Giving Thanks

can we believe that the holiday season is here?! christmas decorations are gracing the isles of stores, red cups are in distribution, and I have been failing at not listening to Christmas music. i love the holiday's. and although it's fun to skip right to Christmas, Thanksgiving comes first.

i have so much to be thankful for this year. this has been a pretty amazing year and i am truly so blessed. 

One of the biggest things i am thankful for is finally being content in my current job and location. the last couple years i have been itching to get out and move on from little ole Corvallis and finally this last spring it all just clicked. And i found myself asking why? Why am i pushing to leave when i love what i do here at the college, when i am still able to pursue my little business, and when i have come to really adore this little town. I have been so focused on moving on that once i finally took a step back and realized uhhh you kinda have it made right now. For this particular time in my life this is where i need to be and im totally content with that. and it feels amazing

I am thankful for old and new friends. Still being in Corvallis means that a lot of my friends have moved back home, or across the country and i don't have my solid little group around me all the time. i am thankful that even with busy schedules and life when i finally am able to catch up with friends it's like we were never separated. i have come to cherish the dinners, visits, shows, vacations and little events that bring everyone together again. And thankful for new friends that have made this last year amazing.

I have also been blessed with meeting someone very special this year. It's true what they say...when you least expect it someone will walk into your life who takes your breathe away. And i truly think i might be the luckiest girl around.

The list of what im thankful for could go on and on. I am so happy to be back home for the weekend celebrating this great holiday and taking a moment to actually think about what this holiday means and not just about the great food and shopping. My heart is heavy with love and gratitude for all that has happened this year and i can only hope that you have been as blessed as i have been.

Wishing you a simply blessed and thankful thursday

so happy to see November

You know when life is so crazy that you literally just want to fast forward a day or so just so you can get to the weekend? Well thats how i felt about the entire month of October. I was just wishing i could skip the endless hours of work and stress and end up on the other side in lovely calm November. However, that is SO not how life works and instead i put in a bazillion hours of work, was stressed to the max, cranky, sleepy, and just plain exhausted. But there is good news.... There were a total of 12 events that happened in October and these were not small, order cookies and lemonade and call it a day events. These were all complex and complicated and although my love for events runs deep this was just plain a lot. And the good news is that they all went great. Obviously with any event there are always things i wish i could go back and tweak but over all there were no massive disasters. Phew! Talk about relief. So you now can see why i am SO thrilled to turn the calendar to November where things are a lot less hectic. 

So what exactly was i working on? Well here is a little pictures timeline for ya! Oh and of course i attempted to squeeze in a life as well..yep..packed month 

White Coat Ceremony 

Benefactors Reception 

made my annual trip to the pumpkin patch! 

The students had their annual Luau! 

celebrated my besties new home!

headed up to portland for work for a weekend. not a bad view from the hotel though 

had lots of early mornings and late nights and lived off coffee

the weekend in portland consisted of three events. My favorite was our OSU Alumni Reception.
 Any excuse to have some fun with decor. 

we even had specialty cocktails in orange and with my favorite straws
we named it Beaver Crush and is now available at the Marriott downtown if you ever want to try one!  

and in the midst of craziness received the most beautiful bouquet of roses from my boy :)
so blessed. 

then we built a float for homecoming! 

even benny stopped by to have a seat in our beaver lodge living room

great group of students worked hard to pull it all together 

Then it was reunion time! 

we also held our annual COP football and pharmacy social at squirrels 

game day consisted of a recent grad reunion and a deans coffee

but by the end of the day i was D.O.N.E. and obviously totally happy to be at the game and done with october events

sorry for the picture overload! 

Hope you have a simply wonderful tuesday! 

16.

16. 16 years later and this day still holds the significance it did 16 years ago. This past year I feel like i have grown so much. It's the first time in a long time where I feel so utterly content with life. The past few years I have been so focused on change and going, going, going and this spring i finally took a much needed step back and realized that I am one lucky girl. A job I enjoy, great friends and family and things are going to be just fine. I would love nothing more then to be able to share this time with him. 

But this is not a day of sadness, but a day to reflect, to remember the amazing man i called my father. To listen to his favorite songs, to think about just how lucky i was to know him even if that time was cut short. Life is amazing, to amazing to just spend all my time wondering whats next, and stressing about every little detail. If I've learned anything it's to truly cherish every moment. And we can never be to grateful for each blessing we have. 

These pictures are from the Willamette National Cemetery where he is buried. The place is huge and yet so completely peaceful. It has rolling hills, huge trees and is almost park like. Visiting this place is comforting. Sitting in the perfectly manicured green lawn next to my dad's grave marker is truly one of the most perfect places to just think and reflect. And coming here in time's of uncertainty and angst has almost been therapeutic. Unfortunately, it is in Portland and not just down the street from me but this place holds a special place in my heart. 

So here's to 16. 16 years of memories that i wish i could share. 16 years of missing someone. and 16 year of never forgetting the most amazing man i ever knew. 

Hope you have a simply thoughtful monday. 

St Louis Surprises

i love surprises! not being surprised myself but i love doing it to other people. and when an opportunity to fly out to missouri for my good friend/ twinsie's birthday it was a no brainer! we had to do it! Our flight got into Missouri bright and early at 4:30am meaning she had a fun wake up call around 5:30. Her reaction was priceless. Completely surprised and it was amazing! We have a fabulous weekend of exploring St. Charles and St. Louis, wine tasting, shopping, dive bars, karaoke, brewery tours, and lots of yummy cocktails. It was an exhausting weekend but completely worth it. I love surprises. Don't you? 

bday serenades 

Of course i had to bring her a little piece of home :) go beavs! 

our hotel was right across from the arch. which obviously made for a great photo op! 

anyone who knows me is aware i am not a huge fan of beer but of course we had to take a trip to the massive Anheuser- Busch campus. We even took a tour that walked you through the whole process. Pretty darn interesting and even found something tasty beers i could drinks :)

Happy 24th to this beauty! I'm pretty sure 24 is going to be the best year yet! 

But now it's back to reality. i think i like surprises much better then working. 

Hope you have a simply wonderful Tuesday. 

the land of Thai

last night we had another dinner party. and this time we had the fun challenge of a Thai themed dinner. Thankfully my business partner is back from spending 2 years in the land of Thai. We had a menu full of traditional Thai food and it was all amazing. Here is what was on the menu for the night.

we decided to go with a non traditional dessert but still keep in mind the flavors of asain foods. 

the coconut cake turned out almost like a coconut pound cake. 

As for the table...i did my best to modernize the asain look. I went with gray linens crisp white napkins and a touch of color with the orange menus and red chop sticks. And to switch things up i got a variety of herbs to stick into my trusty square vases and had another pop of color with red dahlias. it was different but it definitely made a statement. my take on modern asain. 

the first course was a papaya salad with sweet and hot shrimp soup 

pad thai 

so happy Jereme was back to channel her two years in Thailand to pull of this amazing dinner. a ton of work but completely pleased with how everything turned out. and so was the client so win win last night :) 

Hope you have simply amazing thursday! 

stripes and sunflowers

i love stripes. if you opened my closet you could tell im just a little obsessed. so obviously when it came time to choose fabric for this weeks dinner party i was automatically drawn to the dark navy blue and white stripped fabric. Pair that with bright yellow sun flowers and you have a modern, festive, summery look. This dinner was for a small group of six and Jereme's menu worked perfect with everything in season right now. Thankfully everything went off without a hitch! Check out a couple pictures from the set up! 

sunflowers everywhere! 

it was amazing. 

loved turning these candle holders into vases :) 

Hope everyone has a simply lovely Thursday!