Best weekend

Oh man. Best weekend I've had in a long time. Dad was here to spend Thanksgiving with us and we had a great time with him. We had fun shopping, watching movies, eating (oh man...I need to eat salad for the next week to counteract all the amazing food we had the past 3 days), talking, walking Penny, driving through KC to look at the lights, and just hanging out. It was really relaxing and makes me even more excited for Christmas, when we're back in NC for a week. I haven't been back since May and am really itching to go back.

So Thursday was pretty low key for us. Michael smoked our turkey on the grill, using an apple juice/cranberry juice marinade. It turned out amazing. Really moist and tender, and full of flavor. Smoking the bird is the way to go! Our Turkey day spread also included cornbread and sausage stuffing, fresh green beans with craisins and bacon, homemade jellied cranberry sauce, homemade rolls, sweet potato with marshmallow topping, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, and pumpkin and pecan pies for dessert.



The main event about 3 hours into cooking.



How cute are these? They were made from football molds and Alton Brown's recipe.


The tablescape. Wow, did I really say that? How very Sandra Lee of me.


No, my darling dog, you cannot have my plate.

After eating and giving our stomachs a little while to rebound, we headed out to Olathe to see the newest Harry Potter movie. I really enjoyed it. Dark, absolutely...but so is the book. I wouldn't mind seeing it again at some point before it goes out of theaters.

Friday we did a small amount of black friday shopping. We weren't among the brave (or crazy, depending on your viewpoint) going out at 3/4am. We waited until 9ish and still found some amazing deals. At Target I used some of my birthday money from my grandparents to get some Christmas decorative stuff, like pillows, a blanket, candles, bathroom towels, and...a light up flamingo with a Santa hat. Yeah. It's actually pretty cute! Michael and Dad waited in the car for me at Bath & Body Works...that place was more crazy than Target. But I made it out with a couple of candles and some foaming hand wash for pretty cheap.

After putting up all the Christmas decorations and a lunch of Thanksgiving leftovers, we drove out to Nebraska Furniture Mart. After some intense discussion and debating over fabric, style, whether or not a sectional would fit, etc., we chose a really comfortable blue/gray sectional for our living room. It has two sections that recline and I'm soo excited for it to arrive. It's being delivered on Thursday so we'll be sure to take pictures.

Shopping for couches is pretty tiring, in spite of the fact that you're sitting to test them out. We were pretty hungry by the time we left, so we headed over to Stroud's to try their famous pan fried chicken. This place has truly earned its amazing reputation and accolades. Theirs is the only cinnamon roll without frosting I will actually eat. It was SO good! The chicken and mashed potatoes were outstanding as well. We will definitely be adding this to our 'places to take visitors' rotation.

Today we hung around Lawrence until it was time to take my dad back to the airport. We took him to a Lawrence institution, Wheatfield's Bakery, and walked around Mass St and enjoyed the mild weather. Overall, it was so great to hang out with my dad, enjoy some good food, and have a little time off from work and the regular day to day life. So thankful for the opportunity to do that every once in a while!