Disney On Ice

Last weekend my mom treated me and Lia to a girls night to go see Disney on Ice- Dare to Dream.

We had front row seats which were Ahhhhhhh-mazing!! Thank you Mom!

Lia wore her Brave sleep gown to the show and had an absolute blast! Of course she had to get a souvenir when we got there and of course she picked the biggest Tangled doll she could find!



We got our picture taken with Tangled too!


The show started with scenes from The Princess and the Frog. It was good but not one of Lia's favorite movies so she was much happier when Cinderella came on. At one point a skater in the show came over to the little girl next to us too see if Cinderella's glass slipper fit then he skated off. Next thing you know we look down and Lia had her boot off and foot sticking out waiting for her turn. Too cute!! He did not come back but another one did offer her a crown which was very exciting! The mean stepsisters kept coming our direction and making funny faces right at Lia too.












The highlight of the night was the Tangled performance. It was soooooo good! They did a bunch of aerial acrobatics which were amazing! Definitely my favorite part of the show!















At the end Mickey, Minnie and all the Disney princesses came out and skated around. Ariel herself blew Lia a kiss; this may have been the best part of Lia's night!
















It was such a special and fun night I know Lia, my mom and I will always remember!

Lia wanted to sleep in her Tangled pajamas that night. The next morning she snuggled up with both her Rapunzel dolls. Such a cutie pie!






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Parade of Lights

We have had very unseasonal temperatures lately here with yesterday reaching 68!! It was beautiful and the perfect night to head downtown to watch the parade of lights!

My bestie Kia and her hubby and girls, Ada and Evi went with us too. We decided to ride the lightrail downtown rather than deal with parking. It was Lia's first adventure riding "the train" and she loved it!!
















Evi snuggling so sweet with her Dada




We went to Wazee's for pizza before the parade started and met my Mom and Dave too. I was hopeful Lia would eat pizza again as she finally tried it this last week, but nope she refused and had a fabulous dinner of French fries. Ah well.

After dinner we walked up a few blocks to watch the parade. Lia was loving her Auntie Lola last night, she could not get enough!




Unfortunately with the warm weather there were tons of people watching the parade. It was impossible to get a close spot where the girls could see without having to lift them up.












Even with the crowds the girls sure likes watching the parade and had so much fun together! Wonderful night to welcome the holiday season!








After what seemed like a two hour ride home on the train we were all exhausted and went to bed nice and early.


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Bye bye Thanksgiving, Welcome Christmas

Christmas is by far my favorite holiday of the entire year!! I wait all year long to celebrate this wonderful time!

With Thanksgiving coming early this year, we get lot of time to enjoy the Christmas season!

After scouring the Black Friday ads I didn't see anything I HAD to have so I sadly decided to pass on the madhouse known as Black Friday shopping. However, I woke up the Friday after Thanksgiving at 530 antsy to get out and join the crowds and get soaked up in the holiday spirit. So I jumped up and threw on a sweatshirt, threw my hair up in a ponytail, grabbed some coffee and headed out. Excuse my look below... I figured I wouldn't see anyone I knew and best of all I didn't care if I did... It's 630 am afterall.


I ended up only going to Macy's, The Gap and Kohls before calling it a morning. I did end up finding some great deals... Especially at Gap and Kohls. Mission accomplished!

After I got home I was now in full Christmas mode. I immediately put all my Fall and Thanksgiving decor away and busted out my Christmas goodies.


















Friday night we all went out to get our Christmas tree. This year we went to a local nursery up the street from us and found a beautiful 8-9 foot Noble Fir. We got it home and cleaned out as it had a ton of wet, dead needles in bunches by the trunk...random... But other than that it is perfect! Here are the dead needles we removed before we set it up.












I got the ribbon on Saturday and today we hung up the ornaments. I love a fun tree with colored lights inside. It's what we grew up with and just feels so fun and Christmasy to me.

On the flip side, I love white lights outside. Taylor does an awesome job with the outside lights!



We also set up Lia's pink Barbie tree down in the basement. This may actually be my favorite tree in the house!





Our house is definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas... Now all we need is some snow.


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Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we had Thanksgiving dinner at my Mom and Dave's house. With three sets of parents/in laws, it became a bit much to try to get everyone together so we started rotating around each year to them.

Since I was planning to run the Turkey Trot which didn't start until 10:15 on Thanksgiving day, my actual Thanksgiving cooking time was limited. We decided to head over there on Thanksgiving Eve to start cooking and spend the night.

After a quick dinner of pizza and pasta for Lia, my mom and I got to work while Lia watched some new Christmas movies Mimi (my mom) had picked up for her.

My Mom had already made the pies so we made the Curried Pumpkin Soup and deviled eggs. The soup is a tradition in our house and so yummy!! It is a blended soup and in the past we have made it as the directions said and transferred batches back and forth to the blender which is time consuming and can be very messy! This year I brought my immersion blender over and simply blended the soup in the pot I cooked it in. So much easier!! And no finger injuries to report!!

As for the deviled eggs, I was determined to find an easier way to peel them. I searched online and Pinterest and read to put two teaspoons of white vinegar in the pot while the eggs cooked and this would make the shells practically slide off. Ummm, not so much!! Lets just say I made 12 eggs and ended up with only 15 usable halves once I managed to pick the shells off. And even some of those were not a pretty sight. Oh well!

I convinced my Mom to brine the turkey this year. We followed a recipe from southern cooking using water, salt, sugar, thyme, and some other spices.

Thanksgiving morning we got up and enjoyed some breakfast before watching some of the parade before I had to head off to my race.

I met up with my buddy Shane to run. We got matching turkey headbands which were perfect!



You can read more about my run at suburbanrun.blogspot.com

After I got back home I whipped up my roasted garlic and sausage stuffing... An amazingly simple and yummy recipe from our Bride & Groom cookbook that we received as a wedding present.

Then my brother and his girlfriend Alyssa and her little girl Olivia came over to join us for the day.

While the girls played I got ready for dinner.

Love my handsome hubby!


And of course gotta love a photo bomb from my brother!


I didn't take many picture on my phone as my Mom had a new camera so most of our pics are on her camera but here is my Thanksgiving princess.



Dinner was delicious even though we had to cook the turkey twice! That brine did its job though and the turkey was still wonderfully moist! I even got Lia to try 5 bites of turkey!! (Yes, I bribed her and no I don't care cause it worked!). She was really proud of herself!!

Lia ate her dinner on her placemat she made at school. If there's one thing I love about preschool it's the projects she makes!


After cleaning up and relaxing while the little girls played we enjoyed some pie. It was a long day for all, especially lia who didn't take a nap. Yikes! We headed home about 715 and didn't make it more than 10 minutes from my Mom's house before we looked back and saw this.


Such a great Thanksgiving!

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