Our Fourth Annual Friendsgiving

Happy Friday! Things are moving a little slower than normal due to a lingering hangover from last night’s festivities.

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Our fourth annual Friendsgiving was a huge success! Our group of eight friends and family blended wonderfully, creating an evening of laughter and conversations which lasted into the wee hours.  Brad and Margaret, who love cooking just as much as we do, came over at 11 AM to spend the day in the kitchen with us. Having four people help with the prep work and cooking made things far more fun and manageable.

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Our menu, which evolved multiple times, ended up looking a bit like this. I can’t share links for all the recipes as some of them were made by combining a few different recipes.

The biscuits were a last minute addition when our friend Brad realized he had all the necessary ingredients at his finger tips and they’d pair perfectly with the truffle honey he’d seen in our pantry.

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Our table was a combination of things we owned and things that Margaret and Brad let us borrow including these gorgeous chargers, which I just ordered from Crate and Barrel.  We added a fun touch to the table with the name cards, which were from Paper Source. They took about 30 minutes to make but were so fun and it was a nice break from cooking.

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Here’s a few more pictures from our Friendsgiving in Brooklyn.

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I hope you enjoyed time with friends or family yesterday and took time to reflect on all you have in your life. This year, more than ever, we are thankful for the friends and family who supported us in Geneva and have now supported us back in New York.

 

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My Five Favorite Sites for Black Friday Deals

Thanksgiving prep

I’m currently in the kitchen prepping the ingredients for tomorrow’s Fourth Annual Friendsgiving feast. While I’m donning the apron and chopping vegetables, this post will provide you with some links to my favorite sales this week.

There are two days until Black Friday which means that many of you are finalizing your shopping list and your game plan. I personally do all of my Black Friday shopping online, while sipping my morning coffee, saving time and stress.

Each year, I find myself returning to these five websites. I am able to check off every person on my list, even office Secret Santa gifts, thanks to the discounts and wide array of products covered by these sites.  Most of these sites actually have their deals already live though most years there is an extra 10-15% discount offered on Black Friday.

Here are a few of the items that have caught my eye on each of these sites this week.

Target.com

J. Crew Factory

J.Crew

Macys

Williams-Sonoma

If you’re shopping, what’s on your list for Black Friday?

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored and instead is a list of the things of my favorite things this week. As normal, it includes lots of beauty and fashion items which means there are a few affiliate links via ShopStyle. It takes time and money to maintain a blog so I thank you for the support and few cents that come from clicking through the links!

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Making It Through the Holidays Healthy

It’s that time of year. In between the fun of holiday parties and the stress of work and hosting loved ones, I inevitably start to feel run down and exhausted. Two years ago I found myself in bed with flu and a fever for more than half of holiday vacation in Savannah. In order to prevent that from happening again, this year I’m taking proactive measures with help from my friends at Pure Encapsulations.

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After the vitamin deficiency issues I experienced while living in Geneva, I’ve been an advocate of supplements such as a multi-vitamin and biotin in order to ensure my body is getting the vitamins and minerals it needs.  Until recently I wasn’t brand loyal to a particular supplement. I’d peruse websites or the aisle of my local drugstore, letting the promotional price determine that month’s selection.  I thought all vitamins and supplements were created equally, only differing by whether they were liquid, gummy or a traditional pill.

When Pure Encapsulations reached out to me, I immediately wanted to understand what set them apart from the hundreds of other vitamins on the market.

I quickly learned that that all vitamins and supplements are far from being created equal.

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Did you know that many vitamins on the market aren’t tested by the FDA? Any supplement or vitamin that Pure Encapsulations sells on their site has been tested to ensure that nothing is included other than what the label says.  They use the purest of ingredients in their production facility, ensuring that we the consumers, ingest the most quality product possible. The industry leader in manufacturing excellence and quality control, they even allow consumers to visit their production facility in Massachusetts via their “open warehouse” policy which allows anyone to stop by to visit and tour the facility.

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Over the past few weeks I’ve had the chance to take their O.N.E. Multivitamin as well as their Best-Rest Formula.

The Best-Rest formula helps improve sleep quality as well as make it easier to fall asleep due to the melatonin, chamomile, valerian and other ingredients.  During stressful periods, I have a hard time turning my brain off which often results in horrible sleep or not being able to fall asleep immediately. Since taking this supplement nightly, my sleep patterns, as tracked by my Misfit Shine, have improved to more than ¾ the night being restful sleep.

The O.N.E. Multivitamin, perfect for adults over the age of 18, only requires one capsule per day and provides me with a great blend of vitamins and minerals as well as MicroActive Q10 and lycopene for heart and cell health. In addition, unlike my prior multivitamin, none of the Pure Encapsulation products contain fillers, preservatives, artificial sweeteners or colors.

If you’re interested in learning more about how vitamins and supplements may help you, check out their website or have a conversation with your doctor. The more you know, the better preventative measures you will be able to take for your health.

Your turn: What vitamins and/or supplements do you take on a regular basis?  

While this is a sponsored post, via Pure Encapsulations, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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