Saturday:: We had such a fun Saturday! Ben came home from work on Friday evening and said he was taking me out for a breakfast date on Saturday morning, and I was of course so fine with that, hehe. You know I love my breakfast dates! We started our morning at Dozen Bakery, which is a little gem of a place tucked away on a random side road. My friend, Shanna, got me started on Dozen Bakery soon after we moved and it’s just the best place! We had toasty breakfast sandwiches that were swimming in butter (it’s a french bakery, after all) and the place was quiet and Ayla sat in the car seat playing and chattering to herself while we ate and talked. We finished our breakfast and decided that we really really really wanted one of the Nashville-famous 100-hundred layer donuts from Five Daughters Bakery so we decided YOLO and spontaneously drove down to Franklin to their new brick and mortar location to stand in line with a bunch of other people to get a few of these insanely delicious pastries. We sat in the lounge area inside the old restored factory building that the bakery is in and savored our donuts and people-watched. Such a fun morning out! We stopped at the mall on our way back home so Ben could do a little shopping and then went home to our list of chores. Ben worked on staining our wooden fence in the backyard for most of the afternoon and it looks so nice to have it done! I ended up running into town with Ayla in the afternoon to make some returns and do a little Christmas shopping for Ben. Our day ended on a high note with watching our favorite college football time win the ACC conference championship and cinch their spot as the top team in the nation! It’s been a fun season, hehe.

Sunday:: We stayed in for the morning and then went into the city to meet some friends for lunch and also meet some of their friends who also have a baby girl who is about the same age as Ayla. We set up camp in the middle of the restaurant (tacos!) with our three high chairs and car seats and did our best at having adult conversations with babies in our laps. We brought Ayla back home after lunch for a nap and relaxed for the afternoon. Ben went into church to help with car parking and stayed for half of the service, but I ended up staying home and watching online since I’ve been fighting what feels like a head-flu for a few days now and it was hitting me again in the afternoon. Ben went for worship and then came home to watch the rest of the service with me at home. I’m downing the garlic and echinacea and drinking hot teas with spoonfuls of local honey and taking whatever else I have around my house that seems like it would be helpful to stave off a cold…any remedies??

Here are five things I love:
– this is beautiful
– this neat campaign
– this article
– this holiday recipe
– these egg dishes

Have a great week, dears!

We had a really nice Thanksgiving holiday!

My mom’s side of the family was all together at my grandparents in South Carolina over Thanksgiving, so we left in the afternoon on Wednesday to head there for the weekend. Ayla did so well and ended up sleeping for the majority of the trips both ways…which was so nice! We had a big Thanksgiving meal on Thursday with all the goodies…deviled turkey (my grandmom makes the best!), mashed potatoes, sweet potato souffle (my grandmom makes the best!), homemade dinner rolls, stuffing, corn, seven layer salad, and of course a big spread of pies for dessert. There really is something so special and comforting about Thanksgiving food, right? It just speaks of family and belonging and satisfaction. I told Ben on our trip down that it really is such a good feeling to have family to belong to, to travel home to. Sure, we have our issues and imperfections and quirks that drive each other crazy sometimes…but to know that there are those people who will just always be family is such a gift.

We spent a few days at my grandparents house and then the rest of the weekend at my mom and dad’s house. Ben and I managed to sneak away for a little date morning on Saturday, after some other plans with other people ended up falling through at the last minute. We settled in for the Clemson-Carolina game for the afternoon after we got back from breakfast, and it was pretty fun to see our team pull out another win for an undefeated season! My mom’s sister and her husband came down in the afternoon to spend the evening with us at my parent’s house, so more quality family time to finish out the day.

We went to church with my parent’s on Sunday morning, stopped for a quick lunch at Whole Foods, and then spent the rest of the afternoon at my uncle’s coffee shop for a surprise party to celebrate my grandparents fiftieth wedding anniversary. Fifty years! I love that, and I truly hope that Ben and I are able to celebrate fifty or sixty or seventy years of married life to each other in our lifetime. We had a dessert buffet and more coffee (my family likes coffee) and it was a good time of celebrating the love of two of the dearest people to me. We left for home from the party in the afternoon, and made it through the crowded roads and pouring rain to our little home sweet home that night. It was such a fun holiday, but there really is nothing like coming home, right?

Also!

Congrats to CINDI JAMES, the winner of one of Katie’s gorgeous, hand-crafted clutch bags! Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway, and if you didn’t win, you can still purchase any of Katie’s products from her online shop. Her bags and home decor items are such perfect Christmas gifts for your mom, sister, or a friend!

What about you: what feelings and sentiments do you associate with the Thanksgiving holiday? Did you travel for the weekend?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!