checked off: #24!

i can finally check off another 30before30 goal!

#24 on my list was to host thanksgiving at my house. this may seem like a pretty small goal compared to some of the others, but believe you me - it was a big deal to me. i've thought of it as a rite of passage almost, and now i'm pretty convinced that i'm a real live adult. we sat in the dining room and used cloth napkins and everything!

my parents came in from dallas, along with my step-sister and her partner, and my furry nephew (their dog, fenway). we had so, so much fun and even though my sister in law did most of the turkey frying (because i was 99% sure i'd blow up my family and house on accident), i still kind of cooked my own thanksgiving turkey. and mostly, the husband did all the marinating and stuff. but, we'll pretend i did it all myself.

the day was full of football, wine, lots of pies, ping pong in the backyard, and sitting by the fire. i didn't take as many pictures as i would've wanted, because i alawys get distracted and forget about that. but here's at least some photographic proof that all of this is true:

 

 

 

and now that thanksgiving is over, i am in full christmas mode. all christmas presents have been purchased, some of them have been wrapped, and the house is decked out in its christmas gear.

i've even started watching all of the horrible christmas chick flicks that started playing on tv as of december 1st, and i'm not ashamed of it at all.

 

here's an update of what my list looks like now (and PS. the hot air balloon ride has been booked, and is in a few short weeks!!)

1. visit santorini, greece - 2. learn to speak portuguese fluently - 3. go on a girl's weekend trip to a vineyard - 4. own an original art piece - 5. learn how to bake my own sourdough bread - 6. give birth - 7. start a movie night tradition - 8. participate in some sort of marathon or race - 9. plant a thriving vegetable garden - 10. go on an annual camping trip - 11. read at least a book a month for one year - 12. master taking photos the way i picture them in my brain - 13. decorate our "forever home" to reflect both my husband & i perfectly - 14. start a sunday night supper tradition - 15. visit spain - 16. see radiohead live again - 17. become crafty - 18. ride in a hot air balloon - 19. visit maui for 5 year wedding anniversary - 20. start teaching my children how to speak spanish fluently - 21. start a regular yoga practice - 22. sleep in a tree house -23. see northern lights - 24. host thanksgiving at my house (insead of a parent's house!) -25. take a weekly photo of my child/children for an entire year - 26. take a road trip (more than like 12 hours of driving!) - 27. learn to tango with my husband - 28. take my own (professional looking) newborn photos of my children - 29. surprise my husband with the best birthday gift ever (still don't know what that is....) - 30. end this whole thing with a 30th birthday bash that's worthy of being blogged about

 

 



sunday night supper part deux

last month i hosted my first sunday night supper, as a way to start working on goal #14 from my 30before30 list (to start a sunday night supper tradition). 

i mentioned before that ideally, i'd like to have different lady friends host a sunday supper and start a rotation. whether it's monthly, every other month, or whenever it may be - it just needs to become a somewhat regular occurrence! 

part of the reason for this is that i tend to have girlfriends that are completely separated from one another. meaning that i've met them all in different places and they don't really know each other because we typically hang out one on one. and i absolutely love when a handful of friends come together and they become friends - making sense? ya know what i mean?

anyway - that's where the want for this tradition came from. and lesley was kind enough to host the second ever sunday night supper around these parts. it happened to coincide with the season premiere of girls, which couldn't have been better timing. 

first sunday night supper

i hosted my first sunday night supper a few nights ago (well, on sunday. obviously) - so that means that i've gotten started on goal #14 on my 30before30 list!

i decided to make a really simple dinner since the point of sunday night supper, in my eyes at least, is to have a lot of conversation over several glasses of wine and not to have to leave your guests while you're working the stove or worrying about burning something. so my trusty crock pot took care of some creamy chicken, the oven took care of the easiest roasted red potatoes with bacon and parmesan, and i made dressing for the salad hours before anyone was over. i had the full intention of making honey almond ice cream, and then...i didn't. (ladies - i promise this will be at the next sunday night supper that i host! and i also promise i'll take more pictures, i was just too excited at this one and got distracted.)

we also assigned hostesses for the next several suppers - january, february, march and april are already taken care of, and then it comes back to me! i'm completely happy that this technically means a tradition has been started...right? i'm definitely not crossing this off my list until we're at least 6 months in, because that's when i'll really feel like it's fair.

do you ever host monthly (or bi-monthly or quarterly??) dates with your lady friends? if not, i'd say it's a good time to start.

weekends were made for...

hosting some of my favorite people at a pre-holidays/fall party.

the weather really cooperated with us and it was perfect outside - it actually felt like fall! remember in this post a few weeks ago, i posted some inspiration for a fall party? i tried to do at least a few of the things from that post, and it turned out really well. at least i had a good time.

