HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

via

today i am thankful for...

a house full of good smelling food.
talking to my grandmom about her lunch date with anne hathaway's mom.
christmas jams on the tv + christmas trivia.
a blazing fire with crackling wood.
cute babies that will soon fill the house.
the macy's thanksgiving parade.
a midnight adventure to target.
happy thanksgiving texts.
not feeling hungover.
a delicious french toast casserole + sausage for breakfast. mint coffee.
snuggles.
beautiful weather.
dance parties.

happy thanksgiving!
hope it's a gobble-licious sort of day!

party like a rockstar.

i am thankful for gold bags

by the looks of it, you can see i don't pack lightly.

all the above is for a simple three day trip. and by three days...it's really just friday, saturday and home sunday. but a girl can never be too sure of the weather, which shoes to wear or what kind of day she's having.

"do i want to wear jeans? ehhh...how about a skirt? or maybe leggings and a sweater?"

so yes, it's all veryyyy necessary.

and where am i heading, you ask. washington dc! ashley and i have some fun events planned. but mainly just eating, drinking, strolling and dancing. there is ALWAYS dancing.

however, i currently feel like i have a brick sitting in my stomach. my co-workers and i ordered out today and i decided on a bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel. because naturally, at the time, sounded TO DIE FOR.

and right now, i just feel like i'm dying. blahhhh.

back tracking to yesterday, i came home from work and made myself up a yummy salad. greens make my tummy feel much better then grease. i also had a pumpkin ale. because it just seemed fitting for a wednesday afternoon.


i decided to dive into a book christie lent me. and dive in i did! i had to force myself to put the book down and make dinner.

and it was completely well worth it.

christina had mentioned lemon pepper noodles from trader joes. i've been really excited to give them a try.

four thumbs up from this girl! ya'know...if i had four thumbs.

i am now off to the nation's capitol. obama is expecting me.

hello, goodbye.

i am thankful for a weekend getaway to DC


*image*

elliot stabler, is that you?

i am thankful for thanksgiving day episodes of my favorite tv shows

i had a really weird experience when i arrived to work this morning.

for starters, i was on time. on wednesday's and friday's i'm supposed to be to work by 6:30 am. i usually don't get there until 6:45.

i open the office on these days. the therapist and patients don't arrive until 6:50-7. so imagine my confusion when i walked up the steps and saw this...

a random red car with all the doors {and trunk} opened and blinking lights. and not a soul to be found.

i evaluated the situation in my car for a second. wondering {hoping} if an episode of SVU or criminal minds was being filmed. i pondered at the thought of checking the trunk out. i quickly opted out of that decision and instead scurried passed the abandoned car, unlocked the doors and crept upon it from the window.

after 15 minutes of it sitting out there, i got bored and gave up on any exciting action. and then 10 minutes later when i checked on the car, it was gone. dun, dun, dun. but no really, WHAT?!?*

when i got home from work i was on a food day mission.** i promised the ladies at work a french toast casserole for breakfast tomorrow-so french toast casserole it was!

i borrowed the recipe from the mama and i'm sure the mama borrowed it from someone on the world wide web.

-6 eggs
-1 cup of heavy cream
-2 cups of milk
-1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
-1 teaspoon of cinnamon
-challah bread

topping:
-3/4 cups brown sugar
-melted butter

-whisk the eggs, cream, milk, cinnamon and vanilla in a medium bowl
-butter your 9x13 casserole dish
-tear the bread into pieces and layer your dish
-pour the egg mix on top
-push the bread down with a fork and make sure it is all smothered in the mix
-cover with wrap tightly and store in the fridge overnight

BAM!

in the morning:
-heat oven to 350°
-make topping and spread on top
-bake 35-45 minutes {depending on brownness}

serve with syrup!

i hope it turns out okay in the morn. keeping my fingers crossed. i don't always have the best luck in the kitchen, so we shall see.

as soon as i finished prepping my casserole and cleaning the dishes, my stomach started to rumble reminding me i forgot to eat lunch.

i love eggs. they are so simple and fast.

i had one thing on my mind for dinner...

i have been eating so much takeout lately that my belly needed some fresh greens.

-spinach leaves
-snap peas
-low fat mozzarella cheese
-dried cranberries
-sesame asian dressing

i'm now sitting here drinking some dunkin donuts mint coffee with peppermint mocha creamer.

delish.


