Thanksgiving Eve
The holiday started about 1pm on Wednesday for me when my parents came to pick up Stella and I to head over to their house - Derek was meeting us after work. In the mild weather I got in a nice walk with one of my best and oldest friends and then logged in some lounging time before helping setup for dinner and mixing up some apple cider sangria - definitely didn't disappoint.
We had our "Thanksgiving Eve dinner" with a spiral ham and some of the usual Thanksgiving sides alone with a dessert buffet. Post dinner we set up the family Christmas tree and watched Miracle on 34th Street.
Thanksgiving Brunch
Since Derek and I were heading to be with his family for Thanksgiving dinner, we woke up and after a lengthy walk with the pups got things together for a little Thanksgiving brunch {scrambled eggs, donuts, pumpkin bread, cheese & canadian bacon pinwheels along with apple cider sangria and egg nog}. I loved enjoying this new tradition and of course watching both the Philadelphia and New York Thanksgiving Day Parades.
Thanksgiving
We arrived into New Jersey a couple hours before dinner and had time to visit with Derek's family, enjoy some appetizers and play outside with his nieces and nephews. After all sitting down to dinner it wasn't long until pajamas went on and I got some coloring in with his nieces while some others played cards amongst watching football games and other things.
A Night with Friends
After more time spent hanging out with his family and playing with the kids, we headed over to one of my best friend's houses (the maid of honor from our wedding) for the night and had some appetizers, dinner and plenty of wine with her, her boyfriend, family and friends. It was such fun catching up with everyone. We didn't take a single photo (quite unusual) so this shot of the next morning enjoying breakfast sandwiches and coffee WITH the pups at the table will have to do.
Penn State vs Vermont
Penn State usually plays one hockey game a season here in Philadelphia and we were lucky enough to use Steve's work box for the second year in a row yesterday to take in Penn State's hockey team play Vermont in Philadelphia - they usually have one game a year down here. It's always fun to indulde in a little "stadium food" - the strombolis were such a treat amongst chicken, salad, pizza, chips and dip and last but not least… cookies. We ran into two friends and had a great time catching up in addition to the family time.
Other Holiday Weekend Whereabouts
We spent Saturday with Derek's family some more before heading home to have a very lazy Saturday night complete with soup and dinner at one of our favorite local spots, football and falling asleep on the couch.
Yesterday we ran into the mall to make a visit to Lilly Pulitzer for some free gifts (and free Christmas wrapping!) and I think another new tradition was born - we got to the mall right as it opened and didn't have to battle a single line but still took in lots of sales. Last night we got together with 15 of my aunts, uncles and cousins for a family dinner to finish off the weekend.
It was such a blessing to see so many people over the weekend and enjoy the holiday and time off together.
Thanksgiving morning walk - burning some calories before indulging in extra calories.
College game day of course, I'm not sure what we'll do once it's over - the games this weekend were fantastic to watch. We'll not Penn State's loss to Michigan but I guess they are the #5 team for a reason.
Getting a little help bringing some of our bags in.
Home sweet home. It was nice to relax and catch up on all our time away on Saturday night.
It's always a treat spending extra time with these little guys too…
Make sure to stop back by tomorrow for a fun new giveaway!
'Tis the Season
