Happy Thanksgiving

Grateful.  That is how I felt this Thanksgiving.  For family, visiting in-laws, best friends, pumpkin pie, picture messaging, fresh flowers, a husband who doesn't mind touching the giblets, early dog park runs, cookbooks, aprons...the list goes on and on.  Mostly, I am grateful to have this life.  I am grateful for the opportunity to appreciate all those things and so much more.  I hope that each of you had a great Thanksgiving and were able to take a moment to be grateful.

I also felt grateful for our camera so that I could capture all of our Thanksgiving moments.  Here is a snapshot of our day…

Twas the night before Thanksgiving

The cooks.

Prepping the turkey

The table

Our little fam

Mom and Dad-in-law

Just cheesin'

Shrimp and spiced cocktail sauce

Now that's a turkey!

And that is someone waiting patiently for a piece to fall on the ground.

His only job - the wine.

A peek in the oven - green bean casserole and stuffing

Happy Thanksgiving!

A little pumpkin

This is one of my favorite pictures - every single person/dog is passed out!
The result of a happy Thanksgiving!

November

O....K!

I'm here...hanging on by a few threads but here!  And I'm blogging...trying to squeeze it all in.  So there is a lot going on in our lives right now (quitting jobs, starting new jobs, moving to name a few...all within a month)...but I will just run you through some highlights.

We did a wedding tour...3 wedding weekends in a row!  Annapolis for Chris & Meghan (Casey's bro and new sis)...awesome.  Dewey Beach, DE for our friends Greg & Jenn...right after our power went out so it was a very nice break from our reality.  Bethesda, MD for our friend Cifa who got married...beautiful wedding and we got to see Swartz (casey's hubby, matt) again, 2 weekends!

The weddings were really fun and gave Nick and I some wonderful reasons to go out and have a good time celebrating our good friends!  Weddings are great because not only are you watching two people make an amazing commitment to each other, but you get to dress up, eat good food, have a few drinks and see other friends all in one place!  I was also sooo thrilled that Casey & Matt got to meet Waverly in Annapolis!

cute newlyweds

first night out sans baby!

not a great photo, but we are having a great time!

 yay Aunt Casey!

 good job Case, support the head.

 sporting a bow that Casey & Matt gave her :)

I think this picture speaks for itself.

Here are some of the other things that happened on these wedding weekends.... Waverly got to meet close friends Tina & Joey...they came up to NYC for their anniversary and spent Friday night with us :)  We had a fun night surprising them with our news of moving to their town and having a great dinner out!

Waverly could fit right into the Cavucci family!

We stayed with close friends Cherie & Colin in Dewey Beach who have a baby about a month older than Waverly.  It was fun to see them both playing on the ground and I love talking all things baby with  Cherie.  So nice to talk and hang out in person rather than over texts and facetime.  Colin & Cherie are such calm people and have great senses of humor...both of which were needed this weekend since we were staying with them after losing power from the hurricane.

Waverly & Nash playing...soon after I realized her clothes were a bit too snug.

The weekend we were in Bethesda/DC we also went house hunting. We were in a tight time frame...TIGHT TIME FRAME...to find a place to live by December 1st. With 3 weeks to find a place to live and move and only 1 morning to look at places...I actually experienced a what I think a mild panic attack might feel like, but I recovered by the time we got to the wedding, haha.  A friend of mine who saw a post I put on facebook ("hey who knows of a place for us to live"...was the gist) works in real estate and showed us 4 places that saturday morning and 1 of them worked out.  2 weeks later - application went through, lease signed, checks cashed...new address in Alexandria, VA! Phew.

Cifa wedding...her first wedding and sleeping right through it!

beautiful centerpieces

townhouse we found to rent!

So....that's the 1st half of november.

Second half....my 30th birthday, Thanksgiving, and packing to move. See, I told you were are squeezing it all in!

30th B-Day....I definitely feel 30, but then also can't believe I'm that old. I'm not sure if it's having a baby or where I'm at with my career...or just kinda more tired than usual, haha. I can't pinpoint it, but I feel it.

Regardless of how I feel...my family made me feel great!  My parents and brother/sister-in-law/neice came to visit and we had a great weekend.  Lots of fun watching my 2 year old neice get to know Waverly and getting to spend some time with everyone.  We celebrated with cake, presents, and a big night out in NYC!  Andy, Shannon, Nick and myself headed into the city for dinner while my parents watched the girls...great babysitters!  We had a delicious and fun dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in the west village...Extra Virgin.  Wine, Food, Being in the City with my love and my family...wonderful!  This was really our first date night out as new parents and it was fun :)

Granddaddy

big cousin. little cousin.

smith fam + waverly

uncle andy!

W:  "what are you doing in my play gym?"

shannon's meal at extra virgin...so cool!

hardly a great picture, but it's what I got from our dinner out!

Thanksgiving...I cooked!  See my next blog post :)

my little turkey.

Now...we pack!  Saturday...we move!  Just push through it...that's what I keep telling myself. Packing...moving...with a baby...and a head cold...and more stuff than I've ever had. phew. pushing through it.

Goodbye New Jersey!

Pinterest Challenge: Thanksgiving Burlap Banner

Since we are hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year I wanted some fun decorations to put up in the house.  However, I found that it is nearly impossible to find Thanksgiving decorations in the stores - the choice is usually between discounted Halloween items and Christmas decorations.  So, it was up to me.  Here is my attempt at a little Pinterest Thanksgiving decorating.

Here is the inspiration:

 

Pinterest

And here is my attempt:

My version

And the process for getting from one to the other:

The only thing that I had to purchase was the burlap from JoAnn Fabrics.  I bought the cheapest burlap, plus it was Veteran's Day so I got even more money off with a military discount.  I bought 3 yards for $7.00 (yes, I will be making a lot more of these banners).  I already had paint, a paintbrush, and yarn from an earlier DIY project.  I also used my Cricut (an amazing crafty gift from Matt a couple of birthdays ago) to make the stenciled letters.  If you don't have a Cricut, these stencils can be purchased cheaply at Michael's, along with the paint, paintbrush, and yarn.  

Step 1:

I eyeballed the size triangle I wanted to make for my first flag.  I used this as a template for the rest.

Step 2:

I stapled about a 1-inch flap for the yarn.  You are supposed to sew this, but since I can't sew I came up with an alternative.

Step 3:

I strung all of the flags together.  I found it easier to do this before painting.  Before or after would work.

Step 4:

I used my beloved Cricut to make the stencils out of cardstock scrap paper .

Step 5:

All the stencils.

Step 6:

It is important that the stencils lay flat against the fabric so that the paint doesn't bleed . There were many suggestions on how to do this.  I used Matt; he is a keeper.

Step 7:

Paint over the stencil.

Step 8:

Here is the result when you remove the stencil.

Step 9:

Allow time to dry.  I'm not sure why this picture is loading like this, but you get the point.

 Step 10:

Hang and enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!