hello weekend

(image via Nag on the Lake. I couldn't resist posting another vintage Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade photo!)

First things first: happy birthday to my most wonderful husband, Matt! Our plans for the day are completely up to him so for starters we're having our furnace serviced. Just the sort of thing I like to do on my birthday. Not. Really, though, I'm looking forward to celebrating with him throughout the day. We're having one of our favorite meals for dinner - black bean & sweet potato tacos - hooray! Then tomorrow Matt is working on a Christmas film with some teens from our youth group, and afterwards we're meeting some friends for dinner. I'm bringing chocolate pretzel pie and I. can't. wait. to eat it. One thing I'm definitely not doing this weekend is going shopping! Are any of you braving the crowds?

And now, the link love.

- here's some good news for those of you shopping in Providence this weekend
- a thank you note in calligraphy is always pretty. plus, this one's free!
- love the idea of how Sharon started The Little Cafe
- download and print this cute (and free!) 2012 owl calendar
- these style tips gleaned from the J.Crew catalog are spot on 
(my favorite is number six - ha!)
- this Christmas tree in miniature (well, as miniature as you consider three feet tall to be) is on its way to our house!
- make this sweet and simple chocolatey gift to give to friends (or just keep it for yourself, I won't tell)
Hope your weekend is well spent as you recover from Thanksgiving and Black Friday!


P.S. I forgot to report back on last Friday's dinner and dessert - the roasted butternut baked penne was fabulous! I did make a few changes though - doubled the recipe, only used Pecorino Romano (my fave) because I didn't have Parmesan or mozzarella on hand, mixed the sauce in with the pasta instead of pouring it on top, and I fried the sage leaves in butter instead of using them fresh because when are sage leaves fried in butter a bad idea? Sadly, the brownies left something to be desired.