Fleece Sheets.

Oh, yes. Yes, I did say fleece sheets. I love them. They have significantly improved my quality of life in the past week. It has been a little freezy as of late and on the nights that Steven's at the station I've found myself shivering all night long in bed even with extra blankets pulled up over my head and a hooded sweatshirt on. I went to Costco the other day to pick up some flannel sheets but I saw the fleece ones first and that was the end of that. They're positively heavenly. Just about the coziest thing I've ever experienced. And even better when paired with a warm rice sock! (This update was obviously a top priority. This post isn't even about fleece sheets at all. It's about wonderful fall things. But I'm just SUPER excited about the sheets so there you go.)

 

Have I told you about my friend Heather? I love, love, love having a work friend!! Heather is so sweet and fun and we have such a wonderful time together! She and I have been going to Zumba together a few times a week. We even go out to Enumclaw for Zumba. It's nice to have the long drive just to visit and complain about school a little bit. She and her husband came over for dinner a couple of weeks ago and guess what -- even our men enjoyed each others' company! It's hard to make couple friends and it's always nice when all four people genuinely enjoy spending time together. Now if only we could get enough free time to have another dinner date with them... I made guacamole, Mexican lasagna, and this lovely fresh apple cake with a caramel glaze. This dessert was the epitome of fall. And delicious too.

And what a beautiful fall it has been! One of the prettiest I can EVER remember. I normally drive around all fall (and then again when the flowering cherry trees are out in the spring) thinking "oh wow! I really need to take some pictures of the trees!" but this time I actually pulled over on the side of the road and took a few pictures. I was glad I did too because the leaves started dropping just a couple days after I took the photos. This is on Sunset on the way to the library. The perfect fall color sampler.

 

Heather is from Southern California and is still learning her way around the Seattle area. So, naturally, I had to introduce her to Leavenworth. It's amazing how quickly you can switch from "loving absolutely everything about fall!!" to "oh my gosh I can't wait for Christmas!!!" but Leavenworth is just so stinking charming and on a brisk November day (high of 39!) with the twinkle lights and the horse drawn carriages, you can't help but be in a Christmassy mood.

Have you noticed how many wineries are within walking distance in the small town of Leavenworth? The very first shop we went into had three different wineries represented in it. This was the first time I've ever gone to Leavenworth and gone wine tasting. So fun! It wasn't even part of our plan but we ended up doing tastings in 4 different wineries. Two of the wineries served wines with a "hint of green pepper." Seriously, gross! Why would I want my wine to taste like that. And they really did too. The first winery was my favorite. I can't remember the name but it was only $2 per person and we were served 8 pours! Including a port (LOVE!), an ice wine, a mulled wine, and the chilled version of the mulled wine. It was fantastic.

We did a bit of shopping and Heather bought a super cute dress for her honeymoon (spring break -- woo!). We had lunch at Gustav's, thoroughly explored the Christmas shop, and walked around until all of the Christmas lights were on and we were too cold to stay outside any longer. It even snowed while we were there! Just tiny little flakes but still, it was fun :) On our way out of town we saw a bride climbing down from a horse drawn carriage in front of the wedding chapel. She was wearing a red velvet cape over her dress. Sigh. It was perfect. I instantly decided that Steven and I need to have another wedding and I'll need to be dressed as a snow princess for that one.

Of course, Leavenworth was a hit with Heather -- she loved it! We can't wait to go back and stay in town and go wine tasting with our boys.

Tara's event planning class organized a big holiday event over Veteran's Day weekend at Molbak's so I stopped by to see all of their decorations. She was more than happy to show me around and we had fun looking through all of the Christmas displays. Check it out: our very own Poinsettia tree Christmas card photo.

 

I have bangs. For now. I'm guessing they'll probably grow out pretty quick and I definitely don't go to the salon often enough to maintain them. I was really nervous when the hairdresser suggested them. I was worried I would feel like I was in kindergarten all over again. And the process of growing them out as an awkward chubby little (big?) preteen was more than a little traumatic for me. I'm guessing this time around it will be far less painful. I was also worried they would be a bit too edgy for me but I've gotten lots of compliments and my boss told me I look like a super model -- I think that was the same day our secretary referred to me as a "fashion diva" :) Works for me!

Last night we had Friends Thanksgiving!! Our Favorite! It's fun to see how much the event changes with each passing year. This one was HUGE! We had 25+ people here and it was quite the party. We practically ran out of food and I very quickly discovered that I am not at all prepared for parties of that size. I ran out of plates, silverware, glasses.... you name it. It was a little embarrassing but everyone seemed to have a great time and I don't think they really noticed.

Scott and Kristen came up from Vancouver and spent the weekend with us. They helped me to clean the house in preparation for the party (what awesome friends!!) and then Kristen and I spent Saturday evening in the kitchen.

Isn't that pumpkin pie beautiful?!?

 

We also made a chocolate chip pecan pie (SO GOOD!) and a huge vat of apple butter, which made the house smell absolutely incredibly and is actually quite tasty.

I love having friends in the kitchen with me! It's such a treat. Definitely good for my soul.

One thing I'm always bummed about after our parties is that I never remember (slash just don't take the time) to take photos of the food. There was SO MUCH food at this party! We had salmon, and two salads, and roasted potatoes, and fruit, and green bean casserole, and rolls, and crackers and cheese, and the biggest pot of Cuban rice and beans you could possibly imagine (see it all the way at the top of the picture above). The dessert buffet was pretty impressive as well. Chocolate chip banana bread, cupcakes, flan (Oh. My. Heavens. I didn't even know I liked flan! It was amazing!!) and the pies and, of course, Tim and Annika's peanut butter cups. Phew! Not to mentions the dozens of bottles of wine and beer that were consumed.

Scott and Kristen were such a blessing to me! They did tons of dishes during the party and made my kitchen clean up at the end of the night fairly easy. I can't even tell you how much I appreciated all of their help! I need to learn how to be a better host though. I still have a habit of sticking near the kitchen and wish I had made time to talk with everyone there even if only for a few minutes each. The number of people at the party was a bit overwhelming but we all ate well and it was a blast.

Thank God for a short week at school! Can't wait until the holiday weekend with my handsome husband :)