5K and Post-Race Pizza Party

Happy weekend!  It’s been a great weekend around here.  On Saturday morning, we got up early and headed into Philly to run a 5K with friends.

My hubby sporting his “I got up too early” expression on the way to the race:

The race started at Eastern State Penitentiary, which is seriously one of the creepiest places I’ve ever seen (but so cool!).  This time of year they turn it into a huge haunted house…crazy!  Anyway, here we are in front of the penitentiary walls:

I am such a super slow runner, so I was pretty happy that I finished the race in under 30 minutes (I think…the race times haven’t been posted yet).  Here’s our crew celebrating with post-race hot coffees:

We invited everyone over later that night for a pizza party at our house…so fun!  Just like all our get-togethers, I spent some time setting up before our friends arrived.

All the fixins on a lazy Susan

Apps were set up on our bar

Halloween plates and napkins

Lots of refreshments at the ready

The best part, the toppings!

That isn’t the best pic, as everything’s still covered in plastic wrap, but here are the toppings we had ready, in case you ever want to throw a make-your-own pizza party at home:

• LOTS of shredded mozzarella
• Balls of buffalo mozzarella
• Crumbled bleu cheese
• Chicken pesto sausage, sliced
• Sliced red onion
• Sliced mushrooms
• Sliced red bell peppers
• Pesto
• Pizza sauce
• Fresh basil
• Chicken
• Sliced tomatoes
• Prosciutto
• Kalamata olives
• Pepperoni

We bought the dough at Trader Joe’s, and then ended up making another run to our local pizza restaurant to buy some more dough from them (which was much better than Trader Joe’s, IMO!).

Here are the combinations we came up with:

• Tomato, mozzarella and basil
• Sausage, mushroom, black olives, and cheese
• Buffalo chicken with crumbled bleu cheese
• Clam and mozzarella
• Spicy salami, cheese, and mushrooms

Yum, frickin’ yummm!  Pizza artistry in action:

Hubby tossing the dough

Yumm!

A variety of pies

Thumbs up from all of us!

Such a great night with friends!

Do you ever make pizzas at home?  What are your favorite pizza toppings?  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Fall and Halloween Decor Tour

Happy Saturday!  We were supposed to go on a camping trip this weekend, but cancelled at the last minute due to the forecasts for poor weather.

I’ve been keeping myself busy today anyway by doing some fall decorating.  I still have to do the outside, but thought it would be fun to show what I’ve done so far inside the house!

Our living room

Pumpkins pop up in unexpected places!

Jack-o-lantern tins on our mantle

Isn’t this the cutest little owl?

Our kitchen

Love that little sign!

A spooky bowl full of apples

Cute little owl in our coffee nook

Bowl of candy (out of reach on top of the fridge!)

Our dining room

A fall table runner

Welcome, fall!

Do you decorate for the fall?  Where do you find your favorite decorations?  

A Fall Weekend in the Green Mountain State

Sorry to be gone for so long, my friends!  The hubs and I spent last weekend in the beautiful state of Vermont…it was such a fun, fun weekend!

My husband plays guitar, and was invited by our good friends who make up the band Lefty Lucy to play at a wedding last weekend.  (hey, Lucy!!  🙂 )  I had never met the bride, groom, or anyone in the wedding party before last weekend, but they were sweethearts and invited me to come along as a wedding guest.  How nice, right?

We stayed at the Equinox Resort in Manchester, Vermont.  Here’s a photo I borrowed from the Equinox website – the town of Manchester is truly picturesque!

The leaves are just now beginning to change here in PA, but in Vermont, fall has hit full-force.  Even though it was pretty rainy and foggy and chilly all weekend, it was still stunningly beautiful there.  These are some pics I took around the wedding reception area:

The reception was inside this boat house on the water:

The setting of the wedding was really rustic, but the decor was so elegant, and the flowers were gorgeous…

(can you spot my hubby in the background with his guitar?)

All in all, it was a great weekend with super nice, fun people, and the wedding was so sweet.  If you’re a follower on my blog, you might be wondering, “how did you do with your 30 Day No Alcohol challenge?”  Well, glad you asked 😉

I did….pretty darn good, all things considered.  You see, the groom of this wedding happens to be an awesome chef, and he happens to be friends with some of the best winemakers in California.  And I happen to LOVE a good glass of wine.  Are you following where I’m going here??

One of the guests of the wedding is the winemaker for a winery that has a 12 MONTH WAITING LIST.  Meaning, you can sign up for their mailing list, and in 12 months, you just might possibly have the opportunity to buy a bottle of their wine if you’re lucky, but there’s no guarantee.  And this winemaker happened to give the very generous gift of several cases of his Pinot Noir to the bride and groom.  Which happened to be served at a party the day before their wedding.  Which I couldn’t pass up.  It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for some amazing pinot.  And I went for it – in moderation 😉

In addition, the best man at this wedding happened to be a certain celebrity chef, who we happened to have dinner with the night before the wedding, and who happened to order some really delicious wine for us to enjoy with dinner.  Um, couldn’t pass that up either!  So I enjoyed – again, in moderation 😉

I’m not going to beat myself up about it – for me, it was a lesson in enjoying the good things in life in moderation. The weekend wasn’t about drinking…it was more about being with great friends, making new friends, and just enjoying the heck out of being in the beautiful state of Vermont.  And I’ll toast to that 🙂

I hope you have a fabulous weekend, wherever you are!  What makes a great weekend for you?  Spending time with friends, enjoying some delicious eats, physical activities – please share!

Elements of a Great Weekend

Greetings!  I hope you have enjoyed a lovely weekend.  The weather here in PA has been perfection lately.  Early fall is my favorite time of year, and I’m happy that we had a full weekend to really enjoy it!

I may be a simple girl, but here are a few things that add up to a great weekend, in my opinion:

Delicious breakfast made with love by the hubby (and a steaming cup of hot coffee):

Lighting a new fall candle (“Leaves” from Bath & Body Works):

Tackling my to-do list

(I use this app for my to do list if you’re interested)

A two and a half hour walk through the woods with Pickles the Fearless.  This dog seriously has unlimited energy:

My first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season! ❤

A rockin’ new pair of shoes:

Sunday brunch with all the fixins:

Watching the game with my family (go Eagles!):

…and now just relaxing and preparing for Monday.  I’m bummed that the weekend is coming to an end, but happy that it was a nice mix of productivity and relaxation!

How was your weekend?  What sort of fun things did you do?  Please share!