dear november

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 Dear November,

I have to say, I'm quite sad to see you go... even though I'm looking forward to welcoming your dear friend, December.  You are always so full of excitement and anticipation... full of seasonal changes and life changes.  I love that you gave us a full extra week after Thanksgiving... allowing me to deck the halls for Christmas, all while my calendar still says November... thank you!

You sure crammed a lot into your thirty calendar days... movie premiers... organization projects... new driver's licenses... 'just because' flowers... adoption paperwork... a second round of fingerprinting... date nights... family photo sessions... thanksgiving dinners... deep fried turkey... family time... more photo sessions... Christmas decorating... Christmas shopping... Christmas wrapping... never a dull moment.

And I love it.

November... thanks for being awesome. 

Love,
Julia

thankful thursday {link up}

{Link up your own Thankful Thursday post below...}

This Thursday I am thankful for...

1) Starbucks Caramel Apple Spice.  Especially if your drinking it among the aisles of Target... pretty spectacular combo if you ask me.  I know Starbucks offers the Caramel Apple Spice drink year round... but it just seems to taste better the closer you get to Christmas.

2) The holiday season.  Speaking of Christmas... I LOVE this time of year.  And although I typically cheat and start celebrating before Thanksgiving... I get full permission to turn up my Christmas music and pull out all of my favorite holiday movies now that we are beyond Thanksgiving.  We are in full-swing-Christmas over here... and I.love.it. 

3) Dove winter care body wash.  I bought this "limited edition" body wash last weekend and I am so glad I did.  In the winter my skin gets crazy dry... especially after I shower.  But this stuff seems to actually help.  I definitely recommend trying it if you have dry skin issues in the winter too.

What are you thankful for this week? Grab the Thankful Thursday button from the right sidebar and link up your own post below. Be sure to visit the other Thankful Thursday participants and share the love!!

Also linking up with:

The Fontenot Four

First Day of My Life

Lovely Little Whimsy

my {crazy} december 1st wrapping deadline

So... about a week ago I was on the phone with my sister... we were talking about Christmas and about how crazy busy this season can feel... you know, with the holiday parties... the shopping... the baking... the traveling... the gift wrapping... And then I started thinking, "man, it sure would be nice to have all of my Christmas shopping done and wrapped early this year..."

I say this every.stinkin.year.

It never happens.

So this year I decided to give myself a due date.  You know like a tangible a deadline...  December 1st, to be exact. Yes... Saturday.

I have exactly 4 days to turn this pile of stuff... into glorified-wrapped-goodness.  And truth be told... I'm pretty excited about it.  I love wrapping gifts.  Like, really love it.  But more on that another day.

In the meantime, I've collected my gift wrapping supplies and will start the wrapping madness tonight!  Chop, chop... 4 days people... four.flippin.days.

What about you?  Do you have a gift wrapping deadline?

top 10 :: items on my christmas wishlist

Can you believe that Christmas is less than a month away!?!  I'm happy to say that I've already knocked out a huge portion of my Christmas shopping... but it never fails that when I'm shopping for other people, my very own Christmas wish list seems to just grow and grow.  I'm hoping Santa reads my blog and that the Rachel Ray cookware will fit in his bag;)  

Dear Santa... here are the top ten items that I have my eye on this year.  I've been awfully good this year... swear.

1) Target stone button earrings
(in peach)

2) Penguin hardcover classic books 

(have Pride & Prejudice and Les Miserables... love. love. love.)

3) Horny Toad jacket

(in charcoal... medium)

4) Gap legging skimmer jeans

(in kelly green... size 8 tall)

5) Ikea expedite shelves

(in birch)

6) Lulu Lemon wunder under cropped pants
(in black, size 8)

7) Rachel Ray stainless steel cookware
(any of 'em)

8) TOMS burgundy wool cordones
(size 8.5)

9) James Avery twisted bangle bracelet
(love. love. love.)

 10) J. Crew perfect shirt in black watch
(size 8)

Anything special on your wish list this year??

Linking up with Lena at Lena B, Actually...

thanksgiving recap...

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving has already come and gone... but you know what they say... time flies when you're having lots of turkey:)  Our Thanksgiving was filled with family and friends and LOTS of food.  Most of Lance's family made the trip to Louisville this year so we could host our first Thanksgiving.  We had a blast...

