this look is absolute perfection and I would appreciate it if someone gave me this right now.

Thanksgiving Edition

For Thanksgiving this year, Dan and I decided to blow off our families spend the holiday with our friends in D.C. We had a free flight with all the miles we earned from the honeymoon travels, so we figured, why not, we may never get the opportunity again. 

Besides, spending time laughing with our favorite boys and girls in our favorite city is just the best thing ever.

We arrived around noon on Thanksgiving day and took a cab straight to the old house in Glover Park. Our pals greeted us with fresh Keystones and big hugs. 

We immediately stuffed that 21-pounder and stuck him on the grill.

Meanwhile, Cole marinated the duck that he had harvested for our feast. He didn't know what a bay leaf was. He's such a boy. So adorable.

TOO MANY BOYS IN THE KITCHEN OMG GTFO IM COOKING 

The place setting was perfect and so was the company. 

And of course, no Thanksgiving would be complete with out a wrestling match. 

On Friday night we headed across town for a delicious chili dinner party hosted by DC's finest.

We arrived at 5, and stuffed our faces/played a million completely politically incorrect rounds of catchphrase until the wee hours.

I got to pretend like I still lived there and ride the metro. The Dupont Circle stop is my favorite :)

We ventured out to H st. and spent the day playing MORE games.

Girls dinner with my #1 B

Bumped into Jess and spent the night at one of our old stomping grounds, Marvin, re-living the shenanigans of our 23-year-old-selves.

lately.

Married life is exactly the same as not-married-but-living-together life. Except there's a lot of time and money for doing things other than planning a wedding. 

While we both had the absolute most magical time on our big day and two week long honeymoon, Dan and I were excited to get back to a bit of "normalcy." 

I use that term lightly.

I had a little Martha moment and planted 40 multicolored tulips in the front of the house. Can it be Spring already? 

Daniel Potter. 

Dan and I celebrated adult Halloween. Ordered Pizza, passed out candy, drank pumpkin beers. As cool as it would have been to sit around, just the two of us, in our costumes, we did venture out to a small get-together at one point.

 Confundus!

I just put on heavy eye makeup and wore a hat.

I promise to post wedding photos and the whole story soon! I gotta ease back into this blogging thing. ;) Though I will share this awesome gif that my lady love Mel of Betty The Bull made! 

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Crème Fraîche–Sage Sauce

I made this last night and it turned out pretty delightful. 

I LOVE a good gnocchi and I really love pumpkin. While this recipe seems a bit daunting, it's really not too bad to throw together-- though it does help to have an extra set of hands with you in the kitchen. 

via Chow.com

NGREDIENTS

• 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1 cup pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
• 2 teaspoons packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Freshly ground white pepper
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves
• 1/2 cup crème fraîche
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup roasted, salted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dust it with flour; set aside. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil over high heat. (Do not heat the water if you plan to freeze the gnocchi.)
2. Place the ricotta in a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl. Use a rubber spatula or spoon to smash and push the ricotta through the strainer (this will take a little effort), making sure to scrape the underside of the strainer. Add the pumpkin, egg yolks, measured salt, brown sugar, and nutmeg, season with a few pinches of white pepper, and stir to combine. Add the measured flour and mix until the dough just comes together. (It will be very soft and slightly sticky, but don’t overwork it or the dough will become tough and heavy.)
3. Generously flour a work surface and turn out the dough. Pat it into a rough rectangle and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Gently roll 1 piece into an even rope about 3/4 inch in diameter, flouring the surface as needed. (Remember to be gentle or the gnocchi will turn out tough.) Cut the rope into 3/4-inch pieces. (As an optional step, you can form ridges on each gnocchi: Lightly flour your forefinger, your thumb, and the tines of a salad fork. Using your thumb, lightly press the cut side of the gnocchi into the back of the fork tines, then sort of roll/flick it off with your forefinger; your thumb will leave a concave impression in the gnocchi that’s handy for holding sauce. Check out thisCHOW video to see what we’re talking about.) Place the gnocchi on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat rolling and cutting the remaining 3 dough pieces.
4. Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Add a third of the gnocchi to the boiling water and cook until they float, about 2 to 3 minutes, then let them cook about 30 seconds to 1 minute more so they’re just cooked through (test by cutting 1 in half). Remove with a slotted spoon, blotting excess water from the bottom of the spoon with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel, and transfer to the second prepared baking sheet. Repeat cooking the remaining gnocchi in 2 more batches. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water and set it aside. Set aside a large bowl.
5. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until foaming. Add 1 teaspoon of the sage and half of the gnocchi and cook, shaking the pan often, until the gnocchi are browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer with the slotted spoon to the reserved large bowl. Repeat with the remaining butter, sage, and gnocchi.
6. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the reserved gnocchi cooking water and the crème fraîche and whisk to combine. Cook, whisking occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper, add the browned gnocchi and Parmesan, and toss to coat. Transfer the gnocchi to a serving dish or divide among individual plates and top with the hazelnuts. Serve immediately.

decided to start documenting the bizzaro wedding dreams I've been having EVERY SINGLE NIGHT

Dream #1:
Me, sitting at the head table during the reception, with my laptop open, refreshing my work email. (9/28)

Dream #2: 
Last night instead of a wedding dress, I came out in tie-dyed sweatpants and and oversized tie-dyed sweatshirt.

