Living the Good Life :): Thanksgiving

I can't believe the Holiday's are already here! I was supposed to be working Thanksgiving this year and was so sad about that....and the fact that it would throw off the holiday rotation we have....BUT then I got an awesome new job and holidays are not not an issue :)

Ed and I headed to Illinois the Tuesday before Turkey day. It was a long and incredibly foggy drive. Mav did AWESOME in the car and slept the whole way (jerk). I tell ya there is nothing sadder then being squished in the front and tired after working all day then looking in the backseat to see 80 pounds of love all stretched out and comfy 100% unconscious. Thanks for rubbing it in Mav :) We made a pit stop in Iowa City and got Caribou for us and a dog treat for Mav. I love how they give dog biscuits out! We made it to my parents close to midnight!

Wednesday I got up and had coffee with my mom and ran Thanksgiving errands while Ed stayed at home to work (lucky him). Ed met us and my dad and little bro for lunch and then we all split up. Dad went back to work. Jeff and Ed went home. Me and Mom went shopping. I had to swing by Apricot Lane (new favorite store, SUCH cute stuff!) to pick up 2 cardigans I had ordered online and exchange a necklace. Luckily for my credit card there was nothing else that I wanted there! Wednesday night my other bro and sis in law came to stay the night. We exchanged Christmas presents with them since we won't see them at Christmas. I got an awesome wine bag that chills wine in 10 minutes (HELLO PERFECT GIFT!) and some bowls I had been wanting from Crate and Barrel for like 5 months. That night we all relaxed and had my favorite pizza and drinks.

On Thanksgiving mom was hosting the whole family. There were 18 people and 2 dogs. Talk about a full house! I was a little nervous about how Mav would do with that many people so I took him on a 3 mile run to exhaust him. It worked, he was an angel. No jumping on the grandmas and no barking! He just layed in the living room and chewed a bone, I was so happy he was good. It was awesome to see my entire family. Literally everybody but my cousin and her husband were able to make it. It was loud, crowded, and SO FUN! My mom of course made all my favorites and it was delicious. I found a new favorite wine thanks to my aunt Cindy. By night time we were all in a turkey coma...and as Thanksgiving passed.....we crossed the line where it is socially acceptable to listen to Christmas music!!!! (Dont get me wrong its totally been on in my car since Sirius XM launched their station but now I can't be judged for listening!)

Friday and Saturday were spent with more family time, more eating, and lots of shopping. Sadly I did not get any good black friday deals, but it was still fun going out :) Friday I did try to hunt down a vacuum for a black friday deal. How sad is that, now instead of looking for deals on clothes I am getting home appliances....I feel so grown up now :( I did not have luck with the vacuum, but I did get a steam mop I'd been wanting for 50% off at Target so I guess it was a successful day. I also got a few books to read. Our annual Christmas book and then Gone Girl. I have heard SO many good things about Gone Girl and can not wait to get it started!!!

Saturday we took Grandma to lunch, to a few stores she doesn't get to on her own anymore, and then home. We helped my brother and sis in law with some yardwork then headed back home. That night we celebrated Christmas with my parents. We made out like bandits :P Afterwords we went to the country club for dinner and even got a pic of mom by her parking space she won over the summer for being the country club champ in womens golf! That night we watched basketball and went to bed early so we'd be rested for our "fun" drive home the next day. As always our trip home went way to fast. So thankful we got to see so many family members and have so much time with mom & dad :) Already looking forward to our next trip to Illinois....or mom and dad's next trip here, whatever happens first!