Monthly Musings ~ November

 Good morning.  Today I am linking up with Holly and Patty for Monthly Musings this month about Holiday Prep.

1.  Favorite holiday traditions?

When my girls were little, we always would go to the nice hotel in town to see the decorations and take a picture in front of the tree.  

We also like to take a night to look at Christmas decorations. 

We have a time of just the 4 of us where we exchange gifts between us.  

We attend the Christmas Eve service at church. 

Christmas Day night, we watch the movie "The Nativity Story".

2.  What holidays do you celebrate?

We celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, but Thanksgiving usually has Christmas decorations in the background :)

3. How early do you shop?  

I try to start with little things as I see them in the fall.  Most of my shopping is probably done on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

4. When do you decorate?

I begin decorating the weekend after my birthday, which was last weekend.  However, I don't decorate the tree until Thanksgiving morning and don't turn on any outside lights until the day after Thanksgiving.  

5. Do you host any holiday festivities?

I am not hosting any this year that I know of yet.

6. Favorite holiday meals or recipes to share?

I made this recipe for a gathering Tuesday night:

Pimento Cheese Stuffed Peppers

1 block cream cheese, softened

¼ c. mayo

1 c. grated cheddar cheese

½ Tablespoon garlic powder

½ Tablespoon onion pepper

Pinch of salt and pepper

1 4oz. Jar of pimentos, drained

½ Package of bacon bits

 1/4 c. brown sugar

6 jalapenos, sliced in half lengthwise and the ribs and seeds scooped out (for less heat)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.  First, make your pimento cheese.  In a mixing bowl, stir together your cream cheese, mayonnaise, grated cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and pimentos.  Once combined, cover and stick in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

**Note:  You can also buy premade pimento cheese!**

Scoop your pimento cheese mixture inside the jalapeno cavity.  Mix the bacon bits and brown sugar together and then sprinkle on top of the cheese mixture.  

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.  Remove and let cool for a few minutes before serving.

For a sweet dessert, I just like to add Christmas red and green M & M's to cookies and brownies.  I also like this one from Mix and Match Mama:

Oreo Christmas Bark

For a drink, I made this last Christmas morning & it was very good:

Christmas morning punch

7.  Best holiday organization tip?

Label bags/bins as unpacking and packing so you know what everything is.  I found this especially helpful with garland.

8.  Gift wrapping?  Love it or hate it?

I don't mind to gift wrap, but it is nothing ornate.  I may add a ribbon or specialty tag, but that is about it.

9. Holiday coffee drink?

I am not a coffee drinker, but I do love a hot chocolate.  I like hot tea too, but hot chocolate is more of my go-to hot drink in the winter.

10.  Are you a holiday baker?

I do enjoy baking....if I can just get motivated.  All the ingredients just are so expensive these days, but 'tis the season!

Weekend Wrap Up ~ November 14, 2022

 

Happy Monday!  The weather has turned cold and I am here for it! I switched out to my flannel sheets and love the cozy feel of them.  I am linking up today recapping my birthday weekend.

My birthday Friday started with my husband making me an omelette served with a banana. 

I watched a Hallmark movie while getting ready that morning because with 3-5movies a week, it is easy to fall behind! 

It was 11:11 on 11/11....make a wish!

We headed out for lunch and listened to some Huey Lewis.

We ate at a local Mediterrean restaurant outside on the patio.

They have the best pita chips and hummus!

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and I used a lot of my birthday discounts.  I am on a list of so many stores and restaurants that give discounts.  Some of my favorites are Starbucks (free drink good only on your birthday), Madewell, Loft, Altar'd State, Sephora, Ulta, and Target.  There are also free meals from Moe's, Salsaritas and free desserts from McAlisters, Chick-fil-A and a few other local places.

I got this salted caramel cheesecake free from a local restaurant for my birthday dessert.  I also picked up a free bundlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes and gave that to my husband.

