So this deer. He and his brethren are handmade from logs and twigs in a nearby town, and every time we drove by the little herd with their knobbly legs and adorable upturned tails, I would think to myself, one day, one of you will be mine. And this weekend, one day arrived! Bucky was lovingly tucked into our car (supported by blankets and the jumper cable kit so as not to bend his antlers) and carefully driven home. He is already happily ensconced on our porch… with a wreath around his neck. He seems to be a hit with the neighborhood kids.

Even aside from acquiring my long-hoped-for deer, November was really, really good. I checked off all of my goals (INCLUDING refinishing our dining room table!!), and feel rested and ready for December after an extra-long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

December goals:
— Try my hand at making toffee
— Love on our three loved ones who either just had a baby or will have one this month
— Send out our Christmas cards with a personal note on each
— Leave a homemade treat for our mail man
— Spread love and light as we take two separate trips to celebrate Christmas with family
— Figure out what form my long term goals will take in 2014

I would love to hear what you have planned for this month!

P.S. I’m excited and a little nervous about the post going up tomorrow — promise to come back and take a peek?

John and I are prepping and eating Thanksgiving dinner solo today, which we’re actually kind of excited about. We LOVE celebrating with family, but for various reasons (mostly because of John’s work schedule and my older sister’s inability to travel — baby niece or nephew is coming any day now!!), it didn’t happen this year. It’s been a really busy few weeks (months, actually), and so we are relishing in a day or two to relax, eat delicious food, address Christmas cards, listen to our favorite Christmas music, and begin getting our decorations sorted out. I wish the same for all of you, no matter where or with whom you’re celebrating!

karinflowerstylelove

P.S. I am thankful for you all — for your encouragement, your emails, and for coming to check in day after day. Much love!!

I know meal planning is something that a lot of people my age struggle with (I get a lot of emails about it), so I thought I’d share the system we use. It is, like most things, contained in our Simplified Planner, and it’s pretty simple!

On Saturday mornings, John and I sit down and plan out our meals for the week (Sunday to Saturday). Since our default is to make dinner at home, we first look at the calendar and figure out whether there are any days we know we’ll be dining out (maybe dinner at a friend’s house, or a day where we’re running around and don’t have time to cook). We also check to see whether we’re expecting guests any night. Once those are marked on the planning doc, we start filling in meals for the other nights. We pull ideas from Pinterest (meal boards here + here), from our collection of cook books, and from our accumulated meal plans (we have them going back to when we moved to NC, more than four years ago!!). We do tend to have seasonal favorites that show up often — including, as you can see below, BLTs when tomatoes are summer delicious :)

As we put together a week of menus, we also take into account the weather. (Is it going to be hot or cold? Might make a difference in the kinds of meals we want to prepare.) One other really important consideration for us is the leftover situation. John and I both take leftovers to work for lunch every single day, so we need to have a balance of meals that create leftovers and are easy to pack and reheat… and meals that do not (so we don’t end up with too much food).

Once we have our meals planned, they go on the meal planning doc. (Feel free to download your own copy here!) Sometimes I’ll jot down a page number or website next to the meal so we can find it again easily. Then, we put together a shopping list. We generally shop at two places every week: Whole Foods and a Walmart Neighborhood Market (basically a Walmart with only groceries and a very small home and pharmacy section). If our schedule allows, we go to one store on Saturday, and one on Sunday, which makes it seem pretty manageable. I split our list by the stores: below, Walmart is on the left, and Whole Foods is on the right. We generally shop at Whole Foods for most vegetables and fruit, dairy, and WF brands/brands that aren’t available elsewhere. Don’t mind the shorthand :)

We generally don’t decide in advance which meal we’ll have on which day — we kind of play it by ear, taking into account the leftover situation and which ingredients spoil the fastest. Thankfully, John does the cooking in our house, so once the meal planning is done, my job is complete! (Until the dishes call my name…)

I know everyone’s situation is very different, so I would love to hear: Do you plan your meals out for the week? How many nights do you eat in vs. out? Does your significant other play a big role, or not? I hope this was helpful!!

We had our first weekend at home with no visitors or big events in a while, and it was nice to have a chance to check a few things off the to do list and also have time for some mini adventures!

We got to take a hay ride tour of Maple View Farm while attending a two-year-old’s birthday party. The baby cows were so cute, though the teenagers are pictured above, and they were pretty cute, too! (For those not in the know, Maple View has the BEST ice cream in the area!) We planted tulip, daffodil, and hyacinth bulbs along the edge of our back deck. I have no idea which bulb is which, but there are some really beautiful varieties, and we’re crossing our fingers they’ll all pop up next spring! John finally got a chance to try Saltbox Seafood Joint in Durham. I even tried a bite of his shrimp roll, and admitted it was quite good — as you can probably see from the photo, they use many more herbs and seasonings than your average seafood shack. Finally, we completed our first Craigslist purchase on Friday night!! I’d been searching for a Jenny Lind bed on and off for the last year or so, and was delighted to see one pop up on Thursday night for a great price. It felt a little clandestine and weird to arrange the pick-up, but the whole experience was quite exhilarating! :)

What were up to this weekend, friends? Happy Thanksgiving week!!