happy thanksgiving!

sorry for the huge lull in writing! typepad had been having some log in issues for me, but i think it was my laptop causing the problem.

i popped right out of bed thanksgiving morning since there was still a pumpkin pie, two green bean casseroles and a pan of rolls that needed to be baked in time for thanksgiving lunch at noon. i left matt snoozing and let a hyper-morning puppy out to the backyard to see such a beautiful sunny fall-colored day!

we did double-duty this year for the first time in awhile, having lunch with my family and dinner with matt's, which all in all made for a really nice day full of lots of unbelievable food. people joke about gaining 10 pounds in one day, but seriously, the diet will begin right after my birthday tomorrow (because let's be honest, who's going to not indulge on their birthday, right?)

i did color my hair the night before as planned, but had to laugh when i got in the car, carrying a tray of covered casseroles and such that the leaves had fallen on, that i dyed my hair the exact color of a fall leaf! i spent the rest of the day showing it off to everybody because i thought it was hilarious.

it must be something about having a late-november birthday, but i've always been opposed to starting any christmas decorating until december 1st, but i admit it's getting hard this year to resist when i have seen so many cute ideas in the past few days! i was looking through martha stewart to see if i could find an idea she posted last year about a mini stocking garland that i was thinking of making into an advent calendar, and happened across a great blog that i have heard of but never read before... amanda from soulemama had made her own version that is really beautiful (plus she has three adorable kids that love to craft as well... i really love her style, and her pictures pretty much sum up everything i want in life right now).

so yes, lots of garlands... a yo yo garland, a stuffed stars garland, a paper hearts garland, and a blanket stitch garland... not to mention these delicious japanese-style ornaments and such of various types from wool felt.

off now to begin birthday celebrations... after a year or two of not really knowing what a "grown up" birthday celebration is supposed to look like... sweet but not cheesy, fun but not silly, a bit of wine and a bit of birthday cake... i think i finally found it!