a Pot Luck Classic: Cranberry-Apple Bake.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

 Mine was filled with work, cooking, cleaning and great friends.

My 3 best friends from college and I always plan a Christmas dinner between our four families. The four of us gals have been with each other through it all and our families have grown so much throughout the years. First with husbands, then babies (or in our case dogs) and finding time to all be under one roof requires 4 different calendars, a bottle of wine and at least a month's advance notice. 

This year we decided on a pot luck dinner and gift exchange for both the girls and the boys. 

The boys were thrilled....hah.

I don't know about you but normally I dread a pot luck. 

I never know what to make, I end up trying something new and it normally sucks.

Well not this time. 

I reached into my very small bag of tricks and came out with this wonderful little diddy. 

I am thrilled to share with you today one of my family's favorite holiday recipes. 

It could not be any easier or any more delicious and I promise you it will be a hit at any holiday pot luck party. You will want to eat it for dinner, dessert with ice-cream and for breakfast. Yes, it is that delish! I look for any excuse this time of year to make this dish and this was just the occasion! 

Cranberry-Apple Bake:

What you will need: 

3cups peeled, chopped apples (Granny Smith do well, about 2-3 apples )

2 cups fresh cranberries

2 Tablespoons of all-purpose flour

1cup of sugar

3 ( 1 5/8 oz) packages instant oatmeal with cinnamon and spices OR 1 cup of instant oats with 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg.

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

Here's what you do: 

Combine chopped apples, cranberries, and 2 Tablespoons flour, tossing to coat. Add1 cup sugar and mix well. Place in a 2 qt casserole. 

Combine oatmeal mixture, chopped pecans, 1/2 cup of flour and brown sugar; add butter and stir well. 

Spoon mixture over fruit mixture. 

Bake uncovered at 350* for 45 minutes. 

This can be refrigerated overnight. 

Makes @ 10 servings

And boy is it delish! 

This recipe has been at every single Thanksgiving or family holiday for as long as I can remember. 

I hope you love it as much as I do! 

Now for just a couple photos of my amazing friends and their little ladies.

||bow||

Since all my besties' little ladies got a shout on the blog, I had to give mine one too....This was Tuggy all afternoon yesterday. 

What a lazy bum. 

See you amazing ladies tomorrow!

xoxo,

CAD

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vaca prep kinda weekend!

Happy Monday loves! 

So last week kicked me in the butt... so let me please apologize for the lack of love in blogland! Now, let's blow past all the boring stuff and head right to the most exciting part of my week....

 Wednesday we are off to Turks and Caicos! 

Woohoo!

I am just a little bit excited , can't you tell?

Friday night I had the loveliest time with my besties! Our get-togethers have been pretty sparse lately because of babies, vacations and life. BUT we vowed at dinner that we would be better and schedule something every month. We ate at Pomegranate in Cary town and let me just say, the food and drinks were amazing! The only thing I have to complain about is that the restaurant was too dark for quality picture taking.... My besties were so thoughtful when they presented me with my birthday presents. They wanted to get me something to support this blog and surprised me with a tripod and remote for my camera. I simply could not ask for 3 better ladies to be in my life.

The rest of the weekend was spent in full vaca-prep-mode. That meant spending our Saturday running around town checking tasks off on the ole "to-do" list.

First thing we did was meet Ashley, our new puppy/house sitter. It was so great to see how much she loved our pups and made me feel so much better about being out of the country. She prob thinks I am a wacko with all the directions and information I spewed out but our pups are sorta cra cra. 

We then ventured out to Shortpump to brave the tax free weekend....not the best idea we have ever had BUT we scored some great deals! AND I am happy to report that all we checked everything off our list and then some....my husband was not so happy that we picked up the extra items.
sorry.i.am.not.sorry.
 #nordstromsandjcrewgetmeeverytime

Saturday night, Reid and I decided to feast on popcorn and Sprite for dinner at the Westhampton Theater. We saw Begin Again, you know that movie which debuts Adam Levine's acting career? It was actually a great movie and I would highly recommend. This is our second movie at this theater and we are in love. The movies that play there are a little artsy but fabulous! Plus this theater has an old school feel that makes you appreciate what going to movies must have been like back in the day. 

(the song "Let's go to the movies" from Annie is now playing on repeat in my head) 

AND since Sweet Frog is in walking distance, how could we not resist? 

