Homeward bound.

Whew. I’m glad I got yesterday’s post out of the way. The sweet comments (and phone calls from my friends) really made my day.

Moving on.

Let’s talk about Thanksgiving.

Homeward bound.
Did you love that movie as much as my sister and I loved that movie?

My grandparents were wonderful hosts, and the food was delicious. As we get older, I’ve noticed my sister and I are more involved in the kitchen. And it’s fun! The food was definitely a collaborative effort.

Turkey time!

Cranberry delight.

Around the table: My grandparents, parents, aunt and uncle, sister, sister’s bf, my bf and me!

Last year, I participated in the Cold Duck tradition with Adam. It's too good not to carry on.

This guy was at the table, too.

Surprise! My grandmother is a great cook!



Smile! So are you, Mom!



We had a merry ole' time.



I participated in the merriness. Totally posed picture.

We also spent time Friday night watching a northwest Arkansas friend play at a local bar.

Hello!

Awkward hand placement.

The rest of the weekend was full of shopping, family time, movies, and more food, of course.

He went SHOPPING with me Saturday. Just not at 5 a.m. with the rest of my fam (except Dad).

Saturday night, my mom and I went to see Love and Other Drugs. Go see it. It was especially touching for my mom (and me) because Anne Hathaway’s character had early-onset Parkinson’s disease, which is what took her dad (my grandfather’s) life when I was just a pre-schooler. It was also a touching, funny love story that is VERY different from your average romantic comedy. I give it 4.5 out 5 stars. Plus, Jake Gyllenhaal is pretty dreamy in the movie.

Tomorrow, I’m going to tell you all about my New Year’s Eve plans. Hint: I’m going north.

Hot or not.

Reasons why today is fabulous:

This working woman is ready for a break!

• I finished the magazine and am about to bring the file to the printer. This means I don’t have to worry about it over Thanksgiving! Now, let’s hope the proof looks great Monday.
• I get to see my FAMILY! We’re all spending the night at the lake house in Hot Springs.
• I get to leave work early!
• I know that I get to wake up and watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in the morning with my family and the boy. I don’t think he’s aware of my love for the parade.
• I get to take time tonight to preview all of Friday’s sale ads. You know I love this.

Reasons why today is not fabulous:

• I had a Poptart for breakfast and I feel like I’m going to die.
• I have to drive in the rain.
• I did three loads of laundry last night, which means none of the clothes I want to pack will be dry in time (I hang up a lot of my clothes to dry).
• I still have tons of work to do since I’ve been so engrossed in this special print edition magazine we’re doing at work.
• I probably won’t have time to workout today, which is especially bad considering the Poptart I had today. Why do I do stuff like that to myself?
• I have to pack…

Where's Big Bird?
via

Don't forget Thanksgiving.

I love Christmas, don’t get me wrong. I’m probably one of its biggest fans.

Little known fact about me: When I was in high school, I used to “borrow” my mom’s Aromatique Smell of Christmas spray and use it as perfume. I love Christmas that much.

I might bring back the "scent" this season.

 But I don’t know that I love the fact that it seems to be a trend for people to already put up their Christmas trees/decorations. What about Thanksgiving? What about your pumpkins and gourds and those things you made in school that you put the vegetables in them? They kind of look like sea shells? Yeah, I can’t think of the name either.

Weekend
It was wonderful! I spent a lot of time with the boy, which is always good. Friday involved dinner at Noodles with a couple friends.

Who had more wine?

A little better.

Saturday morning, we went for a jog together, which is something we should do more. I planned on doing an easy two miles because I was pretty sore from Body Attack and my FIRST spin class! But when Mr. A works out, he’s serious. Somehow the two miles turned into 3.2...He even made me go to the gym to lift weights after our run. I like having him push me to work harder. I wonder if I could talk him into working out with me at 5:30 a.m...probably not considering he refuses to even speak in complete sentences before 8 a.m. I'm guessing being my personal trainer before then is out of the question.

Saturday evening was the last Fayetteville football game of the season. We didnt't really tailgate because it was pretty cold, but I was glad it finally felt like football weather. We did make a couple stops on our way into the game. Some of our friends' friends (got it) completely remodeled an old bus into a tailgating station. It was pretty unbelievable.

I can’t believe football is almost over. It goes by so quickly, but then again everything seems to go by quickly nowadays.

This is the before picture of the bus.



After! The coolest bus. Ever.

Sarah inside the bus.

Not sure why I look scared.

Obviously.

Side of the bus.

We love football!



POM-tastic.

Wednesday, Adam received a special package in the mail: a pomegranate. A few weeks ago, I signed up to send him a POM-a-gram.

Isn't this a great campaign?

Did you know pomegranates can last two months in the refrigerator? Why do I feel like (unless I do something with it) this beautiful piece a fruit will still be there when this time comes?

You even got to pick the -gram message to send!

They personalized the message, so he would know it came from me.

I personally cannot wait to eat his POM-a-gram.

Wednesday, I made a no-bake pumpkin cheesecake. I definitely added too much Cool Whip, but I want to make it again, for sure.

