Thanksgiving Break

Over the break, I spent way too much time doing the following: eating and shopping.  First, the eating.  We had three places to go: my grandmother's, Andrew's parents, and my parents.  Goodness, can my mother cook.  She generously offered to let me off the hook for bringing anything if I would just help her cook.  Check out this menu.  It was worth the days of preparation.  (Easy for me to say.  I only helped for a few hours!)  

One of my few contributions to the numerous Thanksgiving feasts was these cranberry orange muffins.  (And, despite how it may sound, that is indeed proper subject-verb agreement.)  The orange glaze on the top is clearly the piece de resistance.  

Please ignore the awful, unnatural color in this photo and focus on the glaze oozing down the sides of these yummy cake-like muffins.  After December 25, my new flash should cure this problem.

Now, the shopping.  Mom and I attempted to participate in the midnight madness at the Tanger outlets Thursday night.  It took only forty minutes to get all the way to Sevierville and an hour to drive the last mile down the highway.  As we sat in traffic, I knew it was a mistake to come, but I was afraid to say it because I knew Mom only came because she didn't want me going by myself.  Once I saw the massive crowd, however, I found the courage to tell her I thought we should just head home.  We simply don't possess the kind of determination it takes to persevere in such an intense shopping environment.  She was more than happy to turn the car around at half past midnight.

Fearing that I had missed out on some great deals, Rachel and I returned Saturday morning.  As we drove in at 8 a.m., I worried that they weren't even open because there were so few cars.  Turns out they were open, and we had the stores to ourselves for about an hour.  I will definitely remember this next year.

Milly was not bothered by the fact that my brand new jacket was laying on what she thinks is her blanket.

After a trip to Atlanta and three shopping trips over the last weekend, this jacket and a pair of boots are all I have to show for it (besides Christmas gifts anyway).  Ultimately, I guess this is a good thing, but I am needing a few things and actually have the money saved for them.  I'm not sure if it's God, the economy, or inadequate shopping skills, but I'm having trouble handing over the cash these days.  On a positive note, my Christmas shopping is done!  Decorations and wrapping are scheduled for next weekend.