Thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! 

As much as I love the festive decorations and the delicious foods, today is much more than that to me. It is a day to truly be thankful for everything in life that I am blessed with (I am everyday but this day especially makes me grateful). To think about the positive in everything you have & forget about the negative. I am one that always seems to overlook the things I am blessed with when things aren't going exactly the way I planned. 

Each and everyday I am truly thankful for my family. They are my rock, my world. We are all so close & have such a special bond that many families do not have. No matter what happens in life I know that I can count on them. Being with my family is truly the only place that I feel a sense of peace. They mean the world to me & I will forever cherish & be grateful for the many laughs, great advice, & the crazy stories & jokes that forever hold us all together as a family. 

I am also thankful for my job. As stressful as it is, I am beyond grateful that I have it. There are so many people that don't have a job & the opportunities to learn new things all the time. Being with a successful company, that will offer me the ability to grow in my career is truly a blessing. Oh yeah, I get to wear jeans everyday which is also pretty awesome! 

Don't we all !? ;) 

Eleven weeks ago, we sold our house & moved in with my mom. Selling our house was bittersweet for us, but it was something that was best for the future of our family; and it was such a blessing that we were able to sell it in less than three months & make a little money from it for our future home. I am beyond thankful that my mom allowed my husband & I to cramp her style for the next year or so, so we can save money, pay off some bills & build a new home. I will be forever grateful & am so happy that we are under one roof for the holidays. 

I am also thankful for my grandpa's health. This year has been rough on him. I prayed for his health constantly and God truly answered my (& my whole family's) prayers. My grandpa was able to recover & move into a new home very close to all of us, which is a true blessing. No matter what is going on in life, he always knows how to bring a smile to my face. He is full of jokes, love and kindness & I am grateful God helped him to heal. 

We all have something to be thankful for & I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family & friends. 

Thanksgiving Tablescapes

I cannot believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving already!! This year has truly flown right on by. I really hope that time slows down a little bit. 

One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving, other than the yummy foods & spending time with the ones I love, are the festive tablescapes. Pinterest has given me so many ideas of what I would like to do in the future for when we host holiday dinners. I have been pinning decoratives tables for weeks & I have become obsessed (can I do this for a living?) Here are some of my favorites for Thanksgiving... 

Knowing the type of person that I am, if I had one of these amazing tables all set up I would not want anyone to touch a single thing. Ha! Aren't the tables for kids super cute? I am sure they would be destroyed instantly though. 

If you've been reading my blog, then you know I love a simple DIY project here & there. My favorites are making table cards for holidays. There are so many cool ideas out there that look pretty, that won't cost a million bucks to make. I really am loving these ideas to go along with a Thanksgiving table. 

Hope you all have a fun night preparing for tomorrow :)

*all sources*

Lovely & Oh-So-Pinteresting {Thanksgiving Foods}

I cannot believe that next week is Thanksgiving already. Time truly flies by when the holiday season arrives, which is too bad because it is my favorite time of the year. As much as I enjoy all of the foods that are served on Thanksgiving, I enjoy being with family the most. Don't get me wrong, there are still a few yummy things that I look forward to having. Some of my go-to sides are green bean casserole & stuffing- yum! I found a recipe for cheesy cauliflower gratin and brussel sprout gratin- they both look so delicious!

I don't know about your family, but my family is all about the sweets. You can count on there being at least five desserts, at a minimum. Pumpkin pies, cheesecake, chocolate this & chocolate that... And I'll be honest, I am not crazy about all that nor can I can eat it. I would prefer sweet potato casserole topped with marshmallows, a maple cinnamon donut or better yet.. a piece of apple pie. 

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And every holiday needs a festive beverage to go with it. I love drinks that are dressed up, it makes them more appealing & I am more likely to drink them. Ha! I am obsessed with the waffle on the side of this iced maple coffee. And these Thanksgiving punches look so deliciously refreshing! 

Apple Pie Punch & Apple Cider Sangria 

So what are some sides, desserts and drinks that you're looking forward to for Thanksgiving with your family? 

Recipe Fail

A few weeks ago, I went through Pinterest & picked out a week of dinners that I had never made before. I made two, this one being the second, after the way this one turned out I got super discouraged and stuck to my weekly go-to meals. 

This was the zucchini raviolis.. very few ingredients and seemed pretty easy to make. We picked up everything on our weekly grocery trip. The zucchini were so great that week, so I was super excited to make a new meal. 

Ingredients 

Ground Turkey 

2 cups Spinach

1/2 large onion 

2  tsp of garlic 

Salt & Pepper 

2-3 large sized Zucchinis 

Tomato Marinara Sauce 

Preheat oven to 350. Wash zucchini & peel with a peeler. 

Take each zucchini & slice very thin slices. I called my husband in for reinforcement (I didn't want to cut my fingers off!). It was nearly impossible to get it into thin strips.

In a medium sauce pan, cook the ground turkey. When the ground turkey is cooked, add spinach, onion, garlic and a pinch of salt & pepper (& your choice of seasoning, I used Mrs. Dash). 

Let me stop you right here.. this is where this meal went south really freaking fast!! 

