gobble, gobble

We are busy, busy around here gearing up for Charlie's first birthday and Christmas, but we can't forget Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving because: 1) the food and 2) it's the beginning of Christmas season. :) We've been traveling out of the country (or I've been extremely pregnant) the last few years so it's been too long since we had a proper Thanksgiving.

We headed down to southern Virginia to visit Jon's brother and his family. Nana and Grandpa were able to come up from Arkansa so we could all be together. We all teamed up to make the meal, and it was quite the delicious feast.

We had to leave on Friday to head back so Jon could finish a work project, but we had time to help decorate their tree before we left....Charlie, of course, being the biggest helper of them all.

Enough of these photos. When do we eat??

Caught him standing - happens more and more each day. 

Charlie's first plate. Don't worry, this isn't all he ate.
He had at least three rolls, and he really liked the green bean casserole.

Decorating with Aunt Monica.

And a few videos of all the fun he had with Nana & Grandpa - blanket rides and head bobs!

easter weekend and baseball

We had a pretty good run these last few days. Thanks in part to the best weather of the season so far, we had a lovely Easter weekend followed by baseball's opening day on Monday. Top that off with a good NCAA championship game Monday night, and it was a pretty great 72 hours. This upcoming weekend we are off to Philly for some more baseball and R&R.

On Friday, our friends Kelton and Rebekah came over to watch Little Big League with us in advance of opening day. Rebekah grew up a Twins fan, but somehow missed the greatness that is Little Big League. It should be required viewing in Minnesota schools as far as I'm concerned. They came in full Twins regalia. Luckily, they donned Nats gear for opening day.

Saturday was all about our living room gallery wall and Easter brunch prep. The gallery wall isn't quite finished yet because they sent me 4 of the wrong frames, but we are well on our way and I love how it's turning out.

I'm terrible with photos while I'm hosting. I'm usually too busy making sure everyone is well fed, properly hydrated and happy. By the time I think to take photos, it's all over so you'll just have to trust me that Easter brunch was a success. After eating, we enjoyed the sunshine while the kiddos hunted for eggs.

Monday was all about baseball. It was probably the best opening day weather I've experienced. It made for a great day that could have been better if the Nats had won. Oh well, there are 161 games left for the Nats to win.

castles and christmas markets

You know those times when you just really need a vacation? That's me right now. I've been at my new job for almost 5 months now. It's been a whirlwind as I learn the ropes and start to feel like I actually know what I'm doing. That's still hit or miss, but I really enjoy the work and I really, really enjoy that I can do the work from home....but, I need a break. 

When we first started vacation planning earlier this fall, we immediately thought about warm destinations. That sounds pretty nice right now considering it's unseasonably cold here and pretty much everywhere else in the US, but then I stumbled upon an even better idea: Christmas markets. They happen all over Europe, but are particularly famous in Germany. If you know me, you know that I love Christmas. LOVE Christmas.



I mean, doesn't this Christmas market in Munich just look delightful?




This is the Google Chat conversation Jon and I had when I first made this discovery:

And later after Jon suggested another option:

The rest, as they say, is history. In just over 48 hours (eek!...so much to do before then), we are jumping the pond for a Christmas market adventure. Our itinerary is Vienna-Salzburg-Munich. There will be castles and palaces, music and tours, shopping and eating - lots and lots of eating - mulled wine, twinkling lights, markets and merriment.

I'm hoping to come back with lots of fun Christmas presents for family and friends, and hopefully some treasures for our own home. Of course, when we get back, it will be December and the mad rush to the most glorious holiday will officially begin so who knows how long it will be before I give you a proper update. If you want real time updates, I'll post some Instagram (ktlhardin) photos while we are away. 

Happy Thanksgiving. This year, I am thankful for vacations. Travel and rest are good for the soul. 

friendsgiving

I'll admit it. It was a somewhat selfish decision to host a friendsgiving this year. You see, we'll be out of the country (more on that later this week…eek!) next week over Thanksgiving. We were also out of the country last year, and as much as I love to travel, I couldn't go two years in a row without one of my favorite meals of the year.

To remedy this problem, we invited the lovely members of our church community group over for a Thanksgiving feast today. I made the turkey, gravy and crescent rolls and everyone else brought the side dishes and desserts. It was so much fun to celebrate Thanksgiving early with some of the people I am most thankful for. I love this group of sweet friends, and I love that they indulged my wish for a Thanksgiving meal and showed up at my house with delicious food to share.

I had so much fun setting the table. I wanted it to be casual so I used mason jars, burlap and green apples that I already had on hand. Hydrangeas are my favorite so they always make an appearance. :)

Jon has better hand-writing than me so we wrote the place cards. We added a Lindt chocolate truffle at each setting.

These are actually Christmas candles that spell out "Peace." I wrapped them in burlap & tied them with bows to repurpose them for this occasion. 

A staple at every holiday meal growing up. I love these rolls. 

Victoria laughing about the fact that she peeled 5 lbs of potatoes.
That would be roughly 1/2 lb of potatoes per person. 

The carving of the turkey. 

I took this after we were done eating, but at least I remembered to take one before we all got up from the table. 

It's not Thanksgiving without a dessert table. Yes, it must be an entire table.

In true thanksgiving fashion, we watched some football in between dinner and dessert. :)

Looking for an easy and delicious Thanksgiving cocktail?
We served apple fizzes before dinner . Apple cider and bubbly = perfection.

happy halloween

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, but it involves candy and kids in cute costumes so I'm not totally opposed to it. Last year, we committed the worst new home-owner fail of them all by running out of candy after an hour or so. We had to take the walk of shame to our neighbors house to borrow some of their candy.

