and family is a big part of the holiday season. But these merry gatherings can come with a dark side: In the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, more people consume alcohol than at any other point during the year. This means the last several weeks of the year can be the most dangerous on the road because alcohol-related accidents and fatalities are at their peak. The increase in social drinking is one of the biggest reasons more people get into alcohol-related accidents during this time of year. More people are casually drinking with dinner, as they watch football, and even to cope with the stress of the season. Another thing to consider is that many people who drink during Thanksgiving or the December holidays don’t drink often. As social drinkers, or “holiday drinkers,” they are more likely to underestimate their level of impairment and may end up driving when they shouldn’t. Of course, anyone who drinks should never drive. You should always allow enough time after drinking to make sure you’re completely sober before getting behind the wheel. One rule of thumb is to wait at least 45 minutes to an hour per drink. FUN FACTS
Here are a few more tips to help you safely enjoy the holiday season:
• If you don’t want a drink, just say, “No, thanks.” Don’t feel you have to give in to peer pressure.
• Have nonalcoholic drinks available for guests — and keep a glass of water or another nonalcoholic drink within arm’s reach for yourself.
• Always designate a driver.
• Keep a taxi or car service, such as Uber or Lyft, on standby.
• Drink responsibly, and decide how many drinks you’ll have in advance. A blood alcohol chart can help you understand the relationship between drinks, blood alcohol content, and level of impairment. • Don’t let drinking become the main focus. Remember that the holidays and the social events that come with them are really about having fun with family and friends!
A SIMPLE BRINE FOR SUCCULENT TURKEY
Ingredients
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons kosher salt • 3/4 cup sugar • 1 carrot, peeled and diced • 1 large onion, peeled and diced
• 2 bay leaves • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes • 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds (optional)
• 1/4 cup celery, diced • 2 large sprigs thyme
Instructions
1. In a large stock pot, bring salt, sugar, and 4 cups water to a boil. Stir until all ingredients are dissolved. 2. Turn off heat and add remaining ingredients. Place brine in the fridge, uncovered, until cold. 3. Add 6 quarts cold water to brine. Add turkey and submerge completely. Brine chilled for up to 72 hours.
Inspired by Bon Appétit magazine
504-894-9653 • 3
A Boutique New Orleans Law Firm Resolving Your Legal Matters
365 Canal Street, Suite 1680 New Orleans, LA 70130 Phone: 504-894-9653 Fax: 866-761-8934 www.SmileyFirm.com OPEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
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What I’m Grateful For Caramel Apples, Knitting, and Bonfires Here’s to You! Holiday Revelry? Stay Safe! A Simple Brine for Succulent Turkey How Thanksgiving Became an Official Holiday!
SARAH HALE HOW THANKSGIVING BECAME A NATIONAL HOLIDAY
Thanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays celebrated throughout the United States. One of the first documented Thanksgiving celebrations took place in 1621 when Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared a feast together. But the banquet, which celebrated the colonists’ first successful harvest, wasn’t just one large meal, nor did it last for only one day; in fact, the feast lasted for three days. In later years, Thanksgiving also lasted for longer than a single meal. During the time of the American Revolution, the Continental Congress chose several days throughout the year to celebrate giving thanks. Then, in 1789, George Washington made the U.S. national government’s first Thanksgiving proclamation. He used this to speak to his fellow American citizens about the Revolution’s satisfactory conclusion and encouraged them to show their thanks for the freedoms they gained. Thanksgiving became a national holiday more than 200 years after its first celebration. It gained this status largely due to the persistence of a woman named Sarah Josepha Hale. Hale was a successful magazine editor, prolific writer of novels and poems, and author of the famous
nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” which was first published in her 1830 collection entitled “Poems for Our Children.”
In 1827, Hale began a campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. For the next 36 years, she wrote numerous editorials and countless letters to state and federal officials expressing her desire that it gain official status. In 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln finally declared it a national holiday, hoping that it would help heal the wounds of the country. Lincoln decided that the holiday would take place on the last Thursday of November. It was celebrated on that day until 1939, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving a week earlier in the hopes of increasing retail sales during the Great Depression. However, this plan was very unpopular, and in 1941, the president reluctantly signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November. Without the efforts of Sarah Hale, we might not have the pleasure of the Thanksgiving feast we know and love to this day. This year, give thanks for family, good food, and the resolve of one woman who recognized the importance of Thanksgiving as a national holiday.
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