Lance and Bryan getting ready to deep-fry the turkey.  (PS... if you've never had deep-fried turkey you are seriously missing out.)

Linda working on Meme's famous stuffing.

The old church recipe book getting lots of attention this time of year... the strawberry salad is always a favorite.

While others were slaving away in the kitchen, I focused my efforts on setting the table... trust me- this is better for everyone involved.

Keeping Lance company during the deep-fry process... so thankful for this man.

Linda and Hayward in the kitchen.  Love them!

Me and my awesome sister-in-law, Marcia-Lynn.

Food and laughs around the table... so thankful for our friends and family.

My friend Kimi (aka... the best dishwasher in town) joined us this year for Thanksgiving... love her!! 

Holy leftovers.  Seriously... there was more turkey and ham behind me.  Out.of.control.

Nothing beats a good Thanksgiving nap... which we all partook in:)

And I can't think of a better way to close out our Thanksgiving festivities than with a competitive little game of Mexican Train. 

So grateful for a fabulous time with friends and family... lots and lots of turkey... 2 full days off work... some black Friday shopping... an awesome Christmas tree... and a couple of naps. 

Now.  Back to reality... happy Monday folks;)

sweet parker {louisville children's photographer}

Meet Parker.  Adorable, right?  And how about those eyelashes!!!  One of my favorite things about being a photographer is being able to see families grow before my very eyes... or lens rather.  I have been privileged to photograph Parker 3 times now... (you can see session 1 here, and last year's session here)... and she just gets cuter and cuter every time:)  See for yourself... which one is your favorite?

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{2}

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{6}

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Seriously adorable, no?  I'm in love with #1 and #6... so sweet.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving... we're still recovering from our turkey leftovers and Black Friday shopping.  We're hoping to get the Christmas tree today and then I plan to watch Elf and Home Alone for the rest of the weekend:)

thanksgiving table thoughts...

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So, I know this is a little last minute and all... but I'm trying to figure out how we should set the table for our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow.  It will have to be pretty simple... since Thanksgiving is tomorrow and all that... and I'm thinking paper plates are a must... you know since we do not enjoy the luxury of a dishwasher... so. yeah.  

It's our first time to actually host Thanksgiving at our house... usually we are traveling to Georgia or Texas or somewhere... but we are really looking forward to having a house full this year.  I'm thankful that my mother-in-law is making the trip and will ultimately be in charge of the food (I'm sure everyone else is thankful too:)  The boys will deep fry the turkey again... I'm telling you... once you go deep fried, you never go back.  So, with the majority of the food taken care of, I'm focusing my efforts on the table... 

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I love the white pumpkins... they seem to say classic and simple all at the same time.

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I love all the natural colors on this table.

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I love the simplicity of the name card with the elegance of the gold... beautiful.

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Speaking of name cards... how perfect (and free!) is this?

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And this is probably my favorite... these name cards have the menu items listed on them... but what if you wrote down a few things that you are specifically thankful for... for each particular guest.  Love.

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I'm thinking about printing some of these before tomorrow.  

(And you can too!  Just click the image source link above)

What about you?  Are you hosting Thanksgiving this year?  Do you have any favorite Thanksgiving traditions?

top 10 :: reasons I might be a 13 year old...

So I know that technically I'm thirty-one and all that... but honestly, sometimes I think my age is dyslexic and I'm really a thirteen year old.  There is a lot of proof out there against me.  The case is pretty strong for the teeny-bopper inside of me... top ten reasons why I might be a thirteen year old... ready... go...

1) I go to Twilight Saga movie premiers.

2) I still love Lucky Charms.

3) I get ridiculously excited about Christmas.

4) I think "A Little Princess" is one of the best books of all time.

5)  I still think glitter nail polish is awesome.

6) I would eat ice cream for dinner every night if Lance would let me.

7) I still play MASH. 

(go ahead... play the online version really quick... I won't tell.)

8) I love cotton candy.

9) I get really excited about animated movies.

(looking forward to seeing this one)

10) I still get zits... oh, yes. True story.

Jury's still out... but I think I'm just one Bieber concert away from true teen-mania.  

Linking up with Angie at Many Little Blessings...

and Lena at Lena B, Actually...