Lots of food. I usually make all the deep fried stuff. Pakoras, puris, that sort of thing. There are lots of sweets but I'm not a huge fan of the traditional stuff so the new trend is to adjust European desserts with South Asian flavors (ex: chai or rose cardamom tiramisu).

The activities are super kid friendly. My toddler basically played with all the urlis (wide dish with flowers and candles) we had out like they were water sensory bins. There are rangoli designs and painting of the lamps (deepas/diyas).

2023 landed pretty close to Halloween so we decorated in Halloween colors. This year is veterans day but I'm just going to combine thanksgiving with it since I'm hosting a smaller gathering. We usually do a large typical American thanksgiving with Indian sides since my extended family is interreligious. But I'm making it South Asian inspired this year. My kid will be making samosa turkeys instead of hand turkeys this year (https://youtu.be/_PhdTTrKPU8) 🤣.