When everything is cooked, take 4 zucchini slices & a scoop of the mixture. Wrap them up & place them face down in a baking dish- this is where I truly wanted to punch whoever created this recipe & said it was "easy"! The zucchini slices broke in half on basically every other one. And the ones that didn't break wouldn't stay closed so I ended up using about 12938024 tooth picks. It made the biggest mess ever!! 

When the disaster of wrapping is over with, top with marinara & stick in the oven for about 30-45 minutes. 

Remove from the oven when zucchini is soft. We sprinkled a little shredded cheese on top. 

I will be honest, I was not into them at all ! I ended up eating chex cereal instead. My husband ate them but he will basically eat anything. He did rate it only a 6.5 out of 10, so that means it sucked! Ha! It wasn't the worst meal that I have ever had but it was a pain in the ass, so I will most likely never ever make this again! 

So what meals have you tried from Pinterest that have turned into an utter disaster?!

Home Decor Deals

As you know we don't have a house yet or any intention on building until after the new year, but this hasn't stopped me when it comes to snagging up some awesome household things for a good deal. 

I am always stalking my favorite stores to see if I can find some goodies on sale. And this week seemed like an awesome week, since there are so many Veteran's Day sales. 

Pottery Barn was my first online store that I wanted to check out & man am I glad that I did. I have literally been dying over this faux fur long shag throw. And you would not believe the unbelievable price that I got it for. The original price was $129 & I scooped it up for $49 (yes, you read that right)!! I really love the comforter that we have now, but I know that I will want one for when we move to a new house. The minute I saw this gorgeous duvet cover & how well it went with whites & creams- I knew that I had to get this, so I did :) And it too was on sale, along with a few standard shames. 

I have several rustic wood frames from Target that I used previously for a gallery wall in our master bedroom; unfortunately they don't sell them anymore. So I was beyond thrilled to see that Pottery Barn now carries them- the gallery in a box is such an incredible deal with a mixture of matted frames. And these drapes are the similiar to the ones that I'll be putting up in our future bedroom- I love the clean white look & how long and flowy they are. 

My next go-to store for getting some awesome home goods is good ole Target. I am seriously loving everything that they have. If I had a money tree, I would spend my entire paycheck there on a daily weekly basis (really, I would!). So just recently I got this double gourd glass lamp & these incredible rustic wooden lanterns. They were both on sale, which was great !! And if you order them online- you get free shipping :) 

So did you snag any good items on sale for all of these Veteran's Day sales?! 

Sunday Recap

I thought it would be cool to do a mini weekend recap... I haven't done it in a while. I know you're super excited about that because I have such a wild & crazy life (just kidding!). I feel like we never do anything fun over the weekend because of grown up responsibilities- mounds of laundry, scrubbing smelly toilets, grocery shopping.. you the know the real fun stuff ;)
So if I have to write a weekly recap post, then it'll force me to put down the toilet scrubber and do a little something that I enjoy!

So the weather in Florida has been nice, for the most part. The mornings and afternoons are so chilly and I love it!! I had my first hot chai tea latte of the season & it was everything I dreamed of & more (don't laugh.. you know you enjoy the same thing).

The red Starbucks cup means several things that make me so happy. Cooler weather & semi-season change. The tree outside of our bedroom window has changed so much in the last few weeks. I love that all the leaves are changing colors and falling on the ground. It really makes it feel more like Fall. 

I love that we can open the windows at night & let the breezy fresh air in the house. It also makes me want to cuddle up on the couch & watch some movies and catch up on blogging/pinning. And I always have my little side kick with me. This weekend we rented Sex Tape with Cameron Diaz-- I freaking love her, but I'll be honest... the movie sucked!! I was super bummed. The weekend before we watched The Other Woman & that was so good, so I was hoping Sex Tape would have been good too. Oh well !!!

We also went to Trader Joe's! It just recently opened here in Jacksonville, so I have been looking forward to going there. And not to be a debbie downer, but I was super bummed about that too. Based on what I heard I was expecting a huge variety & gluten/dairy free options... and well they didn't !!! There were three rows of food & that is it. The best part of the store for me, was the amazing variety of flowers. My husband was impressed with the meat & seafood selections, although the prices were about the same as other places. 

I am hoping next weekend recap will be a little happier than this one. Ha!! Overall, it was a semi-relaxing weekend. Never long enough & the count down until the next begins NOW :) !!

If you have any recommendations on things to do over the weekend in Jacksonville, Fl! Let me know... 

Monday Munchies

I hope ya'll had a good Halloween !! The weather here in Florida was perfect for trick or treaters- it was cool & windy with no rain for once. 

So now that we're back to our regular non-festive foods, I found some new recipes. And I know it is Monday & you're probably expecting some meatless meals, but these are not. I am sure you can easily remove the meat in them all & they would be just as good though. All of these recipes seem pretty simple and easy to prepare, which is super helpful for the busy work weeks. 

Lately, we've been eating quite a bit of salmon. It is so delicious & such a nice change from chicken. Add an asian twist to it & I am all over it! 

Sometimes cooking dinner every night for family becomes quite a challenge, especially when we are always all working late all the time. So casserole dishes are so nice to be able to make & just heat up during the busy nights. 

And these are some that I am excited to try out... they truly looks & sound so yummy! 

Chicken pizza, broccoli chicken mac & cheese, fried pickles, and bacon & brussel sprout salad... oh goodness! 

So what are some of your go-to meals that you cook for your family during a busy work week!?

**All Sources**