(these photos are from a few different cameras, so please excuse the size difference everywhere!)

i know this is a lot more pictures than what i usually post in my "weekends were made for" monday posts, but...i just couldn't pick my favorites!

it's bittersweet knowing that we'll be leaving this house fairly soon, because there's really nothing that compares to hosting some of your favorite people & spending hours in the backyard. especially when you're hearing the guys somehow turn a game of ladder toss in to a gambling fiasco, or when marshmallows end up all over the patio due to failed s'mores experiment. for the record - almond joys + marshmallows + graham crackers = heaven, apparently.

speaking of s'mores, i've been able to check off a few things from my fall to-do list!  so far, i've been able to check off 'have fun with pumpkins' - we have 2 painted pumpkins in the backyard currently...you can see a tiny peek of one in the 3rd picture up there, and the other one here. and thanks to the party this weekend, i can cross off s'mores making. i've been wearing plenty of scarves, too...which means that all i have left to be officially done with the fall to-do list is to bake something pumpkiny (any recipes you want to share??) & make it to the drive-in theater with the husband. i think that's doable.

i hope your weekend was filled with as much goodness as mine was! i'll be back later this week.

images that inspire: {fall} parties

the husband & i have made up our minds that we're selling our house somewhere around the beginning of the new year and we could not be more excited! we'll be moving in to a loft in central austin for a year or two before we buy our "forever home", which gives us some time without all the stress of being a homeowner (you know - having to fix everything yourself, having too many rooms for just the two of us, spending ridiculous amounts of time doing yard work, selling a house when you're trying to buy a new house, etc).

that being said, i'll really, really miss our backyard and the parties it allows us to host. it won't quite be the same having people over to an apartment that doesn't allow us to play yard games and sit around burning candles outside when the weather is awesome - but it's a really great trade-off and we're ready for the change.

we're trying to take advantage of the space we have right now and really appreciating it all until the house is sold. so i've got entertaining on the brain! as of late, i've been thinking of a fall party & if i were to host one, i'd hope that it would look a little something like this...

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motivated monday: tradition edition

It is Tuesday today. And I'm going to post my Motivated Monday post without any shame at all. Yesterday got away from me, in the best way possible. I got a lot of work done, I had a lot of great conversations at work, I did a lot of planning [trips, health, life, etc], and I got a one-on-one yoga session that was so needed and so wonderful. So, even though I know you guys were just sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for a Monday post, it's coming a day late, but it's themed! There are several things on my list that tie in to starting/having traditions with friends and/or family. For example -

 #7: start a movie night tradition with my husband & kids, #10: start a camping tradition, #14: start a sunday night supper tradition.

What traditions do you have with your family or friends? Or what traditions do you want to start with them?

Growing up, my family & I didn't really have very many traditions. The one that sticks out in my mind is the grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve. Anyone else's family do that? You eat one grape every time the clock strikes (so a total of 12 grapes, duh) and with each grape you eat, you say a resolution to yourself. We haven't done that in years, but I'm planning to bring that back.

I have a friend whose boyfriend goes on a ski trip every year around his birthday, with a huge group of friends. Now, I'd imagine myself to be a terrible skiier but I'd be great at sitting inside a warm lodge next to a fireplace with some spiked hot cocoa! Anyone with me? Either way, the tradition sounds like a blast.

So for this Motivated Monday, I'm sharing some images that have made me think of those 3 things on my 30before30 list that I hope turn in to traditions with my favorite people.

Camping! Good friends, a good brew, marshmallows, campfires, sunburns. Count me in.

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Movie Nights! I've always loved movies...to the point where I could spend an entire day wrapped under blankets watching one after another.

So when I say start a movie night tradition, I don't mean just order a pizza and watch a movie every week. In my head, there are themes involved and food planning and the task of creating the most comfy layout ever.

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And lastly, starting a Sunday night supper tradition. In my head, this one involves sitting outside on our deck, grilling, summery drinks and such. So, perfection.

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So, are there any traditions you and your family/friends do that I should consider adding?