Chili and Boone

November is already shaping up to be one of my favorite months this year. Bold statement? Yes, but the last four days have proven that this is the best month.

After a terrible trip to the dentist on Thursday (seriously, scheduling a dentist appointment the day after Halloween was the dumbest thing I've ever done), I picked up all the chili ingredients and got to work. This week's guests at family dinner: Brett & Joe (obviously), Meg, and Lindsay. Ashton came over later after her flag football game -- it was so great to see her before she headed to Wilmington to run the Battleship Half Marathon with Erica and Sara -- congrats!

I was a little nervous that the chili would only have 2 hours to cook, especially since I had originally wanted to make it in the slow cooker, but it turned out delicious. I used this recipe and added a teaspoon of cocoa powder and about 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree. It was definitely the best chili I've ever made. The kale, carrots, and sweet potatoes made this really hearty and healthy. I also made enough chili for the entire state of North Carolina, so I have lots of leftovers in the freezer for cold winter weekends. I also threw together some Jiffy corn muffins and added real corn for something special.

On Friday, I left work a little early and headed up to Boone for the weekend. One of Rob's friends from Wake Forest, also named Margot, has an absolutely gorgeous house there on top of a hill with amazing views of the mountains. A bunch of their friends were going up for the night for a little Halloween party and I was so excited about being in the mountains for a day. Tucker came, too! Margot has an adorable dog named Cappy and the two of them played together all night. Tuck was totally exhausted the rest of the weekend. 

Halloween costumes

The view from Margot's deck

Tucker and Cappy

After some outlet shopping for Rob on Saturday morning, we headed back to Winston-Salem and napped all afternoon. Rob and I had a really good, low-key dinner on Saturday night at First Street Draught House after trying to get a table at two other restaurants. After getting an extra hour of sleep on Sunday thanks to Daylight Savings, I woke up to a hot cup of coffee in bed because my man couldn't sleep in. A 5k and 20 minute Insanity session later, we were back on the couch, eating turkey sandwiches and watching football. By the time I got home last night, I was totally exhausted and cooked up some collards, roasted sweet potatoes, and a fried egg for an easy dinner.

That sauce is greek yogurt + sriracha

 I really had the best weekend. I love Rob's friends from school and can't believe that they only have a few weeks left before they'll all go their separate ways, working for accounting firms all over the country. As sad as it makes me that, after December, I might not see them for a while, I'd be lying if I said that I'm not counting down the days until Rob and I are finally in the same city.