Thanksgiving Recap

I have no pictures to prove this, but Thanksgiving 2012 was a success in my book. While I spent most of Wednesday frantically washing the dog, vacuuming up dog hair, making pies, and putting the finishing touches on things around the apartment, Thursday was infinitely less stressful than I ever imagined it could be. Thanks to lots of help from my future mother-in-law and several glasses of cold, white wine, dinner was served as planned between 3:30 and 4:00pm and everyone appeared happy and full by the end of the night.

Friday morning my sisters and I were up bright and early to drive to Pennsylvania to visit our grandparents. We had a great time visiting and laughing with them. We have always had a close and special relationship with our dad's parents and this year I am especially thankful for them.

The rest of the weekend was filled with some Christmas shopping, a HUGE Penn State win, pulling out Christmas decorations, and several cat naps. I'm so excited for the lights and sounds of this holiday season. We have lots of fun things to look forward to next month!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are all spending the day with loved ones and filling up your bellies with lots of turkey and pumpkin pie.

This year I am thankful for so many things:

• A loving and caring fiance who I feel so lucky to spend the rest of my life with
• Amazing family and friends
• Our health
• A roof over my head and warm food on the table
• Secure jobs
• Our sweet sheltie who always greets us with lots of love

You Know You're a Grown Up When

Lately a few things have occured that have made me realize I'm officially a grown up. While the thought is terrifying and unbelieveable at times since I often feel like a 12 year old on the inside, it has become a reality. So here is the start of my "You Know You're a Grown Up When" list:

1. Your furniture comes already assembled. This is actually a pretty COOL thing about being a grown up. (And the fact that I think this is cool could easily be its own item on the list). A few weeks ago P and I ordered two new (small) pieces of furniture after previously assembled furniture starting falling apart. When we got the notice that one of the pieces had been delivered I fully prepared myself for an evening of screwdrivers and crappy instructions. Instead after 10 minutes of careful manipulation, our beautiful new bookshelf was out of the box and ready to be filled.
2. You host Thanksgiving. Yep, that's right, we are hosting Thanksgiving in an 800 square foot apartment. Fortunately there will only be seven of us total - me, P, his parents, my mom, and my sisters, but it still feels like a huge undertaking. I have been scrambling around the past two weeks making sure I have the right ingredients and table linens.
3. See "table linens" from #2. That's VERY grown-up.
4. You struggle to come up with a Christmas wish list. P and I have entered a period where if we want something, like a new book or sweater or whatever, we just buy it. But in general there just isn't a lot of stuff that I "need" anymore. It was easier to compile extensive wish lists when I was in college or just began working. I think it is especially hard this year with our wedding being less than five months away; I feel guilty asking family for gifts when they are all already contributing so much to the big day.

I can only imagine how many more of these "grown up" things will come my way over the coming months....like getting married!

Sisters

"A sister is a forever friend." - Author Unknown

I had a great time with my sister Meredith this weekend. We had lots of laughs, successful shopping, and good conversations, which are key ingredients to quality sister time. I feel blessed to have grown up with two amazing sisters who I also consider friends and am lucky to be officially gaining another sister this spring. I will have three forever friends for the rest of my life!

Cheering on Penn State at Mighty Pint on Saturday

High Five for Friday

Today I'm linking up with From My Grey Desk for a little Friday love.



1. This poor little guy had to get his teeth cleaned on Tuesday which required him to get anesthesia. Unfortunately the anestheisia made him pretty sick




2. My sister is coming today and we have a fun weekend planned of shopping, PSU football watching, and a little DC exploring.


3. We voted on Saturday on DC but anxiously watched the election results on Tuesday night. P was glued to CNN and NBC

4. This is a 3-day weekend for me! Thank you to all of the veterans who have served our great country!

5. I scored two Yankee Candle Christmas in Paris 22 oz candles at TJMaxx this week for $9.99 each! Someone had been selling the exact candle for over $20 on Amazon. I'm so happy our apartment will smell like in Christmas in Paris again!

Brush N Blush

Last Friday night my friend Jess and I headed to Brush N Blush in Georgetown for an evening of painting and drinking wine. I had heard about similar places around the country and was excited when I discovered there was one in Georgetown.

The store/studio is located off of a side street in Georgetown. The studio had an upper and lower level with the upper level fitting about 12-14 people and the lower level appeared to fit well over 20 people. I didn't get a good count but I estimate there were about 12 people in the class on Friday night. Each person had a small easel set up with their blank canvas, an apron, a plate with the paint colors we would need, and brushes. Jess and I brought a bottle of wine and cheese & crackers to share over the two hour class. At 7pm the instructor turned on Coldplay and the class began.

Below is a very small preview of the painting that Jess and I learned to paint.

I was a little intimidated since the painting appeared to be fairly complex but I also looked forward to having a seasonal painting to bring home. Our instructor did a good job of taking us step by step and walking around the room to give tips and feedback.


Jess was excited to get started!



With my finished product



Jess and I with our masterpieces

Jess and I had such a great time and both agreed that we would love to go back. We think it would be fun to get a bigger group of our girlfriends together for a class. It would be really interesting to see just how different each our paintings would be! If you're looking for something different to do, check out your local area to see if they offer a similar class. I promise you will have tons of fun and get to take a painting you created home!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEREDITH!

Today I'm wishing my older sister, friend, and bridesmaid, Meredith, a very happy birthday! I hope all your birthday wishes come true and you have an amazing year!