Thursday Loves

Here's a beautiful photo to freshen up your Thursday.  The colors are so pleasing to the eye, don't you think?  Be sure to check out the rest of this post!

I love this oversized sweater with two handsome bucks adorning the front.  But the part I love the most is the fact that it's only $32!  Via SheInside Via Krystal's Pinterest.

It really is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around my neck of the woods.  Sure, there may not be decorations outside of stores or anything that really signals Christmas being here but the feeling is definitely in the air.  As I drove to work yesterday morning, a herd of deer crossed the road ahead, the ground was covered in frost and a new Bob Dylan tune (let's face it, I thought I was hearing Louis Armstrong for a minute) graced the radio.  It just felt so very Christmasy.  And this year I have kraft paper, bakers twine and high hopes of wrapping some gifts from this inspiration!  Via

Dear husband, this one's especially for you.  Especially now that I'm eating for two....please forgive anything negative that might come out of my mouth.  The lil' chief inside me is awfully demanding!  Look at me, already blaming my unborn child for mean things I might say, haha.  Poor thing.  Via

Mo pie, please!  With Thanksgiving being right around the corner (hello, one week!) it's time to start dreaming of pie again.  Recently, we attended a lovely wedding with copious amounts of pie for dessert in lieue of the traditional cake.  One of the pies was persimmon pie, and let me tell you, husband is 100% on board the persimmon pie train.  What will you be having come turkey day? I'd love to hear!

Happy Thursday, everyone!  It feels good to be posting again, even if it's not on a regular basis.  Thanks for sticking around with me and making my day brighter with your sweet comments.  Hope your weeks have been treating you well!

Weekend Recap

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What a week! I think I am alone on this one but a part of me is slightly relieved it's Monday.  But let's pretend I didn't really just say that.  You see, I had a very wonderful week, full of the 3 most important f's = family, friends and food.  For over a week, we had family and friends staying at our house, keeping us company and full of warmth.  But now Monday is here, we are back to our same ole routine and the kitty can peacefully sleep in his favorite spot(s).  Normalcy has returned and I'm feeling thankful for both warm and fuzzies and also normalcy, sweet normalcy.  

Some highlights of the last week include ::

• Games! We played so many we lost count.  I won pretty much all of them, and that is fun to admit.  
• Bourbon's Bistro! We treated my folks to a gourmet Kentucky meal for my mom's birthday.  All of our food was prepared with bourbon, naturally.  We ate with smiles on our faces and laughed about the Scotty Davenport show being filmed behind us.  
• Birthday karaoke!  Our friend Alex turned the big 3-0 and to celebrate, we all put ourselves out there and jammed some karaoke tunes to a broad audience.  It was pretty fun, needless to say.
• TURKEY DAY! Holy me oh my was Thanksgiving good.  My mister is seriously the best person ever.  He woke up and started churning out one success after another.  By the time I woke up and had my coffee, mostly everything was done or in the oven.  I was impressed.  We successfully hosted one of the best Thanksgivings of my life and I am so thankful for that.  I'm also so very thankful for so many things - but most importantly for every single person that was there that day.  How great is it that both the mister and I's folks are fun for our friends to be around?!
• Mammoth Cave + Jim Beam Distillery Tour!  We trekked down south and embraced my stepdads geology love.  We walked through a mammoth cave and stared in awe at all the beauty. It all blows me away!  Jim Beam was on the way home and what better way to end your stay in Kentucky than to tour a distillery!  We took a quick tour and sampled two of their top shelf bourbons.  
• My folks left early Saturday morning so we spent the remainder of our weekend with visiting friends.  
• Vegging on the couch.  It was truly needed.  Such a great way to end such a crazy good week.

How were your holidays? I'd love to hear!  Again, congrats to Erin for winning the Shabby Apple giveaway! And hello to all of my new followers - so excited to meet you!

Last, if you live in Louisville - don't forget to go to Proof on Main tomorrow to meet myself and Alison of {long distance loving}!  Sign up here!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I wish you all the best today - the best pie, the best turkey/ham/tofurkey, the best of family times and more.  Today I am so thankful for my wonderful family and the fact that they're getting to come together to celebrate in our home.  It's sure to be a good time - but in the meantime, man, we have a lot to do...

Have a great holiday, everyone! Don't forget to enter the Shabby Apple giveaway! You have until Sunday night!

Thursday's Randoms

Seriously, how amazingly delicious does this cake look? I"m drooling! It looks like perfection in every bite.  I think I must add it to my list of cakes to bake.  Via Sweetapolita, where else?!

Love this print of woodland creatures from Etsy shop Chasing the Crayon.  I think it's easy to say that I'm just really into stuff like this, but I mean...how can you not be?!

I am totally itching to buy new sweaters, and J.Crew has a lovely selection right now.  I think everyone needs at least one new item per season and I have been a very good girl with our money lately. This honeysuckle one in particular is pretty great.  It's about time...right?

Many of you have experienced your first snows of the season recently.  While I am not at all jealous, I am getting slightly excited for what's to come.  Then again, I think back to that 2 feet of snow dumped on us in Chicago and I still shudder...Via

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and we're already in the process of planning our menu.  I'm so so so excited to be able to host the holiday in our house and to have my parents drive all the way here for a week long stay!  It's going to be glorious, and I think for us vegetarians that there will be many dishes like the one above (broccolini and feta galette).  I can't wait!

I still can't stop thinking about this k.slademade clutch.  It looks a little monstrous in this picture but I think that makes it all the better.  I may not carry clutches too often but I would carry this all the time! I LOVE IT.

