Oh, hey there sleeping in!

I do this thing where I focus so much on the "big picture" of life that I forget about enjoying the smaller pictures. For example, this next month in my life is going to be extremely hectic. As you may or may not remember, I recently got a job and due to some staff changes I have quite a few more hours than I expected. So for the next month I'm working between 25 and 30 hours a week on top of going to school full time and trying to get through finals week in one piece. This stresses me out but I've found that focusing on the positive, making good use of my time, and taking things one step at a time is really helpful. It's silly for me to get stressed out about these things because 1) I really enjoy my job, 2) I love what I'm learning in school, and 3) I hoped and prayed to be busy and now that I am I'm second guessing my ability to keep up. If you're the religious type, keep me in your prayers, if not, send happy feelings in my direction!!

Enough of the rant! I've been meaning to talk about Thanksgiving since it happened but, like I said, I've been so busy! I went home to spend the week with my family and because I have recently fallen into the world of cooking, my dad and I decided to tackle the big meal together (usually he cooks everything by himself). We flipped through the November edition of Real Simple (I'm telling you people, this magazine is heavenly) and picked out the recipes that looked the best to us. Here's what we ended up cooking:

Bourbon Cranberries
Potato & Celery Root
Wildrice and Mushroom
Sausage and Sage Stuffing
Stuffed Mushrooms and Spinach
Chedder and Jalapeño Stuffing
Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Nutella Peanut Butter Brownies
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Lavender Chocolate Chip Cookies

My favorites ended up being the Sausage and Sage Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole (CLASSIC!), and the Lavender Chocolate Chip Cookies (OH MY GOD SOOOO GOOD).









Of course, the day wouldn't have been complete without some quality time with my brothers :).





Did you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving break? I hope so! I'd love to hear about it :).

xo
Mal