CAPTURED: THANKSGIVING

It was such an honor for Jon and me to host Thanksgiving at our place for the very first time. Usually Jon and I go out of town to celebrate Thanksgiving with his extended family and then celebrate with my family on the weekend, but due to some changes in our normal plans, we got to all gather together at our place for a wonderful meal.

We decided to use the "living room" that we are planning to convert into a dining room for our dinner. Since we didn't have enough tables and chairs we used six 2x4 fold out tables and extra folding chairs to make everything work. We used a roll of craft paper that we already had for a tabletop cover, our plates from West Elm, plants from around our yard for decoration, and we painted names above each plate. Since this room isn't wired for electricity, we decided to string bulb lights from the ceiling to give it an "al fresco" feel. I love having the lights up like this, it adds so much character to the room! -- Jon and I can't wait to invest in some tables and chairs to make this look more permanent.

This year's Thanksgiving was very special to us. It's so wonderful having our family together and sharing a delicious meal. I loved every minute. :)

THANKFULNESS

I'm so thankful for this time of the year. This time of the year brings such joy to my life, because I get to celebrate with my dearest family and friends. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful family on both sides that love us, encourage us and believe in who we are and what we want to accomplish in our lives. I feel so grateful for our community in Atlanta. We've somehow managed to find a top-notch group of people who love each other, challenge each other, and uplift each other. I'm grateful to be able to see our family on Sundays. I'm grateful for my beautiful best friend and business partner. I'm grateful for bible study with an awesome group of women. I'm grateful for our random Pinterest parties and clothing swap parties. I'm grateful for double-dates, phone conversations, and prayers for those we love far away.

I'm grateful for my god-daughter and new niece, Emerson, who bring tears of joy to my eyes every time I stare at that truly accepting and loving smile. I'm grateful for my new big family. I'm grateful for the memories of my childhood; of my brother building intricate shrinking machines in his room out of tinker toys and my sister dancing to the theme song of Angry Beavers. I'm grateful for my momma, who has the biggest heart of anyone I know and I'm grateful for my dad...for his intensity and heart for family. I'm grateful for my in-laws, their love, and truly feeling like their daughter.

I'm grateful for my faith. For my passions. For the joy in my heart.

I'm grateful for warmth. For the warmth in a hot drink, cozy blankets, a fireplace, or the heart-to-heart hug of a dear friend. I'm grateful for delicious food and those skilled to cook it. ;) I'm thankful for our home, our kitties, and all of the heart and care going into this place everyday.

I'm thankful for my bestest friend and husband. I'm thankful for almost eight years of being together. I'm thankful for 2.5 years of an amazing marriage that has strengthened me, challenged me, and shown me what love truly is. I'm thankful for the heart of my husband. For his thoughtfulness, kindness, humility and leadership. I'm thankful for the warmth of his arms. His laugh. His enthusiasm. I'm grateful to be Mrs. Wallace.

So very grateful. :)

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Thanksgiving

Jonathon and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! I loved being able to visit with his family and enjoy Uncle Harby's delicious cooking for the first time! Jon and I decided to forego breakfast on Thursday morning so there would be plenty of room for the thanksfeast and dessert! After practically putting ourselves under a food coma, we took a walk around the beautiful downtown Georgetown area. It was seriously so stunning and peaceful...everything in me wanted to pack up and move to the quaint little town. I admittedly tugged Jon's arm a couple times telling him how much I wish we could move to South Carolina. :)

To wrap the wonderful evening up, we all gathered in the family room and played a couple of intense (and hilarious) rounds of Jenga.

Here are a couple peeks into our Thanksgiving weekend...

1. Beautiful display in Jon's Aunt and Uncle's home...I was drooling everywhere over their historic place.

2. Frances setting the "kids" table on the sun deck.

3. Our table. :) 

4. My cheesecake! Vanilla salted caramel, so yummy!

5. Delicious food. 

6. Family!

7. Pictures from our walk in downtown Georgetown. 

8. Wrapping up our trip with the traditional stop by Melvin's BBQ. So good!

Tomorrow, Jon and I are taking our Oreo cheesecake over to my parents' house for Thanksgiving part 2! AND to make things even better...we decorated for Christmas this evening! It's so festive in the Wallace household right now. :) Have I mentioned how much I love the holidays?!? 

I hope the rest of your weekend is wonderful!

