Good morning! I’m just popping in to give you guys a quick recap of my holiday weekend. Here’s some highlights!
Thanksgiving
I woke up Thanksgiving morning to the intoxicating scent of a turkey roasting. There’s really no other smell like it. My mom wasn’t hosting Thanksgiving, but she wanted to roast a turkey anyway to have leftovers and turkey soup. I had my fair share of turkey sandwiches this weekend!
After relaxing and watching the parade with my niece and nephew for a bit, I got to work in the kitchen and baked some cookies to bring for dessert.
Molasses spice cookies. My specialty 
I’ll share the recipe with you guys later this week.
We got to my aunt’s house for dinner at about 2pm, and it was beautifully decorated for the holiday!
The adult table…
And the kids table…
Guess which one I was at?
Yep, the kids table. And my younger brother was at the adult table! No fair, haha. I think it was because my cousin Emma wanted to sit next to me. She set out the place cards for everyone 
No pictures of the food for you guys, I wanted to avoid weird looks from my family. But the meal was fantastic. Turkey, stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips and carrots, green bean casserole…it was all amazing. My roommate Andrea came to Thanksgiving with me, and her outside perspective was “I never knew what x or y should taste like! It’s awesome to have good cooks make it, who knew I liked turnips?”
Dessert was the molasses cookies pictured above, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and these pumpkin bars that my mom made. They’re incredible.
The highlight of the night was playing Scategories with the family. Best game ever.
Black Friday
So I’m sad to report I didn’t do any crazy Black Friday shopping this year 
My usual partners in crime (my sister, my brother, and/or Jen) didn’t want to go. And if I’m being honest, that was fine with me because I didn’t have any “big ticket” items I was looking to buy. I’m not waking up at 3am for some shirts. I’m waking up that early for a flat screen TV or Wii.
I did do some shopping with my dad later in the day though. He had a few things he wanted to grab, so after we decorated the outside of my parents’ house with Christmas lights, we went shopping together. It was great to get in some quality father/daughter time
After shopping I had a little bit of daylight left, and decided to go for a run at the local track. I didn’t bring my “good” running sneakers with me, but I figured I could get in a few miles, no problem. Well, I was wrong! After only a couple miles, my left knee and both ankles were in pain. I’m usually fortunate enough to run without any pain at all (I don’t run long distances, but still) so this was a little surprising. It’s crazy what a difference the right shoes can make!
I went to Matt’s Friday night for some epic ping pong matches and drinking games. Lots of fun!
Saturday
I spent most of Saturday helping my mom clean/organize her house (I love doing that) and decorating for Christmas!
My mom wanted the house to look nice because we were having a special guest for dinner.
The special guest was Matt! He met my parents and family for the first time. It was great The cutest thing was when my 8 year-old nephew walked right up to him, shook his hand, and introduced himself. He’s such a little man.
Sunday
It was finally time to get back to reality on Sunday, so I drove home to Providence to run some errands, catch up on homework, and of course, decorate for Christmas.
We turned on some Pandora Christmas, poured a couple glasses of wine, and started trimming our little tree.
Hahaha, it might be time to upgrade it, but I still love it for now! It’s a little naked, we need a tree skirt and some wrapped presents to finish it off.
I love the Christmas season. And I absolutely cannot wait to be finished with grad school December 17th. A 50 hour work week sounds like pure bliss to me right now.
I was a little absent from the blog world this weekend, but am hoping to catch up soon. I’d love to hear about your weekends!
What was your favorite Thanksgiving dish this year? Does your family have a favorite board game they always play? Anyone else bust out the Christmas decorations this weekend?
I have to say i do miss the turkey the most, my favorite part by far.
Turkey’s great, I wish my family made it more than a couple times a year!
I love all of the Christmas decorations! I miss being home already. It’s awful! I just got back and I’m ready to turn around and fly back to Boston. Those molasses cookies look AMAZING! Can’t wait for the recipe
Thanks!! And I know, this season is the worst for homesickness. I just want to bake cookies and watch Christmas movies and drink hot chocolate. Homework? What? No thank you
We’ll get through it, the semester’s almost over!
Your aunt’s house looks so beautiful! I especially love the napkins on the table. I’m a sucker for great decorations!
I know isn’t it? Every time I go to my aunt’s it’s like walking into my dream house, I swear. Home decor is a major hobby of mine too!
Looks like you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And all of the decorations, Thanksgiving and Christmas, are bea-uuu-tiful! Since my hubby had surgery last week our decorations haven’t gone up yet but I think that’ll be my weekend project
There’s nothing quite like the holiday spirit to boost anyone’s mood!
P.S. Those cookies are my dad’s absolute favorite and have become one of mine too, wouldn’t be the holidays without a few batches!!!
Thanks! I hope everything went well with the surgery, that can always be nerve wracking even if it’s a routine procedure. And the holiday spirit is the best way to boost any mood
Last night I got to spend a half hour reading a good book by the Christmas tree. Couldn’t have been happier about it. And molasses cookies are a family tradition now, ever since the first batch was made!
