Giving Thanks 2015

/

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving to all! As is tradition, I'd like to share what I am most thankful for this year. It hasn't changed much since last year; family and friends. Also, the health of loved ones which has been top of mind for many, many months now. I am so grateful that we can celebrate Thanksgiving this year knowing that family members and friends are finally on the road to recovery.

In other Thanksgiving-tradition related news... my favorite food of the day has not changed; mashed potatoes. What is yours?

I hope you all have a fantastic day! 

Here is a small glimpse of those I am most thankful for from the past year. Have a great day! xo

Weekend Sunshine XLV

/

Good evening, friends! I hope you enjoyed last night's post and are looking forward to Thanksgiving! This week is always a "tad" bananas for me working in the shopping center world. What's nice, however, is I actually have tomorrow and Thanksgiving day off which is not necessarily common in my world so I am grateful for that!

Moving on, this past weekend was perfect mix of celebration, relaxation, friends & family. Let's get to it, shall we?

On Thursday after work, I walked over to Whole Foods and bumped into a wine tasting (yay). They were featuring wines for Thanksgiving and I actually liked the above "Qupe Marsanne" so I snagged a bottle for Thanksgiving dinner. I'm more of a red wine drinker, but, this was very nice so I went with it.

I wanted When-Pigs-Fly-Cinnamon-Raisin-Bread-French-Toast for my bday breakfast so Rob went to the store to grab the bread (what a guy!) and I whipped it up! MMmm MMMM good!

Then, it was time for celebrating with my BFFs! Rob made a reservation for 10 at Babbo. It was just as much fun and delicious as I hoped it would be. I am obsessed with Babbo. I will tell you with 100% honestly they have the BEST pasta in the city. I've either tried or sampled all of the pasta dishes and they are all excellent. The Carbonara is my go-to... Ok, moving on...

I'll give you one guess about what these boys were talking about... Hint: It rhymes with "jorts". 

On Saturday, the celebration continued at my parent's house. My mom made homemade pizzas and lemon-coconut cupcakes. We played pictionary with the kiddos and there were a lot of laughs. RELAXING... just as I had hoped.

That's all I have for now. Have an awesome Thanksgiving and enjoy every crumb! xo

Please Enjoy Thanksgiving

/

Hello my friends! I hope you had an excellent weekend. Mine was fantastic and full of birthday celebrations! I'll tell you all about that tomorrow because tonight I want to talk about something else. 

As it always happens right around this time of year, there are multiple articles and TV News stations shouting at readers and viewers to basically "BEWARE OF FAT" during the holiday season. Now, while some of these are well-intended, I think many are simply created to fill a story or keep up with competitors. The advice given can often be either completely unattainable or will result in the most boring Thanksgiving ever and will leave you feeling like this:

Some articles and advice I've seen:
"Lose the bread, Keeping the Stuffing" Que?
"Healthy Thanksgiving: Low Carb Mashed Potatoes" What in god's name is a low carb potato?
"Your Day After Thanksgiving Detox Plan" I'm sorry, did you go on a 7-day Dorito binge during Thanksgiving week? And, don't even get me started on the girl in the image of this article. She looks like she just lost her puppy.

Thanksgiving is one day in a whole year. Are you a healthy person? Do you take care of yourself? Eat healthy most of the time? Exercise?
Guess what?! One day is NOT GOING TO DERAIL YOU. 

I don't want to come off as a negative Nelly because I do believe that there can be some really sound advice out there. But, please don't let these articles scare you into thinking that you're doing something wrong by enjoying food on Thanksgiving. Don't punish yourself after eating. Everything is fine. If your grandmother makes the best stuffing in the world, why would you ever "opt for a lighter option". I'd surely hope not, as you may look back and kick yourself for not enjoying it. If you love mashed potatoes, enjoy! I eat mashed potatoes approximately 3 times per year and you better believe that I am eating my mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving Day.

So, there are some healthy practices that I follow...

First, I eat my favorite foods first and ignore the ones I could either get all the time or don't care about. I try not to stuff myself to the brim... it's not a competitive eating contest. Food is meant to be enjoyed. Also, I typically get in some sort of exercise...

And lastly, to re-iterate the obvious... I am healthy most of the time, Thanksgiving is just one day.

I hope you all have an awesome day with family and friends and be thankful that there is FOOD ON YOUR PLATE, a roof over your head, and loved ones to surround you.

xo

PS: I like Friends.