Happy Thanksgiving

I wish you and your family and friends a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I'm going on a short road trip so I'll be taking a blog break. 

We'll see you back here first thing next week.

xo

{photo by The Sweetest Occasion}

It's Monday.

I had a long and exhausting weekend. 

I could not be more thankful for this short Thanksgiving week.   

To get through this rough Monday I plan on 

drinking lots of black tea and listening to this song.

What tricks do you have to get through a Monday?

{mug by AvenueBlue}

Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes

This year we are going to Portland for Thanksgiving.

I'm taking a little piece of my family's thanksgiving with me: 

My Aunt's Sweet Potatoes

Below is the not-so-secret family recipe.

Aunt Carol's Sweet Potatoes

 3 1/2 lb yams or sweet potatoes

4-6 Tablespoon butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1 cup dark brown sugar

4 tablespoon butter, softened

4 tablespoon flour

1 cup chopped pecans

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Bake yams or potatoes until tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours then let them cool

Increase oven temp to 375 degrees

Scoop pulp from yams.  Place in lage bowl.

Mash until smooth or use a food processor

Whisk melted butter and eggs into yams.

In small saucepan, heat the milk.

Stir hot milk and 1/2 cup of the sugar into the yams

Spread mixture into buttered 11 x 7 dish.

Mix remaining 1/2 cup sugar, the butter, and the flour until crumbly.  

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Sprinkle over yams and bake until topping is crusty (about 30 min)

Do you have a family favorite?

{photo from Baked in AZ}

Holiday Sparkle

With a couple weddings and few holiday parties

I am in the market for something sweet and sparkly to wear. 

Below are some of my favorite holiday picks from ModCloth.

Do you  have any favorite holiday dresses?

Dresses found here: 1   2   3   4    5   6

{photo above from Patterson Maker}

A Perfect Weekend

This weekend was a good one.

It started off with a surprise visitor and ended
with a quiet night at home with the husband.
In between I helped a friend design her wedding dress,
brunched, slept in, and drank a lot of hot cocoa. 

I also finally got around to editing our Italy photos. 

I have some great travel posts coming soon.
Here is a sneak peek.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.  

xo

{all photos by me}

Flower School: Calamondin

This would be the perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece.  

The little oranges called Calamondin grow on trees 

and can be grown even in Washington.  The fruit is mostly 

used for aesthetics but it can be used in cakes and marmalades as well.  

Also in this bouquet: fringed tulips, ranunculus, roses, and sweet peas. 

{photos and floral found on McKenzie Powell}

Party Planning

When I haven't been blogging I've been party planning.  

The husband and I throw our friends a party each year in lieu of a Christmas gift.  

This year I'm going all out.  We do drinks and snacks 

at our place followed by a night of zoo lights.  

This year the theme is blue, gold, and animals.  

I can't wait to share the after photos. 

xo

{Photos above: Ruffled, Artful Desperado, The Sweetest Occasion, Taste of Home} 

Workout Wishlist

Now that its dark and usually rainy when I get home from work 

I decided to reinstate my gym membership.  With that being said my workout 

wardrobe is in need of a little bit of a pick me up.  Now that I actually workout 

with other people and not alone in my living room I need to throw away my 

tattered t-shirts and upgrade to a properly fitting sports bra.  

Below are my favorite picks of the moment.  

Do you have any workout products you can't live without?

These Shoes are a must on my list.  

You can find them here.

This one has polka dots so it's perfect.

Purchase it here.

I have been eyeing these lulu lemon pants for years!

You can see them here.

This Zella top looks so comfortable!

I found it here.


{top photo from Tone & Tighten}

Happy Friday

Some weeks fly by so fast I can't blog as much as I would like.  

This one did and I will be back in full swing soon.  

In the meantime I hope the photo above makes you smile.

Happy Friday xo

{photo from Marvelous Pretty Things}

Family Photos and a Day Trip

What a fun weekend it was!  Justin and I have had the travel bug 

ever since we got back from Italy.  On Saturday morning 

we took a spontaneous trip to Leavenworth.  It was so beautiful! 

I got my much needed fix of sunshine, fog, and golden leaves.  

If you have never been I highly recommend it.

I also spent this weekend finishing up photos I took for some close friends.  

 Thank you DeWaals for letting me spend a fun afternoon 

photographing your beautiful family!

 

{all photos by me}