Sunday was filled with laundry, packing, getting nails did, more Target and eating wings. Sounds like a pretty successful Sunday huh?

Check back in tomorrow... I am sharing what's in my suite case!

(Lily finds included!)

A special thanks to Biana, Meghan and Kayla for hosting their wonderful linkups! 

Much love! 

xoxo,

CAD 

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Weekend Procrastination and Charlotte Pearl

Happy Monday Y'all!

I had such big things in mind for this past weekend and a huge to-do list to prove it. I am happy to report that nothing at all was successfully checked off because I was bitten by the procrastination bug. The only remedy was to eat out as much as possible and spend time on the couch catching up on Netflix and DVR.

via

Things that did not get accomplished this weekend: 

Guest bedroom spring clean
Organize my closet
Change bed linens
Pack all my winter clothes up that have been chilling on the guest bed for 3 weeks
Put 1 million clothes away
Find a place for all the random stuff that is currently sitting around
Eat well
Plan this week's dinners and go grocery shopping
Bacon Fest RVA ... I know, I know, epic fail!
Respond to any of my amazing blog followers via email
A shower on Sunday

Things that did get accomplished this weekend: 

Finished season 1 of The Following
Pretty sure I put on two lbs
Made a royal mess in my attempt to work on the upstairs
Clean up that said mess mentioned above
Caught up on Deadliest Catch
Started Mindy Kaling's book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Amazing couch time with the hubby and the pups
Made a mean batch of homemade chocolate pudding
 4 loads of laundry
Friday dinner with Corbin and Mark at CW
Dinner and a movie with Reid on Saturday
Charlotte Pearl's naming ceremony*

*My friend Dani's baby girl Charlotte Pearl's naming ceremony on Saturday was just perfection!. Reid and I were humbled to attend this special event and send so much love to this beautiful family. 

What a great spread!

OH Major, yes Love, you were the first baby in their family!

It's official. I am the last in our group without a baby! It's ok, I love being the best Auntie ever to all of them! 

Dani and her husband, Adam were so sweet and the Rabbi seemed to be just another member of the family.  

Charlotte Pearl and her auntie Ashley and Grandmother

I just love a good Auntie shot!

The whole, big beautiful fam!

My sweet friend Danielle and her precious baby girl! 

And here's the entire gang. Love these ladies so much it hurts! 

This weekend was just actually just what we needed. I cannot remember the last time I spent an entire Sunday at home and it was amazing. Hopefully, next weekend will be more productive because I have the in-laws coming soon and need to get my act together.

So much love on this Monday!

xoxo,

CAD


A special thanks to Biana and Meghan for hosting their Weekending link up! 

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Let's Celebrate the Besties!

It's my birthday week SO lets celebrate! 

I would like to raise a glass and celebrate my besties!

Cheers to good friends, yummy food, and the reality of turning 29....

Meet Kristen, Lorin and Danielle. These lovelies have been by my side since college and I could not ask for better role models. We have been together over 10 years now and have held each other's hands through college, heartbreaks, moves, marriages, and now babies! (no babies for me yet - don't get your hopes up!) I am proud and honored to call you my friends for so long! 

Danielle, Lorin, me and Kristen 

Since 3 out of the 4 of us have birthdays in August, we always try to do something special to celebrate. This year 4 girls, 4 husbands and two babies stuffed into 4 cars with way too much stuff for a one night sleep over at Lake Caroline. Danielle is turning the big 3-0 this year so we let her steal the spot light. 

I had so much fun documenting our trip this past weekend that I had to share the photos on Virginia Sweet. Take a peek into our birthday celebration at Lake Caroline! 

Lake Caroline - Lovely name for a lovely lake

Lorin and Ryan hanging out

Miss Lily and I waiting to go in the house! 

Someone had to turn the water on...guess I was the most qualified for the job

Reid was in love with Lily! 

my how things have changed ... used to be all beer and board games, now we added in baby supplies!

Lily's mom Kristen taking a little break

Birthday girl Danielle getting a little sugar from Lily

awesome food - don't worry I will post the mac and cheese recipe later this week! 

Happy 30th Birthday Danielle! Don't judge - all we could find in the house were these candles!  

oh hello old friend..... CLUB CRANIUM!!!! 

Needless to say...we were all exhausted after a fun weekend with our friends! 

So lets raise our glasses to these extraordinary women, the brave men that stand beside us, the new generation of besties, and many many more years of laughter and memories! 

I love y'all!

xoxo Care