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Meeting Baby Isabella

Yesterday I got to meet my friend Kacey's (and hubby Danny's of course) new baby, Isabella. She is pretty much the sweetest, most adorable little thing ever!! This has been a big couple of months for my friends having babies, I think the total stands at 4 right now in November and December. So fun!

 Kacey & I at her wedding....we have known each other since high school! :)

 Me & Baby Isabella

Look at that face!!! So freakin' precious I can't even stand it.

Jolly Holiday Lights

B took Harry and I to Jolly Holiday Lights on Friday, which is one of my *FAVE* things to do at Christmastime. For those who don't know, you make a $10 donation to Make A Wish Foundation to drive through and look at tons of awesome light displays. Here are some highlights!

Wordless Wednesday- Merry Harry Christmas

Buffalo Wing Dip

'Tis the season for holiday parties, and making something yummy to take to those parties. This dip has always been a big hit served with tortilla chips. It also doesn't hurt that it's pretty easy to make!

The cast of characters: 3 cans of Tyson chunk white meat chicken, ranch dressing, Frank's Red Hot sauce, cream cheese, and shredded colby jack cheese.

 Start out by draining and shredding up the cans of chicken with a fork.

 Mix with the remaining ingredients.

 Pour into an 8x8 baking dish then bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

 The finished product!

Buffalo Wing Dip

3 cans Tyson chunk white chicken

1 8 oz cream cheese block (softened)

1/2 cup Ranch dressing

1 cup Frank's hot sauce

2 cups Colby Jack cheese, shredded

Mix and pour into 8x8 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Serve with tortilla chips.



Christmas Decorations- Part 2

 Christmas crackers

 Holly & Ivy mugs from my aunt

Christmas Decorations- Part 1

 The tree

 One of my fave ornaments, I have a few of these big wooden words on there.

 Double decker bus ornament from World Market

 Oversized ornaments hanging in the windows above the couch

 Snowman countdown calendar

Thanksgiving 2010

We spent last week in Mississippi at my aunt's house for Thanksgiving.....and I am STILL tired from the drive (*13 HOURS*). There was lots of family time, shopping (with lots of "How can I help ya'lls?"), and of course eating. The weather was 80 degrees and humid until our last day on Friday, when it was only 50 degrees out. It was ARCTIC I tell ya. People at the outdoor farmers' market thought B and I were crazy for not wearing down parkas. Here are a few pics from the week.

 Harry & I on the drive down

 Harry on the air mattress where he slept w/ B the whole trip. He is a diva and refuses to be kenneled when we are out of town.

 Renaissance at Colony Park outdoor shopping center. With the biggest Anthropologie I have ever seen. Heart it.

 B & I taking a break from shopping.

 The Thanksgiving spread.....including fried turkey, ham, stuffing, sweet potato casserole and green beans.

My plate. Notice the pretty china and silver, including my personal favorite the silver goblets!

Time for a break!

B, Harry, and I are packing up and heading down South tomorrow for Thanksgiving. We will be here.....

......at my aunt's house with family until Saturday! Can you say fried turkey and sweet potato casserole? YUM! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Christmas Pretties

Well it's definitely starting to FEEL a lot like Christmas outside. I think winter is here to stay, and it's making me wanna decorate. I'm still going to try and hold off 'til after Thanksgiving, but here are some cute inspirations.

 Metal wreath from Kirkland's

 Outdoor stack o' gifts from Kirkland's

 Oversized wine glass from Kirkland's....are you catching the theme here? Love that store! I think this would be really cute on the bar filled with some mini ornaments.

 Found on Red Door Interiors' website, I love the idea of the wreaths in all the rustic frames.

 Sequin winter animals from West Elm, and all the proceeds from these go to St. Jude's. Win win!

Last but not least my super cute Santa nightlight from Kohl's. Thanks Mom!

Panera Preview

The new downtown Panera location is scheduled to open on Tuesday! *YAY* Definitely couldn't come at a better time since we have officially shifted into winter mode, and soup in a bread bowl always helps.

All of us at work have been eagerly watching the progress since we are right across the street, and my friend Terri and I were surprised to see people actually inside on Friday at lunchtime. There hadn't been any grand opening announcement that we had heard, so we marched right down to see what was going on, and more importantly CAN WE GET SOME MAC N CHEESE??

We arrived at the doors to see a giant "DO NOT ENTER--TRAINING IN PROGRESS" sign. Bummer. But as fate would have it, one of the managers standing near the door saw us looking and invited us right in to help them practice. Well don't mind if we do! 

We were given $15 in Panera money to spend on anything we wanted, since they were so grateful for us helping them practice. All in all a pretty sweet deal! We both got the mac n cheese (which is amazing if you have never tried it), a drink, cookie, and a couple of bagels for the weekend for breakfast. Definitely give them two thumbs up, the food was great and so was the atmosphere. Panera is definitely gonna be a hit downtown. Feelin' lucky we got a sneak peek before the mass hysteria hits on Tuesday. 

Side note: The downtown Panera is at the corner of 10th and Walnut. Read more at www.paneraiowa.com/downtown or on Twitter @paneradowntown.

 Our Panera play money. Isn't that the coolest thing ever?

 View from our booth.

The chow.

Trip to TJ's

B and I braved the opening weekend crowds and went to Trader Joe's on Sunday afternoon. I think it's safe to say that TJ's will do VERY well in Des Moines. The only bad part of our trip was the fact that they were completely out of 2 Buck Chuck ($2.99 Chuck in Iowa) until tomorrow. Oh well, guess I will just have to go back :)

 YAY.

 The craziness at the checkout. We didn't even *TRY* to navigate a cart around in this mess.

 We made it out!

 Some of the loot. And my super cute reusable TJ's bag.

I've heard nothing but rave reviews of their Orange chicken. Can't wait to try it!