happy thanksgiving

I would like to begin by saying, although I failed to take any photos that were not of food, the number one thing I am grateful for this Thanksgiving weekend is my family. In fact, this afternoon, my mom, sis, and I helped with a casual wedding luncheon for one of my mother's friends from her ward, whom she also grew up with. The friend's parents were there, who were dear friends of my grandparents in St. Louis, and it was so lovely to talk about my mom's parents and hear their memories of them. I wish they were still here to celebrate holidays with us, I miss them.
I was in charge of setting the table. This picture kind of drives me crazy, because I didn't realize how crookedly I had lined up those candles. Oh well, I'm still happy with the way the table turned out. Also, our decision to start with butternut squash soup this year was such a great idea!

We had briefly discussed simplifying the menu this year, but then decided to go ahead and make every single thing that sounded delicious to us. Good call.

One the menu: butternut squash soup, roast turkey, stuffing, sweet potato soufle, roasted brussel sprouts, green beans wrapped in bacon, mashed potatoes and gravy, green salad, fresh cranberry sauce, pumpkin chiffon pie, and pecan pie.

The bacon wrapped green beans were a new recipe this year, courteuosy of Our Best Bites. I'm never disappointed in their recipes, and this was no exception. I thought they were delicious and beautiful, and really very easy to make.

We often try to make one new thing alongside our old favorites, and sometimes the new dish becomes a staple (cue sweet potato soufle from a few years ago that hasn't left our Thanksgiving bounty since). I hope these green beans come back next year.

Also, I love putting seasonal fruit in water. The options are endless, it's totally beautiful, and totally easy. And totally has fewer calories than punch (we did have bubbly as well, it's just more festive to have something fizzy to drink).

happy halloween (careful, i have rabies)

Well the best day of the year has come and gone again. I took inspiration for this year's costume from all the ravers at the Kaskade show I attended in the Gorge this summer. Had I known I could dress like an animal to listen to house music, I most certainly would have. But Halloween worked just as well.
I ran into the store on my way home from work to look for a tunic top or something similar to go over my leggings, and found this tank dress. I originally grabbed a bigger size, but the sales girl assured me I would need a size or two smaller. So I grabbed the next size down, and ended up as a mildly trampy raccoon in a too tight dress. Oops. Probably no one was surprised by this.

You can tell this hat is homemade, but I think the lumpiness and crooked seams add character. :) The faux fur wasn't crazy easy to work with, and I had to modify the pattern a bit, which I obviously chose to do free hand to "save time." Also, the likelihood of me wearing this hat more this winter is high.

mother-daughter weekend

My mom came to visit this weekend and it was just what I needed. We had tons of fun, and mostly alternated between running errands and going out to eat. I'm finally all the way out of my old place, and the new house is most of the way there. All the stress of the past couple weeks has vanished and I'm looking forward to putting fun and exercise back into my daily routine. :) Amazing how much you can get done with mom's help!
Also, we wore matching outfits to church on Sunday. I'm seriously low on people who want to wear matching outfits with me, but I know my mom is always willing, because I inherited my love of matching from her!

i'm a problem solver

Sometimes your beautiful new bedroom has this for a closet.

Attic closets are totally the new thing!

27

This year I opted for ice cream in lieu of birthday cake. And no, it's not the camera angle, that double scoop waffle cone was seriously as big as my head, and I ate it all. Come to Portland and I'll take you to Ruby Jewel for a delicious treat.
Just this weekend my roommate asked me if I got to blow out any candles during my birthday weekend (she was out of town). And it suddenly dawned on me that I had not made a birthday wish and blown out any candles. And I totally didn't even care. This a sign of growing up, right? That I could have a fun, low-key (minus the part where we went to a drag show following by dancing at a club) birthday weekend, lacking some key traditions, and not even miss the candles?

portland fashion week

On Friday my friend D and I went to a runway show at Portland Fashion Week. There were four womenswear designers, and one menswear designer. It all felt very chic and glamorous, and I loved getting to see the work of some local Portland designers. The runway shows were held in a warehouse in the industrial shipyards on Swan Island, adding to the cool factor.
We were only willing (able) to pay for the standing room only tickets, but we got a pretty good view of the runway. I was jealous of all the people sitting in the front row, which was (not) shockingly lacking celebrities.

Models have such fierce walks. I wonder what kind of reactions I would get if I worked on developing a runway walk for my everyday life?

The menswear collection was to die for. I had a very strong urge to drag my non-existent husband to his store and dress him head to toe in Collier. The models didn't hurt the look of the collection any either.

Always love an excuse to dress up! D even got asked to pose for a photograph by a fashion blogger!

Also, is this street light outside the warehouse not the most flattering light ever? I thought these pics made us look great!

party hard

Celebrated my 27th birthday with these ladies of Darcelle's XV last night. Such a good idea!