Girl's Weekend and Update from Our House

Last weekend I went to Lake of the Ozarks for some female bonding and Outlet mall shopping with some girls from work. We had such a great time! We ate, drank, laughed, shopped, and relaxed all weekend. Bridget found a fabulous condo (very cheap since it's the off-season) and we all piled in. Friday night we introduced Kristie and Lisa to the Sex in the City movie...and since we all fell asleep, we had to finish it the next morning.

On Saturday our main focus was the Coach Outlet. Everyone got a purse...except me! I know, can you believe it? I carried a gorgeous black leather purse around for a good 45 minutes before deciding that $375 for another purse just wasn't very practical. Even for an Outlet, that's ridiculous. When I called Jonathan to tell him and ask him how proud he was of me, his response was, "Yeah, I guess those 3 hanging in your closet are enough." He TOTALLY missed the point!

The whole time we were shopping, someone would pick something up and another one of us would run over and decide we needed it, too. So it ended up being a weekend of "twinsies." Everywhere we went, there were at least two of us ordering or buying the same thing. I guess great minds think alike! We thought it was so funny that we took pictures of all the doubles:

Abbie and I with our matching scarves and gloves. Brrr! It was cold. (Can't you tell?!?) Good thing we found those!

Abbie, Kristie, and Lisa with their almost-matching black purses

Bridget and Katie with their matching red purses

Bridget and Abbie's matching hoodies

Stopping for lunch. The girl taking the picture said, "Say Applebees!" and apparently I decided to do just that. Sorry I ruined the picture, girls!

The weekend was so much fun and very much-needed. The last couple of weeks have been really busy at school. Parent-Teacher conferences are tomorrow night and report cards were due last week. I know that this is always super stressful, but somehow I manage to forget just how crazy it is from year to year.

We're also getting ready for a big Thanksgiving celebration at our house. This will be our very first year to host Thanksgiving dinner, and I'm so excited! My parents and sister, Jonathan's parents, Sarah, Dave and Samuel, Dave's parents, and a few friends from St. Louis will all be converging on our small home. It's going to be packed but very fun, I hope! So far the count is 13 adults and 2 babies...there may be a couple more adults to add to that list before it's all said and done. The menu is set, and now all I need to do is buy groceries and start baking. Oh, and clean the house, too. Somehow I keep thinking that one will magically take care of itself. Wishful thinking!

The other news from our house is that Jonathan has been busy renivating the bathroom in the basement. We were too tired after finishing the basement last year to even think about it, but a couple months ago I mentioned how nice it would be if it was finished before Thanksgiving. Apparently that's all I needed to say because he got busy and it's looking awesome! I'll post pictures soon. We need to finish the base boards and crown molding, then it will just be decorative stuff (my favorite part!) Hopefully I can find a mirror this weekend that I like and maybe some towels and a picture or two. I can't wait for it all to be finished.

So that's all that's new with us. Hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather and getting ready for a very happy Turkey Day!