Your mom is ambitious! My mom wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with a turkey if we weren’t hosting. I guess the leftovers are worth it! I WILL be taking pictures of Christmas food next month…hopefully I won’t get too many weird looks. I totally would have woken up at the crack of dawn on Black Friday if I had big ticket items on my list, too. I’m much more of a Cyber Monday shopper (although I don’t need a designated day to shop online….
) Hope you have a great day!
Haha I know it, I told my mom she was a little crazy, but I didn’t push the issue because I wanted that turkey! I need to take more pictures this Christmas, I’m determined to. I always sit down to dinner, start eating, then realize I forgot my camera. Since I don’t want to interrupt dinner by getting up for a camera, I just end up without pictures. I was so sad I missed out on Cyber Monday this year! Damn grad school classes taking up my precious shopping time. Oh well, next year!
I love all the decorations, both Thanksgiving and Christmas! I missed having Turkey on actual Thanksgiving. John is a total ham person so since it was just the two of us, I just did a ham.
Thanks!! And mmm, I love ham too, can’t blame him! We usually have a ham dinner for Easter, and turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Your place looks great!! Last year I decorated right when I got back to my place after Thanksgiving and my roommate and I havent yet! You are making me miss twinkly lights!
Thanks!! I absolutely love decorating for Christmas, there will probably be more to come. Hopefully you get to decorate soon! It’s so nice sitting by the Christmas tree at night
My mum makes molasses spice cookies just like that! Brings back memories… I totally support skipping out on the Black Friday madness too. Crazy shopping days are just not fun!!
Aw yay! So glad my cookies bring back some memories for you
They’re so delicious, a family tradition for us too. And yea, I don’t regret missing out on Black Friday at all this year. Sleep was much more satisfying.
Love all the Christmas decorations and I just had an idea for my house after looking at your pictures, thanks
We did 2 rounds of BF shopping this year, Old Navy at midnight for clothes for my kids and then came home, went to bed for a few hours and headed out from 8 until 4(ish), I was shopped out by the end of the day!!
That’s awesome! Can’t wait to see what my little decorations inspired you to do! That sounds like a completely epic day of black Friday shopping, I’m a little jealous! Then again, I’m glad I still have Christmas shopping to look forward to, it’s definitely one of my favorite things to do!
Yeah, I’m not done with shopping LOL! Still have the husband and some other family members to buy for, but my kids are done.
Aww your house looks so pretty! And your thanksgiving sounds lovely. Such a good idea of your mum to cook a turkey, I wouldn’t want to miss out on leftovers either! Hehe.
Thanks! And seriously, the leftovers are the best part!
Decorating for Christmas is so much fun! I definitely need to get some holiday decorations for my apartment; it feels so bare! And I love your Thanksgiving setup. In past years, we always had separate tables for kids and adults, but since we had a relatively small group this time around, we all crowded around one. It was quite cozy, but worth it.
Decorating is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season, and buy a tree/decorations for my first “real” apartment last year was so much fun! You gotta grab a few at least
Looks so fun and festive in all the photos!! I actually prefer to sit at the kids table sometimes
but very cute that your cousin wanted you to sit with her!
I know, it was so cute the way she set it up! And I had a blast at the kid’s table, much more fun than the adult table if you ask me!
The only holiday food I actually like is stuffing. And dessert. haha.
What a little gentleman! I’m glad that the first Boy Meets Family encounter went well.
And I think that your nephew is my new favourite!!
Ahhhhh and yay to nearly being done!! You’re SOOOO close!!
And then real life begins. haha. Can I get a woot?
I know it! When my nephew walked right up to him and shook his hand, I swear I died from the cuteness. I cannot wait to be done, and get back to my normal 9-5 lifestyle, you have no idea!
Our Canadian Thanksgiving was last month and I’m still missing it. Turkey, cranberry sauce, and whipped mashed potatoes? Eeeee I wants itttttt! But at least there’s Christmas dinner to look forward to now
And speaking of Christmas, I’m just a tad bit jealous that your already all decorated. I usually wait until the first weekend of December to break out the tree and garlands, so I’ve got a couple more days to go yet.
I’m missing the delicious Thanksgiving food too…thank goodness Christmas is just around the corner so I can have some more! And I love how everyone has their traditions for Christmas decorating. We always did it the weekend after Thanksgiving (no matter how early it was). First weekend of December is just a couple days away! Yay for pretty decorations.
Your whole Thanksgiving holiday sounds perfect! I can’t get over how beautiful your aunts Thanksgiving decorations were. Also, I have to tell you that I picked up some molasses @ the grocery store yesterday because of this cookie recipe that you’ll be sharing w/ us this week!!
Thanks! I know, my aunt has a beautiful home, it’s like my dream home one day! And that’s so great!! I hope you get a chance to make the cookies, they’re seriously so good!