happy happy thanksgiving!

Well the table is set, the food is made, and the house is clean! Now I just need to get dressed and wait for our family and friends to come! Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays {if not my favorite}. It's a day that's all about family and love, and giving thanks. This year I am thankful for so many things. I'm grateful for my wonderful and supportive family, my amazing friends, and my incredible and loving fiance! {Eek still so excited about that}. It's been a year full of so much joy and I'm counting all of my blessings! I'm also thinking about all of you, my sweet blogging friends! Thank you all for coming here and being a part of my life and sharing in my adventures. I cherish each and every one of you {even though most of us haven't met}. I'm wishing you all a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

xox

photo taken by my brother Anthony!

weekend highlights

Minus the sweltering heat this was one of the best weekends I've had all summer! Here's a little recap of what we did:

Fri night/Sat morning: homemade shoestring fries, tasty orange drinks, fresh chocolate croissants

Saturday: a beach day in Venice

Sunday: the drive home from the dog park {Ginger got so dirty Matthew and I had to hose her off before leaving!}

Things not documented: surprise cupcakes from Matthew on Friday from Vanilla, watching the first episode of Six Feet Under, tasty sandwiches from Bay Cities Deli, grilling and cooking shrimp quesadillas with Matthew, cleaned off my dresser and desk!!, swimsuit shopping {ick}, the "Matt's Choice" Jamba Juice {Peach Pleasure with strawberries}, and family time!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!

I just noticed that this blog of mine has reached 500 followers! I'm seriously in shock. Your support and kind words have meant so much to me and I'm thrilled to have met you all through this wonderful and expansive blogging community! I've decided to put back the link on my sidebar for my formspring. So if any of you have any questions for me please ask away!

I also want to know all of you a little better so here are three fun questions:
1). Name and location
2). Why did you start blogging?
3). If you could have one food every day what would it be?
4). optional Random fact about yourself! {I always hate this one but I'm sure they'll be some interesting answers!}

Happy Monday!

Giving Thanks

This year I am so thankful for my family's health...especially my Dad's. I didn't write about it but over the summer my Dad had aortic valve replacement {which is open heart surgery}. It was really scary because he had to be readmitted to the hospital 3 times! I'm so happy that he's home and finally doing better.

I am so thankful to have such an awesome brother. It's so great to see him and catch up. Last night he played Sally's Day Spa {an iPhone app} with me! He's the best! And today we went on a long walk and he taught me how to use Matthew's SLR. {so many great pics!}

I am so thankful to have the kindest and most understanding boyfriend. He deals with my post grad struggles on a daily basis and gives me so much love and encouragement. I missed him so much today!

 

I am so incredibly thankful for my kind and sweet followers. I can't believe there are more than 50 of you now (!!). You all mean so much to me and I appreciate your advice and comments more than you know. Seriously I could be in the worst mood and an email or comment from you can change it completely! Once I'm back on my computer I can't wait to see what you all have been up to over the holiday weekend! 

I am so stuffed from all the food today..I was about to fall asleep at 5! So now after THREE hours of watching footage from my aunt and uncle's Portugal and Spain trip I am off to bed!

I hope you all had a yummy day eating turkey or tofurkey {or non-Thanksgiving food if you're not in the U.S}. I hope it was wonderful!!

xox

where is the love

Hearing about yesterday's tragedy made me realize how lucky I am to have my family together and safe.

I am so grateful for their lives and love.

While I am a little confused with where my life is going, living at home has been such a blessing.

{And it's not just because I don't have to pay rent}

I'm able to eat dinner with my mom and dad most nights, watch our favorite shows together, and spend time together that I missed while I was away in college.

They have been so supportive through all my rantings and given me such kind advice.

I hope they know how much I love them.

Tonight we're going to have that special dessert I made {total time to make (including chill time)=10 hours!} I have a feeling it's going to be amazing and I'll post recipe and pics sometime soon.. I promise!

Happy Friday everyone! I'm going to San Diego this weekend to celebrate Matthew's Grandpa's big 8-0! What are your plans?

picture of my favorite red cowboy boots. I had an almost identical pair when I was little!