Thanksgiving Decorations

Last week I pulled down all the decorations in my house that were decidedly Halloween-ish and put up some Thanksgiving touches.

I got these cute monogramed towels earlier in the year and was going to use them as part of my fall decorations (that never got put up) so I using them for the first time now. I am loving things that have my new last name initial on it! It just makes me smile.

My sign is a bit hard to see in the picture (apparently I should have zoomed in) but the one on the door says Give Thanks and the other sign says Thankful, Grateful, Blessed.

Kept my black wire mesh pumpkins on my coffee table but switched out my table runner for one with a kind of gold leaf motif. 

I found some great gold leaves to add to my counter along with my super sparkly orange pumpkin and the candle with the acorns.  The dollar spot at Target always has the best little holiday decorations and I have a hard time passing things up that are only $1.

I left the decorations on my TV stand and just added my cute little friend the turkey to the display.

I had this white pumpkin facing the other way during Halloween since the other side is plain but turned it right around to show off its true message as part of my Thanksgiving decorations. I don't remember where I got the sign but I know I love it.

I didn't get to put up this sign earlier in the season so I decided why not just put it up now since technically we are only halfway through fall anyway.

I used two different fall foliage circle to make one full centerpiece for my table since alone either of them look kind of sparse.

This year I am having celebrating Thanksgiving twice.  Once with my family and once with my husband's family.  I have volunteered to decorate my brother in law and sister in laws table/house for the dinner so many of these decorations are coming with me for that so I will enjoy them at my house while they are here. Happy fall and Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Vegetable Curry

I cook a lot using our stove anyway but since our oven is broken (we ordered the part we need) I am having to use it even more. I love curries but they are not something I cook at home very often.  I found this curry on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.

Pumpkin Vegetable Curry

Makes at least 8 servings 

2 onions diced up

8 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups vegetable broth

2 cans black beans, drained

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 can diced tomato

1/2 to 3/4 cup of coconut milk

2-4 tablespoon (or more) red curry paste

Salt and pepper

2-4 tablespoons of honey

• Cook the onions and garlic with the olive oil in a medium/large saucepan for 5 minutes on medium heat
• Add the rest of the ingredients except for the honey and then taste to see if more curry paste, salt or pepper is needed
• When you have the spices to your liking add the honey and then taste to see if more honey is needed.
• Bring to a boil and then lower head and cook at a low simmer for 15-20 minutes
• While the curry is cooking I cooked some quinoa to serve the curry over.

I served this curry over about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of cooked quinoa. Depending on how hungry you and your family are this recipe makes at least 8 servings and is great the next day (or the day after) for lunches.

Stitch Fix #17 (and 18 too)

Since I managed to get a month behind in my Stitch Fix posts due to one arriving the day before my honeymoon I decided to catch up by covering two boxes in one post.

The previous box had a scarf in it that was not quite my colors so this month they send me a scarf that was much more my style. This pretty scarf is a super cozy blanket scarf and has been an adventure finding ways to wear it. I can't wait to find more ways to wear it.

As usual these leggings are a little long on me but they are a nice weight and not see through. That combined with a nice wide comfy waist ban sold me on these.

Please excuse the slightly rumpled look of this top.  I took this picture right after I pulled it out of the dryer because I liked it so much that I didn't even wait to take a picture of it before wearing it. I love how comfy it is and the elbow patches make it extra fun.

I had asked for comfy clothes so in addition to the fun striped top I was also sent this great plum hoodie.  It is nice and lightweight which is great since I do live in California and it really doesn't get that cold.

I like this one but wasn't crazy about how it looked on me. I actually ended up keeping this one because I was keeping the other four things and it is cheaper to keep all 5 than send this one back because of the 20% discount. I think I will end up finding someone to give it to.

After keeping all five items last month (for the first time) I was excited to get my box this month. My first item was this pair of skinny jeans.  They didn't fit quite right and I am not really in need of a new pair of jeans so these went back.

Cute bracelet but I don't normally wear bracelets.  I didn't think I would get very much use out of it so I send this one back too.

It is a bit hard to tell from this picture but this is the back of the shirt.  The front was a sweater with a but of a build in shirt at the bottom but the back stopped being a sweater about halfway down. The color was quite nice but I found the back a bit weird so this too went back.

Wasn't crazy about the color of this shirt when I first took this out of the box but when I put it on and the chest was too tight I didn't think twice about sending this one back.

After sending the first four things in the box back I am onto the winner.  This t-shirt is grey in the front and stripped on the sleeves and back. It is so cozy and is great to wear with jeans to run errands on the weekends.  It is not quite dressy enough to wear to work so a weekend shirt it will have to be.

I am looking forward to getting my next box this month and if you want to get your own Stitch Fix box you can use my link. 

Halloween Time at Disneyland

Last weekend I took a trip down to Southern California to one of my favorite places. Disneyland! I love seeing the Halloween decorations and I didn't get a chance to see them last year with all that was going on in my life so I decided that this year a trip was in order.

