A birthday letter to my hubs

To My Hubs,
   
On this very special day, I wanted to stop and take a moment just for you. We both know, in our relationship, this doesn't happen often (part of the reason you love me, right?) But today, my love, is all about you. It's your birthday, and guess what? I'm so very glad you were born (ok- it's still about me just a little bit)!

Your last two birthdays have not been ideal. Last year we were stranded at home with four feet of water surrounding our neighborhood due to the Nor'easter. This year, you've been swept away by Uncle Sam. Neither of these circumstances are ideal for a birthday celebration, but you, my darling, are something worth celebrating.

Though every birthday of yours is one to celebrate, today marks a momentous year. You are officially and undeniably in your "late" twenties.  I'm not sure when it happened, but somehow, through our nearly 12 years together, I blinked, and we've become adults. Scratch that, you've become an adult. I'm still the ripe young age of 26, I'll let you take a stab at adulthood first. Let me know how it is :)

If I take a few moments to recall, I can remember most of your 27 birthdays, well at least after the age of 15. From 16, when you DJed a party in a basement, to 21, when you had MRSA in your finger, to 24, your first birthday married to little old me and the beginning of our spaghetti tradition, and today, 27, when I kissed you goodbye and left you at the airplane terminal.

You've already accomplished so much in the last 27 years and I know that only the best is yet to come. Thank you for choosing me to spend your birthdays, and every other day of your life with. Even though we're not together, I hope this is your best birthday yet! Happy birthday, my love.


             Love you always,

                   Trish




   


   

     

In the words of Nelly

It's getting hot in hurrrr tonight... and it's not what you think.

Sickos.

Tonight, the hubs and I fired up (pun intended) the fireplace for the first time this season. There was just enough crisp in the air to allow it....

Check out my hubs, floo preparer extraordinaire. He's skilled in so many ways...

The fire adds such a coziness to the living room. Dontcha think?

Want to know what does not add a sense of coziness to the living room?

A nearly year old layer of dust that has been hiding behind our fireplace screen...yuck.

This mess has since been resolved. I swear...

Now all we need is a bearskin rug....roar, baby, roar...

Gone 'til (next) November...

With our leftovers dwindling and our waistbands expanding...it's time to finish up my tribute to Thanksgiving. Fortunately for me, the feastin's not quite over just yet- I still have more celebrating to do at a friend's house on the actual big day. Can I get a heck yeah?

I wanted to share pictures of our big day with you all, but sadly, because I was busy, busy, busy playing hostess and chef this weekend, it didn't dawn on me to take any pics of the actual festivities. I could kick myself. However, I will leave you with a few things for which I am thankful:

1. My incredible hubs who is patient enough to deal with me on a daily basis. Not many people meet the love of their life at the age of 14. He's stuck by my side through wedding planning, proms, teenage angst, braces and acne. If that's not love, well, then I just don't know what is.

2. The incredible "family" I have made here in Virginia while I'm away from my real family (also another notch on the "for what I'm thankful" bedpost). Being a military wife kinda stinks sometimes, but having that built in support system of friends is key.

3. A job that I love. I truly enjoy going to work each day and spending eight hours with 25 kiddos that are begging to be loved, hugged, and nurtured. Sometimes I want to rip my hair out because of those little buggers, but I know that I am blessed.

4. Ann Taylor Loft petite section. If you don't know me in real life, here's a little tidbit: I'm short. We're talking, not quite five feet, Snooki short. Ann Taylor loft has an amazing petite section- thank goodness!

5. www.food.com. This is the most used item in my kitchen (via the computer) and my favorite website ever. I refer to it multiple times a week to find delicious recipes. I definitely recommend you check it out. Allow me to formally introduce you: Bloggers, meet food.com. Food.com, meet your new biggest fans.


6. Of course, no thankful list of mine would be complete without a little puppy lovin'. These two are the little lights of my life.

And because I am list crazy, I wanted to share my Thanksgiving recipes with you all. I hope they will be of some use to you. For what it's worth, all of the recipes have been prepared, taste tested and approved by yours truly.

Roasted Turkey

Apple Baked Ham (crowd favorite)

Mashed Potatoes

Stuffing

Cranberry Sauce (I added 1/2 cup sugar to this)

Gravy

Carrot Cake

Banana Bread

I hope you all have an amazing and delicious holiday full of love with your nearest and dearest. I can hardly wait to hear all about it!

The Bird's the Word

I think we can all agree that Thanksgiving is just not Thanksgiving without a big, beautiful, golden turkey sitting on the table. It's the symbol of the holiday; the pumpkin to Halloween, the egg to Easter, the Barry White to Valentine's Day....hey, don't judge.

That said, I find irony in the fact that for many people I know, myself included, the turkey is not my favorite part of the feast. Honestly, most years I don't even put it on my plate. It's all about the side dishes for this girl! I'll take mashed potatoes, stuffing, or green bean casserole over poultry any day.

Well, that changed this year, and before you wake up at 7am to put your turkey in the oven to cook all.day.long. I want to let you in on a little secret:

Brining

Brining is basically marinating meat for a few hours (I do about 12) in liquid with high salt content before cooking. This allows for the meat to absorb and retain moisture. What you get is tender, juicy meat that is full of flavor. You rinse the brine off before cooking so it does not result in a salty bird. Another bonus of brining is that there really is no need to baste the turkey. I do a little bit just because I think basting is so fun, but, there really is no need! Did I mention our 16lb turkey was cooked to perfection in four hours?

