Happy Friday!

Boy did this week go by fast! My coworker and I hosted a Pampered Chef party last night (which by the way, was so much fun!), and I guess with all of the prep work for the party- the week just got away from me! Brent and I (along with the pups) are headed to the mountains in just a few short hours! I couldn't be anymore excited; my family goes to Highlands, NC the first wknd in December every year to get our Christmas tree. It's such a fun tradition, and something the entire family looks forward to. With spouces, kids, dogs- we now rent a house, and this year we've got one on a big pond/small lake (who knows) but the guys are thrilled to be able to fish. Which for us gals means more shopping time downtown!

Believe it or not- this tiny town in the Appalachian Mountains has fabulous boutiques and even better restaurants.

images via google search

I want to share a recipe today, because it was just so fantastic that I want to make it again. and again and again I made it last night for the party, and there wasn't a drop left. I wish I had taken a picture because it came out so picture perfect, but as a busy host- I didn't take ONE picture all night! Naturally, it was found on pinterest. It's a recipe from Alicia Silverstone, who I believe is vegan, but let's be real- I used all dairy products!

Check it out here!

via

This would be a perfect dip for a football party, especially for any SEC fans that will be watching the game tomorrow! (Lord knows all the men in my family will be!)

Have a fabulous weekend!

xoxo,

Christina

Yes, I'm still here!

Hello! I hope all of you had a fabulous Thanksgiving, we certainly did! I've been SO bad about blogging over the last few wks, so I owe a lot of updates! This is going to be picture overload, so I'll go ahead and appologize. I want to try to catch you all up on what we've been up to!

Georgia Southern (where I graduated from) played Georgia last weekend, so we of course had to go! They only play them every 4 years, so it's great to be able to wear navy and gold again! We had a great time- both of our parents went and we met up with some friends and had a wonderful tailgate! Of course, GSU lost, but it was still a fun day! That same weekend we had our Christmas photos taken with the dogs- fingers crossed that they turn out well. Lucy & Leo were distracted by the surroundings, so we'll see if we got a good picture!

My brother & sister-in-law hosted Thanksgiving at their house this year in Wilmington, NC. They were sweet enough to invite our dogs, too- so we all went up this past Tuesday. We had a fabulous time visiting with family, and even made it to the beach on Wednesday- crazy to be all bundled up at the beach! It was a gorgeous day.

Sweet potato soufflé was one of my contributions to our Thanksgiving feast and it turned out great!

My mom, Elizabeth (sis-in-law), and I before dinner. If you notice the table cloth with words on it- we started that tradition this year that I found on pinterest! We all wrote down things we were thankful on a drop cloth before the table was set, and used it as the table cloth. Elizabeth is going to keep the tradition going year after year until it's all filled up! It was so much fun to get everyone involved, and my niece and nephew especially loved it!

Here is my overstuffed plate that was just amazing! Thanksgiving dinner may just be one of my favorite meals!

Elizabeth & Sophie (my niece) took me out for tea on Friday for my birthday. We went to the Wilmington Tea Room for full service, and had such a fun time! The tea was fabulous, and the food was even better- scones, finger sandwiches, desserts- it was heaven!

Saturday night we had dinner with a few friends to continue on the birthday celebration, and this was the only pic we took!

Brent got the most wonderful birthday cake for me yesterday! It was delicious, and I can't wait to dive into it again tonight!

Hope to get back to regular posts this week!
Happy Monday!

xoxo

PS- if you're on instagram- follow me! christinaelake