News & Politics

The 2017 Washingtonian GIF Guide to a Very Happy Thanksgiving

It’s that time of year again—the week we spill out of Washington and fight highway traffic for the sake of enjoying our families’ cooking and dodging passive-aggressive political comments from far-flung relatives. At least there’s an 1,800-calorie meal in the middle. It’s Thanksgiving, folks, and to help you get through the holiday madness, we’ve put together our annual Thanksgiving GIF Guide. Enjoy.

When it’s that time of the year you get to bust out the “Monica dancing with a turkey on her head” GIF without caring that you used it to lead off the last two GIF guides.

When you and your buddies decide you’re gonna stay in town and hang.

…but then you realize all the turkeys are sold out and you don’t have enough place-settings.

…so you come up with an alternative dinner plan.

Or, when you decide to make the trip, think you’re a genius for leaving at 4 AM, then realize the Beltway’s already full of traffic.

…but remember that at least you don’t have to wear “real” pants for the next four days.

When you get home to find your siblings have already claimed all the “good” beds.

So you vow to beat them in the Turkey Trot.

During dinner, when your vegan cousin asks how you can dare to eat turkey.

And your mom asks, “How’s the #Resistance going?”

And your aunt asks for the 100th time when you’re going to have kids.

After you win the meal by breaking out the Buttercream Bakeshop pie that’s so good (and expensive), you drove ten MPH below the speed limit to make sure it didn’t get messed up.

When someone suggests checking out the shopping mall on Friday morning.

…and they insist the deals will be worth the crowds. 

…so you go anyways, to people watch. 

When it’s time to head back to DC after eating your weight in stuffing. 

When you realize the traffic returning to DC is just as bad as it was leaving. 

When you walk in the door and realize that, yeah, DC really does feel like home now. 

Associate Editor

Caroline Cunningham joined Washingtonian in 2014 after moving to the DC area from Cincinnati, where she interned and freelanced for Cincinnati Magazine and worked in content marketing. She currently resides in College Park.

Staff Writer

Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.