What I've been up to...

Good morning, friends! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving week. I had a great time with my parents and friends! I want to catch y'all up on what I've been up to lately because I've been busy! I have been a terrible blogger and I'm so sorry about that! I promise to work on it this next month.

So November weather has officially come to the Queen City. Leaving for the gym in the morning at 7 is really rough.

But it was just in time for Thanksgiving! If you missed my Thanksgiving plans check it out here. My brunch turned out even better than I could've imagined!

The breakfast pastry was so easy to make and incredibly delicious. I would make these again in a heartbeat. 

I was really nervous about making scones since I never have before. But they ended up being pretty easy. They were so flaky and yummy. They are more like a biscuit because they aren't overly sweet. 

We also had strawberries and mimosas too!

Here's my plate. It filled me up and was tasty.

We spent the morning watching the parade and the dog show. Just hanging out, really. It was low key but still a lot of fun! Can you tell we love a bold brow??

My people.

The snapchat filters were on point for Thanksgiving.

We all wore textured, black, tights. Also, those mimosas were delicious!

My parents brought my puppy too. She was a little weirded out by her new surroundings but found a great perch on my bed.

Unfortunately, I had to work on Friday...boo! Friday night I stayed in and relaxed in preparation for Saturday's big rivalry game. Clemson's biggest rival is the University of South Carolina. So on Saturday morning we packed up and headed to Columbia! Our seats were pretty rough but hey anything to see my Tigers!

Two of the biggest Clemson fans you'll ever meet. It was HOT.

They did a memorial for the shooting that took place in Charleston during halftime. It was beautiful. 

Towards the end of the game I moved down to see one of my best friends. 

Here she is! I love her even though she's a chicken fan ;).

So listen, I'm not typically a spontaneous person. I like plans and structure but since graduating I've been more intentional about being spontaneous when it's appropriate. Well, Friday night was a night for spontaneity! I saw so many of my high school friends at the game and really wanted to go out with them. So I headed back to Charlotte to get my things and drop off my friend and drove right back to Columbia. Absolutely insane, I know. But why the heck not?? I got to see so many old friends and had a blast!

At the end of the night...yikes!

We've known each other since Kindergarten.

Such bizarre snapchat filters! 

Love them.

We had a blast. Sunday morning I drove back to Charlotte. Last night, my roomie and I headed to Nordstrom for a cardholder shopping event. They closed the store and had drinks and food walking around. We had a lot of fun!

Life of a lipstick addict. I got the top pink color in the bottom left corner. 

My roomie treated herself to a new purse. She totally deserves it!

My girl.

So life has been full and fun lately. I can't wait for holiday season but first my birthday, which is next week! HOLY SMOKES! Well, thanks for catching up. See you back here Wednesday! xoxo

Thanksgiving

Happy early Thanksgiving, y'all! I don't know about you but I'm really excited about this year's Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, for work I only get Thursday off so my parents rock and decided to make the trip to Charlotte to see me! And to add to the fun my roomie...

...and my coworker, Rachel...

are going our Thanksgiving festivities because they can't be with their families. We decided to forgo all of the mess and hassle and eat out. For those local to the Queen City we're eating at BLT Steakhouse in Uptown. I mean if you have time and want to be jealous of me ;) check out the menu here. Our reservations are at 3:30 in the afternoon so we made some fun plans for the rest of the day.

My parents should get here around 10 in the morning and I'm going to make a delicious brunch. I wanted it to fill us up to make it to our reservations but also not be too heavy so we're ready to eat!! Here's what I'm whipping up...

Some egg, cheese, and pancetta breakfast pastries. The recipe calls for ham but I decided to get fancy and grab some pancetta. 

Recipe Source

Also, I'll be whipping up some of these lovelies...strawberry scones. I've never made scones before so pray for me people.

Recipe Source

I'll also have some fruit for the side, coffee, tea, and of course...mimosas! I mean I work every weekday so if I have an excuse to drink a mimosa on a Thursday, I don't let it slip by :).

We'll slowly eat our brunch and chat while watching the parade and FOOTBALL! I've made it clear that I love football so Thanksgiving is one of my favorites. I'm especially looking forward to the Panther's game on Thanksgiving...keep pounding, Panthers! 