This was my birthday loot after a day of shopping! After all my travel this fall, I was in need of new luggage.  My other luggage was literally falling apart.  I found this Calpac set at TJMaxx.

I lit my birthday candle that night and watched the movie "Redeeming Love".  It is a tough story to watch, but such a beautiful story of love and forgiveness.

Saturday was spent at home organizing and pulling out Christmas decorations.  It was so good to have a Saturday at home...until we went out Saturday night. We met my parents for dinner and then afterwards, my husband and I headed downtown to see comedian Nate Bargatze. Y'all, if he comes to a city near you, go.  He has two Netflix specials and is so funny.  We saw him a year and a half ago and he was just as funny this time.

We went back to church Sunday after being out for about a month now with traveling. We took advantage of another birthday discount and had a free lunch at Moe's.  I watched a Hallmark movie and did a little more cleaning and organizing.  It is never ending!

Enjoy your Monday friends!

Friday Favorites ~ 11 + 11 = 22

 

Happy Friday! 

ONE

Today is 11/11/22...or an interesting observation is 11+11=22!

And, today I celebrate completing 52 years around the sun, so today is my 52nd birthday.

This month, I am wearing my 11/11 bracelet each day along with a topaz ring. I got the bracelet last year for Christmas and the ring (not pictured) is one I received from my grandmother when I was a teenager. I wear both of these items other times during the year, but I am wearing them daily during the month of November.

TWO

I had a lunch date Wednesday with 2 friends at a new place and it was delicious.  They serve breakfast all day, but also have a great lunch menu.  I chose the brisket scramble, which was scrambled eggs with brisket and it came with queso, which I got on the side.  It was served with hasbrowns, fruit and a biscuit.  I already have a few other menu items I want to try next time I go!

THREE

I visited McKinney, Texas last week and recapped that trip here and here.

FOUR

I am so proud of my brother for completing the New York City Marathon this past Sunday.  He has done several marathons, triathalons, and an Ironman, but this one has been on his bucket list for a while.  I watched some of it on tv, then tracked him the entire race.  I knew when he was coming to the finish line and was able to take pictures through the app and actually got him at the finish line!  I am not a runner, but I love to cheer on people running!

The list is short this week.  It was a quiet week for me. I plan on getting out today to do some shopping,  go out to eat & get dessert to celebrate today.  I am here for the cooler weather coming too!  I plan on some Christmas decorating as well this weekend :).

Hope you all have a good Friday and weekend!  

Texas - part 2

 Good morning.  Earlier, I recapped my afternoon in McKinney, Texas.  It was so good to see this cute little, but big town.  Thankfully, we made it driving through some rough weather to our Air BNB in Greenville, Texas.  There were tornadoes in East Texas Friday night, but we were safe.  

When we woke up Saturday morning, the weather was beautiful.  We went to the local hamburger place and it was fun to hear all the locals.

InTexas fashion, there was a fiddle festival on Saturday!  We listened to the local music and it was quite entertaining, especially watching the locals come out and dance.  Notice in front of the stage in both pictures below, there are couples dancing.  

We drove into the Deep Ellum area of Dallas and my goodness, I think I had the best briskey of my life. It was so tender.  I also had some turkey that was so well seasoned and perfect fried okra.

We also stopped by Emporium Pies.  They have a location in McKinney (& a few others too), but we had already eaten so much there, we tried this location.  It was delcious.

We had a great weekend visiting with our friend and eating good food.  

Sunday, we ate Mexican food then we went back our seperate ways.  

It was a lovely weekend and will be time for another weekend before we know it.

Friday in McKinney

 Good morning friends.  We went on our last weekend get-a-way trip last weekend and headed to Texas.

We started the journey on Thursday night to get a few horus down the road.  We stopped at Cracker Barrell for dinner and bought the extra long Twizzlers.  We weren't in Texas yet and already everything was bigger :)

We made it to the well known land of McKinney, Texas for lunch.  We had plans to meet up with some friends, but they got sick and had to cancel.  I also have a friend who I graduated with from high school who lives here, so I do know a few people personally who live here.  

