Happy December!

I love December and was excited to start my advent calendar this morning. I'm very busy today though so I will have to wait to give a full update tomorrow... Hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and L O N G holiday weekend!

50th Post!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We're headed to Mr. Prepster's parents house this afternoon and will be there until Sunday. I can't wait to have a relaxing weekend outside the city in a quaint, small town and am excited that as soon as Thanksgiving is over, Christmastime will be here! I love the month of December and will surely want to hurry home and put up our tree and decorate our house on Sunday. Some things I'm thankful for this year... a healthy family, a loving husband, a warm home, a rewarding job and wonderful friends in my still relatively new city, oh, and that the Phillies won the World Series. Some things I'm looking forward to for this weekend... seeing my little nephew and Mr. Prepster's family, helping cook a yummy meal, eating pumpkin pie, sleeping in, watching football and shopping for Christmas gifts on black Friday.

Can you believe Prepadelphia has 50 posts! Thanks for all of your support and comments.

Cute Paper Cafe Recipe Cards

I was so enamoured with the recipe cards I won from The Paper Cafe on MMM's blog giveaway that I decided to order them for my Mom, Mother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law. The cards are so cute, personal and make a fab gift for the bargain price of $25 for 20 cards. Actually, I think these would work as holiday gifts for assistants, co-workers, hair stylists, nannies, etc. who love to cook. Below are pictures of the ones that I chose. You can find more designs if you search "recipe cards" on The Paper Cafe's website or you can design your own!

For my Mom:

For my Mother-in-Law:

For my Sister-in-Law:

Preppy PJs

Like so many others, Mr. Prepster and I are going away this Thanksgiving. While it would be fun to host someday, we are still at an age where it is nice to relax at his parents' house for 4 days rather than having to worry about putting on the whole shebang ourselves. Here's the thing though... Mr. Prepster's family tends to like to "get comfy" shortly after dinner and so everyone puts on sweats/pjs/robes, etc. and hangs out in them for the rest of the night. As you can imagine, I suffered through a couple of awkward holidays there in the last several years with my really inappropriate and/or uncute sleeping garmets on full display for my new family. Luckily I remembered this "tradition" in time to get some cute new PJs to take with me this year. I found these preppy, comfy pants from Old Navy and this cami and henley from Gap for ridiculously cheap, and now I'm all set for comfy family time this Thanksgiving!

Try a New Recipe Thursdays - Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes

These potatoes would make a unique Thanksgiving side dish and would provide a nice savory complement to the sweetness of the traditional candied yam dish so many people make. Bonus points because it is easy to prepare and can be made ahead of time. Turkey day is only a week away, so get cooking!

3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup whole milk
1 onion, chopped
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
4 ounces soft fresh goat cheese (such as Montrachet), crumbled

Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, bring milk, onion and butter to boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Drain potatoes and return to pot. Add hot milk mixture and mash. Add goat cheese and mash until blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Note: dish can be prepared 2 hours ahead of time.) Let stand at room temperature. Before serving, stir over low heat until heated through. Sprinkle with parsley or chives for added flair.

Yield: 6 servings

Is it too early to talk about Christmas decorations?

I hope not because I am very excited to decorate a real house for the first time this year! Granted I've had a few good tiny apartment Christmases, but I've never had a substantial space inside or outside to decorate. Plus, seeing all of the holiday catalogs and December magazines has really gotten me in the mood to start brainstorming what to do this year. We are definitely going to put candles in our windows and lately, I've become obsessed with the idea of hanging small wreaths from red ribbon in our windows too. The windows are very tall, so I think it might be ok to have both a candle and a wreath, as long as the wreath is up high.

The wreath look I want is basically a combination of what is in the pictures below. I like the look of hanging the wreath in an outdoor window like the picture on the left, though I would hang it higher up, but I like the actual wreath better in the picture on the right. I am excited to hear what others in the preppy blog world are doing for their Christmas and holiday decorations, so feel free to share your favorite ideas.

Christmas Lists!

Mr. Prepster and I made up our Christmas lists this weekend. Until I got married I didn't really buy in to the concept of a Christmas list. In my family we were always just surprised with our gifts, but I have to admit it has been fun to pick some things out on put them on a "wish list" the past couple of years :) So here are some of the suggestions I gave my in-laws this year. What's on your list?

Victoria Ruffle Cami from J.Crew

Cashmere Heirloom Henley from J.Crew

Lulu Leather Ballet Flats from J.Crew

Mariposa Pearled Pie Caddy

Mariposa Pearled Small Square Platter

Mariposa Pearled Spreaders

Footed Soup Tureen and Soup Bowls from Crate and Barrel

Sunday Soup cookbook

Stainless Steel Charger Plates from Crate and Barrel (these were on my wedding registry but I didn't get quite enough)

Oval Vegetable Dish in my formal china pattern, Herend Queen Victoria

Cardy Ugg Boots

Cachepot from To Bee Named

Desk Calendar from The Paper Cafe

Notecards from The Paper Cafe