Happy Thanksgiving 2017!

This year, Ben and I weren't able to make it to either of our families' homes for Thanksgiving. Ben actually ended up having to work the day of Thanksgiving itself, so we celebrated the day after in our sweet little home!

I braved the grocery store early in the week and managed to be in and out within the hour. Our little kitchen was well-stocked!

Even though it was just the two of us, that didn't stop us from cooking up a storm! I was able to get LOTS of prep work done while Ben was at work on Thursday. ALL of the chopping, grating, and portioning was complete by the time he arrived home that evening.

First up, breakfast! I made the traditional holiday sausage pinwheels that we have every year on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Served with jam and French press coffee, these little rolls are a great way to start off any celebration!

Next, I got the beverages brewing. I made some mulled wine for myself as well as some spiced apple cider for Ben. They were kept cozily warm throughout the day in a duo-powered crockpot station. I felt very pro-FESH!

The day before I'd prepared both a tart cranberry sauce and a rich gravy, so two items were already out of the way!

We queued up some fun Thanksgiving tunes and got to cooking!

Ben brined and stuffed the turkey with aromatics and spices and we put our little bird in the oven very early in the morning.

Our dinner menu in full consisted of...
- A turkey, of course, brined and roasted
- Garlic parmesan mashed potatoes
- Gravy
- Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Sautéed corn with bacon, onion, jalepeno, and a touch of cream
- Roasted Brussels sprouts
- Apple "Crippler" (crisp + cobbler) with vanilla ice cream

We made everything from scratch, but with all of the chopping and portioning already done it was really easy to toss everything together. I felt like I was able to manage prepping all of the dishes simultaneously, even in our tiny, not-so-well-equipped kitchen! In the end, we had quite the spread prepared!

Ben did a great job of styling the dinner table...

And we enjoyed a delicious meal together!

After several hours of resting and digesting, we also enjoyed dessert: the Apple "Crippler" recipe I got from one of Ben's sisters.

Even though we weren't able to make it home for the holiday, it ended up being a really fun, relaxing, and special day! Cheers to the first of many Thanksgivings together!

Cake Tasting Round 1!

Ben and I had a blast at our very first cake tasting! We went to a little locally-owned bake shop, sat down, looked through cake photos and options, and of course tasted some flavors!

We are thinking a three tier cake will be plenty for our intimate wedding! They had lots of photo examples as well as a few styrofoam display cakes.

We ended up trying three cake flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and almond! They were all delicious and light, but we really ended up liking the almond flavor most of all!

They had two frosting flavors: buttercream and cream cheese. I liked the tanginess of the cream cheese but thought the buttercream would be more universally-liked. The woman running the tasting, however, revealed that the "butter"-cream is not made from butter at all, but from shortening! It was not very creamy, but a little bit grainy in texture and very, very sweet.

We are going to continue doing other tastings and exploring our options. Call me old-school, but I'm of the belief that buttercream without butter is just blasphemous!

Overall it was really fun to have our first cake tasting together and to continue to imagine our big day! Looking forward to more!

Dress Appointments Round Four!

I had the extreme pleasure of going to a few more bridal appointments with my maid of honor! We trekked down to Franklin together and had a great time chatting, comparing dresses, and going out to lunch!

The first boutique was called Fabulous Frocks. The woman helping us out was very knowledgeable and had clearly looked over my preferences and inspiration photos. She knew exactly which gowns to pull and had plenty of options that were within my budget.

There ended up being one dress in particular that I was gravitating towards. It was really simple, feminine, and youthful. BUT, since we had another appointment to go to in the afternoon I decided to wait to make a decision.

We went to lunch at Tupelo Honey and both enjoyed some colorful, flavorful avocado toasts. We also may have ordered the mega-mimosas...

We chatted and caught up for about an hour before heading over to the second and final appointment of the day. The boutique was called The Spoiled Lady, and it was just around the corner!

This place had so many dresses to choose from and I enjoyed getting to sort through all of the options with my maid of honor. We chose four favorites quickly and then I got to trying them on!

One of the dresses was completely covered in an elaborate floral lace. This was the kind of dress I'd been picturing for YEARS: elegant lace, form-fitting, dramatic, with a little bit of sparkle to it! BUT, I can hardly believe I'm saying this, it just wasn't right. If I had four dresses throughout our wedding day, the one that I found would definitely be one of them: the show-stopping glamour dress that I could wear to make a big impression on the dance floor. But, for something like our ceremony it just didn't feel right. I don't know if my taste has changed or if what I thought I wanted has been a bit off for all of these years, but I've got a clearer idea with every appointment of what I'm looking for!

I'm so grateful for all of my sweet friends and family who have come along on all of my appointments so far. I haven't made any decisions yet, but it's been such a joy to share these experiences with the people I love. I'm cherishing every moment.