Hi again, friends! I hope you had a tasty and relaxing Thanksgiving! Did you get out to shop and hit up the good deals? Feast on leftovers all weekend long? Put on Christmas music and decorate for the upcoming season? Whatever you did, I’m sure we can agree that the weekend went by too quickly and now we’re back to another work week.

I feel like our family did a mix of everything this past weekend! It was such a fun weekend, too. Philip and I enjoyed a quaint and quiet Thanksgiving with my parents who drove to Madison to be with us. But do we know how to throw a good Thanksgiving feast!

We brined and roasted a turkey breast, made homemade garlic mashed potatoes (Philip’s favorite), roasted acorn squash, plus served up some gravy and a tossed salad — all for the four of us.

A brined turkey = extra tender and juicy meat = deliciousness. So good! If you’re looking for another way to have your turkey next year, brining is the way to go, people.

But we didn’t just stop with celebrating Thanksgiving. No, we also threw in a birthday dessert for yours truly as well as a little Christmas gift exchange since we won’t be seeing my side of the family for Christmas. We literally did it all!

 

Friday morning we celebrated Thanksgiving and by Friday afternoon we were out searching for the perfect Christmas tree. I think we found it, don’t you think?

By Saturday, our house had made a complete transformation into the Christmas season.

Since we moved into our house last year right before Christmas, we were more concerned about just unpacking and putting everything away than putting up Christmas decorations, so this was our first time having the opportunity to put a tree up in our house.

I have to admit, it was a lot of fun playing around with our decorations and placing them how I wanted. Since I had never decorated the space before, it felt like a clean canvas with no way that “it should go.” Everything seemed brand new!

Our tree is lit and decorated, the stockings are hung, and lights are strung outside. I’m ready to cozy up by the fire, sip on hot chocolate, and prepare for a wonderful Christmas season. I hope you can enjoy this anticipatory season with minimal stress and can find time to connect with friends and family!