Thanksgiving Menu

I’m honestly writing this post so I can remember what I made this year and it’ll make next year much easier in case we host again!

Turkey - smoked on our Traeger grill with this recipe. Do not follow the 2 pounds per person suggestion - way too much with all of this other stuff! 

Ham - picked up a honey baked ham in Charlotte. A 5 pounder would have been sufficient!

Dressing - Emily’s mom made the classic Pepperidge recipe

Gravy - I cheated and got this from Lowes grocery store but only one or two people had any 

Collards - Emily made these 

Cranberry Mold - my Mom’s top secret recipe that took me forever to make. She did help a bit too! ;)

Green Bean Casserole

Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole

Oyster Casserole - old family recipe! 

Sister Schubert Rolls - of course 

Appetizers were Emily’s deviled eggs, pickles/olives and turkey shaped cheese and crackers. 

Wine

Apple Pie - cheated and got from grocery. I don’t know how to bake!

Sweet Potato Pie - cheated, see above. 

Pumpkin Pie - no one ate! Cheated, see above. 

Vanilla ice cream 

Thanksgiving in OIB

Well, back to reality. We had a wonderful time in Ocean Isle for the Thanksgiving holiday. We went down on Tuesday after Molly Anne got out of school for her half day. My parents arrived about 30 minutes after we did! Then on Wednesday, my brother, SIL and their girls and my SIL’s parents joined and rented a house a few doors down from ours! It was SO fun!

My parents had brought down a few pounds of crabmeat so we had crab cakes, Caesar salad and baked potatoes on Thanksgiving eve! This was a practice round for figuring out how to serve Thanksgiving dinner with a mini dishwasher and not all of my usual kitchen! It worked though. (I also brought a lot of things from Charlotte!) 

My brother also brought his boat so we all loved that. I’m not sure who is going to be the boater…maybe both of my kids. They LOVED getting to drive his boat around the canals!

Fires with Poppa!











The cousins! Gill and Mills


A little Thanksgiving Day boat ride - fishing and playing!


We also got our furniture from Furnitureland South on Wednesday morning! Dad is sitting in the chair. It’s so pretty! These two are best buds. 


Little appetizers around noon for lunch. 




We ate at 3!  Note to self - do not buy a 25 pound Turkey for 12 people. Wayyyy too much. And I had also brought an 8 pound honey baked ham too! 


The master carver!





Allllll of the things! I had made a notebook with each recipe and it made it so much easier that day. It was honestly pretty easy and everything was hot! 


We were all ready to eat and we look over and see this boy! He was sooooo tired! He rallied though!


It was a fun thanksgiving! 


Friday morning called for some 59 Causeway of course! Bloody Mary’s included!


The four kiddos, mom and I went to the arcade and beach life for an adventure. My niece just got her learners permit so she drove us around. It was awesome!! She’s a great driver!

Surfer peeps at Beach Life!




Friday night for dinner we went to causeway gourmet. It was easy and always tasty! And then stopped for our annual picture!


Saturday morning before everyone left, we took some pics!


And our Christmas card pic (not this one)!


They played and we just kind of hung out until the parade!

Met up with the crew on 2nd street to watch the parade!








We grilled out grouper and shrimp at our house then headed to Flotilla, the annual boat parade! This year we set out chairs at 59 Causeway around 10am and that way we had seats. My fav gal that works there told us to do that and it was perfect! 


The overall winner!



Mermaid was cool!



We scooted out early Sunday to get back to charlotte. We needed to get our acts together before the week and Molly Anne had a birthday party. The sign of a fabulous week….!


Cheers!

Black Friday Deals

Thought it’d be fun to share a bunch of shops and a gift from each place to inspire you this week! These are gifts that would work for a lot of people on your list!

1. Pottery Barn is up to 50% off, no code necessary. This leather catchall is one of my dad and Kevin’s most used gifts and is $37. 

2. ShopBop is 25% off site wide making these super fun cocktail glasses $35. 

3. Anthropologie is having a big sale too but I had to share this diffuser and oil that my friends gave me for my birthday. Obsessed with this smell and I’m so excited about the diffuser. Never used one before but always wanted one. It’s the gift you wouldn’t buy yourself! 

4. Lululemon is always a good idea for the holidays! This simple velour pouch is so great to have for travel or for keeping things together at home. $38

5. Sunshine Tienda is 30% off right now and is the perfect time to get a special hat for a winter escape or the Spring. $75 down from $108

6. J.Crew has 50% off everything. I love the idea of a puzzle. Everyone loves puzzles. This one is $19 on sale. 



7. Nordstrom is a fabulous place to find gifts and a new hat is a nice refresh. Ugg hat $55 



8. Orvis - I got my brother one of these pint glasses last year. I chose the fish that he fishes for in his nearby creek. On sale for $15 each. 

9. Serena and Lily has 25% off everything. This coffee table book is $36. 


10. Lilly Pulitzer has super cute gifts for Lilly lovers and not! Love these oversized orchid earrings. $48

Hope these ideas help you on your Christmas shopping!!

Randoms

It’s been a crazy week! Here are some pics. 

Neighborhood get together at the clubhouse field for a low key Sunday afternoon!

The most adorable thanksgiving craft from school!

Two peas in a pod playing Beach Buggy, their fav game!


Good playground time!


Thanksgiving lunch at school!


Cousins celebrating Kendall’s birthday!


If you know, you know! These are for Grady’s class!


Hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving! 

40th Birthday Surprise Party

I cannot even begin to describe how wonderful Saturday night was! Kevin and my friends surprised me with a 40th birthday party! It was amazing. Like our wedding but more intimate. Looking around that room and all of my favorite people were there (minus some who couldn’t come), was a wonderful feeling! My MOH from Raleigh came with her husband. And my brother and SIL came as well. I was so touched! 

Hilary and Kevin outdid themselves in a HUGE way!

Babe and Butcher catered. Your Charlotte Bartender bartended with fabulous cocktails, wine and beer. Gail (our cake lady) made the cake. Mark took us. It was at our neighborhood clubhouse. Bojangles made the late night biscuits of course! The guy playing guitar was great! No detail missed! It was just all absolutely fabulous!

A very special thank you to Hilary for alllll of the details and making it happen and Kevin for alllll of the behind the scenes and alllll of the things!! And to all of my friends for getting babysitters and coming to celebrate! Ahhhh thank you all SO much!!