Christmas Fantasticness

Watch this: 

Did you nearly die laughing as hard as I did when I saw this?

This happened to me! My darling beau bought me a car for Christmas. It's not just any old car either... it's an old totally awesome hipster fantastic car! A white 1991 Volvo 240. It's so spectacular it has burnt orange/yellow colored leather interior!

I do not look as thrilled as I actually was because my family was showing up and I catch enough grief from  them for acting a fool as it is. :) I made out like a freakin bandit this year! This was my other most awesome gift from Brett:

Honestly though (insert sappy music here) I seriously made the best memories this year. My wonderful smart  4 year old little boy nailed it yesterday when he was overheard saying to O'Ryan:

"Do you know what just happened here!? AWESOME! 'AWESOME' just happened here!"

Here are some snapshots of just what 'AWESOME' exactly was:

my children: excited about getting books from Mimi Cathy & Aunt Claire

 

I hope your holidays were as blessed as mine! I was not nearly prepared for the joy I experienced yesterday. Honestly, Christmas doesn't hold very many pleasant memories in my mind. I am looking so forward to making many, many more with Brett and our children!

*I sincerely apologize to those of you were looking for Wish! {out loud} Sunday link up... I dropped the ball in a major way. We'll be back up and running this Sunday, mark my word!*

Christmas Fete

Oh my gosh! Heeeeeey! It's been, like, FOREVER!? Right!? Or so it seems... Sorry it's been so long. But alas, I'm back! Soooo, there's news!

I had a party.

anditwasa.GREAT.one

I have this habit of buying clothing off the clearance rack with no regard for the size of the garment simply because I figure one day, I might fit in it. This gold sequined spaghetti strap top is a perfect example of that habit. I purchased the top from Urban Outfitters in Asheville, North Carolina for $6. It has been sitting in my closet for nearly two whole years. It's a medium and way too big on me to justify wearing in public... until I gots myself pregnant! NOW, it's a super cute mini dress that fits just right. The entire back of it is see-through, which I deem inappropriate for pregnant ladies, so I threw it on over a black cotton spaghetti strap dress that was close enough to the same length to get away with. Paired with my fave leggings and cardigan and VOILA! 

Holiday Prego Dress #2

And here are my lady friends:

I'll tell you, one of the perks of being in love with a chef is getting to eat all of the incredible food he makes. I hope our guests felt as spoiled as I did!

If you're interested, email me and I'll send you the recipe.

This was my contribution:

I got off way easy this year. Obviously.

Turkey Story Part 1 & 2 & 3

Part One

It has been decided that my beau and I will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner in our home. I'm excited! (and hella nervous) I'm not sure if you ladies who have had children suffer from this same symptom: scatter-minded-ness. It only seems to plague me when I'm pregnant! My evidence: I nearly destroy every meal I try to create... despite my years of hands on experience being raised by Southern women, having a family of my own that I accept responsibility for in keeping alive, AND my years of professional training in commercial kitchens in two different states! *breathe* I can do this! Here's how:

My official night-before-Tday-turkey plan. I'm going to take the plunge and brine my turkey. Perhaps Martha Stewart will be proud of me and take me under her wing and I'll live happily ever after working on a show that features cooking, crafting, gardening, and the occasional fashion show... hey, a girl can dream!

This is so severely last minute that my turkey is still frozen at 4:30 on Wednesday night. I've decided to follow the instructions on the package (they should know best, eh?) and I have placed my frozen, still wrapped turkey in a bucket with cold water and put it in my fridge. According to the package it should be thaw in 5 hours. 

In 5 hours I'm going to take a cue from one of my personal inspirations, Chef Hugh Acheson. Garden & Gun Magazine (YES! It exists! ...and it's a glorious read for the Southern woman) posted a link today on Facebook of an interview with Chef Acheson done by  "THE Dish" on "The Early Show on Saturday Morning." You can check out the interview by following this link: HERE. I also did some extra research on 'brining', learning from Chef Michael Chiarello, on my fave cooking website CHOW.com. (HERE)

So far, so good. Now off to figure out what my contribution to side dishes will be!


Part Two


Alright! So the brine was WAY EASIER to make than I thought it was going to be! So far, I'm not quite so sure what I was so afraid of! Perhaps everyone just seems to make it sound so time consuming and complicated! The prize for this part of the series: a pretty picture!

Part Three

TA-DA!