I love food {and shopping}

Thanksgiving was splendid. : )

As planned, I ate much.

But maybe not as much as my niece, Ruby. She is a champion eater. I kid you not.

Homemade hot apple cider...

Be still, my heart!

I LOVE MASHED POTATOES. The end.

Heavenly white rolls... shiny with butter.

We eat our sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top.

Every year.

Pumpkin cream pie that I made...

 Despite the many sufferings during its construction, it turned out yummy. 

It would not be Thanksgiving without candles!

I took family pictures of my brother and his family for their Christmas card.

We are all very excited that Ruby now has enough hair for a pigtail.

Virginia Grace. 

I love this kid.

Black Friday shopping today? Oh yes. But not quite so hard-core as the last couple years.

We didn't get out of the house until close to 7:00 AM, and only went to two stores.

I didn't buy anything for myself. *halo*

I am seriously going to start a Black Friday savings account or something... 

every year I wish I had a wad of money to blow.

Did any of you get super-awesome deals?

cupcakes

I made these cupcakes the other day, using a recipe from my cupcake cookbook I got for my birthday.

They were

yummy.

Annual Labor Day beach trip and shopping spree (!!)

This past weekend, the ladies of our family, including my two nieces and sister-in-law, went on our annual Labor Day outlet shopping beach trip.

(this is gonna be a long post just so ya know...)

It starts out with bashing around the outlet mall, going to stores such as Van Heusen, Coldwater Creek, Claire's, Old Navy (everything was 40% off!), Bath and Body Works, and then Carter's... 

...where everyone spends the last of their money. ;-)

My loot is pictured above. Plus Johanna, my pregnant sis. ;-)

I had incredible self-control this year, however, and only bought one baby outfit for myself. 

How could I resist this color of green PLUS camo PLUS monkeys??

Bethany's loot. She didn't spend as much as me...

Close-up of her gorgeous coral cardigan. I got this in dark grey, and Mama got it in teal.

Mama's loot.

My sister-in-law Katelyn's loot. :-)

And finally... Johanna's loot. Notice the high percentage of baby clothes?

We stayed in a super-nice condominium right on the beach. Looking out the window from most angles made it feel like you were on a cruise ship out on the water.

Forgive these many food pictures... but the food was scrumptious!

The love of my life.

We ended up eating a lot of baby Katie's animal crackers.

Amazing Mexican omelette.

The love of my life Part 2.

Hot chocolate with whip-cream from a can. Yes.

I took this through the window during breakfast.

This was an awesome TV. It had amazing color and it was widescreen and HD maybe? I'm not terribly knowledgeable about the whole TV arena. Anyways, it was a sight better than our TV, and it made every shot in a movie look like a stunning photograph. I loved it.

Miss Ruby, sporting her brand new polka-dot onesie from Carter's. 

Serious Katie.

Katie high-fiving Bethany. Or Aunt Boppy, which is Katie's current name of choice for her.

Day 25: A recipe.

Strawberry Lemonade

You will need: 

1/2 gallon water

1/2 sparkling water

Yellow or strawberry lemonade concentrate

Frozen strawberries

Ice

Pour one-half gallon water and one-half gallon sparkling water into a one-gallon pitcher. Add yellow or strawberry lemonade concentrate (follow instructions for one gallon). 

Add frozen strawberries and ice to taste.

This is one of the best substances in the entire world.

Meet the Love of My Life