Going the Distance

Wino Wednesday!!

It's been a crazy busy week since getting back to real life after Thanksgiving, so I didn't have a post to go up today, but then I saw the Wino Wednesday posts and knew I could easily share with you my favorite wine!

My favorite wine is Kim Crawford's Sauvignon Blanc

I'd never even heard of it until MG and I signed at our wedding venue, and as a little gift, the venue gave us two bottles of the Kim Crawford sauvignon blanc.

We had some later that night or week to celebrate our first big step with wedding planning, and we were both hooked!

Throwback to June 2013!!

I've tried other sauvignon blancs and am not a huge fan overall, but Kim Crawford knows what's up, and it's so tasty.

When my SIL was in town a couple weeks ago, we went out to dinner and Kim C's wine was on the list, so we both had it (she'd never tried it before) and she was hooked as well!

If you haven't tried this one, you definitely should!

Drink up, buttercups!!

Our Christmas Decor

Now that Thanksgiving is done, and it's officially December, Christmas prep is in full swing!

MG and I took the opportunity over the Thanksgiving weekend to put up some decor, both inside and outside, and I thought I'd share some with you!

MG's dad brought down some Christmas lights for us, so we made good use of them outside. It really makes the house look so much more festive!

We put up our small tree from when we were in the condo (probably the last year we'll do one this small), and brought out the ornaments that we had gotten from one of my bridal showers that my SIL's and MIL threw for me last January. They had everyone bring an ornament to help us decorate our tree for our first Christmas as a married couple. MG and I sat and went through them all, unwrapping each ornament and hanging them while we reveled in how loved we are. Here's a snapshot of a few of my favorites:

The Philly Love symbol was what we used on top of our wedding cake, the two married ornaments, and the Sisters Ornament that my SILs got for me, with all of our names on it :)

We now have an entryway and a staircase that we can decorate, so I got to work with some of the other decorations I'd collected previously, and some others from our shower. My mom bought the Naughty and Nice sign which I thought was cute, and my SIL got us the Days til Christmas blocks, and the holiday card holding tree which I can't wait to fill up as the holiday cards roll in!

I also hung Cooper's little stocking from the tiny tree :)

Our little entryway tree has a beautiful crystal angel mistletoe on it. Unfortunately we don't have a way of hanging it in the house without damaging the molding to one of our doorways so MG hung it in our baby tree and I think it looks beautiful.

I also took some of the ribbon and decorations from presents at my bridal shower and saved them. They've been put to use on our banister and adds a nice little touch of decoration when you first walk in.

In our living room, we have a touch of the holidays with a new pillow:

And on our door is the wreath I showed you guys the other weekend, along with another ribbon and an ornament that was too heavy for our tree, but I just loved, so I put her on the door, to watch over us this season, on the other door:

We also have two stockings that my friend is going to embroider for us, but I haven't figured out just where I want to put them yet.

I also want to make some other cute little things, like these snowmen, and then add to them as our family gets bigger:

I'm sure the longer we're in this house, the more decorations we'll accrue, and the more festive our house will look every year. For now, this is perfect and has brought a nice holiday warmth to our home!

Thanksgiving Weekend Highlights

There really is nothing better than having 4 days to enjoy family and be away from the stresses of work. You know, other than having more than 4 days off (which I didn't have, but would not have minded having haha).

My Thanksiving weekend highlights included:

~MGs parents getting into town Wednesday afternoon

~Dinner out in Old Town with them, that started off with a very delicious dirty martini

~Cuddles with the pups after they wore themselves out playing

~Yummy and fun appetizers while Thanksgiving food was cooked on Thursday

~Pretty flowers picked out by MG

~A fully set table, with tons of delicious foods, and a special wine paired specifically for a Thanksgiving meal that we got at one of the wineries we went to the other weekend

~Getting to use so many of our wedding gifts with dinner

~Celebrating our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, but even more fun--in our new house, with both sets of parents!

~Full tummies from all of the delicious Thanksgiving foods!

~Stories shared, laughs laughed and lots of memories made with our family

~Friday morning drive to PA to see the rest of MG's family

~Seeing MG's old house from when he grew up

~Bowling and arcade games with MG's sister, husband and kids!

~Shopping for MG's birthday, running into friends from VA at the mall in PA, foot massages at the mall, and dinner out with the family to celebrate MG's bday

~puppy dressed in Christmas sweater (MG's parents' dog)

~Family photo selfie

~Dancing with both of my SIL's in the basement to oldies music

~Wine in Christmas glasses

~ice cream b-day cake

~Sunday morning drive back to VA to beat the traffic

~Decorating for Christmas (I'll be showing you pics soon of all of our little touches of the holidays at our place!)

~Thanksgiving leftovers!!

And just like that, it's December 1st and there's 24 days until Christmas!

And I need to work out like it's my job this week lol

Hope you have a good post-holiday Monday!

Linking up with these ladies today:

and Biana!!

(and Monday Morning Gossip, but something is up with their linky button)

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Just wanted to stop in and wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. This is my 1000th post!!! How crazy is that??? :)

A Very Thankful Thanksgiving

Like many of you do around this time every year (myself included), I'm taking a moment to share the things that I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving.

{1} MG

I'm SO thankful that I have MG, and even more thankful that I got to marry him this year! It's truly been a whirlwind of a year for us with our wedding, buying a house and all the stuff that accompanies those monumental things, but I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else by my side. I'm thankful for the smooth and easy transition from engaged couple to married couple. He's been the person who can make me laugh when I'm having the worst day, puts things into perspective for me when people don't treat me right, and I just love how easy going he is. He's my perfect balance and my best friend. I'm so glad I get to call him my husband!

