À tout à l'heure

Monday, December 1, 2014


Oh, what a wonderful weekend–I hope you all had an absolutely fabulous few days away!

I kicked off the holiday by heading out of the office a bit early–and headed straight home to bake up a pile of pies. There was one apple, featuring Arkansas Blacks, a bourbon-pecan and two pumpkin (because they're my favorite fall breakfast). With our oven already warm and most of the evening taken up with pies, John and I decided to roast some root vegetables for an autumn salad; dressed in a mustard vinaigrette and topped with a warm poached egg, it was the perfect simple supper. We headed to bed early, eager to get a jump start on the long weekend.

We woke up early on Thursday, but without a turkey to roast or potatoes to peel, we had the day free to do as we pleased–which mostly meant practicing, reading and writing. We took a long stroll down to the beach, since Thanksgiving always seems to be sunny and warm in San Francisco, and after preparing John's traveling cocktail kit, we headed to the site of our fabulous feast. With our families far away, I feel so blessed to have been adopted by our dear friends and his parents–this was our second Thanksgiving celebration with them, and it was such an honor to have been included. After drinks of John's creation (I'll share a few in the coming weeks!), we sat down to a truly incredible meal. We watched the last quarter of the Giants-Seahawks game (our hosts hail from Portland, after all) and then played a giggle-inducing game of Balderdash before heading home. The red wine and the roast turkey had John and I both feel pretty snoozy, and we fell asleep before the opening West Wing credits ever played.

It's been a long time since John and I had a whole weekend to ourselves, and without any all-consuming deadlines, so to tell the truth, we spent a lot of time curled up together. There were leftovers for breakfast on Friday morning and Indian food for dinner, and a lot of President Bartlett and practice in between. John worked on Saturday, so I spent most of the time at the computer putting on a coat of polish, and we made another roasted root vegetable salad that evening before John and I made some tremendous progress on his tremolo technique. My guy was up at 6 on Sunday for a long run, but he was home and showered in plenty of time to grab empanadas and Americanos from Hollow. Saturday night's rain kept coming on Sunday, so we curled up in our cable knits and sipped spiced cider while we ticked things off our to-do lists. And late Sunday afternoon, we cooked homemade gnocchi for one of my favorite rainy-day suppers, and I thought of my grandfather, who loved them, too. After a pretty demanding few weeks, it felt wonderful to kick back a bit, even if there was still plenty accomplished between couch-cuddling sessions.


Tell me, how was your holiday weekend? Did you host your first Thanksgiving, catch up with old friends, finish up your holiday shopping, or just begin it? I want to hear all about it! 


As for the title of this post, I am taking a brief blogging hiatus to focus on a big project this month–I can't wait to share more details soon! Don't worry–I haven't lost my love of weddings, or sharing them with you. I'll still be posting from time to time, but I'll be back in a big way come the New Year. In the meantime, wishing you all a happy, healthy, joyous holiday!

With love, 
Lena


Image by Jose Villa, styling by Easton Events.

11 comments:

  1. Aww I'm glad you guys have a surrogate family for Thanksgiving :-) And warm weather this late in the year? I think it's time to move to SF!

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  2. you cant go wrong with starting off your day on the beach!! sounds like a wonderful Thanksgiving :) xo jillian - cornflake dreams

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  3. Glad you had a great weekend and an awesome holiday. We ate so much it was ridiculous but it was great...which led to many cozy naps!

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  4. Good luck to you with your project (projects? - you have so many things going on!)....

    The weekend sounds lovely - and Arkansas Blacks are my favorite type of apple. YUM

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  5. Wishing you all the best with your big project!! Will certainly miss you during my morning blog rounds till you're back! :)

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  6. Good for you! I can't wait to see your newest project. Good luck, Lady!

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  7. I have to say I've been missing terribly your blog posts ;))

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    1. Sofia, you have no idea how I smile when I read your comment–I've been missing the blog!

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  8. Thinking of you and the big project you have happening. May your efforts be met with much success, Lena! Xoxo

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    1. Thank you, darling Rhi–hope your holidays will be merry and bright! xox

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A Crimson Kiss – Timeless Events and Classic Cocktails by Ana Degenaar : Blogger