To say it's been a little crazy around here would be an understatement.  Jason's been working some serious long hours, and we (technically I) hosted our first Thanksgiving at our house.

We weren't sure Jason would even be home for Thanksgiving, but luckily he made it home in time to have a late Thanksgiving dinner with us.

The day started out with Katherine and I enjoying some Pumpkin French Toast and watching the parade.  She actually watched most of it and loved the musical acts.

{Full Thanksgiving menu listed on our chalkboard.}

{Pumpkin French Toast with pumpkin butter and maple syrup.}

{My breakfast date couldn't take her eyes off of the parade.}

The good thing about not eating until late was that Katherine and I were able to lounge around in our PJ's until late morning.  My mom came over around lunch time with some snacks, which were devoured just in time for Katherine's nap.

Once Katherine was down for her nap, Operation: Thanksgiving Prep was underway.  My dad came over to fry a turkey, while my mom and I baked one in the oven.  I'm not sure how I did it, but by the time Jason came home several hours later, dinner was ready.  For dessert, I made a chocolate pie and thawed and baked an apple pie from the "Great Apple Adventure" (remember that??).

{Finally using the nice wedding dinnerware.}

{My favorite table accessory:  Turkey S&P shakers.}

Dinner went fabulously.  Not bad for my first time hosting.  No need for a "turkey nap" at our house.  We just went bed shortly after dinner.

{Katherine with her Uncle Zach and Aunt Mandy.}

We're not really Black Friday people, so the rest of the weekend was spent decorating for Christmas.  Decorating a Christmas tree with a toddler in the house is a whole new ballgame.

I'm so excited that the holiday season is finally here.  Tomorrow is Cyber Monday, so I'm offering a special deal at my Etsy shop.  Use coupon code:  CLARKGRISWOLD at checkout for 35% off of any purchase at the shop.  Tomorrow only!

In the meantime, I'm working like crazy to restock the shop with lots of new scarves, as well as some fan favorites.  Stay tuned......

When I worked in resale, we had one fabulous consignor who traveled the world and always brought in her finds to consign with us.  One day, she brought in this green jacket/dress that she had bought in Italy.  My co-worker insisted I buy it as soon as it hit the sales floor, so I did.

This dress or jacket (I'm not sure what to call it) has no label and no size, which actually makes it perfect.  I'll have to admit, it looks a little hideous on a hanger.  You just have to see the potential.  

This one item stays in my closet all year.  It works for all seasons.  It can be a dress or a jacket.  It can be worn alone or layered.  Belted or not.  Here are my three favorite ways to wear it:  

{Warm weather dress}

{Cool weather jacket}

{Cold weather dress}

It just goes to show, you never know what you'll find at a resale shop or how it will work in your wardrobe.  You just have to see the potential.

I cannot believe there is snow on the ground and it's November 16.  The smile on Katherine's face when she woke up from her nap and saw the snow on the ground more than made up for the fact that it snowed in mid-November.

It had just started snowing when Katherine went down for her nap.  We watched it snow for a bit, then waved "bye bye" to the snow.  When I opened the blinds on her bedroom window later, her eyes lit up, "SNOW!" she said.

So we went "side" to play in the snow (after I explained that her Elsa doll couldn't actually go out in the snow).




All was going well until she slipped and face-planted into a snow pile in the yard.  It was hilarious.  Katherine didn't think so.  After I got her up and dusted her off, she was off and running again.  We came in soon after that, because her nose dive had left her soaked.

She of course cried her eyes out when we came inside.  It looks like the winter may be fun after all.

We're hosting our first Thanksgiving this year, and I'm actually getting pretty excited about it.  Every year, we pack up and drive 3.5 hours south for a rushed and hectic holiday.  This year, we get to stay in our own house and I can literally feel the stress melting away (besides the fact that we're hosting our first Thanksgiving).

I'm a firm believer in "no Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving."  So, we're enjoying the last little bit of fall decor around our house before Christmas completely takes over.  Meanwhile, I'm busy making my Thanksgiving shopping list and scouring Pinterest for table setting ideas.    





When I worked for a resale store, we received an awesome Thanksgiving sweater in a donation box.  I had never seen an "ugly Thanksgiving sweater," and was super excited to get it onto the sales floor.   Even though I placed it on the mannequin by the front door, this beauty never sold (can you imagine?!).  So, after Thanksgiving it went home with me!

I literally can't get over this sweater.  Every Thanksgiving detail is hilarious, down to the pilgrim hat buttons.  I think this sweater will definitely make an appearance at our first Thanksgiving at our house.  



My favorite part has always been the giant turkey on the back.  I wish someone would throw an "Ugly Thanksgiving Sweater Party."

I promise the second Thanksgiving is over, it's Christmas Central in this house.

I've had the same hairstyle for most of my life.  I can count on one hand how many times my hair has been dyed.  It's been permed once (and that was one time too many).  It's been trimmed a little, and trimmed a lot.  It's been fixed by a professional when things have gone wrong, and now it's starting to change colors on it's own.

I've always had a love/hate relationship with my hair.  It's very thick and wavy, and while it does have some natural curl, it's at times hard to manage.  It wasn't until I found "professional salon products" that I was actually able to care for and manage my hair.

So this is my hair journey, the good, the bad, and the worst.  Aren't you excited?  You should be.  Here's a little hair evolution:

{Hot rollers.  Getting ready for my first dance recital.}

{Age 5 with baby bangs.}

{3rd grade.  Thick bangs and flyaways.}

My hair has always been super thick.  For the first decade of my life, my hair was long and left to it's own demise.