{2} My Family

This year, my family officially includes not only my parents, but MG's parents and his sisters (and their families) as well! Even though I've felt a part of their family since pretty much day one, I'm so thankful that they are mine forever. MG's sisters are the sisters that I never had but always wanted, and his parents are some of the best in-laws you could ask for.

I'm also thankful for my parents, and for my dad's continued health (and no major decline in health). Every day I have with my dad is a blessing and I'm so glad that we get to spend another Thanksgiving all together as a family. My parents are always there when I call, whether it's to say hi, or to frantically ask them a question related to home ownership haha. I'm truly one of the luckiest girls in the world to have this amazing group of people to call my family.

{3} My Friends

This year, more than any, I've truly realized who my real friends are and I'm so thankful to have the abundance of ladies in my life who are supportive, loving and always there for me. I've never had to worry about any of you talking about me behind my back or being unnecessarily cruel, because you're true friends and are always there to lift me up and remind me of what and who are important. I know I can always count on these ladies and I'm so thankful that I've got them in my life. They really are my family, too. And to my tried and true blog friends (Shay, Jess, Lynn), I adore each and every one of you. I love celebrating your joys and successes and I'm always here for you through the rough waters.

{4} Cooper

I can't forget Cooper, my doggy soul mate. We're still battling his seizures every couple of months, but he's a strong little pup. I love every wiggly little inch of him! He brings so much joy to my life, with just one tail wiggle, nose lick, and ball of cuddle. I can't imagine my life without this furry little guy because he's one of the most special things in my life :) Always love me some Coop!

{5} Blessings

This year I've had a lot of blessings in my life. I got married to my best friend and I'm (we're) now a home owner, too! We are hosting Thanksgiving with BOTH of our parents in OUR new home. And no matter what the naysayers have to say, buying our house was perfect for us. It's been so fun to do projects with MG, and take the steps to make it 100% ours. (and we haven't killed each other during the projects which is something to be thankful for, in and of itself! haha)

I've also been blessed to meet so many new friends, both in the blog world and IRL and I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my day-to-day life.

I'm also extremely thankful that I've gotten to take part in several friends' weddings so far this year (Hey Bree!), baby announcements, and even births! (yay babies!)

This life is truly a blessing and I'm so thankful that I've gotten to be a part of each of your lives, and that you all get to be a part of mine!

I hope this Thanksgiving is full of family, friends, good food and lots of memories to last you a lifetime!

And because it's humpday.... :)

Complete Randomness

Need something to get you through the rest of the week before Thanksgiving?
How about some random reflections and thoughts on this Tuesday!

I said "randomness", didn't I?? :)

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~there's always another side to someone else's story #dontbelieveeverythingyouhear

~a school work-setting might be the only place that you address your friends as "Mister ____" or "Mrs. _____" when other people (kids) are around

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~I don't know how people paint a room without taping it off first. Even WITH tape, I still get some paint bleeds. Without the tape, I think it would look like a bad Kindergarten art project.

~sometimes as much as you ignore or block someone out, they still manage to rear their ugly head and pop up in your life again, whether you like it or not (and why is it always when you're not even thinking about them at all??)

~it's really difficult having a husband with a birthday right around the holidays...that means double the gifts and double the creativity in 1/4 of the time! (we can go ahead and hashtag this one with #firstworldproblems, I'm ok with it :)

~there are a lot of people in the world who look like animals. I've noticed the most common look-alikes are monkeys (understandable with evolution) and horses...(mainly with smiles I guess) and it's kinda freaky!

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~sometimes people create their own self-importance. Like finding out someone is saying that something you do has to do directly with them, when in reality, you're just living your life without a care in the world about theirs #stopgivingyourselfsomuchcredit #youregoislaughable

~hypocrits are a real thing

~people who don't show up for appointments really annoy me. When I make a meeting with a parent, and they don't show, it drives me bananas!!! I spend all of this time prepping, getting coverage, etc all for you not to come. Thanks for respecting my time as much as your own. Really.

~where did the phrase "drive someone bananas" come from, anyway?

~Speaking of phrases, apparently the phrase "geeked out" is a big thing now (or maybe it has been and I'm just old and out of the loop--which is completely possible). My friend, who is older than me I might add, came over the other night and used it at least 4 times in our conversation. As you can tell, there was a lot to "geek out" about.

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And now that this post has been random enough to include an English muffin and Big Bird, I will depart you!
Have a fantastic day :)

Weekend Highlights

Another weekend come and gone, but at least Thanksgiving is coming in just a few days!!

This weekend's highlights included:

~Friday night in with MG, pizza and a movie

~Saturday morning installation of our new stairway carpet runner. I'm in love!

And now Cooper can go down the stairs again without falling!! Byebye Cooper's baby gate!

~Shopping at the mall and getting a new jacket at Macy's $30 off, and with gift cards!

It's a little longer in the back so that your back doesn't get cold when you sit down!

~Dinner and a movie double date to see Interstellar (really good!) and then super yummy Mexican food for dinner afterwards (where we all analyzed the movie since it was so complex)

~Sunday errands: getting food and other prep so we can host Thanksgiving for both sets of our parents this week (gonna maybe try two new appetizers too!)

~Shopping at Home Goods and World Market for holiday decor!