We met up with our friend from San Antonio who we spent the weekend with exploring.  We started by eating at The Yard.  This really is a cool place.  It was drizzling at the time we ate, so we sat on the back porch, but the uncovered area looked fun too.

We were able to walk around the square and went in several stores, especially as the rain picked up to be pretty heavy.

We actually spent a little time in the ski shop and even made a purchase here!  They have lots of outdoor wear here as well, not just ski gear.

The rain picked up like crazy, but not before we visited the cookie store and bought desserts to snack on for the weekend.

Since the weather got so bad Friday afternoon, I stopped in Spoons, which was another restaurant on my list and picked up dinner that we took back to the Air BNB.

Before leaving McKinney, we also rode around a few other areas of the town.  We even visited the infamous Starbucks!

I would love to spend more time in the town and it is true, there are so many restaurants that looked good, but literally there was a tornado warning in the area.  I did manage to buy a t-shirt though :).

I will be back tomorrow with some more from the Texas weekend.  I just thought McKinney deserved its own post!  

Currently ~ November 2022

 Happy Wednesday!  Today I am linking up with Jennifer for the Currently series.  This month, we are writing about what we are currently borrowing, buying, planning, prepping and reading.

Borrowing

I am a little stumped on this one...I am not currently borrowing anything at thie time that I can thinkof....other than an Air BNB  on my upcoming trip to Texas!

Buying

I have bought a few clothing items for myself lately and am also beginning to purchase some Christmas gifts.  I also bought a few holiday items lately.  I found a few fall items on sale at Hobby Lobby and picked up some outdoor Christmas lights.  I stocked up on some Christmas wrapping paper, boxes, tissue paper, tape and ribbon from Dollar Tree.

Planning

I am always in trip planning mode :).  I have most of my Texas trip planned and am working on some things to do while in New York City at Christmas time.  Currently, I have tickets to a play and the Rockettes.  We would like to ice skate and see the window displays.  If you have been there at Christmas, do you have any other ideas?  The last time I went at Christmas was close to 30 years ago.  I have been lots of times since then, so I have done most of the normal tourist things.

Prepping

I have done some breakfast food prep lately to make up some breakfast burritos.  I scrambled eggs and added the eggs, shredded cheese and bacon bits into a tortilla.  I freeze them, then have warm them up in my airfryer!   I would also like to make up some egg muffins to have on mornings I go to work for some protein to start my day.  

I am also trying to do some organization in closets and cleaning to prep for Christmas decorating in a few weeks.

Reading

I am currently in a bible study and we are reading "What's She Doing Here:  The Messy Women in Jesus' Genealogoy". 

I am also reading "Hold Me Tight:  Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love".

Prime Purchases ~ October 2022

 Welcome November....My favorite month of the year!  And, it is time for Prime Purchases with Tanya.

ONE

 

I purchased these shower steamers with a lavendar scent.  I have used these at different times of the day, not just at night and they do have a good smell.

TWO

I am late to the game, but finally purchased a Ring Doorbell on the most recent Prime Day.  It has been helpful so far.  Ours is pretty basic, but it still seems fancy to me!

THREE

I ordered this ladder for my husband to use with his van.  He received a shade awning for his birthday and this ladder helps to install it.  The ladder is telescopic so it folds down in a compact way.

FOUR

I ordered these no show socks from a recommendation from Amy at Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa. I like how they are low cut...now the only challenge is not to lose one in the dryer!

FIVE

We need some new outdoor lighting for our home so I have purchased this set. I opted to not get a solar kit because we don't get a lot of sun in our front yard to probably keep lights on for very long.  I have not installed these yet becuase I wanted to wait until I put up some new stake Christmas lights outside.

SIX

I am trying to organize a few closets so I ordered a set of these fabric collapsible cubes for a good deal.

I will wait on sharing some other purchases until after Christmas since some of those will be gifts for family members.

Hope you have a great November 1st Tuesday!  Yay for new beginnings!