Laboring on Labor Day

Whoa, is it really Monday? It definitely feels like a Sunday. Thank goodness! Every week should have an extra pseudo-Sunday. Amiright? We started the long weekend off with a little hangout sesh with our local friends at the state park near our neighborhood. Seeing friends on Friday is my favorite, and cookouts just scream Labor Day weekend.

This raccoon cause quite the ruckus! 

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Sadly, I don't have any other pictures from the weekend. Saturday and Sunday were 100% full of sweet family moments, delicious food, and relaxation. Ryan's brother and sister in law were in town, and we got to spend some time with his grandmother too :) 

Oh wait, there is one more thing from Sunday.....our football team pulled off the best season opening win yet! #GoCards

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As for today, there was a zero chance for taking photos. We were early to rise, had family breakfast, maybe a nap, and then onto housework. We had so much to do, the list was SO long. Labor day is made for laboring, right? Ha I spent my labor day checking off tons of those to-dos! It's incredible how many thing I can do when my phone is turned off!

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How did you spend your weekend? Did you travel? Stay at home? Either way, hope it was fun!

Linking up with Sami over here

Thanksgiving Week + Weekend Recap

Holy Wednesday! I can't believe it's already the middle of the week. I thought for sure this week would creep by after the holiday weekend. But sure enough, here we are in the middle of the week. Thank goodness!! I love it when the weekends are slow and the weeks go by quickly.  Who am I kidding--we all love that, right?!

Working for the weekend!
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I have a ton to catch you up on.  Let's start with Thanksgiving week, shall we? ------- On Wednesday might we headed to our favorite bar down the street to catch up with friends, including some from out of town. 

Before heading out.

It was an unusually warm Turkey day this year, so I had to opt for an outfit that wouldn't completely make me melt while I spent time in the kitchen. I definitely had fun putting this outfit together!

Thanksgiving Day #OOTD

It's a simple Old Navy dress {with a fun skirt} paired with a Banana Republic button up and skinny leather belt. I don't know what brand the black boot is...I might have to look into that for y'all ;)
Thursday was a special day for me. I made my very first Thanksgiving turkey all by myself! And it turned out really well! Wahoo!

I used Trisha Yearwood's family recipe {found here}.
It's super easy and it creates a very juicy turkey (no crispy outside though).

I also made my first, but not last, sweet potato casserole. Check out the recipe {here}. I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes, but I plan to make this again soon!

It has maple syrup and half&half in the sweet potato
mixture and is topped with brown sugar and pecans. Noms!

I also made this bomb.com cheese ball. It had bacon it in and was a big hit!

Pumpkin and Pecan pie.

My sweetie!

Naturally we ended the day with some college basketball!

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We did not spend Friday shopping black Friday sales. No way, no how. We've been out for a few in our years together, but we're not big on the crowds. We are just not cut out for that drama. We heart Cyber Monday though!

Our craving for turkey and ham leftovers lasted about 24 hours. We made our way across town to meet up with my Dad for a short visit, and while we were out we stopped at Noodles & Co. to fill our bellies with non-thanksgiving food.

I tried the truffle mac. It wasn't anywhere near as good as the penne rosa.

While we were close we had to stop at Trader Joe's
 to pick up our favorite snacks and beer.

Trader Joe's has all of their holiday snacks out now--I suggest you stop by and try a few. These peppermint pretzel slims are perfectly light and not too peppermint-y.

We spent Saturday afternoon at one of Nashville's beautiful parks with our wedding photographer shooting our engagement pictures. It was a lot of fun {even with my brace and crutches}. I couldn't ask for a better time or photographer!

What did you do Thanksgiving weekend? Did you travel at all? It was our very first of not having to travel at all!

------- P.s. I'm linking up with Sami for the weekend update blog hop!

Birthday weekends are the best

Oh, hello Monday! I'm actually not too upset about seeing you today. I don't know what's gotten into me, since I usually hate Mondays! Either way, I'm going to enjoy it :) 
How was your weekend?
Our weekend was a ton of fun! On Friday we headed out to a friend's cabin for some birthday celebrations--we had a blast! We did lots of 'Merica themed stuff. You know--drinking some adult beverages, shooting guns, and singing to old tunes. I love nights like that with our friends!

Someone got Iced for their birthday!

The Birthday Boy!!

------ On Saturday we just hung out and took it easy. That night we opted to stay in and continue on with our America themed weekend by having people over to watch the Olympics. GO TEAM USA!

------- On Sunday I spent the majority of the day catching up on old seasons of 90210. I am in serious withdrawal since finishing up The Vampire Diaries, so I figured I would catch up on another show I like while I anxiously await October 11th!
Other than watching trashy tv, I spent the rest of my day eating delicious food. I caught up with a friend over a yummy lunch at Noodles and Co. 

If you have one near you I highly recommend it!

Penne Rosa

For dinner Ryan and I decided to cook together for a change. And boy was it delicious! We made white wine + tomato tilapia with creamy rice and grilled squash. We ended the night with a simple dessert of chocolate and vanilla swirl pudding with crushed Oreos.  Oh my gosh. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Needless to say I'm taking it easy with the food today. I DO have to fit into a wedding dress soon ;) ----- Check out Lipgloss and Crayons later today for a guest post from yours truly!