*i ended up finding out the mystery car was delivering breakfast to the doctors
**food day is a weekly event in my office. each week someone new is in charge of bringing some sort of snack in for everyone.

the day i dug through the trash with my bare hands.

i am thankful for getting out of work early

i went to bed last night with the intentions of waking up this morning to go for a run, drink coffee, read a magazine, watch good morning america and regis & kelly.

instead, i woke up really tired and unmotivated to do much. let alone get out of my cozy bed to exercise. running is for the birds. regardless of my unmotivated attitude, i found myself digging through the disgusting trash in hopes to find something i assumed mama stout threw out. hunting through the trash is also for the birds.

since today was trash day, the garbage had already been waiting out on the curb to be taken away. luckily i made it outside before the trash men came by. i took out the kitchen trash bag, brought it to the outback porch and sat in a lawn chair tearing through dirt, grime, dirty diapers, old food, rotted food, coffee grinds, tea bags and paper. ya'know...trash!

it wasn't pretty one single bit. i almost vomited once or twice. however, while i didn't find what i was looking for, i did find my fringe mug. i scooped it up, tossed the trash back into the torn up bag, tied it up nicely and walked it back down to the street. HUMPFODFAFA!

at that moment i text mama stout...

me: 'scuse me mama. i had a white piece of paper folded with coupons inside it for blogging purposes...what did you do with them??
mama: wasn't sure what those coupons were...they are up on my bureau.
me: oh-that's wonderful. i'm happy i dug through the trash looking for them.
{no answer}
me: well-thanks! and i'd just love an explanation as to why my fringe mug was in there! xoxo

she decided not to answer that text, either. but moral of the story: even though you may not always find what you're looking for in the bottom of the trash bag at 8 in the morning-you may just find something else you didn't know was in there. {i guess that's the moral of the story?} because if i wouldn't have been looking for my coupons, i never would have found the mug. #thingsilldofortheblog

and since i went through ALL that trouble to find the coupons that duncan hines and foodbuzz sent my way, you best believe i'll be making something OUT.OF.THIS.WORLD incredible! as well as giving two lucky readers an exciting prize package! so be on the look out!

and no worries...i pinky promise they were never in the trash!

after i washed away all the yuckiness-i ate some special k for breakfast and got ready for work.


i was really excited to see my dunkin cup came disguised as a present this morning. especially since i had a starbucks christmas cup in mind but couldn't manage to make it there without being late to work.

cinnamon coffee at its finest

lunch was extremely BORING.

but my dinner made up for it. i've been craving the turkey and stuffing sandwich from cosi for over a month not.

pure amazing-ness.

let's just not look at the nutrition value and call it a day, aight?

the world is on fire.

i am thankful for lots and lots of snuggles

i had a really terrific day with darbee. we giggled, danced, ate, chased one another, took advantage of the nice weather, squirted whipped cream in our mouths, watched the polar express and snuggled. a whole heck of a lot.
i kind of wish she were for keeps.
i guess i'll have to keep working on getting one of those spuds of my own. as in, find a guy, date, get married, etc, etc.
until that all happens...i'll just hang out with the nieces.

i've been in kind of a funk lately. and i'm hoping a new chapter in life will really pick everything up. that, and let's say christmas. because christmas always defunkifies me!

i believe. . .

rob kardashian has turned into such a dapper dancer

i believe. . .

finding fall shoes are so tricky

i believe. . .

it's okay if i've been listening to christmas music for weeks

i believe. . .

hallmark commercials can make the toughest of hearts cry

i believe. . .

i need to start back up with my workout routine

i believe. . .

being honest gets you far

i believe. . .

getting lost in a book is sometimes the best medicine

*image*

what do you believe in today?

i forget to post sometimes.

i am thankful for long phone chats with my best friend

i am thankful for dinner dates

i am thankful for the smell of coffee

i am thankful for starbucks christmas cups

i am thankful for this moment

^the above are a catch up of thankfulness from last week and the weekend^

i've been on a slight egg sandwich kick. i kind of can't get enough. i keep eating many variations of eggies. breakfast, lunch and dinner.

i've also been on a red sauce kick. i used to despise red sauce. but lately, load it on thick, baby.

i've been thinking {really hard} about going to beauty school. i've always been interested in doing hair. my barbies and dolls were always the best looking on the block! and since i haven't been having much luck with my english degree, i feel like why the heck not? i'm not getting any younger.

mad mex opened in our town on friday night and me, christie and kerri made sure we were there for the big event.

parking was a freaking nightmare! i seriously drove around for 1/2 hour. i even gave up for a few minutes on circling the lot and went across the street to get gas and then i came back to give the hunt another try. luckily {for me} kerri text me telling me it was going to be a 40 minute wait. just when i was about to completely give up, a prime spot opened and i walked in just as the girls got seated.

i ordered a southern tier pumking beer to get my night started. our waiter felt the need to tell me how strong this beer was. i assured him i was plenty aware and this was not my first time.

we ordered some chips and salsa to munch on while christie told us some mexican jokes she had printed out for the occasion. i mean, that's totally normal, rightttt?

chrisite ordered fish tacos

kerri ordered a massive fluffy pillow-like of a burrito

where do i begin??

i went with the mad mex quesadilla

grilled chicken and no onions

everyone's food was delectable. and the company and conversation definitely didn't hurt either! we even played dead a few times. it was quite the night.

