Martha Stewart has revealed why she’s skipping her usual Thanksgiving festivities.
In an interview with People on Thursday (November 21), the 83-year-old businesswoman shared that she and her family aren’t spending the upcoming holiday in the United States.
“We decided the kids wanted to go away, the grandchildren, and so we’re all packing up and going to Rome for a few days to visit the sites,” she told the news outlet.
Stewart’s family trip to Italy will include her grandchildren — Jude, 13, and Truman, 12 — who are the sons of her only daughter, Alexis Stewart. The TV personality welcomed Alexis in 1965 with her former husband of 28 years, Andrew Stewart.
The lifestyle guru also said that her family has built a busy “itinerary” for their trip to Rome.
“My grandchildren will get mad at me. They think they’re going on vacation for five days, but in fact, we are going to see everything. I’ve planned quite a trip,” she explained.
This isn’t the first time Stewart has opened up about her plans for Thanksgiving. During a recent appearance on Today, the cookbook author said she wouldn’t be preparing a turkey this month.
“Although I raise my own turkeys, they have been pardoned this year. We’re going to eat only vegetarian,” she said during the November 21 segment, as she made her brioche stuffing-filled roasted pumpkin. While she shared that the recipe comes from her new book, Martha: The Cookbook, she also noted that it was a good pick for her family, since many of them are vegetarians.
Although she’ll be out of town for Thanksgiving, Stewart plans to have many celebrations at her home in Bedford, New York, for the Christmas season. “If somebody comes over in the afternoon, you have to have homemade Christmas cookies lying around,” she told People. “You just have to, and you have to have a couple dinners for your family and friends.”
She gushed over how much she loves her holiday gatherings, in which she and her loved ones “exchange presents and have a little fun.”
“I try to keep it very light-hearted and pleasant around the holidays. Family arguments, there’s no place for that at the holiday time,” Stewart explained.
Once Christmas is over, the businesswoman revealed she’ll be busy traveling with her grandchildren.
“It’s not completely planned, but we usually go away,” she added. “The kids like to go away for 10 days or so. It’s all about the grandchildren. That’s where we are now, grandchildren time.”
