TGIF!

Thank goodness its FRIDAY! I am so happy its finally the weekend! This week has gone by sooo slowly and has been extra looong, if ya know what I mean! For me it has been filled with TONS of projects, homework assignments, and other things to do! One of the things I actually enjoyed about this past week was my jewelry party! Even though we didn't have nearly as big of a turnout as we hoped, it was still successful overall! We had it out at Ashley's house, which I know was a long drive for everyone (and for those who made it, I truly appreciate it!), since my apartment is a little too cozy for entertaining more than a few people. Nicole did her thing and we really had a good time! Even though this was my 3rd show, there was still jewelry I was discovering for the first time and hadn't seen before! And if you are still interested in buying some, my show doesn't close until Tuesday so there is still time :)

My good friend, Kimbojangles, and her hubs, Josh, and their baby, Bailey (not to be confused with my baby, Bailey Brown) are in town! Kimbo turned 23 on Wednesday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, once again, KIMBO!) and is in town to spend some time with her family and celebrate. I can't wait to see her! It has been months since I saw her last and have missed her muchisimo! Also, we are all supposed to go see the new Harry Potter movie tonight. And don't get me wrong, I like Harry Potter! I have enjoyed all the movies and have read the first 4 books. I just don't particularly enjoy the movie theater on a movie's opening night. Tallahassee is not all that big and going to the movies is like one of the main events in town. Top that with a new movie that is being released and you've got like the whole population of Tallahassee at AMC! So while I am looking forward to hanging out and seing everyone tonight, I'd rather be seeing the movie on a non-opening night.. or going to see one of the other 5 (ok, I may be exaggerating) chick flick movies I really want to see. Speaking of which, I cannot wait to see the new Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal movie, "Love and Other Drugs"!! If you have not yet seen the movie trailer (then you must have not turned the tv on in the past month), I encourage you to watch it NOW:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO0X4DQZKqk 

Besides, who wouldn't want to just gaze at Jake for a couple of hours? I know I would!! Unfortunately, it isn't released until Thanksgiving Eve or else I would be pushing harder to go see this instead tonight!

Tomorrow night, friends of my sister and her husband are throwing a "Novembers Birthday" party for everyone in their circle of friends and family who have birthdays in November. Nate, Ashley's hubby and my brother-in-law, celebrated his birthday on November 12th and Ashley will be celebrating her birthday on November 25th (Thanksgiving Day this year)! Joseph and I are planning on going out there to hang out and hopefully enjoy some nice fall weather and good company!

I am SOOO excited that next week will be a "short" one in the sense that I'll only have classes on Monday and Tuesday and then Joseph and I are off to Pensacola for Thanksgiving! Even though I am "from" Tallahassee, most of my family lives in Pensacola now, with the exception of a couple of uncles and their families. And we have a pretty big family. We have always had Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparent's house and it is a big tradition in our family to celebrate the holidays together. Since my mom is living in Pensacola now, we will be staying at her house instead of our usual spot at my grandparent's. But Ashley and I will still be helping cook Thanksgiving dinner as usual (another tradition for us). And I am so excited for not only the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and other usual, normal Thanksgiving staples, but for my grandma's MEAT PIES!! My grandma is Lebanese (you would have never guessed it by the looks of me, would ya??) and over the holidays, she usually will cook a few Lebanese dishes, such as the meat and spinach pies, tabouleh, grape leaves, and kibbeh. It never fails though that she always at least cooks her meat pies and spinach pies - YUM-O!! I'm not a fan of the spinach ones, but the meat ones - oh my! And for those of you who have never had the pleasure of tasting such a treat, the meat pies are made with ground pork, cream cheese, a little bit of lemon juice, and some spices (I can't give away all grandma's secrets!) and then baked inside dough! They are usually in short supply and tend to get hidden during the holidays :) Luckily, though, if you are on my grandma's good side, she will make sure you get at least one, even if it means she has to hide some for you! I haven't had any since last Thanksgiving and cannot wait!! My mouth is watering just thinking about them!

I am also very excited to start decorating for Christmas! For those of you that know me, you know I love Christmas and I love to decorate! So once my Halloween decorations came down in my apartment, I was practically ready to start decorating for Christmas! But don't get me wrong, I am not one of those psycho people who decorate in August and have them up til St. Patty's Day. I totally think that certain stores and such are putting decorations up way too early and forcing other holidays in the meantime to take a backseat to Christmas. But I am still ready to start decorating now, mostly because I won't be in my apartment over Thanksgiving, so I won't feel guilty about having Christmas decorations up and making Thanksgiving feel less important! But once I get back from Pensacola, I am going to help Ashley decorate her house and get in the Christmas spirit and get ready to decorate my apartment! I can't wait!!

Well, I better go get ready to meet with a group for yet another project (argh!) but have a great weekend!! :)