on saturday i caught up on a ton of magazines, read a book, did some online christmas shopping, assisted in some kitchen repairs, caught up on the last two episodes of fringe and ate a doughnut. {i love doughnuts}

i really have no idea why, but i get two baby magazines in the mail.
it's so odd, but i definitely don't hate it since i'm baby obsessed.

brother and dad working hard!

it's not finished, but it's getting there.

i was totally bummed this morning when i went to open my chobani yogurt and found it moldy and a little bit stinky. the expiration date said november 29th. womp womp.

and even though i've been known to {mistakenly} eat mold three or four times in my life-i tossed the yogurt in the trash and ate another doughnut. oh the crime. oh the guilt.

computer woes.

i am thankful for country music

yesterday i had a near meltdown. actually, it was a full blown meltdown.

i woke up, made some coffee, remembered a nurse was coming to take my blood so i had to hold off on drinking said coffee. instead, i drank some more water in hopes to get my very non-showing veins to show up. i sat around, played on my computer while waiting for laney and darbee to show up. i anticipated getting to spend my monday with both girls for a change. i had some fun thanksgiving day projects in mind!

nurse shows up to take my blood at the same time my little pumpkins show up. all is merry and bright.


i drink my coffee, make breakfast, the three of us lounge in our pj's. i blog and laney begs to play on my computer.

so i set her up on the computer to play a muffin making game. something she's done a million times. she's really good on the computer, so i walk away to play barbies with darbee.


next thing i know, laney is yelling for me because something went wrong.

i take a look-no big deal. she had accidentally logged the computer off and it just needed a password. i type in my password and press enter...

{begin meltdown}

instead of my usual background i was staring at a grey scene. instead of my icons i saw nothing. i clicked on the start-up and there were no options. and then about 25 error messages popped up saying drive c and the OS were not available. WHAT?!!!?


i tried to stay calm and not freak out. even though i was so totally freaking out.

after a lot of trial and error i finally managed to do a system restore. and while things kind of went back to normal, there are still so many problems. like for one thing, randomly a chinese voice comes through my speakers. it's really rather creepy. no pop-up, just a chinese voice.

not to mention...

-my camera can't detect my face
-i can't play any videos
-itunes won't play sound
-i randomly get a pop-up ad for msn.com
-when i click on something through the start-up menu, it says the procedure failed
-tweetdeck won't run

i smell a virus. it is completely SHOCKING a two year old could have done such damage. LIKE WHAT IN THE WORLD DID SHE CLICK??? ughhh. i'm so sad. my brand new computer is so bamboozled! it must be fixed ASAP!

anyway, i'm going to keep trying to find a solution...if not...call customer service and see if they can help...if that doesn't work...i'll be taking it to my computer guy. WOMP WOMP.

if anyone has had any such problem, please let me know!

on two positive notes,

1. we now have a keurig at work.


it was a lot of hard work pushing for one of these suckers. but alas!

2. nancy grace went home on dancing with the stars. thank little baby jesus!

it's monday!

i am thankful for clean water-saturday

i am thankful for having the opportunity to lounge in bed all day-sunday

i am thankful for having my two legs to dance-monday

i took the weekend off of blogging so i had to make up for my thankfulness for saturday and sunday. obviously.

on saturday i traveled to adamstown, pa to watch my friend kristi get married. i was super excited for this wedding because i've been hearing so much about all her wedding projects. she definitely didn't disappoint!

everything was so creative and adorably done. which says a lot, because i'm a total wedding enthusiast.

stoudt's brewery was decorated so pretty. and since fall is my favorite-it's no surprise i was completely smitten with all the leaf garland and white lights.

I DO!

even though it was a bit chilly outside, i loved how kristi had music playing for the guests while we waited for the ball to get moving. also, i must have looked through the programs 10 times while sitting there. they were so crafty. she had pictures of the bridal party and even a crossword puzzle on the back.

the guest book was a dictionary. they wanted everyone to circle a word in it and sign your name. a word that defined how you knew the couple. i was thinking too long and hard about my word that i totally forgot to sign and circle. #fail

and kristi's shoes were from TOM's bridal collection. they were her something blue.

after the very fast ceremony, we all headed inside for some warmth, drinkies and snacks. i stuck with beer for the better part of the night. it just seemed fitting.

however, my boss decided we should get a fancy drink to share. i tried to get the bartender to make something blue, the color of our lovely work jackets, but green was the best she could do.

enter the scooby snack
this drink was dangerously GROSS.
we maybe took two sips.

pumpkin cake and cupcakes...

centerpieces...


me and my date...


work ladies...


the entire night i did a whole lot of this...


it was a wondering evening...even if the DJ didn't play any gaga songs after he PROMISED me. but he was handsome and the music was just dandy all on its own...so i let it slide.