The long-awaited, Thanksgiving recap.

First came breakfast...

This is the yummy-delicious Eggs Benedict Casserole that I made.

 { I heart eggs benedict }  

Another great find on Pinterest, here's the recipe.

Then it was time to start the desserts...  Mom made two pies, apple and pumpkin, while I made a sheet cake, Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Vanilla Sheet cake to be exact.

Delicious/moist/rich, so many words to describe the yumminess that is this cake and so little space.  

Get the recipe here from Picky Palate.

For dinner I made a side dish of sweet potatoes, the same one I made last year...  I guess this disliker of sweet potatoes finally found a recipe that she likes.  

Thank you, Food Network for creating this wonderful recipe.

And now some pictures of the Prince and family from Thanksgiving...

Everyone's ready to head out to Mom Woods', just waiting on me I'm sure. { smile }

Carter's Thanksgiving outfit and his cool fire truck.

Our little family.

Carter and his wonderful grandparents.

My parents, aren't they cute together?!

Playing with his cars at Ma's house.

I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with family, friends and most importantly LOVE, like mine was. 

{ Coming soon to a blog near you...  pics from our Christmas tree decorating night!! }

And moving on to the next holiday...

The big turkey day is almost upon us.  And I've got my contributions all planned out, see here (Family. Friends. And Food. = Thanksgiving) if you need a refresher. 

So that means that I'm now having to mentally plan for our annual tree decorating get-together with the grandparents, which will be this Saturday night, as in 3+ days away--  EEK!  Click here to see me blab about the { yummy } hot chocolate and marshmallows I will be making for us to enjoy. 

Here are some pictures from last year's tree decorating.  Seeing the joy and awe on Carter's face while we decorated the Christmas tree was amazing/priceless/one of the most wonderful moments EVER!

Ok now back to business. { wink }

Let's start with food.  I've decided to make some soup, roasted tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons to be exact. { smile }  I found the recipe on Pinterest, as would be expected considering I'm addicted to it.

Get the recipe here if you should want to try it, too.

And then there's the Greek layer dip, I'm about 80% sure I'll be serving it.  I have most of the ingredients already I'm just not sure if everyone will try it, some { specifically the hubby } aren't very adventurous when it comes to new food.

Photo and recipe courtesy of The Lovely Cupboard, get the recipe here.

Hummus, kalamata olives, cucumber, etc...  what's not to love?!

Moving on...  the tree and the decorations!

 We have a new, smaller tree to use this year because our usual one, yes we have an artificial tree and it is way. too. big.  So that brings up the dilemma of decorations...  since it's a new tree there have to be some new ornaments for it, right?!

I hope to recreate something kinda similar to these...

I love the color schemes of BOTH of these and the fact that I have some gold/champagne/silver glass balls already is { PERFECT }.


I'll be shopping on Black Friday, just not at the crack of dawn, will you?

You'll find me at JoAnn Fabrics with my partner in sewing/fabric crime, Lacey Rose.  We'll be the ones with bolts, upon bolts of flannel fabric in our shopping cart.  { smile }

Good luck in your shopping adventures this weekend!

{ Homemade } Hot chocolate & Marshmallows, what could be better?

I have. to. try. this. recipe.  SERIOUSLY.

And I just happen to have the perfect night planned for it!

Grownup Hot Chocolate with homemade Bailey's Marshmallows = TO DIE FOR. 

Not only does this hot chocolate have some pretty freakin' fabulous marshmallows paired up with it but...  it has marshmallow VODKA in it, what could be better?!?!  Hubby's opinion: Can we have that everyday? { I had him at marshmallow vodka. }

Are you dying to make this yourself?  Well then click HERE for the recipe! 

{ TIP:  Take out the marshmallow vodka and the Bailey's marshmallows and you now have a kid friendly recipe. }

After finding this recipe for the hot chocolate and MARSHMALLOWS, I then had to check out the original recipe that inspired the Bailey's version... 

Chocolate and pretzel covered BEER marshmallows, get the recipe here.

  As soon as I heard the flavor I immediately knew who I would be making these for this Christmas.  But.  I'm definitely interested in tweeking the recipe and doing some with and without the chocolate.  I'll let you know how they turn out.

Snow. Snow. Snow.

We got our first snowfall yesterday evening, luckily it started to sprinkle little-itty-bitty snowflakes just as I got home.  The BIG flakes started falling a few hours later and we went out to enjoy them for a little.

This year is Carter's 3rd winter season and he definitely knows what snow is this year and is enjoying it, the second he woke up this morning after saying "wake Mommy" he then said "SNOW!"

Of course you know we had to try to catch snowflakes on our tongues...

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Cupcakes, the new Thanksgiving dessert!

Okay, so we all know I couldn't do my posts for Thanksgiving without telling you about all of the fabulous cupcake recipes that I found that are { PERFECT } for the upcoming holiday!!

And BTW...  can you believe that it's only 9 days until THANKSGIVING?!?! 

