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Thanksgiving Goodness.

Happy Thanksgiving!!  Hope you’re posted up somewhere cozy like this today… sipping your morning coffee (or afternoon toddy)…

Inhaling something that smells like this…

Sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner at a table like this…

And wearing something like this…

As for me & Karrie (!)  …Let’s be honest.  It’ll be more along these lines:

Cramming as much turkey & cream-of-everything as we can in our little pot bellies… Probably watching this later…


And eating these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Walnut cookies I just made:

…the batter bowl of which I just licked for breakfast – and washed down with half a can of French fried onions.  I so wish I were kidding.  I also wish My Fitness Pal app would stop asking me to log my breakfast.  It’s like the bastards know.

In any case… God, who doesn’t love Thanksgiving???  Can I rap a short list real quick about what I’m grateful for?

1.  Parents who kick ass. My sweet dad – aka Stevie B – who is like a cross between Elvis and a cowboy and a warm, fuzzy grizzly bear.  And my mom, who just sent me leaves and acorns and some other interesting treats in a care package, because she knows Fall is my favorite time of year at home.  The best part?  A “ps” in the card that said something like: “Helpful Hint!!  You can surround these cinnamon candles with the Fall foliage as a neat Thanksgiving centerpiece (!)”  Bahahah – Jayne.  God love er.

2.  Having had the gift of Grandparents…  the last of which, Bud, we just lost this Spring.  I was so lucky to have 3 of them I was close to for a very, very long time – well into my 30’s.  I don’t know many kids who are as lucky in that regard as I have been.  I feel like they taught me so many of the things I know – whether they meant to or not – about how to sew, how to bake Christmas cookies, how to build things… about what’s really important and how to be a good person to the people around you.  Now when I think back on my childhood and on the time they were all here, it almost feels like magic.  I miss sweet Bud, Ruth and Nanny Jam all the time, but I also kinda always feel like they’re still here.  And I’m so grateful for that, too.  Those are sweet Bud’s tooties under the Thanksgiving Day table at our house in Columbus 2 years ago.

3. OMG – GUS (!&$#^!!!) So grateful for the most insane, sweet pup full of unbounding joy who ever lived.  Did I tell you he’s flying home for Christmas with me?  Yep.  Pass the tranquilizers.

4.  Friends who are family. I’m lucky enough to have innumerable ones… including but not limited to that gaggle of hookers, my Burris K-12-ers, and my volleyball family.  I’m also grateful for my bestie and co-blogger, Karrie, whose fam I’m spending Thanksgiving with today.  This is what a lot of our snort-worthy convos look like:

5.  Living in this gorgeous place and finally having bitten the bullet and gotten out of my own way so I could start doing what I love this year.

Hope you guys have a GREAT holiday weekend with family & friends!!  Cheers to lots of naps, Scrabble and Christmas movies on TNT…  and decorating tomorrow.  OMG it makes me so happy I could pee.

Much love to you!

Gift Guide: For the Guys

I’m going to get put on the naughty list for saying so, but every year, I look at the gift guides out there for dudes, and every year I scratch my head and wonder: Cufflinks in the shape of guns… hokey plaid everything… and things like soap that smells like charcoal.  Are those really what the guys we love want from Santa? Maybe they do…  What do I know?  I’m a chick, and I love doilies and things that are sparkly. So to make sure this list is on point for you guys, I enlisted the help of a few of my most discerning guy friends – the ones who have impeccable taste in everything, so nearly every gift idea below has been taken for a spin and gotten a serious stamp of approval.  Here goes!

1. Donegal Wool Cable Cardigan – Matt cannot get enough of these.  Nor can I. DILF sweaters (did I say that out loud?) like this one make *every* guy look a little more handsome.  I picture the men who wear them rocking cooing babies by the fire, sipping coffee at the kitchen table, or chopping wood in the front yard. Classic cold weather staple for any guy.

2. Bowl Tickets – Enter the Holy Grail of Christmas Gifts for Guys…  especially if they’re lunatics about college football like someone I know, who galloped around the room 18 times screaming last Saturday when Auburn turned Ray Finkle’s missed field goal into touchdown and history-making gold.  Even I shed a single tear.

3. Kiehl’s Facial Fuel Energizing Scrub – Matt loves using this to slough off dead skin in between shaves.  It’s also apparently “tingly and clean and smells really good.”

4. Moscow Mule Copper Mugs – I dare you to show me a guy who doesn’t wanna drink that delicious vodka / lime juice / ginger beer concoction out of these.

5. Go Pro – These are hi-def (1080p), waterproof, have built-in Wi Fi and are straight up AMAZING.  And at under $200, I feel like I’m straight up stealing. If you’re not familiar with GoPro, check out this YouTube video.

6. Marled Socks – Great for wearing under boots, or just lounging around the house.

7. Lululemon Post Gravity Pant – Buy these for him, then steal them every Saturday morning.  Everybody wins!

8. McLerran Leather & Flannel Boot – Matt got these earlier this fall, and they look KILLER with everything.  Classic with handsome details and a little edge.

9. Clary Sage Candle – you wouldn’t *normally* think to buy candles for the fellas, but this one is earthy and clean.  Email info@nathanturner.com to purchase.

10. Fit Bit – Definitely stuff yourself silly this Christmas, then after January 1st, wear this all day & all night to track your steps, distance, calories consumed, calories burned, etc.

11. Forage Haberdashery Handkerchiefs – or pocket squares…  whatever.  Here it is from the horse’s mouth:  “I wear my pocket square with my suit after I’ve taken my tie off but still have to meet clients out for dinners. It’s a little more dressed-down, but still kind of a classic cool look.”  Personally, I dig that there’s an old school, dapper, gentlemanly quality to them.  I loved the ones pictured from Nathan Turner‘s shop in LA. Email info@nathanturner.com to purchase.

12. Eco Heather 3/4 Sleeve Raglan Shirt – insanely comfortable (Matt and I both own one) and look H-O-T on dudes.  This one comes in a GREAT color combo and is on sale for $20.  BANG.

…Need more ideas?  Last year’s list is still full of solid picks…  especially the Big Green Egg, Ugg slippers, the Arcteryx jacket, and the Maps Rocks Glasses.

Happy Shopping!