Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving was great. My parents arrived by lunchtime on Thanksgiving day. I made a pot of chili for us to eat for lunch since we weren't having the big meal until dinner time since Greg had work til 3pm. Mom and I made all the staples: turkey, stuffing, sweet potato, mashed potato, and gravy.

We also made my grandma's mac and cheese. It's a family tradition. The recipe is as follows:

1 box of spagetti noodles (cook as directed on package)
1 block of sharp white cheddar, shredded (it has to be sharp white- yellow won't taste or melt the same)
salt and pepper
1/3 to 1/2 cup of milk (eye ball it)

Butter a large round casserole dish.
Layer spagetti noodles, cheese, and salt and pepper.
End with final layer of cheese and then pour the milk over the top. Bake at about 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or so. You want the top to be bubbly/browned and a little crunchy.

We also had apple pie and pumpkin pie.

My parents brought me a few things, including this game called Apples to Apples. After dinner we decided to play and it was so fun and funny that we played til we were falling asleep. Basically the concept is that you have a "hand" of cards that are all nouns. There is a card in the middle that is an adjective. You have put down a card from your hand that best matches with the adjective. Sometimes you have NOTHING that matches well at all, but you just have to wing it. Then each person takes turns being "the judge" and they decide which card that was put down goes with the adjective card best. Very fun. I think we'll have to have a game night at some point and have everyone over to play.

Friday morning my mom and I had a plan of going to Radio Shack for a set of cordless phones Greg and I had seen in their flyer. We've been having problems with our current set holding a charge and it seems we are due for new batteries. We found out that new batteries for 4 cordless phones cost as much as buying new ones though, so we decided we'd go ahead and just buy new phones. Plus we had 2 $10 off coupons and the plan was to use those as well. We got to Radio Shack and they told us we couldn't use the coupons with the deal (even though another sales person had told us we could a couple days ago). They also were out of the phones we wanted. So that mission was a bust. The only consilation was that we headed down the street to Dunkin Donuts and got some donuts.
Once we were ready for the day we went to DSW. There's a bunch of stores we have in Charlotte that my parents don't have near them in Hilton Head, and one is DSW, which is a favorite of my mom's. I got some cute black shoes for work. I'm short, and most of my pants are a little on the long side on me, but fit great with a pair of heels, so I usually wear heels. Plus I think it's a more flattering line. Anyway, the pair of black heels I usually wear for work have been bothering me. I think it's causing some damage to my right foot especially. Therefore I was psyched to find a pair that seems comfortable and hopefully will be better for my feet. After DSW we went downtown in Charlotte and went to Nix for lunch. It's this great burger place and I wanted to show my dad, because he LOVES a good burger. This place has the best burgers I've had in Charlotte. My favorite burgers anywhere are at this place called The Tombs in Georgetown (DC).

After lunch Greg went to work at the hotel. We then went to Total Wine so my parents could load up on wine. We had a quiet afternoon/evening in. Went for a walk around the neighborhood and got a pizza for dinner.

Yesterday we did a Costco run with my parents. They have a Sam's Club membership (there's no Costco near them) and wanted to check out our Costco. I got a cute brown shirt, some crazy cheap Calvin Klein sheets, and a bunch of other odds and ends. We did a lunch of leftovers and then my parents headed back home.

Greg and I met Sarah and Josie at this bar called Brazwell's for drinks last night. Sarah pointed out a guy she thought was cute. I played "Wing Girl" and tugged on the guy's sleeve and said "Hi, this is my friend Sarah". He chatted with us for a bit. I'm determined to help my single friends any way I can!

My lasting impression of this weekend is the amount of food I've consumed: turkey, burgers, mac and cheese, pie, donuts, pizza, chili....Ugh. I think I need a diet!