Hello my friends!
We’ve had a nice week over here – hiking, Riese’s big 3rd birthday, and of course Thanksgiving!
Before I get into a recap of our week, here are a couple of my fave recipes for using up Thanksgiving leftovers:
- Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes (so good with a fried egg… and they are great with white or sweet potatoes!)
- Leftover Turkey and Wheat Berry Salad with Leftover Cranberry Sauce Vinaigrette (this salad dressing is great on any salad, FYI, so get creative)
- One more idea: if you have lots of cranberry sauce leftover, stir it into oatmeal! I love making my Microwave Banana Oatmeal and stirring in some cranberry sauce instead of the banana. It’s really good topped with cottage cheese to get that salty/sweet combo going!
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And now, for some of the highlights from this week!
Riese is 3!!
Our little one turned 3 on Tuesday! Wow, how time flies. I said on Instagram in some ways it feels like her birth (<- the whole story if you want a trip down memory lane) was yesterday… and in other ways it feels like approximately 239048230492309482094820239048 lifetimes ago. 😉
My parents had us and Matt’s parents (who as I mentioned have been in town for the past week) over for a little birthday shindig. My mom made this fancy chocolate cake from scratch, we were impressed! Isn’t it pretty? 3 tiers, no less!
No friends at this year’s bash of course but Riese was more interested in the cake and ice cream than friends anyway I think… look at her face when she saw it!
I’ll have to do a Riese update post sometime soon since it has been awhile – the last one was at 2.5 years. Let me know if you have any questions you want me to discuss!
Hiking Raven Rocks
On Monday, Matt and I played hooky from work and took advantage of the grandparents being here to go off and do a toddler-free hike with our friend Shane!
I asked for local hiking recommendations on Instagram and got some great ideas – we settled on Raven Rocks in the end, which is a hike we’d done a tiny bit of before with a 1 year old Riese in tow, but not the whole thing, so we were excited to get to the summit this time.
It was also nice to be out there on a Monday without the crowds since this is a popular hike! We saw a few other people here and there but mostly had the trail to ourselves, which was great.
This is a tough hike – it’s 6 miles, most of it is either steep up or steep down, and it’s rocky the whole way so you really have to watch your feet. That said, it’s not one I’d recommend doing with kids in tow – last time with Riese we didn’t make it far, and it was a little nerve wracking trying not to trip with her on my back!
We made it out there around 10:30 and planned to hike over lunch, so we packed some sandwiches to enjoy along the way. Rotisserie chicken + pickles + cheese + arugula + mayo + mustard. Very yummy! Plus some unpictured grapes, carrots, and a mix of pistachios + cashews.
The hike is along the Appalachian Trail and took us into West Virginia for a bit – fun!
Made it to the summit! We hung out up there for a bit and had a little more food and enjoyed the views. So nice to have it to ourselves!
We were wiped by the time we made it back to the car, so we decided some outdoor relaxing was in order and headed to nearby Dirt Brewery – it had amazing views but by this point in the day it was cloudy and had gotten really windy/cold, and we weren’t comfortable hanging out inside, so we didn’t stay long. Oh well! Still a really fun treat of a day.
Thanksgiving!
Matt and I kicked off the day with our own turkey trot! We were sad the fun Del Ray 5 miler wasn’t happening (of course for good reason, though), but it was nice to get out on our own to explore the neighborhood. Always a treat to get to do a run together without a stroller!
Even though we had a really small crew this year, Matt’s dad couldn’t resist putting together a completely epic charcuterie board. Isn’t it gorgeous?! It was nice out so we enjoyed it outside as an afternoon snack.
Another view – so many delicious options! I love a good charcuterie board. The only thing missing was the olives, which we forgot and brought out after this picture!
Meanwhile, Matt fried us a turkey using our oil-less infrared fryer (<- on sale today!). This thing is so awesome – it makes such a juicy turkey and it only takes a couple hours – much faster than the oven!
Matt did a cajun rub on the turkey, stuffed it with some apples to keep it juicy, and also injected it with some cajun butter situation I think? I didn’t pay too much attention to be honest but whatever he did, it worked! The outside was nice and crispy and the inside was super juicy and flavorful.
Aren’t these little wine cork “turkey” name tags that my mom and Riese made cute?
Matt’s mom put together the beautiful flower arrangement on the table – definitely the best our table has ever looked!
Everything was delicious. Excited for lots of leftovers! We used the turkey bones to make broth, too, so excited for some turkey soup as well.
Plus pie, of course!
I hope you are staying safe and healthy out there, my friends.
I will leave you with some Black Friday deals from around the web! Please note these are affiliate links.
- Blue Apron is offering $80 off over your first 4 boxes if you sign up before November 30! Click here for the deal.
- Beautycounter is offering 15% off all orders + free shipping over $50. Good time to stock up on your fave products as it’s their biggest sale of the year! I love their sunscreen as well as their makeup – their lipsticks are so gorgeous. They have some beautiful holiday gift sets that are selling out fast, too!
- My instant pot (the 6 quart) is on sale for $79! Highly recommend, it’s amazing for quick meals. And bookmark this post for once you have it: Healthy Instant Pot Recipes
- Get $25 off your first StitchFix – I’ve been getting their boxes for years and they always send such cute stuff!
- Primally Pure has a Black Friday sale going on – and you can also use the code “fannetastic” for 10% off your first order. They have some really gorgeous non-toxic holiday products right now, like a holiday body butter, holiday body wash, autumn hand soap, etc. Would make nice gifts! I’m going to stock up on some for our house, too!
- Fabletics is offering 70% (!!) off everything if you become a VIP member. They have awesome and affordable workout clothing!
- Athleta is 20% off – another great option for cute workout and athleisure clothes, which, let’s be honest, is all most of us wear these days…
- Old Navy is 50% off everything (!!) – I recently bought these cozy pants on a whim and I’M OBSESSED, they are everything. Crazy comfortable and I basically wear them every day. Also really love this sports bra – I now have it in multiple colors, it’s really comfy and the cups are sewn in so they don’t fall out. Love the adjustable straps too! It’s enough support for me for running, but maybe not if you have a larger chest, FYI. I also love Old Navy’s kid’s clothes – we have a lot of cute stuff for Riese from there, so affordable.
- Brooks is offering various sales today as well, plus if you spend $130 you get a fun holiday-themed running shirt! I think I will treat myself to a new pair of the Adrenalines… all my running shoes are getting worn out!
- Potomac River Running is offering buy one, get one 40% off!
- If you want to start a blog (<- how to do it) or switch to self hosting (vs. WP hosted), BlueHost is offering shared hosting plans starting at $2.65/month for 36 months. Awesome deal!
- Garmin is offering some great deals on their sport watches, plus free shipping over $25