Dream #3:
A cat was running around loose at the reception, hiding under peoples tables and scratching them. Me, mortified. (10/1)

under the table snooze butt.

Hi, I suck at posting. 

I have hit the wedding planning wall.

Ready for it to be here :) 

My sister made this connection. #nailedit

I like Tulsa but I miss Chicago and I miss D.C. 

Recipe: Bubble-Up Enchilada Casserole

Wedding countdown on = calorie count ON. 

Last night I made the simplest, most filling, most delicious dinner... and it was only around 300 calories a serving.  
Dan proclaimed it, "like homemade Chef Boyardee."

I attempted some iPhone pics, but they didn't look so good. So, I'll just use this one from Pinterest:

I'm not kidding. Go make this tonight. 

Recipe Makeover: Bubble Up Enchilada Casserole from Emily Bites

Source: adapted from multiple message board posts on weightwatchers.com

Ingredients:
1 ¼ lbs extra lean ground turkey 
1 (10 oz) can enchilada sauce 
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce 
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (7.5 oz) can refrigerator biscuits, cut into quarters 
1 cup shredded low fat Mexican Cheese (I used Weight Watchers brand)

1/4 cup chopped green onion 

Directions:
1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2.    Brown turkey in a large skillet or sauté pan. 
3.    Add the enchilada sauce, tomato sauce and black beans and stir to combine. Stir the biscuit pieces into the meat mixture. 
4.    Transfer the entire mixture to the prepared baking dish and spread out evenly. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake an additional 10 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. 

Yields 6 servings. Weight Watchers Points Plus: 7 per serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
Nutrition Information per serving from myfitnesspal.com: 307 calories, 34 g carbs, 6 g fat, 32 g protein, 4 g fiber

Drinking this: 

Listening to this: 

Weekend Recap - Eureka Springs, AR

This past weekend, we drove down to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. 

We stayed in a treehouse. 

We ate barbeque. 

We did some stand-up paddle boarding.

We fed buffalo. 

Oak Crest Cottages and Treehouses 

Literally the cutest place I've ever stayed. Each cottage was themed for a different city-- we had the "Manhattan" room. 

In the "notes" section of the reservation page, I mentioned that it was our anniversary. They put up a sweet little sign for us! 

morning coffee, among the trees.

Eureka Springs Volkswagon Festival and Tourcade happened to be this weekend. So fun to see hundreds of VW's cruising around town!

The quintessential Victorian mountain village. 

Beaver Lake 

Dan got the 'merica board. obviously. 

Saturday night, before dinner...

at Ermilios

we drank well. 

 

 Sunday, we grabbed lunch at a little bistro.

 I was clearly in my element.

and Dan became a cat person. 

smile in the age of worry.

Mary from the blog Schmidt Talk wrote a post entitled "25 Things I Want Myself to Know at 25." 

I adore this. 

Here are a few of my favorite tid-bits on her list: 

7. "Speaking of adventure, keep doing it. Travel the world as often as money and time will allow because you know how invaluable those experiences are but don’t forget about the smaller adventures. Those weekend getaways with your best friends, the 3 days spent caravanning around the state to help your brother and sister-in-law move into a new house, or the afternoons spent in a retirement community with your parents. Those experiences are just as invaluable and they fill your soul."  

via

9. "In fact, make time for everyone in your life. You have a lot of people in your life who you love and who love you, be grateful. Don’t ever become one of those people who just gets too “busy.” Make time for the walk in the park, the cup of coffee, the glass of wine, the phone conversation. Make time."    

via

10. "Posture. Work on that. That curve in your back is going to be a lot more painful when you’re 70."     

via Google 

22. "Read more books. Blogs are great. Online media is great. But don’t forget to close your computer every once and awhile and pick up a real book or a newspaper."          

24. "Always spend time in nature. Work in the garden and get dirt in your nails. Look up at the redwoods and know that you will never see the top. Stand at the edge of the ocean and wonder what’s beyond the horizon. Take it all in."

Friday Again.

This little fluff-butt got to hang with a jack russell/corgi mix the other weekend!

#besties

Take me to Bali.

Ubud Hanging Gardens Villas and Suites

46 days...

I have to see it. The whole world.