Recipe from Kraftrecipes.com:

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)

Make It

BEAT cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar and pumpkin pie spice with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gently stir in 2-1/2 cups of the whipped topping. Cover and refrigerate remaining whipped topping for later use.

SPOON cream cheese mixture into crust.

REFRIGERATE 3 hours or overnight. Serve topped with remaining whipped topping. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Too much WHIP, but still tasty.

I would recommend adding more cream cheese or using less Cool Whip.

Did you know Cool Whip is in the frozen section? I’m probably the only person in the whole world who didn’t know that. As I was wondering around the canned whipped cream, a lovely woman asked me if I was looking for Cool Whip, and she directed me to the right place. Thanks! I still don’t understand why it’s frozen…

The cheesecake was pretty tasty, as was everything at our November Kitchen Queens!

Katie made chocolate chip bread, which I had for breakfast today.

Liz made delicious holiday drinks.

Colleen made turkey cranbery pinwheels. Unique and very good!

I love this picture! Who knows what all the laughing is about.



Not the best picture of me, but I had to prove I was there!

Last night also involved our Junior League Fall Social at Blakeman’s Jewelry. Um…I want everything in the store. Especially the sparkly stuff. And the food at the event was amazing.

Action shot! Of me eating...

You can see why I couldn't pass up a small plate.

Thanks, Mr. Blakeman! I'll be back!

Happy Friday!

Back to the healthy way.

I know it sounds crazy, but last night, every time I tried to lie down and go to sleep, I couldn’t stop coughing. Sitting up…not a problem…but lying down…can’t. stop. coughing. The kind of cough that sounds like I’ve been smoking for 80 years.

With all the smoke in the casino Friday night, it’s completely legitimate to say I had a smoker’s cough, right?

After a four-hour nap, Friday (can that be called a nap?), I was feeling a wee bit better, and the boy and I decided to make the trip to Cherokee (our local Indian casino). It’s actually a lot of fun, and we even planned to stay the night.

After (finally) leaving the casino Saturday, we ran a few errands and then headed to “the barn” to watch the Razorbacks win. I first blogged about the barn back in January.

Baby Hudson loves the barn.



Adam actually bought new clothes Saturday. What?



This is where we watched the game...I told you...you just have to see it.

Adam...sitting under a giant elephant. :)

Ugh...I hate blogger and the fact that it won't do vertical pictures correctly. But this is a giant range.

No one could remember how to play, so we just built stuff.

Our friend Natalie’s parents have this “barn” that’s pretty fabulous. It’s not really a barn, but that’s what everyone calls it so I go along with it. It’s really big, nice room that’s full of crazy animals. It’s something you can’t really describe with words.

Sunday was lazy. We had breakfast at the Iron Skillet or the Frying Pan or something like that…I can’t remember the name. And I’m actually glad to start the new week and get back into the healthy swing of things. Yes, I said I’m glad it’s Monday.

Razorback waffle at Sunday's breakfast.

And this week is BUSY with a capital “B.” Busy=time flies by=weekend comes faster!

I'm a hoarse.

Yes, I’m voiceless today. In the literal sense I suppose.

It started last night at a birthday dinner for this lovely lady.

Vegas March 2010 for her bachelorette party.

I’m so proud of her! She has a fantastic new job, and I’m so glad I have her here in NWA with me. You can read more about how I know Ragan here.

She’s been my friend for more than 13 years. Woah.

And can you believe I forgot my camera at dinner? I blame it on the sickness. But Ragan had hers at least. I took some pictures with my phone, but honestly they're not eve worth it. And I have to say that Ragan's husband, Steven, got her a pretty fab purse for her bday, and he did it all on his own. Pretty brave!

Pesto Café is so scrumptious.

I ordered the salmon rigatoni, which means I’m super excited about my lunch today. Even if I can’t tell anyone about it.

And to top that off, I tried a new brand of Greek yogurt today (Fage blueberry), and it was the best I’ve ever had. Hands down. And the container itself is pretty cool. I highly recommend it if you like Greek yogurt. And if you’ve never tried it, this is the brand to go for.

It’s all in the pic-a-nic basket.

We had a fun-filled Halloween weekend.

It was my turn to make the birthday cake at work. I went
with Halloween cupcakes. It only took me...3 hours...

 Friday night: Halloween party. I think we make pretty cute bears.

Hey, Boo Boo!



I thought Yogi was supposed to carry the basket?



Where's Wanda?
And how did I not get a picture with my Nascar driving friends?



Saturday: Football game.

Not our best picture, but it works.

Sunday: I made the most delicious pot of chili and passed out candy to the trick or treaters. Well, I passed out candy until I started getting mad because every time I opened the door there were a billion teenagers not dressed up with Walmart sacks expecting me to give them candy. Here’s one piece, thank you very much. THAT did not make me happy. I turned the porch light off shortly after this started happening. But guess what? They still rang the doorbell. Sorry, folks. This candy shop is closed.

Monday: Sorry for the lack of blogging. My throat hurts every time I swallow. And even when I don’t. Is there a rule on how many cough drops one person should eat?

And if you do nothing else today, do these two things:

Enter my blog giveaway.


Vote.