Listography: 25 Things I'm Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving!! Jon and I are in Mount Pleasant, SC, celebrating Thanksgiving with his extended family. This is my first year celebrating with Jon's side of the family, so I'm very excited. I tried my hand at baking a vanilla salted caramel cheesecake (found here), but I'm nervous to see if it will be a success or complete failure...I don't have a ton of confidence in the final product, but I'm dying to try it! We're heading back to Atlanta on Friday night or Saturday morning and having a Sunday Thanksgiving with my side of the family (which I am way excited about too!). Two Thanksgivings?? Yes please!

25 Things I'm Thankful For:
* How Jon and I value family and special time with each other.
* Our two fluffy kitties.
* Good health.
* A good job and the ability to pursue MaieDae on the side.
* Giving gifts.
* Delicious french fries.
* My supportive and adorable husband.
* Family and new family.
* Marriage.
* Technolo-gies!
* Self motivation.
* Faith.
* Hot bread and olive oil.
* Nesting...and re-nesting...and nesting again.
* MaieDae, my creative outlet and passion.
* Dr. Pepper.
* Fellowship with family and friends.
* The most magical place on earth....Disney!
* My girls: Kelsie (sister), Jenny, and Anica.
* Starbucks.
* Online shopping.
* Date Day!
* Christmas, seriously my most, mostest..favoritest holiday. ;)
* TV Show marathons with Jon.
* Never-ending inspiration.

Giving Thanks Always

I am sitting here, in my living room, listening to Christmas music, and looking at our first tree lit up in the corner. I am so completely joyful and thankful, not only for this holiday season, but for my beautiful and precious family. I have loved this little vacation so much that I do not know how I am going to muster up the energy to put on my "corporate hat" and go back to work tomorrow!

As promised, I give you a little more of a glimpse into our first Thanksgiving and our adventures in visiting both sides of the family.

November 25, 2010: The night before, Jonathon helped me bake an Oreo cheesecake and make cracker candy to contribute to my parents Thanksgiving celebration. We headed on over to the Jones' household to celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom, dad, brother, sister, and family friend, Sonia.

Sometimes they can be a little difficult to take a picture of! We watched the Macy's Day Parade and I helped my Dad order Christmas presents for the family. We ate a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. Jon and I left around 3:45 to start our five hour drive to Mount Pleasant, SC.

November 26, 2010: We woke up early in Jon's Grandma's home and headed to Charleston to see the sites and eat some yummy sea food with Jon's mom, dad, sister, and her fiancee. 

Since we only had half the day to explore, we took a quick driving tour of the main historical places in Charleston, stopped by the wonderful Market, drove past the gorgeous homes on "Rainbow Row", bought Oreo fudge at the Charleston Candy shop, and ate amazing sea food. 

November 27, 2010: We ate at the infamous "Melvin's Bar-B-Que", Jon's dad's most favorite place to eat. Then, sadly, we headed back to the ATL.

Seriously, Melvin's had the best onion rings I have ever tasted in my life. So good! 

Since Jon and I started our ornament tradition after we got engaged (read about it here), we decided to make sure we bought ornaments whenever we went to special places. While shopping in the Market on Friday, we came across this precious little thing:

It is handmade and cut from a beautiful little piece of wood with "Charleston, South Carolina" inscribed on it. We just loved it and thought it would be a perfect addition to our little ornament collection. 

Three cheers for Charleston and Thanksgiving!

Doing the Charleston!

Seriously, it has been WAY too long. Jonathon and I got swept up in a whirlwind of Thanksgiving celebrations and I cannot wait to share all about it! We just got back late this evening from Charleston, SC, and, flat out, had the most amazing first Thanksgiving together as a married couple.

I am anxious to share pictures and treasures with you! But since it is so late, I will have to just give you a sneak peek with more to come soon!

Speaking of the holidays, I have to admit...I have been anxiously awaiting Christmas, pretty much since Jon and I got married six months ago. One of the first questions I asked him after we moved into our little home was, "Where are we going to put the Christmas tree?!" Well, Thanksgiving is officially over, and Jon has told me this is the acceptable time to start the "yule-tide-oh-christmas-tree-holly-run-run-rudolph festivities". Tonight I have already managed to watch two Christmas movies: "Ernest Saves Christmas" & "Home Alone". TOMORROW is decorating time! I will be sure to share pictures.

And now, my list of things to catch you up on (posts soon to come!)
1. Thanksgiving & the trip to Charleston
2. Christmas Decorating
3. Special MaieDae holiday GIVEAWAY!

Happy belated Thanksgiving to ALL and an early Merry Christmas!