Thankful Indeed

We sure had an eventful Thanksgiving. Two big family dinners in NC, and one belated dinner with my sister and her family in Virginia. I guess we're starting a new tradition. This is our 2nd year having Thanksgiving with Bep, David and the boys. They are some of our closest friends and I'm honored to call them family. We always have a blast planning and cooking our meal together. The plan this year was 'to not kill ourselves' with the menu. We thought we were doing pretty good (supposedly cutting down from last year) with a menu of: turkey, gravy, cauliflower chorizo stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, fried sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, and homemade cranberry sauce. We then went on to add a pork belly roll from the newly opened Whole Foods. And we decided we just couldn't leave out Mom's homemade rolls. Try prepping and cooking all that in one tiny kitchen! Yes, it's a task! We were busy bees all day long. We spent most the afternoon cooking and chatting. Bep and I snuck out for a quick breather, leaving the boys with Lee and Alex (Lee's brother). Then it was back to cooking. And then, we rewarded ourselves with a healthy portion of feasting. The hard work definitely paid off.

While our timing of the meal last year was a bit off (we didn't eat until 9, and had a very sleepy 2.5 year old waiting for his Thanksgiving meal), somehow everything was ready about the same time. We were able to eat at a surprising 6 o'clock. It was delicious in every way.

My stomach sure is glad Thanksgiving is over, although, it wasn't prepared to meet the gym this week. Back to the grind until Christmas vacation.

I am so thankful to have some of my family on the East Coast, close enough to be with for the holidays. I love my family to pieces and can't wait to see the rest of their sweet faces in just 3 short weeks.

Happy Friday friends!

Bonté

What I Wore Wednesday

Welcome to What I Wore Wednesday {Week 38: The scenic Route}

 Blue Bow Top: Anthropologie // Skirt: Vintage // Blue Leo Tights: gifted // Booties: Nordstroms Rack // 
 Belt: Anthropologie // Chevron Necklace: Target // Watch: Le Mer Wrap Watch // 

Hi friends,

Sorry for my absence as of late. I was too busy enjoying last holiday weekend to blog;) I promise I'll be better. I still owe you an NYC update (way overdue) and a Thanksgiving weekend update. I'll try have those up soon (for those who even care). 

In other news, it's almost Christmas! We got our tree this week and got the house mostly decorated. It's my favorite time of year. I love all the twinkle lights. It took over a 1000 before I was satisfied with our tree. I have a few DIY Christmas projects I'm hoping to get to before Christmas arrives. And in really good news, it's only 3 weeks until we fly home to WA to be with my family for the holiday. I cannot wait!

Hope you have a great Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by,

Bonte

P.S. Check out The Pleated Poppy for more WIWW inspiration and thank you Revival Photography for the lovely photos, You're awesome!

What I Wore Wednesday

Welcome to What I Wore Wednesday {Week 37:  In the Woods}

I have been overwhelmed this week at the many many blessings in my life. I think life is so fast paced and most often so busy that I forget to stop and really be thankful. This week I haven't been able to help myself. It's like everywhere I turn I am reminded of how blessed I am, and for that, I am truly grateful. Sometimes we need to be reminded. Sometimes we need to shut off the voice of negativity, the voice of want, all those worries and fears, all the discontent. . . we have to quiet down our lives so we can actually see ALL we have to be grateful for. This week has been just that.

Shirt Dress: Free People // Jacket: Anthropologie // Leggings: Target // 
Ankle Boots: Dolce Vita Jamison Bootie //

We have three Thanksgiving dinners to attend this weekend. Yes, you heard me right. THREE! Both sides of my husband's family live near us, so we get lots of fun. My brother is arriving tonight and plans to spend tomorrow with us. I'm so glad to have him come. Tomorrow we have a big lunch with one side of the family and a big dinner with the other. I just hope I can fit all that food in my stomach. Friday morning we are headed to Va Beach to spend the weekend with my sister and her family. We are going to do a late Thanksgiving with them on Saturday. I'm extra excited about this one because we actually get to cook! It should be loads fun.

We are also getting our Christmas tree tonight! Normally we do it Thanksgiving day, but with our busy schedule tomorrow, we're gonna go ahead and pick one out tonight. We probably won't get it decorated until Monday, but it's getting me excited for the season.

What are your Thanksgiving plans? And what are you thankful for this year?

Bonte

P.S. Don't forget to check out The Pleated Poppy for more WIWW inspiration. And a big thanks to Heather for the amazing photos!

The Color Run

There is a reason they call it 'the happiest 5k on the planet.' It really, really is!

All sparkly clean beforehand (and freezing cold!)

I first heard about The Color Run on this blog I follow. She did it with a group of friends, one of whom was a videographer. They filmed their group running the race and the video made me seriously happy. I showed it to my husband. And then we showed it to some friends. And then I looked up to see if it was coming to a city near me. IT WAS, and we immediately signed up. That was in the spring. I wasn't really thinking about what it would feel like to run a race in mid-November. We found out really quick on Saturday that it was COLD! Thankfully it was sunny, but the 40 degree temps and wind chill made it feel more like 20 degrees. I was really hoping for the 70 degree weekend we had a few weeks past. Oh well, we had signed up, and were gonna run it no matter what.

We got there around 7:30 and there were already hundreds of people pouring into the motor raceway. We got in line, got out number, T-shirt, sweatband, tattoo, and pack of color pigment for the after-party color explosion.

This was the first race for the three of us, and we couldn't have picked a more perfect one to start off our running careers. 

Here's a few iPhone photos we snapped along the way. We were covered head to toe in this wonderful, colorful powder stuff. I loved every bit of it. The finish line dance party was phenomenal. We were some of the first to finish in our wave. We had to wait until enough people gathered before we all opened our color packets and had the biggest color explosion dance party ever!

If The Color Run ever comes to a city near you, DO IT! Get your friends, family, spouse and kids. Get the craziest costumes, socks, wigs, and accessories. And get ready to have the time of your life.

Bye for now!

Bonte