Oy vey, Happy Hanukkah!

Today is the third day of Hanukkah. I'm terribly sad to be celebrating the holiday alone this year (although Rob will be here Wednesday for the fifth night) since lighting the candles alone is a bit depressing...I think my menorah fits in pretty well with the apartment's other Christmas decorations/Tucker's stocking, right?

Saturday night, I ordered a pizza (solo) and poured myself a glass of wine for dinner. I felt like an old single lady and I loved it. SVU marathon plus pizza? Sold. After an exciting couple of hours, some friends and I went to a "Sloppy Santa" party at a bar near my apartment. Said party was ridiculously fun. Many of my coworkers and friends from Davidson were there, so it was a grand old time.

The entirety of Sunday was spent on the couch watching Downton Abbey. I am obsessed. Any scene with Mr. Bates and Anna ends with me crying. They're absolutely perfect and I love them and I hate Mrs. Bates!

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Bates in real life with a baby!

 Later this week, I'll be preparing a Hanukkah feast...but more on that later.

December

December has been pretty busy so far! Last night, a bunch of friends from work and Davidson went to a Salvation Army charity event called Second String Santa. I went last year, but this one was a lot more fun! The band was great and I think everyone had a fun time.

In other news, Tucker has been acting up a LOT this week (eating everything in sight), but I still adore him.

Lastly, congratulations to Rob for finishing his last classes of graduate school and BUYING HIS FIRST CAR!!! He spent weeks and weeks and hours and days researching the perfect car and finally decided on the Chevy Cruze. Isn't he just the cutest???

Toggy Tuesday: December

1) Pajamas: With chilly weather creeping in (except in Charlotte, where is was 73 yesterday...), everyone needs a good set of pajamas. I love these sets from Victoria's Secret, but L.L. Bean has some cute ones, too. I might be biased since the VS ones were such a hit at Thanksgiving, but they are super soft and fit very well.

2) Peppermint hot chocolate: We all know the holidays are a time for indulgences. As much as I'll try and avoid packing on ten extra pounds this month, there's one thing that I absolutely love in December. Peppermint hot chocolate is absolutely delicious and is my favorite sweet treat for the winter.

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3) Hanukkah! My friends, Hanukkah starts on Sunday night. I'll be at a Christmas dinner, oddly enough, but I'm so happy that Hanukkah falls before Christmas this year so that I can light the candles and do my thing.

4) Les Miserables: The official countdown has begun and I am so so so so soooooo excited for this movie. Anne Hathaway, you are too cool.

Sweaters and Cars

This past weekend, I headed up to Winston for Rob's last fun weekend with his grad school friends (this coming weekend he will still be there, but has a 48-hour final spanning Saturday and Sunday). On Friday night, I tried to make turkey burgers but they ended up tasting like meatloaf. Not necessarily a bad thing, but just not what I was going for. I think adding mushrooms is what did it...oh well.

Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early to head to the YMCA and register for their Mistletoe 5k to raise money for childhood obesity prevention. After picking up a bib, I slept in my card for about 45 minutes before the 8:25 start time. It was really chilly - like 32 degrees - so the first mile was spent warming my lungs up. The course was hilly and full of little kids, but I had a great time! I love waking up early on the weekends and getting a workout done before breakfast.

The rest of the day was spent car shopping for Rob. We went to two car dealerships (which took about 4 hours) but we stopped at The Carving Board for lunch. I've been hearing about this place since I went abroad three years ago with some girls from Wake Forest who always talked about how good it is. Sadly, we got there just before closing so lots of the salads were out, but it was delish anyway.

That night, we went to a Christmas Sweater party at one of Rob's friends apartments. These are my favorite kind of holiday parties.

Sunday was a major recovery day. Dog park, nachos, and football. When I got home, I went over to the grocery store to pick up food for the week and ended up prepping a lot of stuff (peeling 5 lbs. of carrots, cooking up a bunch of chicken, and roasting some sweet potatoes). I had a juice for dinner because I was still feeling pretty sick.

Last night's dinner? Bacon wrapped chicken, sweet potatoes, and sauteed zucchini/kale/spinach. Yum. Time to start re-organizing the apartment to get ready for my new roomie! So excited.