I've eaten a lot of turkey in my 26 years, and have made three myself. I'm telling you, brining is the way to go and is the only way I will ever cook a turkey. I've followed this recipe for the last three years. It's easy and I highly recommend it.

And, because a picture's worth a thousand words, here's our golden beauty:

Are any of you already in on the brining secret or do you have another way to cook your bird? I'd love to hear your tips!

This Table's a Hoot!

Well hi there! Sorry I've been MIA the last few days, life's been crrrrrazy! But who doesn't love a little crazy? I do and the hubs sure does- I think that's another reason he married me.

I've got so much to share with you all: a fancy shmancy military ball, a new mirror project to reveal, even a trip to the farm...but this week will be dedicated to one thing and one thing only; Thanksgiving! Why? Simply because it's my most favorite time of year. And, I'm happy to share that tonight for dinner and every other night this week, we are eating Thanksgiving leftovers. Take a peek into our fridge:

All of those containers are leftovers. Every.single.one.

But it's not Thanksgiving yet, Trish, how can you have leftovers?

Weren't you listening?

That dear hubs of mine will be off somewhere in the world flying his plane on the real Thanksgiving Day so we gobbled (hehe) up our Thanksgiving feast last night along with some friends who will also be separated on the big day.

I have so many deets about the big day to share, but this post will be dedicated to one thing, and one thing only; our table centerpiece.

Feast (I'm on a pun roll) your eyes on this:

I absolutely adored our lovely little centerpiece. It was a mix of thrifting, shopping around the house, and splurging for some new accessories and fresh flowers. Care to take a little tour? Keep reading.

I did not want the centerpiece to scream Thanksgiving, or stick with the traditional turkeys or, brown, red, orange, and yellow decor. My goal was to switch it up a bit. So instead of going traditional, I used oranges and teals to show I give a hoot about this day of thanks.

Speaking of hooters, I know owls are all the rage this fall season but I just had not hopped on that branch bandwagon. That is, until I saw these three lovelies. The large gal in the back was $8 at TJ Maxx, and these adorable salt and pepper shakers (shaking hooters...hehe) were $5 at Pier 1. Gotta love 'em! They stood out beautifully against the fresh flowers behind them.

 

I am so lucky that a great little flower shop recently opened up about 1/3rd of a mile from our home. I went in with the intentions of buying some white hydrangea and orange roses, and walked out with gerber daisies, some beautiful thistle, filler and these amazing flowers that look like hanging jack-o-lanterns. Aren't they so neat? Only mother nature could provide something like it. Props to her.

As for the rest the table, I used a mixed of gold and silver chargers and napkin rings, along with teal and orange napkins. Best part? I already owned them all! It's not often I pull together a table that I love, and since it was Sumner's debut, I had to do her justice.

The best part of the table setting? Well, I think this picture speaks for itself. She stayed under that table the entire time I worked and reworked it.

And she's one thing I'm truly thankful for.

Feelin' Groupy

After a few coats of spray paint, lots of deliberation, and a few tricks with the hammer, our grouping is up and running, err....hanging.

As a girl with a terrible handicap in choosing wall art, I would say this grouping has saved me! It was a cinch to put together and hang. For the record, I am the picture hangerer (new word) in our casita. Ask the hubs, I work a hammer, nails, and a level like no other.

Here's a bit of a closer peek:

All of the photographs are of our wedding, puppies and scenery from our trip to California . The large green print is our ketubah, which is our Jewish wedding contract. The four keys on the top are keys from each home we have lived in. Got that idea from Young House Love. See that "R?" I bought it from Etsy. It was so neat- they just sent me the digital file for a mere $2 and it's mine to print in any size I want, forever. Fooorrrevvveeerrr (Sandlot, anyone?). I'm completely digging it.

This grouping was so simple and cheap to do. With the exception of the Ketubah frame (which I practically stole from Pottery Barn for $40!!!) I already owned all of necessary items. Gotta love that! Anyone else done any amazing groupings lately? Share, share, share!!!

A New Hue

When we closed on our home 15 months ago, I had to make a quick decision on the living room color. The store was closing and that darling hubs of mine was putting the pressure on because he wanted to paint the living room that day. Well, as I always used to do, instead of  falling in love, I settled for "eh." Here's a quick photo evolution of our living room paint colors.

The original living room. This photo was taken during our inspection. Don't you just love the pink built-in's, dirty white walls and cream trim? Eat your hearts out.

The night we moved into our home we got right onto painting. Here is the neutralness that I chose:

I was not able to stand the color of the living room. It wasn't a bad color by any means, but it didn't knock my socks off. I could no longer settle for "eh." I also could.not.stand how the couches blended right into the wall. 

So.... this Saturday we repainted the living room. Actually, I lie. For the first time ever, we paid someone to paint the living room.

GASP!!!

DIY gods, please do not strike me down.

It was cheap and the hubs is home a total of two out of the next 12 weeks, otherwise we would never pay for labor we could do ourselves.

So, the new hue...Ready?

The new color is colorful, yet neutral. Elegant, yet young. I am just loving it and how it brings out all of our white trim. It's amazing how much impact a simple paint job can have on a room!