Here they are.  Some yummy. delicious. decadent. cupcakes that you will practically drool over while just reading this post, I promise.

{ WARNING! Prepare for pumpkin overload. }

How about these fabulous Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes by Une Deux Senses, could the pumpkin pie frosting be anymore perfect?!?!  Get the recipe here. 

If you're a fan of Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte then you surely will love these Pumpkin Spice Latte cupcakes created by Annie's Eats.  Get the recipe here and enjoy!

These delicate beauties are from the amazing Sprinkle Bakes, can you say Pumpkin Brown Butter cupcakes topped with Cinnamon frosting = YUM!!  Get the recipe here.  

The wonderful combination of these cupcakes would be a wonderful addition to your Thanksgiving dessert line-up...  Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream.   Get the recipe here from Made in Melissa's Kitchen.

In case you can't quite give up the usual pumpkin pie then this cupcake is a starter...  Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Buttercream.  You can find the recipe here from Bake it in a Cake.

And for those of you who might not love pumpkin as much as I do...  don't worry this recipe is perfect for you...  Maple Cupcakes topped with real maple syrup, get the recipe here from Country Living

Or if you aren't quite sure about taking the jump to cupcakes, how about a cake in the shape of a pumpkin.  Here's the recipe and directions for putting it together, provided by Half Baked The Cake Blog  

Last, but not least some fun cupcakes that could replace your Thanksgiving dinner...  well maybe not.

Here's to a wonderful Thanksgiving for everyone with your family and friends!

Thanksgiving touches { Inspiration. Inspired } Part 2

How's about some inspiration for decorating around the house for Thanksgiving?!?!  If you aren't up for the go-all-out approach with your tablesetting then here are some ideas on little touches of Thanksgiving you can do instead.

Add a frame and you've got a great addition to your mantle.

A collection of pumpkins/gourds would look festive at your front door.

A beautiful wreath for your front door by Saffron Fields design studio on Etsy.  I just { LOVE } the colors and the glittery pears!!

Add a simple and colorful bunting to your table/mantle/anywhere you want.  You can find the DIY project for this garland at A Beautiful Mess Blog.

Another printable to put in a frame, this time with words of fall and Thanksgiving.  Get the free printable here from Betty Crocker {wannabe}.

And to decorate your dessert... I found this adorable Autumn Garland on Etsy from Potter + Butler.  I think the fabric poms would look just PERFECT on this Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream, get the recipe for this scrumptious cake here by Foodie with Family.   

Our you could make some cupcakes that look like pumpkins.

{ Simply add frosting to the cupcake in a dome shape, roll it in sprinkles so that it completely covers (or cover in M&Ms), then use the back of a butterknife to make the indents and then add the end of a chubby pretzel to the top. }

Here's another printable for those who { LOVE } cranberry sauce...  specifically that which comes from a can (or at least love commenting every Thanksgiving about where the canned stuff is)...  **pointing finger at you Dad**

Get the printable here, courtesy of Scene of the Grime.



Until next time, enjoy!

Thanksgiving Edition { Inspiration. Inspired } Part 1

In all honesty I have been plotting and planning for when I get to host my very first Thanksgving, it won't be this year but maybe, just maybe next year if all plans go as we hope.

Since we currently don't have a place large enough to comfortably accommodate all of our family and the goodies that come with Thanksgiving, I instead get to find inspiration for all of you to use for your celebrations this Thanksgiving.

There are so many parts to plan when hosting a family dinner for the holidays, so in this part of the Thanksgiving Edition { Inspiration. Inspired. } we'll discuss the table/place settings...  I love this stuff!! My first successful attempt was for Christmas Eve last year...  I'll share some pictures with you at the end.  But here's some fabulous inspiration that I found for you with the help of Pinterest and HGTV.

There's simple and casual with the added fun of a small pumpkin/gourd used as the name cards, { LOVE }.

There's Floral-elegance, add a few vases overflowing with beautiful seasonal flowers (or any flower for that matter) on a table with cream plates and hints of gold.

Last, but certainly not least...  my FAVE!!  I'm in { LOVE } with the monochromatic tones , the glitter, and touches of rose gold and other metallics = BEAUTIFUL!

And as promised here's my table-setting for Christmas Eve last year.  The colors I choose where gold, white and PINK!

The menu...  I used three different pieces of scrapbooking paper (pink glitter, pink houndstooth and an opaque white).  I then cut them down to different sizes so that I could layer them. 

 { TIP:  By printing on the opaque paper it made my font appear to be metallic.  I chose a dark yellow color for the font of the menu and when I printed on the opaque white paper it made it look GOLD.  FYI...  I also used the opaque paper for the placecards. }

Back view of the centerpiece since the menu was blocking it above.


While I went all out and did a whole table-setting... remember, you can always just add touches of Thanksgiving to the table or even just around the house...  hmmm...  maybe my next post will be about "Touches of Thanksgiving".

Enjoy!