Thought for the Day

Weekend Fun

My trip to Houston was a quick one.  My sister is the power shopper.  

We were able to take advantage of some more Black Friday deals.

Luckily, I was able to fit everything in my bag.  I left the suitcases I took in Texas. 

Saturday night I got to hang out with my nephew.  

It was my younger sister's 10 year high school reunion. 

We went over to J's house so the boys could play together.

He had a good time and was out like a light as soon as I put him to bed.

I always have so much fun with him.

Sunday was decorating day at Gpop's house.  I help him with the tree every year.

He will be 93 in December!  I lived with him for a few years while I was saving for my house.

He even got off the couch to help this year.  Most times he sits and tells me where to put the ornaments.

Even he was beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

This is one of my favorite ones.  It is so old but I just love it.

The plan was to come home and get my house done but that just didn't happen.  Oh well.  

Who else put off Christmas for just another day or two?

Turkey Time

Well, we survived our first Thanksgiving on our own.  I had a good time.

We had more then enough food, but the table looked fantastic.

That was all Vic, she really surprised me.  It was all set when I got there from the airport.

The star of the show was the gold chevron table runner.  It was purchased at {The Paper Source}

(I'll apologize now that these are not the best pictures)

Also loved our Give Thanks plates and owl place card holders from {Crate and Barrel}

Since it was just the two of us, we decided a butterball turkey breast would be more then enough meat.

Texas sized feast for two!

In addition to "the bird" we had green beans, stuffing, twice backed potatoes, salad
and corn bread muffins.  No pies here, only cupcakes for dessert. 

Like most holiday meals, we spent longer making the meal then we did eating it.  

We did take some time to snap a picture using a photo timer app on my phone.  

After several tries we finally got one we both approved.

After dinner and the clean up a.k.a. loading the dishwasher (another perk of a smaller feast), we headed to the tree lighting ceremony downtown.  

Although we never did see the tree (too many people) we did get to see a great fireworks show. 

 It was neat to see the fireworks in the reflections of the high rise windows.  

That was a first for me.

And because we didn't have anything else to do on Thanksgiving evening, we decided to go SHOPPING!

We had to wait in line to get in, but it wasn't that bad.  

Maybe forty five minutes total and there were still shopping carts left when we got in.  

We were able to get everything we wanted and then some thanks to some crazy DVD specials.  

Really DVDs for $4.00!

This was my first Thanksgiving/Black Friday shopping experience, overall better then I expected.

Pretty great day, if I do say so myself.  I hope you all enjoyed as well!

Happy Thanksgiving

Here is hoping you all get to spend the day with the special people on your life, both family and friends. Be thankful for what you have and who you are!

I am spending this holiday with my sister in Houston. We are cooking, just the 2 of us, for the first time. I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how it went!

Weekend Fun

I got to hang out with some of my favorite little people (& their parents of course). 

We went to Brandywine Zoo. I have never been there.  It's a nice, smaller zoo.

Would be great in the summer, it's tucked in the woods.  Nice and shady.

Clrearly, he missed the news where the little boy was killed by falling into an exhibit earlier this month.  Little boys just love to climb - anything!

Big boys also push their own storller, no riding here.

This was across from the zoo. 

I can't wait to come back and see what it looks like in the spring.

We ended the afternoon at the Dream Playground. 

 It was all hand built by people in the community.

The boys loved running around.

This tree just screamed "perfect fall tree:

I am thankful for the short work week! 

Looking forward to some family time and a quick trip to the Lone Star State to spend Turkey Day with my sis!

82 to 32

Hola!  I am back in the states after 5 days in Mexico. 

My Adios post did not upload before we boarded the flight...oops.  It was amazing.
I have to sort through all my pictures from my long weekend in Cancun!
I will have a International edition of Weekend Fun for you later this week. 

 I got home last night and then had a flight out first thing this morning to Chicago for work.  

Boy is it cold here, not the beach views and sunny weather I had for the las few days.  

I did grab my winter coat on the way out the door, thank goodness.  

I think this hat and mittens would be a great addition to my winter collection.

Hmmm....

  {hat} 

{mittens}

Election Day 2012

The right choice is making a choice, whatever it may be!

Weekend Fun

I had a great lazy weekend.  

I have been doing so much running around lately that it was nice to have 

a weekend without a lot of plans or errands to run.  

My lazy, low key weekend started off great with a coupon from Coach!  

I have my eye on {penny shoulder purse}

Even the liquor store is ready for the holidays. 

 I may have to add this bottle to my holiday bar set up, just because its pretty! 

Saturday, I took a trip to Homegoods.  I picked up my first Christmas present, its for my mom.  

Sorry, no peaking :)  I loved these chairs.  I wish I had a place for them.  

The fabric matches my sofa and chair in the living room.  

I thought they would look perfect at either end of my dining table, 

especially since it is all one big room.  Maybe next time :(

My sister roped me into a Thirty-one open house on Sunday.  

I picked this up for a friend along with a thank you present for my aunt.  

(she gave me some last minute additions to my halloween costume)

I ran around all weekend in my new flats.   

 I know animal print is nothing new but it is very new to me!  

These are from Target and I love them and they were on sale for $12.99!

So I figured if I bought them and didn't like them or wear them as much, I didn't break the bank!

Only 3 days of work this week!  Happy Monday!

Thankful

It's just the start of November, but I am thankful that my family all made it through Hurricane Sandy with minor damage.  We lost power for a bit, the longest was my 93 year old G-pop.  

He was stubborn as always (we all get that from him) and only left for dinner each night.  

Luckily, he does have a gas fireplace so he was warm while camping out for the few days. 

 His power just came back on today.

Our shore house made it through also, unscathed. 

We are less then two blocks from the bay so we were worried.  Inside was completely dry.  

I know others are not so fortunate and will be cleaning up and rebuilding for quite some time.  

My heart goes out to them.  

 Mother Nature has a way to remind you what is important.