I planned this trip a few months ago and put the word out that I was going and anyone who felt like it was welcome to join me. One of my coworkers decided to go and my sister in law was able to come meet me for one day too. I was on a crack of dawn flight by myself which was all well and good when I booked it but put a few wrinkles in my plans in the end because of this whole broken foot thing.

I arrived at the park a few hours (which turned into 4 or 5 due to a delayed flight) before anyone else so due to the ever fun broken foot I decided to rent one of those motorized wheelchair/cart things. I have ridden in a wheelchair many times (thanks curve in my back) but have never used a motorized one before. Steering though a crowded park was an adventure but no one died.

My friend finally got there and we met up at Carthay Circle Lounge for a late lunch.  It was so hot out that day that I decided a Pimm's Punch was called for.  Such a nice refreshing drink on a hot day.

After a few hours in the hotel to beat the crowds and the heat we headed back to the park.  We got there just in time to see the Halloween fireworks from the tram waiting area.  Fireworks are always a favorite of mine.

Saturday we were there bright and early.  Thankfully I had a friend there this day so I didn't have to brave driving a motorized chair again. Yay for friends who will push you in a wheelchair!

I always love looking at the castle but after seeing it all done up and sparkly for the 60th anniversary celebration for a year it just looks like it is missing a bit of pizzazz right now.

One benefit of having to ride in a wheelchair is that many of the Fantasyland rides are not handicap accessible so you have to go in the exit. This makes for short or no lines at many of the rides. It doesn't work this way for all rides and most of the ones it does work for are in Fantasyland so I always try to ride everything when I have the opportunity.

My friend is a big Star Wars fan so we waited in line to see Darth Vader.  While I know this is just a person in a costume it was still kind of scary to have this very tall character talking to me and accusing me of things. Very realistic!

Funny story. So apparently if you know someone who is playing a character at the Frozen meet and greet there is a special code word you use to make sure you are put into the correct room with the person you know. We said this code word just as the characters were switching rooms so we ended up in the wrong room.  We took pictures with Anna and Elsa since we were there.

Once we were done with Anna and Elsa the cast member moved us to the other room where Elsa was being played by someone my friend knew. Apparently this is the way to get to take pictures with the characters twice! I wasn't complaining!

One night we went to dinner at Carthay Circle and as always it was fantastic.  I didn't take pictures of my food (fail) but I did manage to take a picture of my Poison Appletini complete with glowing poison apple. I am now the proud owner of a glowing poison apple.  Not sure what I am going to so with it but I will find someway to incorporate it into my decor next Halloween.

Instead of having desert at Carthay Circle we opted to stop for ice cream. A sink full of ice cream hit the spot!!

Sunday my sister in law was able to join me for most of the day at the park. Yay! The weatherman lies and it started raining part way through the day. Boo! Rain isn't bad if you are prepared for it but the weather report said no chance of rain so we were not prepared. Despite the rain I was super happy to see my sister in law and had a fabulous time riding rides with her.

Since it was still pretty rainy by dinnertime we needed something indoors.  We tried to have dinner at the Alfresco Tasting Terrace but apparently it is closed when it rains due to the floors getting slippery.  We ended up at the Carthay Circle Lounge again which was fine by me.  Again no pictures of the food but our pretty cocktails were a Pisco Sour and a Tequila Daisy.

Such fun seeing Disneyland all dressed up for Halloween.  Since I managed to get to Disneyland last year during the Christmas season I won't be disappointed if I don't make it this year but I am glad I got to see the Halloween decorations at least.

Halloween Decorations

In past years I have put up some kind of fall decoration sometime after Labor Day and then just added a few Halloween touches/moved things around. This year between prepping for our honeymoon and then going on our honeymoon I never got around to putting up fall decorations. I started my Halloween decorations from scratch this year.

I got this white pumpkin with the glittery handle at Home Goods earlier this year. The other side of the pumpkin is perfect for Thanksgiving so I will just turn it around after Halloween.  The cute trick or treat sign is from the dollar spot at Target last year or the year before.

This little display of leaves and gourds will probably stay up all the way through Thanksgiving.

Pretty sure this group of leaves is not meant to be a wreath but it was round so I hung it on the hook on the back of my front door. I will probably incorporate this somehow into my Thanksgiving decorations but for now it works as a wreath.

That sparkly pumpkin in the background is also a new addition to my Halloween decorations this year! Another Home Goods find while out shopping with a friend.

My favorite new addition this year is this fabulous table runner that is covered in spiderwebs. I love how the black and white of the spiderwebs goes so well with my wire pumpkins. For now it has to go on our coffee table but maybe by next year we will have a new place that has room for me to put the table runner on an actual full sized table.

As much as I love my new spiderweb table runner my favorite Halloween decoration is still my not so spooky purple spider to go with my sparkly pumpkins.

I am leaving my decorations up for another week or so and then it is time to switch them out for some Thanksgiving decorations.