HOME

I am finally home and so happy about it! This has been the longest week and I have been counting down the days and minutes until I could come home for Christmas.  It just doesn't feel like Christmas until I am home.  I am so excited about "eating, drinking, and being merry" (as Anthony...and Elton said best) this week. 

I was so ready to come home but I had a little bit of fun first.  Today we went to Woodford Reserve for their holiday lunch buffet.  I had never been and now I can't wait to go back and take the tour (we were too late for the tour today, sadly).  Lunch started with complementary bourbon balls and bourbon flavored coffee.  The buffet included delicious ham and turkey and all of the fixings, but dessert was the best: cranberry apple crisp, chocolate bourbon bread pudding (I don't really like bread pudding but this was delish), and chocolate bourbon ball cupcakes.  I joked that I wanted to have my wedding reception there in the little building that we ate lunch, over looking the little river that used to run the distillery. It was small and quaint but really cute.  I think it had great potential for a small wedding reception, so maybe I wasn't really joking ;)
Here are some pictures:

Update: I just read that they don't book wedding ceremonies or receptions, there goes that idea.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

 

 

"I only like hippopotamuses and hippopotamuses like me too!"

Just kidding, but how cute is he?

I have had  a lovely weekend.  I went to Cincinnati on Thursday night.  Crafted a few gifts on Friday and then the boy and I headed to our favorite city for a basketball game.  It was a close game but the Cards pulled it out in overtime, so that was fun!  Saturday we went on the Holiday House Tour in Old Louisville.  It was a lot of fun, those houses are crazy big and nice, but that Victorian style isn't exactly my cup of tea. A major highlight of the trip was our detour through Norton Commons on the way home (after stopping at Starbucks...I finally tried the skinny peppermint mocha and I really liked it.  I'm pretty sure they're lying when they say it is only 100 cals, just saying).  Norton Commons has to be the cutest little neighborhood that I have EVER seen.  I kept telling Anthony that it had to be fake and I felt like we were on The Truman Show but he hasn't seen that movie so he didn't get it.  You really have to see this place to believe it. *sigh* Maybe some day :)

Today I came back to Lexington early and caught M,D& Tinker before they left town. They came to Lexington to go the UK/UNC game (which we won, whoo!) and to do some Christmas shopping. I had some Christmas shopping of my own to do this afternoon.  I love shopping, but I really love Christmas shopping, especially when you're able to get basically everything you are looking for.  Thanks to a lot of online shopping as well, I am just about finished. Today I have gotten real excited about Christmas!  I am listening to Christmas music now and I am about to paint my nails bright red, festive, no?

Last Day!

It's the last day of November so I suppose this should be my last "Thankful in November" post but I really like posting things that I am thankful for because it's pretty easy.  I really do have so much to be thankful for and I think I could fill up every month of the year. So to tide me over for a little bit, here is an extended (not exhaustive) list of things I am thankful for.

Today I am thankful for:

• 11am Classes that allow me to sleep until 9
• My impulse Christmas present purchase thanks to Pinterest
• A new season of Top Chef with a chef from Louisville to root for
• 2 weeks and 1 day until Christmas break
• The Aphasia clinic. I am also thankful that it was not an option to skip the aphasia clinic. I dreaded it sooo badly and now I have to say that it was a great experience and I'm a little sad that it is over.
• Fuzzy blankets
• Friends, Family, Fun times
• Weekend get-aways to Louisville
• Starbuck's Apple Chai Infusion, because I'm not a coffee drinker and it is still warm and delicious.  Although, I am super tempted by the skinny peppermint mocha.
• Not waiting until my wedding day for my first kiss (don't know what I'm referring to? Watch HERE)
• Dogs (my dog especially), love me some dogs.  Saw two boxers sitting in the front seats of a Mini Van yesterday. One was in the drivers seat looking straight ahead, the other was in he passenger seat looking out the window.  Wanted to take a picture but I was afraid the owner was near.
• Hair cuts, even if they are a little short
• Snacks, drinks, and dinner at my house at home
• My house at home (the term house at home makes perfect sense to me, don't make fun)
• Not having to go to the laundry mat to do laundry
• Celebration week in December (Beth's Birthday = 21st, Granny's Birthday= 22nd, Christmas Eve Dinner = 24th, & Jesus' Birthday = 25th) 
• SN: I am not thankful of the ambiguity surrounding how to mark possession for a person's name that ends in an "s" or for marking possession for a family of people whose names end in "s" I have looked it up so many different times and read so many different things.  Annoying.
• A minimally dysfunctional family
• A sister who is getting her Ph.D in English but can read this blog without critiquing my grammar/style (but only when I force her to read it!)

The list could go on and on but I have to post this while it is still technically November! 

TWO DAYS

I am thankful that at this time on Tuesday I will be (at least close to) home!  AND this time on Wednesday I will be with my whole family, Saster and Gran included!  I love the Holiday season, so much to look forward to!

I am thankful for Graeter's Peppermint Stick ice cream, so what if it is full of calories and fat, right?

So delicious and for a limited time only!

Today (and every day) I am thankful for my wonderful parents.  Today is their 31st Anniversary (I always forget the exact date, so I'm also thankful for Facebook for keeping on top of things, or at least not behind!).

Cutest couple I know! :)

I am thankful for short weeks of school (three days this week and only 2 days next week!).

I am thankful for my boyfriend who keeps me from being lonely on the weekends, likes to shop just about as much as I do (which I probably shouldn't be thankful for, but I am), and doesn't call me out for being lame when I want to go home at 7 on a Saturday night to lounge on the couch and watch TV. 

I am thankful for Pinterest which has allowed me to tap into my inner Martha Stewart and craft like crazy.  Crafting really makes me happy. Here is what I made this weekend:

 I am also working on something for my room, too!

I am thankful for Thanksgiving. It allows me to see my Saster and my Tinker and my Momma and Dad and I am soooo excited!

Today I am thankful for eyebrows!


Hahahah!!