Thanksgiving Long Weekend Fun

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving last week with family/friends or however you spent it. The 4-day weekend was the perfect break for me from work and blogging to relax and recharge before the holidays ensue.

I started off the long weekend with a quick happy hour on Wednesday after work with coworkers before getting into the Thanksgiving festivities. Cask & Larder has excellent happy hour specials on small bites and drinks for anyone in the Central Florida area btw.


On Thursday morning we drove 2 hours with Lola as the backseat passenger to have Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws and extended family at my SIL's house.


I can't believe I've never tried pecan pie before this Thanksgiving. Probably because I'm too turkey stuffed but I'm definitely choosing it over pumpkin pie in the future.

After dinner we met up with some friends to watch the UCF vs USF game. Of course UCF lost but it was a fun night out with friends nevertheless and we got to see some of K's high school/college friends.


On Friday we had breakfast with the in-laws and made our journey back home to Orlando. We had some amazing lunch and craft beer at Gnarly Barley before hitting some Black Friday sales.



I scored some warm clothes (the booties being my fave. They're sold out now but these are similar and I have them in gray), a 2016 planner, 3-wick candles from Bath & Body Works, and this Rebecca Minkoff ring which is gorgeous.



Friday night was spent relaxing with a glass of wine while watching The Vacation at home which was quite funny. Perfectly relaxing night after our road travels.


Our Disney annual passes expired yesterday so we made plans to go to Magic Kingdom on Saturday for one last hurrah and to check out the Christmas decorations.




We happened to catch a Disney parade on Main Street then went on several rides and finally browsed through some Christmas shops so I could pick out one last decoration for our tree. I think we made great use of our annual passes with Epcot being our favorite.



After Magic Kingdom we had all intentions of heading over to Hollywood Studios to check out the Osborne's Family Lights Show but after taking several wrong shuttles/trams, we decided to call it a night and head to Yard House on I-Drive for some dinner and drinks.


It was a busy and fun-filled long weekend but thankfully I got to catch up on lots of sleep so I'm ready to take on this week and I'm even more excited for some upcoming holiday parties in the next few weeks. This is my favorite time of year afterall.

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.


Happy Thanksgiving!


Today I'm thankful for my readers and all the amazing blogger friends I've met over the past 3 years. I'm thankful for my family, friends, loving husband and bulldog, Lola. We are spending the day with family and enjoying a nice thanksgiving feast.

Have a happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the holiday weekend!

Also a quick reminder that our Nordstrom giveaway ends tomorrow so make sure you've entered to win this huge gift card just in time for the holidays. Good luck!

Beers Worth Trying

I posted recently about some seasonal pumpkin beers I've tried recently. I know not everyone loves beer but K and I like trying different beers every weekend. I don't like heavy or dark beers so most of them are light and refreshing. This year I've also been on a major cider kick so here are some of my favorite beers and ciders that I've tried this year and loved:
 

 
 
 








Hop Nosh IPA



 What are your favorite beers or ciders so I can try them out?

Easy Pumpkin Soup



Soup season is upon us and one of my favorites since childhood has been pumpkin or butternut squash soup. I randomly bought a whole pumpkin so I was able to a make a few recipes with it including the Turkey and Pumpkin Chili recipe I posted a couple weeks ago. Pumpkin soup is really easy to whip together and only requires a few basic and inexpensive ingredients.


Ingredients

4 cups chicken stock
1/2 Medium white onion
2 tbsp minced garlic
4 cups fresh cubed pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Ground black pepper, to taste
2 tsp curry powder (optional)
1 tsp ground nutmeg
Bacon crumbles, optional


What To Do:

Bring chicken stock, 1/2 inch cubed pumpkin, chopped onion, and garlic to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered or until pumpkin is cooked through fully. Use a blender or food processor to puree the soup carefully. Return puree soup to pot on medium heat and add whipping cream, black pepper, curry powder, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Garnish with bacon crumbles, peppercorns or fresh parsley.


Enjoy!

Martinis & Bikinis

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3. Grab our Recipe Swap button and link back to our blogs.

Bring on the Holidays + $325 Nordstrom Giveaway

Who's excited for the short work week? I definitely am for one and very thankful we have Friday off since I used to have to go right back to work on the Friday after Thanksgiving. This past weekend was the official start of the holidays around here.

On Friday night K and I went out for dinner and some wine at Cooper's Hawk Winery to celebrate his new job. K's been interviewing for 6 months to get into this new field and he finally landed his dream job so celebrations were in order.



On Saturday we went shopping for some Christmas decorations to get prepared for the holidays although I'm waiting until after Thanksgiving to start decorating the house.


On Saturday night we went to the first holiday party of the year hosted by some friends. They like to host the party early since everyone is usually busy traveling and doing things with family as you get closer to Christmas. It was a blast catching up with the girls and of course my girl Kate.




Sunday was all about relaxing and getting stuff done around the house - laundry, food prepping, blogging and quality time with Lola.


I made this crockpot Mongolian Beef recipe that Meg recommended last week for Sunday night dinner and it came out fantastic.


Don't forget to enter our $325 Nordstrom Gift Card Giveaway hosted by Pamela from Sequins and Sea Breezes. The giveaway ends on Friday, November 27th and the winner will be announced on Monday, November 30th. 



 

Friday Favorites + $325 Nordstrom Giveaway


Can you believe Thanksgiving is already next week? My favorite time of year is about to kick off which means many busy weekends ahead until the end of the year. We have our first Holiday party to attend on Saturday night but otherwise it should be a fairly low key weekend.

ONE:
This week we had our annual potluck at work and there was over 20 dishes plus the dessert table was out of control. It was hard deciding what to chose! I made a delish broccoli salad (recipe coming soon) to add to the spread. I posted some potluck dish ideas yesterday if you didn't catch it.


TWO:
I was putting my wish list together for the Holidays and my birthday in December and stumbled upon this 2016 Blog Planner from Amazon. I know they have free printable ones but it would be ideal to have everything recorded in one book and you can always go back and see what you've done in previous weeks.


THREE:
On Wednesday I went out for a happy hour girl date at our favorite sushi spot downtown to celebrate JQs birthday. It was fun catching up and getting our sushi fix.


FOUR:
We received these Wellness Petite Treats from Chewy.com and they are probably my favorite treats to date. Turkey, pomegranate and ginger are a unique blend plus they're healthy and grain free which is important when choosing treats for Lola.


FIVE:
For the next week, I'm teaming up with Pamela from Sequins & Sea Breezes and 20 other fab bloggers to give away a $325 Nordstrom Gift Card right in time for the holidays! The more ways you enter, the more chances to win! The giveaway end on Friday, November 27th at midnight and the winner will be announced on Monday, November 30th. Good luck!
$325 Nordstrom Gift Card Giveaway

Joining my fellow Floridian blogger Amanda from Meet at the Barre for some Friday Faves.