Holiday hurrah catch-up

Well, I haven't written a word since before Thanksgiving. I'd say I'm a bit behind on the recaps. 

Highlights form the last month include (but are not limited to) the following: 

• "Thanksgiving for Two" cooking class at In Good Taste with Mariel.
• Receiving word my friend Matea and her hubby had a baby BOY! The suspense of not knowing whether the baby was a he or she made it so much fun. He and mama are happy and healthy, and my (VC) high school friends and I couldn't be more excited to be first-time aunties to baby Sebastian. I wonder who will be next?!
• Starting a minor inferno in the kitchen while attempting to make whiskey-glazed carrots for Turkey Day.
• The Turkey Trot in Albany with Taylor and his sister, Whitney. Gobble gobble! 
• Thanksgiving dinner at Taylor's grandparents' house. Everybody had to bring something "new" to the table this year. I must say, despite the fact that Taylor was upset broccoli corn casserole didn't make an appearance, everyone got super creative. Mmm. I'm licking my lips just thinking about it! 
• Decorating not one...not two...but three trees in the condo.
• Interviewing for two jobs, receiving two more interview requests, accepting one job, and turning down the other. I'm going to need to write a separate post for this one. It's been a whirlwind on the employment front. I couldn't be happier or more thankful to have a job, but it's been quite a journey. I've been working for just a pinch more than a month now. It is nice to have that extra income, especially at Christmastime.  
• Sending out our combo Christmas/save the date card! Things are getting official here, people! 
• Prepping for our first holiday as an engaged couple. It's the little things, I tell ya. 

And here are some photos to do the rest of the talking...

The infamous whiskey-glazed carrots. Taylor's dad has been distilling his own whiskey, so I thought it would be creative to use that in the recipe. Let's just say it's pretty potent! Lesson learned!

My mom made these...almost too cute to eat.

Forgot to mention we headed to Taylor's alma mater, Linfield College, for a D3 football playoff game. Here we are on the campus tour. Do you like the finger on the lens? Oh yes. Now I'm using my camera phone, and I still can't figure out how to take a solid picture.  

How adorable is this? Leslee and her mom made this special wreath for us. I don't want Christmas to come and go, because it is so fun seeing it every time we walk up the stairs to come home. 

It's not quite Griswald status, but I've certainly enjoyed decorating the condo. Since we compromised with white lights on the tree, I had to put up my favorite old-fashioned big lights outside. 

This tree has a sweet backstory, as we hauled it home from Albany after last Thanksgiving. It's a fake tree, one of Taylor's grandmother's. We probably won't get a real tree until we have a house, but it is special and perfect for our space. Taylor has a wonderful collection of Christmas ornaments his grandma started him on as a baby. I LOVED unpacking them and hearing about each one.