Thanksgiving 2017

This Thanksgiving was a little different this year - we hosted it for the first time! Since getting married, we've alternated Thanksgiving and Christmas with our families and this year it was a Hirst Thanksgiving. My BIL & SIL hosted 2 years ago when our niece was 3 weeks old so Stephen and I decided to step up our game and host before we had kids to deal with ;)

I was nervous about the turkey but thankfully, we borrowed our BIL & SIL's roaster which freed up the oven and Stephen attempted a smoked turkey - both turned out amazing!! I wanted to make sure everything was cooked on time and ready to eat shortly after everyone came over. Everyone laughed at me when I said I was going to make a cooking schedule utilizing a Gnatt chart but let me tell you, it worked like a charm and kept me on track! 

Getting my first turkey ready - we bought a brine kit from Publix and it worked so well for the roasted turkey and Stephen made a custom brine for his smoked turkey breast. Stephen also thinks I look like Tupac with that bandana ;)

Even though we ordered a fresh turkey, it was still frozen so I broke out the hair dryer to melt the inside so I could get the neck out

I was really happy with how the tablescape turned out. I had a thick, plastic table cloth and paper leaf placemats which worked great since our niece was 2 - I didn't have to worry with anything getting ruined. I picked up a bunch of pumpkins on Halloween for dirt cheap at the local patch and left them in the fridge after soaking them for a few minutes in a bleach/water solution. I was really happy that they stayed fresh and I was able to use the small pumpkins as place cards. 

We prepped everything the night before so that on Thanksgiving day, we had some time to sit on the couch, watch the parade and look through Black Friday ads - it was perfect. Everyone came over about an hour before we were supposed to eat so once everything was pulled out of the oven, we were good to go!

We didn't have any toys for Siena in the house so I grabbed her my old iPhone and she loved it!

When we pulled the turkey out and I saw the leg bones sticking out, I panicked thinking it was bad but thankfully, it was fine - just didn't look as pretty (and you can see my schedule on the counter on the right lol!!)

Stephen cutting his smoked turkey breast - next time, we'll get a full size!

Stephen's mom brought all of the pies!

After lunch, Siena took a nap while we cleaned up and watched some videos. It was a pretty rainy day but thankfully, it cleared up later in the afternoon so we went outside and played some football and corn hole. 

After corn hole, Stephen, Lauren and I loaded up and hit a few stores nearby - we didn't find too many deals. My BIL & SIL headed home that night while my in-laws and little BIL stayed the night. The next morning, we had cinnamon rolls and chatted until it was time for leftovers for lunch. 

After lunch, Stephen and I headed out to the outlets while my in-laws headed home. I found a ton of great things at J Crew as well as some other little items we had gone in for. If you didn't see on social media, we were stuck in the parking garage for 1 hour and 45 minutes... and there was no earthly reason why we were stuck!! It super sucked but let's be real, it could've been way worse - we could have a screaming baby in the back and have bad attitudes lol After getting home, we did another big house clean to get ready for Christmas decorations!

Stephen's now having fun and making faces in my mirror pictures

Blazer / Sweater / Button Down / Boots

It was a great Thanksgiving and I'm so glad we were able to have Stephen's family over (and it went really well lol). Although, I don't think we'll be hosting for quite some time haha! Linking up with Annie

Ultimate 2017 Christmas Gift Guide: Men

After a quick break for Thanksgiving, we're back for another gift guide link up! I'm honestly really interested to see what y'all put on your guides this week because I have the hardest time shopping for the men in my life.

1. Leather Watch Case: I love the simplicity and clean lines of this case - the perfect gift for any man who loves watches. I also love the beautiful monogram at the bottom,

2. Men's Button Down: You can't go wrong with a classic button down as a Christmas gift. Most guys can use these for work and if not, they'll need one at some point ;) We always find amazing deals on button downs for Stephen in the clearance section of J Crew Factory!

3. Personalized Scotch Glasses: The perfect addition to any bar cart or man cave. Perfect way to add a little fun to your drinks

4. Fossil Mechanical Watch: Watches are usually a great gift - mix things up with a leather vs metal or gold vs silver band. I love the look of the mechanical watches because they're so fascinating!

5. Slippers: Every guy can use a good pair of slippers. This is an easy one because they usually need replacing every year or so anyways.

6. Portable Bluetooth Speaker: I seriously love this one and since this one is weather-proof, it's perfect for the beach or golf course

7. Commuter Weekend Bag: This bag is so neat how it completely unzips and has all sorts of compartments for organization.

8. Bluetooth Thermometer: This is easily one of Stephen's favorite grill gadget - he loves that he can monitor our meats to the perfect temperature and I love that he can hang out with me while he grills instead of staying glued to the grill.

9. Gas and Charcoal Grill: The best of both worlds!! We have one and it's so nice if we want to grill something quick with gas or spend a little more time with the charcoal and smoker.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I know this is a day early but I wanted to go ahead and say Happy Thanksgiving!!