Around age 10, we (probably my mom and I) decided a shorter haircut would look good.  So, we chopped off several inches, leaving my thick hair to "mushroom" out.  Yes.  I had that haircut.  I'm not even going to show you a picture of that.

I would let my hair grow back out over the next several years, going back to my old look of long and unruly.

{Middle school look.}

{Discovering hot rollers.}

The summer before my freshman year of high school I decided I needed a change, ushering in the first of two phases of "short haircut Angela."  I chopped off probably eight inches for that cute "stacked" look from the late 90's.  Unfortunately, my hair was super thick and wavy so that "stacked" look really just looked messy and wavy a lot of the time.

{Freshman year look.}

What do you do when your hair is short and won't "stack?"  You perm it of course.  True story.  You can use your imagination on this one too.  

You know that girl who has to completely change her hairstyle after a traumatic experience (a break-up perhaps)?  Yeah, I'm that girl.  A few months after perming my short hair, I completely chopped it off into a pixie cut (phase two of "short haircut Angela).  I didn't think of how this boyish haircut would look on my small boyish frame, or how it would look with my expensive Christmas Ball dress.  This haircut would take a couple of years to grow back out.  I learned I'm not a short hair person.  That was the last time my hair was that short.

{The "pixie" after it had grown out a bit.  I can't even.  I just can't.}

I didn't touch my hair again until freshman year of college.  My roommate was coloring her hair at the bathroom sink and I thought, I should do that.  So, I bought 3 boxes of haircolor (because of my thick hair) in a color 4 shades lighter than my own color.  Wouldn't you know it, my hair turned orange.  I mean orange.

{Orange hair don't care.  Also shout out to my college besties.}

So, during Christmas break I had someone "fix" my orange hair and also take a little length off.  I came back to college with black hair that was way shorter than I had wanted.  Hairstylist fail.  I did try to dye my own hair again eventually, this time going a bit darker.  My hair looked no different after, so I was pretty much done dying my hair after that.

{Who hasn't dyed their hair while wearing a trash bag?}

A couple of years later, I was looking for a hairstylist in my college town, when one of my classmates suggested a salon.  I should've known better when the place was called "Mojo Pie."  I mean, what is that?  The girl cutting my hair got to work and all was going great until she cut my hair into a mullet.  I wish I was kidding.  It was short in the front and long in the back.  I cried for weeks and wore my hair in a ponytail for two full months.  Every.  Single.  Day. The only thing worse than having a mullet, is growing out a mullet.

{After the mullet had grown out a bit.}

Don't forget the time I cut my own bangs.

I vowed to never cut my hair again.  I didn't really, for several years.  Luckily I found an excellent hairstylist in St. Louis who kept me looking great, even though I was very sporadic in my visits.  I was probably the worst hair client ever, only coming in once or twice a year.  Enter, the year of long long hair.

{A few months before "the big cut.}

It had probably been 10 months or longer since my last haircut when I decided to donate it.  I would grow it out as long as I could, until I couldn't take it anymore.  Then, I would cut it and donate it.  A few months later, when my hair was getting caught in the waistband of my pants (and my thick heavy hair was causing major headaches literally), I made the cut.  I think I lost 11 or 12 inches in length, and my hair was the shortest it had been in years.  Read about that haircut here.

{Right after the cut.}

Since "the big cut," I've maintained a normal length (for me), my hair has decided to lighten itself (I've got a natural ombre going on you guys), and after having Katherine about half of it fell out (I totally freaked).  Thankfully, my horrendous post baby thinning hair grew back over time.  I will never take for granted my thick hair again.  Probably.  

{Current hair.}

I wish I was brave enough to completely change my hair color, but I'm not that brave.  Plus, I don't want it to turn orange again.

It's been a week of Halloween/Birthday fun around here.  Early in the week, I made Halloween sugar cookies.  They were yummy, but they looked terrible.  The shapes didn't turn out right and the icing was gloppy, but there were no complaints from Katherine, who devoured them.
My mom came over one night to help me carve our pumpkins.  It was the first night of a huge temperature drop here in St. Louis.  Although it was cold, it officially felt like fall.  
Halloween morning, we continued with our birthday tradition and had donuts for breakfast:  Halloween Edition.
For my birthday lunch, we went to Gulf Shores Restaurant.  If you're ever in St. Louis and want a delicious "New Orleans" dining experience, I highly recommend this place!
Like I mentioned before, it got really cold here for Halloween.  We decided to take Katherine trick or treating on Main Street in St. Charles, mainly because it started early in the afternoon.  I wanted to be home and warm before the sun set.  She enjoyed it at first, but then kept saying "cole" which means she was "cold."  We still left with a bag full of candy for our little "Kee Cat."  My mom and brother came to trick or treat with us, so it was a good time.  Plus it was Katherine's first real trick or treat experience.  

{Cold Kee Cat}

{Uncle Zach dressed up too}

{Bye bye Kee Cat}

On Saturday the birthday weekend continued with cupcakes from Jilly's and dinner at Kobe Japanese Steakhouse.  Jilly's is the official birthday cupcake in this house (except for Jason who prefers Wal-Mart cupcakes....I mean what is that about?  I can't.  Whatever.)  

{Most delicious cupcakes.  Ever.}

{Family birthday dinner}

We had a great birthday dinner (except for the fact that Katherine completely freaked out when the chef started cooking), and the best part was my whole family was there.

I spent most of the day on Halloween making sure Katherine's Halloween was perfect that I completely forgot that I turned 31!  What?!

Who's ready for Thanksgiving?