Friendsgiving 2014

This Thanksgiving, I'm especially thankful for all of the friends who have put up with my crazy recently. To celebrate them, I hosted a Friendsgiving at my apartment last week. It was filled with great people, great food, great wine and lots of laughter. It was a wonderful night to remember :)

One of my favorite parts of the evening was when we played a little "thankful" game: someone picked a random letter, then we all went around and said something we were thankful for that started with that letter (it was N). In honor of that, here is what I'm thankful for this year, from A to Z!

A - Andy, for being my duet partner in crime.
B - Boys, for reminding me that I can be pretty awesome ;)
C - Cara, for making me an honorable member of the Schoening family.
D - Dad, for knowing just what to say when I needed to hear it.
E - Erica and Emma, for being such awesome roommates.
F - French fries, for being perpetually delicious.
G - GLF, for being a pretty sweet place to work.
H - Hayley, for being my venting/exploring/restaurant-ing/traveling buddy!
I - Ice cream (especially chipwiches), for being ice cream.
J - Jewelry, for being so pretty and sparkley :)
K - Kathy, for taking on bugs/scary animals/dirt etc. to make me happy in August.
L - Liz & Laura, for being the best sisters a girl could ask for.
M - Mom, for always doing what moms do best.
N - Napa, for being so amazing and beautiful and sunny.
O - Once Upon a Time, for being the best magical show on television (with a super dreamy cast).
P - Pickles, for being the perfect snack.
Q - Quotes, for helping me get through the every day.
R - Rose, for being my oldest and greatest friend, even 6,000 miles away.
S - Sara, for being my soulmate/Buddha life partner/California girl.
T - TV, in general, for being the ultimate distraction.
U - Umbrellas, for protecting me from the rain? (Clearly starting to get desperate at the end of the alphabet).
V - Vacation days, for being so plentiful and amazing when you work out.
W - Walkinsauce.tumblr.com, for being the funniest blog and making me somewhat excited to be single again.
X - Xxtra pickles on sandwiches (that's how the online ordering websites write it!) -- did I already say pickles?
Y - Yellow, for being the prettiest color for flowers.
Z - Zzzs, because I've been sleeping pretty freakin' well!!

And now, lots of pictures of delicious food:

My candied yams ready for the oven!

The cutest little penguins.

Spinach dip.

Cutting the turkey! Don't know why it looks so small...

Brussels sprouts and bacon.

Festive salad.

Marshmallow casserole...I mean candied yams.

Beet salad and some carved turkey.

Most of the spread!

Stuffing and broccoli cheddar casserole.

Buffet style (sadly my apartment is too small for a big table).

My plate. Shit that looks good.

Only dessert I photographed...monkey bread!

Balancing act.

Chocolate cupcake aftermath (sorry Andy).