Happy Thanksgiving Weekend

I can't believe how fast a four-day weekend goes by! But here's my attempt to recap it all. For me it started Wednesday after work when I went to my mom's house to bake pies. We made three sweet potato pies and a pecan-cranberry pie. The sweet potato pies came out wonderfully, the pecan-cranberry was a different story. It was my Nina's recipe and my first attempt at making it. The pie tin I choose was too small/shallow and the filling practically spilled all out. Luckily my mom had put the pie on a baking sheet, but the kitchen was filled with smoke as the sugar burned in the oven. I've learned my lesson, if I ever make it again. Everyone ate it at Thanksgiving and were nice about it, well my did Nina comment that it didn't have much filling.

Thanksgiving day was as yummy as ever! We got together at my Nina's house for lunch, as we do every year. But this year, instead of rushing off for Thanksgiving #2 at Kelly's family, we were able to just hang out and veg at my Nina's. I missed seeing Kelly's family, since we don't get to see them that often, but it was nice to just chill and overeat my Nina's yummy food. We went to bed early Thursday night since Kelly had to work the next day and my mom and I were getting up early to hit Black Friday.

Yup, my mom and I woke up with Kelly at 4:30 am to start our shopping. Our first destination was Target. They opened at 5 am and we got there just then. I was shocked there was such a huge line to get it, there wasn't one last year. So we just waited for the line to enter the store, and by 5:10 am we were in. We divided and conquered the store and two-hours later we were done! We scored some great deals and I managed to get 80% of our Christmas shopping done. Later in the day we went to Costco, then Bergstroms since they were also having a sale. Plus, I wanted to show my mom the two strollers Kelly and I are trying to decide on. Our shopping day ended with lunch at PF Chang's and a long nap once we got home. And that was the end of my day, I was way too spent to even think of doing anything else.

To keep with tradition, Saturday I spent the day decorating the house for Christmas. Kelly worked during the day, so I cleaned, organized and rearranged the downstairs. My the time Kelly got home, the house was ready for the decorations. We started by hanging the Christmas lights outside, then we moved inside, put up the tree and various other festive decorations. It brought a smile to my face  thinking that next year we'll be adding a stocking to our mantel. We waited for my mom to come over and then we (my mom and I) decorated the tree. Although, Kelly did help me with the garland and put the star on the tree. By then it was time for the USC vs. UCLA game. We didn't go to this year's game because it was at 7 pm, figured it would be too cold and late to go, plus they moved our seats and we had to pay extra. So we watched it from our warm, festive house. The game wasn't too exciting, but the best part was that USC won...woohoo!

By Sunday, I was sick with a cold. I lounged around the house all day hoping to get over it. But I guess by then my body did need some rest...

Week 16 and a Busy One

The weekend started on Friday with my 16 week appointment. Kelly went with me and we got to hear our lil peanut's heartbeat for the first time. We've had two ultrasounds, but have never heard the heartbeat. I have to say, it was pretty amazing! Little things like that make me realize how real it is that we're having a baby. I also booked my survey ultrasound where we can find out the baby's gender. I can't wait...it's on December 3! I also signed up for some baby prep classes. Who knew there were so many?! After the doctor's appointment Kelly and I went stroller shopping. We headed to Bergstroms and were completely overwhelmed by all the strollers. Thank goodness we had a great salesperson who went over the strollers with us and showed us how they open and close. We finally narrowed our favorites down to two, so we'll see which one we end up with. Since we were there, we also browsed the cribs and changing tables. That didn't seem so overwhelming, a much easier choice. So two hours later, we left and headed to Bubba Gump for lunch. A little more shopping and errands, and were were done for the day.

We had another early start on Saturday. We picked up my mom and headed to LA for the USC football game. Our first stop was Philippe's to pick up yummy sandwiches and salads for our lunch on campus. Since it was homecoming, we roamed around campus, ate our lunch and checked out the booths before heading to the stadium. And that's were the fun ended. The game was horrible, and that's about all I have to say. We left 10 minutes early, got stuck in traffic and didn't get home until after 6 pm where we grabbed our suitcase and headed to San Diego. By the time we checked in to our hotel I was starving and exhausted. We just ate at the Denny's across the parking lot and then headed back to the room to crash.

Another early start on Sunday! We had three Pharis/Kotlar birthdays over the weekend so we all got together to spend the day at Sea World. It was nice to hang out with our niece and nephew, but boy was I exhausted. I just don't have the same amount of energy as I used to. But it's okay, this weekend I'm looking forward to peace, quiet and relaxation...