This year, I wanted to do things differently. We bought about three times as much candy, which Jon promptly hid from me. Halloween candy in bulk is a major hazard when working from home. He did a really good job. I haven't exhausted all efforts to find it, but I may or may not have opened a few closets in passing hoping to find the candy bowl. No such luck.

We didn't just stop with more candy, though. I wanted to have a fun treat to pass out to the kiddos we knew so yesterday I made 90 popcorn balls. This is approximately 60 too many, but it's my biggest fear in life to run out of food. It's right up there on the fear list next to cockroaches.

I did have a little mishap while making the popcorn balls. I put the butter and marshmallows on the stove to start the melting process. As I was standing there stirring, I smelled something burning. I thought it was odd because the butter hadn't been on the stove long enough to burn. I looked down, and it turns out I WAS THE ONE BURNING. Actual flames were eating my scarf. I guess I got a little too close to the open flame of the gas burner. Oops. Gas stove = 1. Pink scarf = 0.

Happy Halloween!

the night the tree fell

It's been one of the weirdest 36 hours on record. Wednesday was my last day at work. I'm starting a new job next week, but leaving an old job is always a little weird. I was looking forward to sleeping in on Thursday morning, but Jon woke me up early with some unexpected news. A tree branch fell on our driveway. We have a knack for middle of the night crashes. This one didn't wake us up, but it was a nice surprise when Jon went to get into his car and found a huge tree branch blocking his way. We got really lucky…this time. The tree fell across the driveway right behind his car. It did minimal damage to one bush. It could have been so much worse. Our neighbor was kind enough to help Jon move it into the street so he could drive to work.

Jon went to work, and my day was full of errands and packing. We were leaving late Thursday afternoon for Arkansas to visit Jon's family. The weather had other plans. We were under a severe thunderstorm warning as we drove to the airport. That should have been our first sign of trouble. The airport was total chaos. The departures board was full of delays and cancellations thanks to the local thunderstorm and the hurricane causing problems all along the east coast. Our flight to Little Rock connecting through Charlotte was one of the few that was still scheduled on time so we checked in and went to our gate as planned. They made one promising announcement about taking off once the ground stop was lifted, but three minutes later, the monitor had changed from on time to canceled. Apparently things were such a mess in Charlotte that they just canceled most incoming flights due to the congestion. 

Since so many people were in the same boat as us, the soonest they could rebook us was Saturday. Arriving Saturday with a Sunday morning departure really didn't make much sense so we canceled the entire trip. Then it was down to baggage claim to try to retrieve our bag. Although we were disappointed about our trip being canceled, we really were lucky - at least we were home. People who were connecting through DC were having trouble getting their bags and getting other flights. One woman's bag was ahead of her in Orlando, but she had no idea when she would arrive to meet it. Another guy was renting a car to drive 11 hours overnight to be where he needed to be. A family from Florida opted to just drive all the way home. Two hours after arriving at the airport, we were back home with bag in hand. 

So what do we do now? Our bag was already packed, and we were already planning to spend the weekend away. Why not find an alternative destination? Although the weather was terrible on Thursday, the rest of the weekend was supposed to be beautiful. I had read about Salamander Resort in Southern Living. It's a new resort that opened in Middleburg, Virginia about one hour from us in the heart of Virginia's horse and wine country. The horses I could leave, but the wine I'll take. We didn't think they would have availability on such short notice, but we decided to check anyway. Surprise! They had a room. So we hopped in the car and by 8:30 p.m. we were checking in for a weekend of spa treatments, poolside relaxing, small town shopping, and winery hopping. I'm not complaining. 

view from our balcony

I quit a job, a tree fell in our yard, our trip to Arkansas got canceled, and we ended up at a resort in Virginia. Just a normal 36 hours with the Hardins. 

P.S. Happy 4th of July! 

eight & twenty

Birthdays aren't nearly as much fun as they used to be, but they're still pretty fun. :)

One of my interns made me this lovely little tart. It was almost too pretty to eat, but I managed.

My co-workers gave me flowers, a card, and took my out to lunch. They're a swell bunch.

Jon made me an apple cake (under my supervision, but I didn't even have to help *that* much). He actually made it the night before my birthday, and I'm glad he did because I wouldn't have had any room after my birthday dinner. He did a great job, and I appreciated his effort because I know baking isn't his favorite. It tasted like a cross between a bread pudding and apple dumpling/cobbler. It was warm, spongy and pretty much perfect with a scoop of homemade vanilla on top.

Speaking of being full, Jon surprised me with a reservation at Komi for my birthday dinner! We've been talking about going there forever so my little foodie heart almost died once I realized where we were headed. The dinner was fantastic. I lost count of the number of courses, but my favorite was the olive oil and chocolate pudding. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was, hands down, the best dessert I've ever had. Ever. I would trade my firstborn for another bite.

After dinner, we came home and I immediately changed into sweatpants with an elastic waistband. Jon was kind enough to bring the cards & presents upstairs for me to open because I just didn't think I could survive a trip back down the stairs. Have I mentioned how full I was?

i'm pretty spoiled. 

oops! we forgot to use these on the cake. we'll have to reprise our cake eating tonight. :)

best card of the night. 

slippers from megan. i almost wore them to work today.  

remember the pogs story? mom found some in a desk drawer and sent them to me. 

jon gave me the owl hat, which i had to wear immediately. i suppose this is my owl face.
mom gave me some navy striped towels for the kate spade bathroom.

It was a great day, but let's not do it again for a year. Deal?