A Few Fun Things

Like a tip for hosting out of town guests, what we did for Thanksgiving, and our middle of the day date

Happy Friday, friends.

How was your Thanksgiving? Tell us everything. What did you eat? Where did you go? Let’s discuss!

We hosted over 30 people at Holiday House on our farm and omg it was an absolute blast. We’ve never had that many people before, and though it was pretty tight and extremely full, it was mostly just full of love and good food. There’s a reason this time of year is our favorite, and it has everything to do with family. When everyone can get together under one roof and catch up and eat and just be with each other, I’m convinced that is what life is really all about.

On a less happy note, our son has had horrible stomach pains the last couple of days, and it came to a head last night when he was in so much pain that we cut our Thanksgiving short and drove him to the E.R. to see what was going on. Luckily while we were there, the bloodwork came back good and his pain subsided drastically, so we checked out and went home. During the night, he came to our room saying he threw up and felt so much better (yay!), and I’m happy to report that this morning he feels completely like himself again. Nothing like a little trip to the E.R. to make you realize how grateful you are for good health in your family.

We filmed a whole vlog about our Thanksgiving, so be on the lookout for that soon. Also, today is Black Friday and so many items from our gift guides are on sale! Click here to shop everything for everyone on your list. These deals are crazy good but they won’t last forever!!! And if you want to see today’s best deals, we made a little gift guide for that, too.

Also, J.CREW is having a huge 50% off sale right now, and this sweater is currently in my cart. Wouldn’t it look so good with tan corduroys?

tap the image to shop

Okay, here a few fun things from the last week:

PJ helped his friend Dixie’s mom buy a house last week (he recently got his real estate license out of retirement!) about an hour and a half away from us in a town we’ve never been to before. After we closed on it and visited with her and her family for a bit, we took a drive through the little downtown on the way home and stopped at the cutest little bakery called Dutch Maid Bakery. It’s the oldest family-owned bakery in Tennessee, and there are even reports of famous people like Reese Witherspoon stopping in because it’s so good. We chatted with the owner for a while after we had a couple of delicious sandwiches, and she was telling us how she’s only the third owner in a 100 years of the bakery. How cool is that? It felt like someplace straight out of a Hallmark movie, and the cakes and breads were to die for. Highly recommend going if you’re ever in the area!

The best part though? Getting to share a day date with my guy, just the two of us, with a table right in front of the windows to people watch.

Our kids came up with a funny way to make a little extra money this week: selling rocks they got from a rock kit to people on the street. They started out at $50 each, but are currently on sale for $20 (a steal if you ask me). Their only customer so far is our next door neighbor, who also taught each of them in first grade. She is beyond precious and so sweet for entertaining them, and it completely made their day. Though she only paid $4 for two rocks, which still felt a little high to me for tiny, used rocks. You gotta start somewhere, right?

Do you have anyone staying with you for the holidays? One thing we always like to do is frame photos of our guests (bonus points if we’re in the photos, too) and place them in the room they’re staying in. It lets them know, in a small way, that you thought of them and that you’re happy they’re here. PJ’s sister and her family are staying at Holiday House while they’re in town for Thanksgiving this week, and we made sure to put photos of all of us in the bedroom as a little welcome. As a gift, we always let them take the photos home with them!

Last week, my mom flew out to visit my sister and her wife who did a cross-country roadtrip out west, and they sent me photos from the Grand Canyon and I thought they were so beautiful I wanted to share. My mom looks so carefree and happy. She told me how unbelievable it was, how stunning, and how it almost looked fake because of the sheer size of it. I’m so happy she went and got to make those memories with them.

Lastly, and this is so random, but did you know that wooden spoons don’t just look charming, they’re actually a better tool in the kitchen? Unlike metal or plastic, wood doesn’t conduct heat, so it won’t burn your hand or melt in a bubbling pot. It’s also gentle on cookware and naturally resists bacteria because it absorbs and traps moisture away from the surface, starving germs of what they need to grow.

What about you? What have you been up to recently? We would love to hear. We hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and as always, thank you for reading. xoxoxo

PS: last week’s fun things

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