We have so much to be thankful for and look forward to God's blessings in the future! This year, Stephen and I are hosting Thanksgiving for his family so today is going to be full of prep for the big day. We are so excited to host this year and then can't wait to decorate for Christmas after the black Friday sales ;)

What are your Thanksgiving plans this year?

Weekending

This past weekend was just what the Dr. ordered after having a busy few weekends in Orlando. Friday night, we went to a steak cookout hosted by one of Stephen's co-workers as a thank you for their hard work. They won two engineering awards for their design!

Since the dinner was in the town we first lived in, we swung by our old apartment to check it out. Didn't look like much has changed but of course, we had to get a selfie in front of our first apartment ;) We couldn't believe we've been out of there for 2 years - feels like forever ago and like yesterday all at the same time.

Saturday, we slept in and then I headed out to my friend's mom's house for a fall brunch/tea. It was so much fun getting to meet her mom and hang out with my friends and the food was amazing! Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take pictures. After brunch, we loaded up and headed over to see the Junior League's festival of trees. It was neat seeing the different trees and I was able to get some decorating ideas for my trees :)

Afterwards, I came home and worked on a few embroidery projects while Stephen was helping a friend move some furniture. Once he got home and we ate dinner, we headed over to the mall to try on clothes at Old Navy to scope out for black Friday. I really can't believe I didn't find too many things at Old Navy this year but I plan on snagging these pants, this vest, this purse & this dress for Stephen's company Christmas party. 

Sunday, we went to church then braved the grocery store to get all of our Thanksgiving ingredients. Thankfully, it wasn't too bad and I'm so glad I have everything ready to prep on Wednesday. After lunch, I gave Stephen a hair cut then did things around the house - ironed, cleaned, embroidered... how fun lol. 

I also wanted to share really quick - my friend is making these adorable bibs and I just love the fabric. The back side is lined with a really soft, light grey fabric which is perfect for Christmas time (especially if you have a drooler ;)). Anyways, the bib is $10 and you can do an option to add a monogram for $8. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week of Thanksgiving!! Only a few more working days and I'm free ;) Linking up with Biana.

Five on Friday

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Thank you to everyone who entered into the phone case giveaway last week from CaseApp! Our winner was Shelby McCully - Shelby, I've emailed you to provide you your gift.

If you'd still like to get your own custom phone case (great Christmas gift ;)), you can use code ASHLEYY20 at checkout for 20% off your purchase at CaseApp.

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So how about Thanksgiving is next week!? I seriously can't believe it - I'm compiling all of my recipes, grocery lists and working on a timeline for cooking the day of. One of the things I started thinking about this week was what I was going to wear. It's difficult in Florida because it's so warm around Thanksgiving and with lots of people in the house, rushing around to get things together and being in a hot kitchen, I didn't want to be sweating all day. 

I've decided on this shirt and this skirt - I think it still looks Thanksgiving-y while being cool and not restricted. If it's cool outside, I'll wear boots but if not, I'll stick to booties. 

Three
Yesterday, we got to do a super fun all employee meeting at work.. at Sea World! We had a meeting the first half of the day and then after lunch, we were split into teams and had to do a scavenger hunt around the park before getting to spend a few hours in the park on our own. We had so much fun and the scavenger hunt was a blast! The park wasn't crowded at all so it was nice being able to walk on rides.

We had to run around the park and take pictures in front of certain things for points and then post the pictures in a "passport"

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Last weekend, Old Navy had 50% off their outerwear so I snagged this jacket I've had my eye on for Christmas. This jacket is super warm and flattering and for only $30 (when on sale for 50% off), it's a great deal! I wanted to share this because next Friday, the whole store will be 50% off ;)

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We are so looking forward to a weekend at home after spending the past few weekends in Orlando. Tonight we have a work party for Stephen, tomorrow one of my friend's is having a fall party and then Sunday we're prepping for Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales! I hope everyone else has a wonderful weekend!

Thanksgiving Table Inspiration

I feel like Thanksgiving is coming up on us quicker than I'd like... as in it's NEXT WEEK! I'm not really sure how it's possible but I'm sure grateful some co-workers mentioned getting their fresh turkey ordered so I actually remembered to go order one. Goodness, that would've been bad.

This year, Stephen and I are hosting for the first time ever and we're hosting his family. Thankfully, it's just his immediate family and we don't have a kid of our own to worry about this year. I'm aiming to have everything prepped by Wednesday night so I can just pop everything in the oven the day of (we'll see how that works out ;)) and use my BIL's turkey roaster they got 2 years ago for the turkey.

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I have ideas of what I want our table to look like and as much as I want our table to look as put together as the pictures show, it's just not going to happen. With a 2 year old in tow, I didn't want to go too crazy with the decorations and keep them fairly kid friendly. On Halloween, I picked up a ton of little pumpkins to put in the middle of the table along with using them as place cards. I'm hoping writing names on them will go as smoothly as I'm imaging in my head ;) I can't wait to put everything together and see how it turns out!

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If y'all have any Thanksgiving hosting tips, please send them my way - I'm all ears!! Linking up with Annie