Thanksgiving and Black Friday Fun!

Hello lovelies! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend full of great food, family time, and a little shopping ;)

I started off my Thanksgiving with one of my favorite holiday cards... Someecards. They knew just what I wanted to say on Thanksgiving.

The hubby and I headed to my grandparents house for Thanksgiving lunch with family. We got to sit at the kid's table (which was just us and my mom) and enjoyed a delicious meal. Once we got home, we passed out for a couple of hours and spent the rest of the night relaxing.

Black Friday is one of my favorite times of the year. I am one of the crazies who wakes up super early and goes to whatever mall has the best deals. This year, I woke up at 5 and headed to the Wiregrass mall. Since some stores are now opening at midnight, the mall was much less crowded than I anticipated and made it very enjoyable for me. I grabbed some cute clothes for myself and the hubs as well as some Christmas presents. This was my loot:

Once I was done shopping, I had to immediately go out again to attend the USF vs Louisville football game. The weather was pretty nice and my friends and I enjoyed a little bubbly before the 11am game. We ended up losing but it was still fun. The day ended with a beer at Cigar City, a long nap, and another night in front of the tv watching Christmas movies.

The weekend was the most rewarding as I got to do my favorite thing... put up and decorate the Christmas tree :) I've mentioned before that the faux tree we have is a hand-me-down from the in-laws and is one of those old-school trees where you put in the branches individually. It can take awhile to put together but the end product is always great.

Then I spent some time putting the 5 strings of lights on the tree...

...before finally adding the ornaments.

Now all that is left to do is to put lights up on the house. My annual Christmas party is 2 1/2 weeks away and I want to make sure everything is perfect for that night.

How was your Thanksgiving weekend and did you score any good deals on Black Friday?

Book Review: Chosen

Title: Chosen
Author: Chandra Hoffman
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Book: Paperback, 320 pages
Buy: Amazon.com

Synopsis: 

          It all begins with a fantasy . . .

          The caseworker in her “paperwork-signing” suit alongside beaming parents cradling their adopted newborn: this is the blissful picture that keeps Chloe Pinter, director of Portland’s Chosen Child domestic adoption program, happy as she juggles the demands of her boss and the incessant needs of adoptive and biological parents.

          But the dream job that offers Chloe refuge from her turbulent personal life soon becomes a nightmare involving three very different couples: the college sweethearts who, after suffering fertility problems, are now expecting their own baby; the wealthy husband and desperate wife for whom adoption is a last chance; and the couple who has nothing—except the baby everyone wants. But when a child goes missing, perceptions of family and future are challenged, posing the questions: What happens when you get what you thought you wanted? How far would you go if it wasn't what you wanted after all?

Review:

            I don't personally know anyone who has been adopted or gone through the adoption process, so I have no idea how it could be. This book opened my eyes to the whole aspect, both good and bad, as the main character Chloe believes her dream job to be that of one giving children to families who can't have their own. She works for a small adoption agency and not only deals with the adoptive families but the birth mothers as well, which is where the drama starts.  The biological parents of one of the children is making Chloe uncomfortable; from the baby items that shouldn't be in their apartment to the father coming onto Chloe the wrong way, things go terribly wrong when the parents change their minds and want to keep the baby. 

           

            Obviously adoption is a tough and sensitive thing; there are the biological parents that want what is best for the baby or themselves and the adoptive parents that are hoping that baby will be theirs come birth time. I will never say for sure that I personally won't undergo this process in the future (who knows what the future brings), but this book made the process hopeful and heartbreaking at the same time. The author uses her experience as a director of an adoption program to create this fictional novel on the joy of children and the struggles each family makes to create their future. I enjoyed being given an insight to something I am not familiar with and seeing just why adoption can be so hard. The only things I had trouble with were how unrealistic the parents seemed to be and the way in which everyone's story was broken up by chapter, which gave a non-linear story line that was sometimes hard to follow. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the publisher in order to create this review. The opinions expressed are of my own. Thank you to Trish at TLC Book Tours.  

Great Gifts at the Holiday Gift Market

I had a great time at the Holiday Gift Market on Saturday. They moved this year's event into the big expo hall (brought back memories of graduation) and used the space very nicely.

There were some great vendors this year that had everything from kitchenware, Christmas decorations, clothing, accessories and food. I loved the Christmas vendor and their country-style Christmas displays.

Local sports teams were well represented throughout the event (except for USF, but I won't go there...). I loved the different ideas people had to incorporate local teams with holiday decorations.

One of the best areas was the Wineslushies table. Great gift idea for any girlfriends who love to get together for cocktails.

My favorite item from the even was this Christmas paisley glass cheese board that I got to display for my annual Christmas party. Love!

I had a great time and can't wait for next year's event. Did you go to the Holiday Gift Market?

Holiday Gift Market Starts Today!

It's that time of year again! The Junior League of Tampa is hosting their annual Holiday Gift Market at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.

The Holiday Gift Market is a shopping event that features more than 135 merchants of all different kinds and is a great place to get some of your Christmas shopping done. They also will be selling their latest cookbook, Capture The Coast, which would make a great gift for any cook! All the proceeds from the event will support the League's community programs that focus on literacy, foster care, and education.

I've been the past two years and I've gotten some wonderful gifts for family and myself. The variety of merchants is something you can't get anywhere else, so I highly recommend attending if you haven't started shopping yet!

The event hours are:

                        Friday, November 4, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

                        Saturday, November 5, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

                        Sunday, November 6, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Tickets are $8 a person. I'll be attending tomorrow and will write about all the great items I've picked up. See you there!