Happy Turkey Day/Thank You Nanny and Paula Deen

A few years ago I offered to bring the cranberry sauce as my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner at Josh's grandmother's house. I then discovered that cranberry sauce/relish is one of the most difficult things to make because you have to pop the cranberries perfectly and it's quite a science project. As with any food emergency, I went to my Nanny. She told me we could figure out cranberry sauce, but that it would be a better use of my time to just buy the cranberry relish from Nino's because theirs is the best. She then scoured her kitchen and gave me a torn out page from a foodie magazine with a Paula Deen recipe that I have used every year since. It is so simple and delicious! I really owe it to Nanny and Paula Deen on this one!

You will need:

A pretty glass dish or two

A package of cream cheese

Two table spoons of mayo

A cup of pecans

A nice container of cranberry relish (2-3 cups should be enough)

All you do is let the cream cheese soften and then mix in the mayo. 

Once it is nice and creamy, add in about a half of a cup of pecans.

Next you need to take the back of a fork and crush down the cranberry relish.

Then you simply layer them into your dish(es) and add some pecans on top.

Serve and enjoy!

This is seriously the yummiest addition to the meal and it makes for such a festive table decoration!

Every year at dinner my family goes around the table and shares what each of us are thankful for most. I am sure pretty much everyone else's family does the same. Every Thanksgiving there are both funny, ridiculous, and touching comments. I think the biggest hit of a response over the years was the year I was most thankful for my ability to wear nearly any shade of lip gloss. HAHA! This Thanksgiving I am thankful for so many things, most of all my friends and family (yes, Hank is considered a part of the family since I treat him as my child). My shoes come a close second.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Favorite Things...

Josh and I found ourselves running around town the other day. He had a couple of errands to run, so I joined him. We wound up adding several places to our list of errands, all of which wound up with us picking up favorite snacks. In between skate sharpening and kinkos, we stopped at Sbux for Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Yes, we are all LOVING the fact that the holiday cups are out! After Kinkos, we had an hour to kill before we could pick up our dry cleaning so we stopped at Farm's Market for Spinach and Feta Pies. Then we headed over to Sander's for Sea Salt Chocolate Caramels. 

These fun little indulgences got me thinking about my favorite things lately...

Cannot keep my paws off of these...

All of the rainy weather is giving me a perfect excuse to use my fun, colorful umbrella.

My new Kate Spade abstract phone case...

Goyard coin purse. 

Pink. 

Goyard. 

Cute little pouch that fits bobby pins and hair ties perfectly. 

What's not to love?

Go Blue!

The Big House. (View from my seat.)

Football is one of my favorite things about the fall. Today is the last home game of the season and I could not be more excited to get back to the big house!  Josh and I normally hit almost every home game, but this fall things got a little complicated and we've only made it to two games so far this season. The fact that we haven't spent as much time as we would've liked in Ann Arbor lately makes today even more special. This girl will be decked out in her finest maize, Michigan bow from Miss Annie's Bows included this afternoon!

Today is also my sister, Erin's birthday! 

Happy Birthday Erin!

I am so proud that we've graduated from stealing lip glosses from each other to me going to you for beauty product recommendations. You have truly grown into a fabulous women right before my eyes, but I will always see you as my baby sister who is always annoyingly thinner and taller hahaha! 

Love you!!!

The Best Blush

Nars Orgasm Blush

This cult favorite of beauty product junkies hardly needs an introduction. Anyone worth their weight in lip gloss knows this shade just from the photo, so I won't waste many words recommending this super blush. If you have been under a rock for the last 5 years or have refused to use blush, this is your gateway drug. Give it a swirl!

This morning the last few chunks of my favorite blush fell out onto the bathroom floor. I used this compact until there was literally nothing left. I almost never get to the bottom of any makeup other than foundation, but this stuff is good to the last spec. Luckily, I had a back up lined up and ready to go. Once I discovered Nars Orgasm blush in college, I vowed to never be without it so I always buy a back up once my current one starts to get low. Yes, I am one step from make up hoarding.

The Accessory Of The Week

My favorite Longchamp tote hanging back in her place at the end of election day.

The trendiest accessory of the week, an I Voted sticker.

Big, small, blue, red, circular, oval; it doesn't matter. 

The best addition to any wardrobe this week is an "I Voted" sticker. Regardless of your personal opinion of the turn out of the election, the fact that we can all go and express our opinion through our vote is what truly makes this country great. I hope each and every one of you are proudly displaying the fact that you voted this week.

Eastern Market

One of the best parts about living in Detroit is the perk of being able to so easily hit 

Eastern Market early on Saturday mornings. It is the most fun way to shop for 

fresh fruit, veggies, flowers, and all kinds of other goodies!

The veggies were so pretty I got hungry just looking at them.

LOVE asparagus!

The brisk weather combined with all of the colorful pumpkins and gourds 

set the perfect scene for a fall morning.

I don't have a clue what to do with an egg plant, 

but they were so pretty and such beautiful hues of purple that I couldn't resist.

Eastern Market is the best place to be early on Saturday mornings in Detroit. 

You have to get there before 8am if you want a chance at finding a parking spot, 

but it's totally worth getting out of bed. I highly recommend giving it a shot if you want some 

fresh, cheap, good produce downtown! I am planning to head back tomorrow morning

with Josh and my parents and this time I am bringing a nice big tote.

Happy Friday!