A much BIGGER road trip.....

Over Thanksgiving, we took a

very looooong road trip

to Pennsylvania to see

my husbands brother

and his beautiful family.

It was worth every single second

of the 16 hour car ride

because

we don't get to see them nearly as

often as we would like.

Now,

picture in your mind the most perfect

Thanksgiving you could EVER

imagine

and

 it was SERIOUSLY

better than that!

We shared lots of laughter and love

and even a few tears (of joy)

and TON of

memories.

They live only 3 hours from New York City,

which, in the grand scheme of a 16 hour drive,

is nothin'.

us in Time Square

So we all jumped in the Tahoe and headed

into the city.

My family had never been there

and we were so excited!

the cousins...... 

clay, mariah, mckenna and sawyer with the lego santa at fao schwartz

We were literally only there for about

24 hours so we didn't do much sight seeing.

We pretty much just stayed

in Time Square.

But that was fine with us

and super cool.

 Time Square

It is EXACTLY like you see it in the movies

and on t.v.

People are EVERYWHERE!

I'm so glad we had the other Whislers

with us cause they know the ropes

and we just followed their lead.

 right outside the doors of our hotel.

Our hotel was right in Time Square,

and we

 were right in the heart of all the action.

We left the City

the day before Thanksgiving

so it was fun to see all the

people arriving for the

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

the view from our hotel window

I took tons of pictures and

wish I could show them all.....

but, I won't.

I know they won't be as exciting

and precious to you as they are to me.

On that note....

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving

and if you ever get the chance to

go to New York City....

DO IT!!!


p.s.  If you want a chance to win
this......

just become a fan of Backyard Candle Co.

on facebook and leave a comment

under the giveaway post....

Winner announced Thurs. Dec. 2nd.

Good luck!!

A Lil' Road Trip......

It is so hard to actually believe,

but last Saturday, my husband and I

celebrated our 17 year anniversary.

WHERE does the time go????

Seems like just yesterday.....

 

My husband Tork..... look at those baby blues

Anyway.....

We decided to take a road trip

so we headed West.

Our first stop was Smokey Row

in Oskaloosa.

I had never heard of it

but I'm so glad we stopped for coffee.

Well not really coffee, cause we just

aren't coffee drinkers.

I had an AMAZINGLY good Chai Tea

and come to think of it,

Tork DID have some kind of a mint coffee

concoction.

This place was sooooo cool.

It had such a retro feel but with a

modern, big city vibe as well.

 LOOK at this movie theatre thingy

they found to hang INSIDE.

I forgot to mention this place is enormous!

Our next stop was Tassel Ridge Winery

were we did wine tasting.

This was fun cause Tork doesn't

usually go for wine,

but he found a few he really liked.

Sad to say we didn't even leave

buzzed... darn it.

Just kidding Mother,

calm down.

We then headed on to Pella to hit some quaint

shops.... didn't really find anything I couldn't live

without.

But found out Pella also had a Smokey Row

and they have a fabulous menu

for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

So we ate lunch there.

Umm, can you say

Chicken Pot Pie

and

Cheesburger soup served in a bread bowl?????

Yummo!

As our road trip came to an end,

we found ourselves back in our neck the woods

and at my favorite store

(besides my own of course)

Sisters Garden

where I of course found some really

cool finds.

Last but not least,

we ate dinner at the best place EVER

Tuscan Moon

which has literally become our

anniversary dinner spot.

We both LOVE that place.

I'm so grateful that Tork

loves me enough to

road trip to little shops

and eat at quaint little places

all because he knows I love it

and

 I love HIM for it.

Here's to another 17 years Hon....

Open House Pics..... or should I say open house picture.....

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to

get pics from our open house on here.

Last week is LITERALLY a blur to me.

My mom and I

(with the help of my cousin Robin, sister Janelle and niece Haley)

worked our little fingers to the bone to transform

the shop into a winter wonderland.

We had many a late nights

AND

early mornings.

(thanks for going with me at 4:30a.m. mom)

I wish I had more pictures to show you.

Blogger is giving me fits

and this is the only one I was able to upload.

So for now, this will have to do,

OR

you will just have to stop in to see more.

Which would be great, cause I'd love to see you!

This week we are busy making more candles to restock

our near empty candles shelves due to the

HUGE

turnout we had.

Thank you so much

to those of you

that attended the open house.

We hope you loved

seeing it as much as

we loved doing it for you!

Have a great week,

and hopefully,

more pictures to come soon.

p.s. I posted some on facebook too, so you can also check them out there if you'd like.