Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Giving Thanks II

I had the most perfect Thanksgiving. I was off work Wednesday-Sunday which was AH-MAZ ing. My mom and I cooked a lot of the day Wednesday and Thursday morning. We eat at my house in the afternoon, then my sister and I head up to Kittanning to enjoy a second dinner with my dad's family.

We were crazy this year and went out at ten PM to go shopping! My mom, her friend Jackie, my sister and I all went out and made it all the way until 7:30 a.m. We had a little moment when we went to Denny's around 5 a.m.--falling asleep at the table, they were out of eggs, the place was dirty, cooks were fighting--basically a big disaster. We stopped at JCP afterwards and decided to call it a day, or night whatever. I slept great until about 3 o'clock, then WENT SHOPPING AGAIN! How that even happened I don't know. Good news is that I'm pretty much done with Christmas shopping. I counted up my receipts yesterday--sjflksdjflkdsf is all I can say about that. It's kind of sad how much we spend on this holiday when it has nothing to do with the real meaning of CHRISTmas. I do love getting gifts though--and for those people who say they love giving WAY more than receiving, you're full of it. I love receiving gifts too. I appreciate how creative people can get with their gifts--creative and personal mean the most!

Anyway, here's some of the deliciousness we had on our table. I made the pumpkin pie, brussel sprouts, and pumpkin dip--oh and the crescent rolls. My mama can take credit for everything else.
The pumpkin dip was super easy--here's the recipe:
1-8 oz cream cheese
1 container cool whip
1 box vanilla pudding mix (just use the powder)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 cups powdered sugar
1 can pumpkin

Beat the cream cheese with the powdered sugar, add the pudding powder, spices and pumpkin pie mix. Fold in the cool whip. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Serve with graham crackers!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Asheville

Asheville, North Carolina is the most magical town. I completely enjoyed every minute of my trip. There was so much to see and do and everything was so unique and beautiful. My sorority sister and I drove down to visit another sister who is getting married in May! It was so good to catch up and the drive was easy. 

Friday night we walked around downtown Asheville, saw the infamous drum circle, had some great beers then boarded the LaZoom tour bus and got to see all the "haunted" places in Asheville. We did almost get into a fight because of these older drunk ladies who sat behind us. Later that night the tour guide said they were the most obnoxious people he's ever dealt with. Figures. We had my fav, Mellow Mushroom--I wish we had some up north! I also learned why Asheville is "Beer City USA."

Saturday was filled with shopping and relaxing in and eating P.F. Changs. Sunday we went to see the wedding site at Lake Lure, bridesmaid dress shopping, wine tasting at The Biltmore, and had dinner at the Bier Garden. We found the most perfect dress, I bought four bottles of wine, and beat 3 boys in the basketball shoot out game with a high score of 74! So, I'd say it was a successful night. 

The weekend went too fast, but it was filled with lots of laughs, amazing street music, smiles, good drinks, great food and lots of storytelling and memory re-living. It was perfect. See you in May, Asheville!
Downtown Asheville drum circle
LaZoom Haunted Comedy Tour
Ash, me and Court!
Our tour guide was the best!
Mellow Mushroom
This guy.
Pretty house--and the "L" I made them!
At L.O.F.T.
At L.O.F.T.
At L.O.F.T.
At L.O.F.T.
Vinyl
Beautiful day.
These guys were amazing.
Lake Lure
Bride and bridesmaids!
Wine tasting at the Biltmore

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Giving Thanks.

I always love helping my mom get ready for Thanksgiving. I've been making a new dish every year to go along with our traditional dishes. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays--yes, there's preparation when it comes to food, but really the rest of the day is about hanging out with family, relaxing and watching football. No gifts, not much traveling, just the chance to enjoy good food and your company.

Thanks to Pinterest, I've been spending hours looking at table scapes, side dishes, and other decorations. Here are some of the things I'm loving:

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Go Red for Women

I posted a couple weeks ago about the Go Red for Women Fashion Show coming up on Wednesday, November 16 at the Wyndham Grand in downtown Pittsburgh--well, my local newspaper did a story on myself, another volunteer, and the Director of Go Red for Women for our involvement with the cause and for being from Plum! It's a great article and you can see how this cause affects so many people in many different ways. You can read the full article here. Also, be sure to visit the Go Red for Women Facebook page!

For more info on the fashion show, or to purchase tickets, call Judy Grady at 412.208.3605.
Leigh Ann Weiss, myself and Wendy McCabe

Farm Aid 2012

The Venue - Hershey Park Stadium.
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals.
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
Gah did I love Farm Aid. This was my first time going and I can't wait to go again. The day was long, super hot, then cold, beer and food lines were long--seriously like the wait was way over an hour, but in the end it was all worth it. The music was amazing and the atmosphere was perfect.

We drove out to Lancaster on Friday morning and spent the night at my friend Kaitlyn's house. We had a great dinner at the Lancaster Brewing Company and went to a couple local bars. The next morning we drove the short drive to Hershey Park. There was this "Homegrown Village" right at the entrance--this had local food, farmers, various farmers organizations, and other fun activities and workshops. Kev and I both thought it would be a bit bigger than it was, but it was still a good way to pass the time before the concert. There was food and beer inside the venue, but not enough.

The day started with some smaller bands I've never heard of, then Lucas Nelson played (son of Willie), Pati Young (wife of Neil), Jamey Johnson, Grace Potter, Jack Johnson, Kenny Chesney, then the four men of Farm Aid, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Willie Nelson. They were all amazing in different ways. I've never seen Dave play solo before and just with Tim Reynolds--talk about a guitar god. John Mellencamp's voice was raspy, so he didn't sound the best, but when he played 'Pink Houses' no one seemed to care. Neil Young was so surprisingly with it--not that I was expecting some old man to be up there, but he looked and sounded unreal. He did his own thing and must have said "I want to love you" into the mic at least 32 times, but come on, it's Neil Young. Willie was a little off while he was onstage with the others, but when it was his time, he rocked it. He played all his signature songs and an old gospel hymn as the finale.

All-in-all, I'd go again. Kev and I talked throughout the day on what we would do differently next time; like tailgate, not go in as early, bring a backpack with essentials, and try to get a big group to go--not that we didn't have a great time with the two of us, but a group would be fun!