Tis' the Season For Mittens, Lights & Holidaze

I couldn't wait to get our tree up this year and I had to share a few of my favorite finds for the season!

I love these plump little birds from Crate and Barrel that are made of boiled felt that's been machined and washed!

Of course everyone could use a little bit of Texas in their tree and I just couldn't help myself

And who could resist this cute little guy?

Les insists we have the noisiest tree on the block too, thanks to the bells I found at Pottery Barn.

These are meant to be napkin rings but they made great ornaments!

 . . . and a Starbucks for good measure

Happy Decorating!

Happy Turkey Day

Thanksgiving Menu

Main Dish: Brined Turkey Breast

Sides:   German Skillet Baked Beans (Grandma's Recipe)
            Pasta Salad 
            Veggie Dip
            Broccoli Cheese Casserole
            Deviled Eggs
            Whipped Sweet Potatoes

Dessert: Pumpkin Roll
            Waldorf Salad

Tradition followed suit this year as it has in years past.  Les's apple juice, telecherry, and orange brined Turkey stole the show and my dinner rolls turned out to be the consistency of hockey pucks!




Thanks to the efforts of Pottery Barn and I our table was set beautifully though.




It was great to have Dad here with us.  Poor Les kept his nose to the grindstone while dad and I set out on a few adventures.  Les wasn't the only one wishing we'd hurry home though . . .







Dad was honored as a platinum shopper at Bronner's, the world's largest christmas store, (open 364 days a year).  I knew we were in trouble when the entrances were marked North, South, East, and West and the parking lot was numbered.  Only then to be greeted at the front door by a help desk and MAPS!

This is just the west entrance folks!

A place where one man's love of Christmas, Wally Bronner, has no bounds.  Bronner's covers 320,000 square feet and boasts of over 50,000 ornaments.  




With time to spare we headed to Frankenmuth, Michigan's little Bavaria, famous for Zehnder's Chicken Dinners, it's Cheese and Sausage Haus and home to St. Julian's Winery.

It's all happening at the ZOO

What do you do when its 60 degrees in November?  
                                             Why, visit the Detroit Zoo of course.

My favorite animals were first on our list.

Big  Y  A  W  N

Next was the Amphibian House.  We spared everyone the  creepy photos of the snakes, but apparently some of the dinosaurs survived the ice age, the Siamese Croc.  Even creepier that they didn't move the entire time we were there except to blink.

And when it's sixty degrees in November, what better than to lean back and take a nap.

Hey! You match my shoes.  Most popular and best recognized pattern in the world.    

You think you don't want gofers in your yard, think again, the aardvark digs holes in sizes that dogs wouldn't dare dream of.

 Kangaroo Crossing.  The Kangaroos, joeys, & wallabies have free roam in the Outback Exhibit.

Awkward . . .  Les sees this guy and starts talking to the Zoo Volunteer about ELK BURGERS!!!!

One of the 5 year old twin polar bears on loan from  the Minnesota Zoo just before belly flopping into the pool.

More Michigander Fall

The road home

Just hours after putting our pumpkin on the porch it fell victim to one of the furry residents! Little bugger literally chewed whole in it!

We found a little piece of home at Domino Farms .  .  . well kind of .  .  .   It's Michigan's version of a long horn!  Check out this guys hood ornament!

The Architecture program hosted a pumpkin carving contest at school

this year and here are the results (a few of our favorites)

Les's pumpkin

The H1N1 Pumpkin (yes the pumpkin is a pig)

And the Christmas Ham (or pumpkin!)

A Michigander Fall

We've certainly been busy during our first Fall together in Ann Arbor, visiting cider mills, picking pumpkins, and making home brewed beer!

The Alexander Farm Market (Whitmore Lake) is one of our favorite places to pick-up fresh Michigan produce and an old fashioned Stewart's Orange Soda. The Market is only open through November, so to commemorate one of our last visits of the year, we picked our pumpkin for the porch.

Three farms and three townships later, I finally found the perfect one! Weighing it at an intimidating 16 lbs. Well worth it considering, most of the view looked a little something like below.

We've taken in our share of cider mills & donuts this year too!

For our fellow southern blog followers, who may not know cider mills and donuts go hand-in-hand around these parts.  And not just any donuts, apple donuts coated in cinnamon and sugar sold by the dozen and half dozen!

Franklin Cider Mill & Three Cedars offer hayrides, u-pick-em patches, apples by the peck or bushel, an array of baked goods, and corn mazes.

And just for good measure what's Fall without home brewed beer!  Les rolled up his sleeves, well jeans, literally, to fill the car-boys full of hops & grain goodness.  ETA is 12 weeks! (More to come)