thanksgiving this & that

hi everyone! tomorrow is thanksgiving. i hope you have a happy one! i won't be posting as i usually do on thursdays, but i thought it would be fun to tell you what i'll be working on over the 4-day weekend. we aren't travelling or having family in town this year, so we have four days wide open in front of us and i'm hoping to get a few things done around the house.

here is my to-do list:

~ paint half the kitchen white (baby steps)
~ order christmas cards
~ photograph the office (no more procrastinating! i AM going to show it to you!)
~ clean out my daughter's room
~ decorate for christmas, yay!

this side of the kitchen never got touched up when we replaced the baseboards and door frame in conjunction with our office project. (the office is the room just through that open doorway where you can see the built-ins). i am kinda over the light blue color anyway so i'm just going to paint this half of the room white. as we do our mudroom project, which is on the other side of that closed brown door, that door trim and door will be replaced, and then i'll probably keep going with the white around the rest of the kitchen. but for this weekend, i'm hoping to at least get this side done!

as if choosing a christmas card wasn't hard enough, now i have to narrow down pictures! i took them myself this week, with my new iphone 6+ and vsco, and i'm surprised at how well they turned out! i'm actually considering designing the card too. does anyone know of a good place to print your own design if i go that route??  

warning, this post just got real. before i can photograph my office, i have to clean it up again. it was just limping back to cleanliness when i started corralling all my new christmas wrapping supplies, all the fall decorations i need to put away, and various trappings for a hampster we are um, hampster-sitting during the holiday. not to mention i turned it into an impromptu portrait studio yesterday. ugh. so yeah, this one needs some work. 

aaaaand the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. this is the current state of my daughter's room. she can be quite meticulous about her room, but during a sleepover with a friend last weekend, every toy she owns was dumped around the room, and sleeping nests were constructed out of hundreds of stuffed animals that had previously been bagged up for the goodwill safekeeping in the basement. so we just need to gut this one and start over. (in case you're wondering why i chose olive green walls for this girl, they were that way when we moved in. we've barely touched this room and i'm basically waiting to decorate it until she grows out of the "i want a giant rapunzel wall mural" phase of life). 

for christmas i'm planning to make a branch canopy with some kind of sparkly and twinkly stuff on it over our dining table. i really want to replace these chandeliers next year, but have no idea with what (suggestions?!) and until then they work well for christmas. and to hold up tree limbs.

my littlest guy and i made the pumpkin pie today (and that'll be the beginning and the end of my pinterest thanksgiving around here). my grandma always used to use the recipe on the side of the libby's can and i maintain there's no better way to make a pumpkin pie.

as for my agenda for the big day, we're staying home and i'm sooo excited for a relaxing holiday. my day should consist of starbucks, the black friday ads, cooking, eating, tv, and putting up the tree. and some more giant branches. i can't wait!

i hope all of you have a wonderful thanksgiving!

thanksgiving according to pinterest

my friends, today it's thanksgiving. i have unlimited time and money, a luxurious accommodating home, and very nimble smallish fingers. my body does not require sleep (and yet i look perpetually dewy and youthful). i have seven nannies, an in-house chef, and at least two maids. my garden is also full of fresh bounty (both the floral and the food variety), which maintains its colorful luster and flavor indefinitely inspite of frost and snow. my mom, who totally lives in town, spent long but joyful hours leading up to today laughing and cooking with me in matching aprons in my gourmet kitchen. my friends, this is a pinterest thanksgiving, and oh we are gonna have it.

come on, pretend with me...it'll be amazing.

my table will be perfectly curated to look uncurated, with draping garlands, seasonal blooms, and dishware mis-matched just so. (at this point you're wondering if there is sarcasm in my tone. no! this is really what my house and life would look like if all the above variables were true).

{via apartment 34}

my walls would be adorned with gorgeous wreaths and draped with vines and fruit and fresh garden foilage. i would make all of this myself, of course, after a quick jaunt to LA for a design love fest wreath-making workshop. 

{via greige design}

i would have a few minimalist touches to balance all that lush greenery, like these adorable pear placecard holders. they'd be perfect take-home favors as well, because i would make them with wooden pears.

{via almost makes perfect}

food would be left to the chefs because it's not really my thing (well, eating it is my thing for sure, but not cooking it). here is a sampling of what would be on the menu:

{martha stewart's maple glazed turkey

warm brussels spout & pomegranate salad by free people

cast-iron skillet cornbread stuffing with leeks by adventures in cooking

roasted butternut squash & apple brandy soup by local milk}

ok, i have no idea if those flavors will really go together to create a well balanced meal, but the food styling is so good, who cares?! i'll be saving my culinary energy for pie-making:

{via the williams-sonoma blog, and guess what?! i actually own the leaf pie crust cutters and emile henry pie dishes in real life, so i have a shot at these outside of fantasy land!}

{this apple pie with rosettes is all over pinterest and the web so i looked long and hard to find the original source. after reading all 158 comments on the post, i have determined that yoli deserves the credit. aaaaand my pie-making plans slide solidly back into fantasy land.} 

what else do we need for the perfect thanksgiving? um...how about adorably packaged leftovers for you to take home?

 {tutorial and FREE printable at pizzazzerie}

ok, i can't help it. one more favor for your goodie bags, because i love you so much: 

{DIY flavored finishing sea salts via free people blog}

ahhh, that was great. i never knew a fake thanksgiving could be so grand. thanks so much for coming! i'm about to spend the rest of the day on the couch in a food coma, pinning christmas decorations. my butler will see you out.