But yummy food and football aside, Thanksgiving really hits home this year because I am so grateful for where I'm at. I want to take some time to reflect on some untraditional things I'm grateful for this year. Of course, I'm grateful for my family, friends, job, and health. Those are a given. But what small, everyday, minute things am I grateful for?

1. This blogging world. Y'all have been such a blessing to me. I look forward to hearing what my blog friends are up to and reading through everyone's comments. Keeping on top of a blog can be challenging when working full time but it's 100% worth it. Speaking of, sorry about Monday...oops! I am so grateful for you all and pray that you continue to read and feel enriched by what I have to say.

2. Finances. This seems slightly silly but it's something we often take for granted. I'm so blessed that my parents helped me out and supported me through college so that I could graduate debt free. But now that I have a job and have moved, I am financially on my own. Of course, they still help with little things but all in all I support myself. I pay my bills, invest my money, donate to charities of my choice, etc. But in my job, I often see how people can get stuck in such horrible financial situations so I'm grateful that I'm able to save for retirement and invest my money.

Grateful that I have the financial stability to see other parts of the world as well.

3. My coworkers. I guess this technically falls into the friend category but it is so different. They are way more than just that to me. They are my life here in Charlotte and I'm so grateful for them all! 

And of course, grateful that I have such a great relationship with my roomie! Who would've thought that Roommates.com would've worked out so well!

4. I'm grateful for the everyday grind...having a great gym, eating healthier, experiencing Charlotte, learning about myself daily, finding a church that enriches my soul, etc...life is good. I am so grateful and sometimes I have to shake myself to realize how much I really have.

Most of all I'm grateful for these people...

...they are my rock. Thank you for loving me despite my flaws. I love you!

I hope y'all have a great Thanksgiving with your family and/or friends. I love you all and am so thankful to have you apart of my day. XOXO!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! I don't know about y'all...but this week flew by for me! Usually, that would be good news but it kind of hit me this week...how quickly life is moving. I want to be more intentional and soak in this phase of life as much as I can. My life is too rich to wish it away. Anyways, off my soapbox. 

As always, I'm sharing some of my favorites this week!

ONE

At work, I'm the baker. I love to bake for people. I've discovered in my adulthood that my love language to give is gifts. I love pinpointing the perfect gift for someone or baking something to make someone's day a little bit better.

Well, work was doing a bake sale to raise money for buying bikes to give to children for Christmas through the Angel Tree. The guy who was running the bake sale asked me to bake and I happily obliged. 

I made delicious mini M&M and mini chocolate chip cookies. I knew they'd be tasty but had no idea they'd be this tasty. Seriously, they are delicious.

They were easy to make and sold out at the bake sale! #Success You should make them...check out the recipe here.

TWO

I have the best cousin ever!!! He grew up and lives in Charlotte so he has season tickets to the NBA team here, the Hornets. Well, on Sunday he wasn't using his tickets so my roommate and I took them off his hands for him ;). It was my first NBA game and it was a BLAST!

We were so pumped!

We couldn't get over how great our seats were. We were right there!! 

This is our, "We are too poor to afford these seats so we're so lucky" faces. Yep.

Also, we're twins.

Hornets win!!

THREE

I've been pushing myself hard in the gym lately. I love the high I get from working out and I've become addicted to pushing myself. I'm seeing changes in my body already. Here I am taking an elevator selfie before hitting the gym.

Before one of my workouts. The trainers write it on the mirror for me. Ouch.

I had a great workout on my own on Saturday that included one of my least favorite things...sprints. But sprints weren't miserable because I could look out at my apartment's pool area.

FOUR

My Tigers are 3 weeks straight as #1 in the country. I just am so giddy! I live and breathe for my Tigers!! I freaked out when our quarterback, Deshaun Watson, was on the cover of Sports Illustrated! I wasn't able to find it here in Charlotte but my Dad rocks and picked up a copy for me.

Also, I got our tickets for the Clemson/Carolina game for next weekend. It's our biggest rivalry game of the year. 

And just for kicks and giggles...my Momma and I 2 weekends ago heading to the game :)

FIVE

I've never watched the Voice before but my roomie got me into it this season. I've been girl crushing hard on Gwen Stefani. I've always loved her but seeing her sweet personality on the show was the cherry on top. I love her unique style.

She can rock a bold lip like no one else!

Alrighty, happy Friday! I hope y'all have a great weekend! Xoxox