And we're back!

{the sunset on our drive to Wichita}

First off, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Our was pretty great, pretty relaxed and chock full of boardgames.  We had 2 official Thanksgiving dinners, luckily on separate days.  We spent the actual holiday at my aunt and uncle's house where I got to see my cousins and their kiddos (I met a new baby cousin who is as cute as can be).  We caught up, watched football, ate a lot and then retreated back to my parents house to play some games, drink some beer and have a nice night in.  The next day, we cooked a giant feast for our "immediate" family which is rather gigantic these days.  I made the fancy mac n' cheese and my oldest niece LOVED it.  The others liked it until I spilled the beans about there being onions in it.  Oops!  We drank wine from our wedding (hooray, my mom surprisingly had an entire box full of Hans Fahden wine waiting for us!!), played more boardgames with everyone and enjoyed some bad jokes and good laughs.  We finished the night off watching Hot Tub Time Machine with my stepdad, which is actually a rather funny movie.

My favorite part of the trip was spending time with my parents, just sitting around the table drinking coffee and chatting in the mornings.  Everything was so laid back and everyone seemed to come over to us all week/weekend long.  I got a lot of Mimi time in with the kids (hooray!) who are growing up way too fast.  We also got the chance to see my stepbrother's awesome band play, Spirit of the Stairs.  They were so good even though we couldn't see a thing!  

Yesterday was an incredibly windy day but luck was on our side throughout most of our 12-hour drive back home.  There was a strong south wind that pushed us right along.  We were all set for arriving an hour and a half early (going the speed limit, thank you) until the highway was closed off by a bunch of cops and there were no signs directing us how to get back on to the highway we needed.  Luckily we had an atlas to direct us but then we got a FLAT TIRE and that took us awhile to fix since it was dark and windy and we had to pull off into the grass to avoid death by speeding semi's.  We still made it home in 12 hours and were able to watch Zombieland to recover.  Oh and have I mentioned that both of us are sick?? Yeah, that's right.  A trip home couldn't be complete without getting sick.  Sore throat sick.  Boo! So that's where I'll be today - under the covers watching movies and drinking herbal tea.  

Stay tuned - a big announcement is coming to Mo Pie, Please this week and you don't want to miss it!

SPIRIT OF THE STAIRS • Noob Saibot from Lonny Quattlebaum on Vimeo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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We're on the road right now to visit my family in Kansas and I'm so excited about it!  I just wanted to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving!  I hope it's full of delicious food and family and many things in which you are grateful for.  Speaking of, here are a few I'm thankful for ::

• A very warm October and November here in Chicago.  Seriously, it helps make the winter a little more bearable when it doesn't start in October, ya know?
• My wonderful husband who supports me in all of my hopes and dreams
• My free time - there sure is an abundance of it and I'm so happy to have that to wake up to instead of my old job that I hated...
• My health.  This year has been 100x better than last year.
• My family and friends' health.  It means the world to me that we've all had a great year, especially after last.
• My cat.  Because he keeps me company during the day and keeps my feet warm at night.  
• My life.  Because being alive rules.

Safe travels and happy eating!

Holiday weekend fun

What did you guys do over the weekend?  Well I know Anna-Maria managed to slam a finger in the door and wound up in a lot of pain :(  I hope she still comes over to our house and forgives our front door some day. 

Friday, Inna & I pampered ourselves at the salon then went home and vegged out w/boy and snarfed down some leftovers.  AMDCC came over and we attempted to play Taboo until the incident (see above).  It was a good day besides that.

Yesterday, we had brunch at Yolk then went and saw Fantastic Mr. Fox.  What a fantastic movie!  

Bill Murray plays Clive Badger.  So funny.

We finished the night off with Belgium beers and Phase 10. 

                                     

I love low-key weekends. 

Mmm....Thanksgiving

This holiday weekend flew by, but it was certainly a good time.   Thanksgiving day was amazing.  Badger's parents and sister came up and our friends Jake & Inna came over as well.  Badger cooked all day long, but his dad was sure to take care of him by feeding him Miller lite the whole time.  I got some amazing flowers and was pretty excited to decorate the table.  It seemed to turn out pretty good!

We had so many dishes.  Turkey (I didn't eat it, but of course), sweet potatoes, macaroni n' cheese, green bean casserole, corn pudding, cranberry sauce, stuffing, pesto-deviled eggs, gravy, etc.  It was all made from scratch and with tons of love.  Seriously.  For dessert we had pumpkin-banana pie and an apple crumble.  It was delicious.  Nothing was made from a can.  I'm so proud of my boy!

It was a great day!

Thanksgiving Greetings

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I love Thanksgiving.  I really do.  I don't even eat turkey!  But all those dreamy, delicious sides...mmmm...nom nom nom.  This year we're doing things a little different.  Badge's parents and sister are trekking up here from Louisville to eat chef David's deliciousness while crowded around our small, albeit awesome table.  We're also having some friends over which makes it all the more special.  It's time to bust out the Hans Fahden wine and make the most of this wonderful holiday. 

What are your Thanksgiving plans?  What are you thankful for?  I am very thankful for my wonderful fiance who treats me like gold.  My life would be so different without him.  He really is my soul mate and I love him more and more as the days go by.  I'm also thankful for my wonderful friends I have here and back home.  How would I make it without all the laughs and hugs and fun you provide?!  Last, and to be expected, I am very thankful for my wonderful family and my soon-to-be in-laws who are all amazing and supportive and there for us.  I'm so fortunate for everyone in my life!