Thanksgiving Recap

Thanksgiving... success!  Now just counting down until Christmas.  But first, a recap.  Kind of like a timeline!

Thanksgiving Eve
Mr. Louisville and Squirt come for a visit!
We walk to Bar Louie for a drink and a snack then across the bridge for a Cyclones game at US Bank with 40 of my friends.
After the game (and a few dollar beers) we walk back to Newport and head to the Southgate House Revival for a little live music.
We were home by 11am for an early morning.

Thanksgiving
We wake up early for the Thanksgiving Day Race in Cincinnati.  It was a chilly morning but we finish the 10k (6.2 miles) in an hour and 5 minutes.  Not too shabby!
After the race we tidy up for my family's annual Thanksgiving lunch at Orchid's.
Oysters!  Crab!  Prime rib!  Cheese!  Desserts!
Naps.

Friday after Thanksgiving
I head to Louisville!
We meet up with Betas at the Beer Depot for drinks and dinner.  Special visitors Sean and Ellie are in town! Yay!

Saturday
Mr. L and I have another early morning.
We bike to Check's Cafe for chili and grilled cheese.
After our nosh we bike to the Stadium for the Louisville vs. Kentucky football game.

Good grief, the game was back and forth but Louisville pulled out the win.  Fine with me as we'll be seeing them on the basketball court later this month.
Finally, it's a holiday weekend get together at Shenanigan's in lieu of Mr. Louisville's annual cocktail party.
Shew, what a weekend!

Thanksgiving down, Christmas to go!

Double Feature

At Swanksgiving we were playing Truth and Dare.  TRUTH! "When was the last time you stole?"  Everyone kind of scoffed and the guy whose turn it was blew it off saying something about stealing someone's heart.  Lame.

I stole last month!

For the third time in my life, I bought a ticket to see a movie.  Then, thanks to my iPhone, I was able to find a moving playing right after that I wanted to see.  I moseyed in nonchalantly in time to catch the last preview before the second movie started.  It made for a long, lazy day at the theater but I'm not complaining!  This was my favorite double feature to date because the theater recently moved its soda machines so they are self serve.  So, after I left the first flick, Birdman, I filled up my ICEE and headed to the second, Interstellar!

The first time I ever did the Double Feature ditty was in high school.  I was 15... My friend, Mara, and I went to the movies often!  We paid to see Miss Congeniality. Cute movie!  After that we discussed quickly that we wanted to see another and bought tickets for What Women Want.  We weren't bad enough to sneak in!

My second Double Feature was in 2012.  First up, Perks of Being a Wallflower followed by Fruitvale Station. 

Have you ever attempted a Double Feature?  I highly recommend it!

Swanksgiving

On Saturday my friends, Katie and Lyle, hosted Swanksgiving!  A spin on a Friendsgiving where a bunch of friends get dressed up and eat and drink! 

Gimme dat turkey!

I offered to bring a few appetizers since the Thanksgiving staples were taken care of.  They included a turkey (of course!), mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, mac & cheese (with avocado and basil), crescent rolls, brussels sprouts salad and sweet potatoes.  A feast!  I've already emailed Katie to rave about her brussels sprouts salad and beg for the recipe.

Anyway, for appetizers I made a jalapeno-cranberry cream cheese dip which I thought was good, not great.  But the real show stopper was the amazing artichoke-olive spread I made.  It was a huge hit and I'll definitely be making it again.  I've said it before but Smitten Kitchen never lets me down!

To wash everything down I brought a few bottles of wine.  I also made a big batch of Cranberry-Ginger Cosmos to share.

3 parts vodka
2 parts cranberry juice
1 part lime juice
1 part Cointreau (or triple sec)
4 large pieces of ginger

I muddled the ginger a bit and poured the rest of the ingredients in my carafe, then viola! 

The evening was a huge success!

Happy Birthday, Eli!!

My little brother turns 28 today.  We've joked about getting past our 27th years which were both wild for us and he's finally made it.  He moved to California earlier this year and I miss him!  

Happy birthday, Eli! 28 will be your best year yet!!

At Sidebar a few years back.

Christmas 2013

Molly's wedding in 2012.

Grandparents

These photos of my parents with their first grandchild melt my heart.

Read, Watch, Eat: Volume 2

Read
I pre-ordered Lena Dunham's book, Not That Kind of Girl, and I'm liking it.  Like, not love.  I haven't devoured it like I thought I would but her essays are interesting.  Very much like her tv show, GIRLS, I can't stop but it's nothing I'd re-watch or re-read.

Watch
I don't subscribe to any cable service, I'm a Netflix and Hulu gal.  So, I'm throwing things back to one of my favorite tv shows of all time. Gilmore Girls!  I'm currently on a casual binge of the entire series.  It is so witty and fun!  The best part about watching it for the second time through (aside from no commercials!) is discovering some guest stars.

Like Jon Hamm.  Helllloooo, Mad Men!  Another series that I've watched twice.

And Nick Offerman aka RON SWANSON of Parks and Rec fame.

Eat
I hit up Kenwood with my sister and her bebe today and we stopped by Maggiano's for lunch.  This was the first time going somewhere nice to eat with Charlotte.  It was... different. Bebe was great but it was a tiny bit hectic. Related: I tipped 30%.

Gratuitous pic of Bebe and me!

Anyway, we restrained ourselves today but we love love love their fried zucchini.  It's so good! I make a version for myself in the summer when fresh zucchini is aplenty so yeah, it's a favorite.  So, I was excited to try Trader Joe's Zucchini Fries.  Verdict: I was impressed!  I kept them in the oven a bit longer to ensure optimal crisp and ate them with my favorite go-to marinara. I'll be adding it to my TJ list!

Halloween Weekend

I never look forward to falling back for daylight savings but I do love this time of year.  Halloween! Fall! Football!  And, randomly, my parent's 33rd Anniversary!!  Here's to 33 more, Mom and Dad!!  :)

Last Thursday I traveled to Louisville for the Florida State University vs. Louisville football game.  This game was a big deal!  And although UofL didn't pull off a win it was still fun.  Maybe a little too fun!

All the Betas before the game.

Friday I was back in Newport!  That evening was Halloween and I went out for my friend Nate's birthday! Last year we went to Below Zero and I've been looking forward to it again all year.  Mr Louisville dressed up as a nerd (um, not really a stretch for him ;) and I pulled out an old favorite, California Mountain Snake from Kill Bill!  The dance party was so much fun!  I could have closed it down but Thursday night's shenanigans caught up to me eventually so Mr L and I headed home around 1am.

Leyla finally met Mr. Louisville!

Becky creeping, Leyla, Hillie (who KILLED it as Red from Orange is the new Black, Kelly as My Little Pony and me.

Saturday, it was more Halloween fun!  But first, another birthday.  We met up with Mike and Abbey to celebrate Ab's birthday at Dewey's Pizza.  One of my favorites!  Then, it was off to Brett's for a party.  Mr. Louisville has quite the 'stache and after some contemplating we decided to go as a little girl and pedophile! I think we pulled it off!  The lollipops were a nice touch.

Finally, I don't think I can complete a Halloween post with out a picture of my niece on her first Halloween dressed as a little ladybug. I love her!