Happy Monday!! Can you believe this is the last week of school till after the new year? CRAZY!! I’m looking forward to some time off work too.
The weekend was great. Family + friends + food + wine + traditions. These are a few of my favorite things….
FRIDAY – anyone ever been to Ficelle (pronounced fee-sell) in Winter’s? It’s a great little tapas restaurant. I’ve decided that everything on their menu is to die for. We had the Plato Combinado…I big cheese and veggie platter, but better than you’re thinking. We enjoyed the Chile Relleno de le Noche (stuffed poblano chile stuffed and served over mole) and Canelone del Mar (crab and shrimp pasta baked in a lemony Fontana-leak cream sauce) just typing that made my mouth water. Bailey loved their sliders. It was a nice way to end our week. Yummy food and wine with my mom 🙂
SATURDAY
Earlllllyyyyy in the morning we snuck out to do some Elfing….Like booing, but for Christmas.
Bailey did the dirty work and I sat in the get-a-way car ready to take off after she left the goodies and doorbell ditched. I’ll share more this week. Elfing ideas and printables so you too can get your Elfing on!!
Woodland’s Annual Christmas Parade took place Saturday morning. Main Street shuts down for the morning and the community lines up and down the sidewalks to enjoy the parade. It was packed!! The Parade is a fun tradition we never miss. The dancing horses are our favorite 🙂
The spiked hot cocoa helped keep me warm….yummm.
Guess what? We matched too…haha.
Saturday afternoon we headed up the valley to my favorite local winery, Seka Hills. Not only is the tasting room gorgeous, their Rose is amazing.
The wine tasting + food pairing was on point. Spicy hummus + chili + cheese and walnuts drizzled with their signature wildflower honey. Bailey is obsessed with their honey….she even convinced us to get her a jar for Christmas.
Proud new members of the Seka Hills Wine Club. I’m really looking forward to our first shipment in February. Not only do you get their wine, but they throw in samples of nuts + oils + honey too.
The Valley is beautiful this time of year…..
We took advantage of Nugget’s secret special. Wild-Caught Sockeye Salmon Fillets. We made two Nugget trips to get more. Salmon is a house favorite. Sign up here to have the weekly secret special emailed to you.
We had dinner with friends Saturday night. April prepared some of the Sockeye Salmon….it was amazeballs. And her sprouts were bomb too. Thanks for the dinner + cards Straubs!!
SUNDAY // the only thing I really accomplished was hours (I’m not admitting how many) of DVR time. I’ve been behind, so a girl needs a DVR date every once in a while, right? Well, this just to happened to be my day.
I also got some food prep + cooking done.
Avocado Toast is so so good. I keep it simple:
whole wheat toast
1/2 avocado
chili pepper flakes
salt + pepper
If avocados ever go one sale, I will surely have an avocado toast love affair.
Bailey was invited to a friends house for a Gingerbread House party. How cute is this. I especially love the little camp-fire (right corner)
Sunday evening was our annual “favorite things” gift exchange and dinner. My high-school girlfriends and I have been doing this about three or four years now. It’s fun to see what everyone comes up with. There are 5 of us. Every person purchases 4 of the same gifts, one of her favorite things. And we each exchange our gifts. Each of us get one of everyone’s favorite things. The challenge is keeping each gift $5 or under.
I found these Threshold Monogram Tassel Keychain at Target and they were on sale. I confess I spent slightly over $5 each. But, they were too cute to pass up. I love my tassel keychain.
Above are all the favorite things my girlfriends brought…LOVE it.
We decided to try something new for our dinner. Marrakech Moroccan Restaurant was out of this world. The food + service + atmosphere were all top notch. There is a ritual to the meal, including hand washing, which was so cool and interesting. I’ve never eaten with my hands in a restaurant…it took a little getting used too.
The food kept coming. We ordered the family style service. These photos don’t do it enough justice. Chicken + beef + lamb dishes were so different, but delicious. We ate everything without hesitating.
We all truly enjoyed the amazing cultural experience, beautiful decor and authentic Moroccan dishes. I highly recommend this place for something new and fun. Not to mention the company was the best part 🙂 Thanks girls for the fun night!!
Hope you all had a fantastic weekend too.
xoxo stacyb
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