Earlier this week we started our Thanksgiving preparation checklist to help you get a head start on your big holiday preparations and stay a little more organized, which you might have noticed is kind of our thing. But we can’t just leave you hanging, can we? There’s still tons to do before Turkey Day arrives, and we’ve got some advice and information here and ready to go to help you put the perfect finishing touches on your dinner! Step 6: Do Some Dishes It isn’t the most glamorous part of Thanksgiving Day, but one thing is true - no matter how many people are coming over, you’re going to go through a lot of plates, bowls, and utensils. This step is better left until a little closer to the actual dinner (to make sure you’re not just hoarding plates that you can’t use in the meantime), but within a week or so of Thanksgiving, fire up the old dishwasher, grab your favorite latex gloves, and get to work. When your least-favorite uncle starts taking an extra plate for every trip he makes back into the kitchen, you’ll be glad you did. Step 7: Finalize Your Shopping In the previous installment we suggested getting your ingredients early to avoid the line, but this sort of thing is always worth a second look. Double and triple check your shopping lists to make sure you have absolutely everything to avoid those late-night Wednesday trips to the store to see if they have any stuffing mix left, keep a constant eye on what you’re running out of or what you haven’t bought yet, and make sure you have enough kitchen cabinet storage to fit everything when it gets there. Step 8: Set Up Your Serving Areas Sure, everyone talks a big game about family togetherness, but the real highlight of Thanksgiving is the dinner itself, right? So to make sure your dinner goes as smoothly as possible, take some time to figure out where exactly everything’s going to be. Are you going to set it all out on the dinner table, or will you be making a buffet-style setup in the kitchen? Will you need extra kitchen islands to hold everything, or is your counter enough? Figuring out how everyone will be getting their food is a crucial step to a successful dinner, and now’s a good time to figure that out. Step 9: Last-Minute Cleaning Now’s a good time to make sure everything looks neat and tidy! Don’t need to hear about it from your in-laws, right? Spruce up your living room, get some wire shelving or plastic storage bins to reduce clutter and keep things tucked out of the way (especially if you’ve got some garage storage or space in your attic to spare), and make sure there’s enough couch and chair space for everyone! Step 10: Enjoy! It might be a little hard to unwind and decompress after the last few weeks of preparation, but when the guests arrive and the bird is on the table, all you have to do is calm down and enjoy yourself. Take a moment, breathe, eat dinner...and try not to think about how many dishes you’ll have to do afterwards. Or, even worse, when it all happens again next month for the holidays. Don’t worry - we can cross that bridge when we come to it!