Mezzetta recently asked me to use a few of their products to share a recipe associated with a favorite holiday memory, and immediately I thought about my family and some friends gathering around the island in my parents' kitchen for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. It's my favorite part of every holiday--especially Thanksgiving and Christmas.

For Thanksgiving we often make Cosmopolitans, which are delicious but a bit sweet, and from time to time we've been known to shake up a few rounds of Lemon Drop Martinis, which are practically a dessert on their own. When it comes to eating and drinking around the holidays, I'm a big fan of a dirty martini with vodka--it's fancy but straightforward, and its salty olive flavor goes so well with a nice antipasto platter, which is one of my mom's specialties. I've included both recipes for you below. Enjoy!

Really Dirty (Kind of Filthy) Martini

Ingredients:

• One part vodka
• One and a half parts juice from Mezzetta Martini Olives Marinated in Dry Vermouth (If you like your martinis less dirty, just do one part--or less--of olive juice.)
• Ice
• Two or three olives, for garnish

Instructions:

1. Place vodka and olive juice in a shaker with ice. Shake well until the shaker is really cold.
2. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a toothpick loaded with olives.
3. Enjoy with snacks and some people you really like.

Antipasto Platter

Any or All of the Following Ingredients:

• Pepperoncini/Banana Peppers
• Olives
• Pickles
• Marinated Roasted Red, Yellow, or Orange Peppers
• Salami, Pepperoni, and/or Mortadella
• Any assortment of cheese--Parmesan, Gouda, Brie, Manchego, etc.
• Crackers and/or Bread

Thanks to Mezzetta for sponsoring this post. Get a coupon for $.50 off and enter to win a Mezzetta Holiday Favorites Gift Basket right here! Thank you so much for your support as I work with advertisers this holiday season.

Photos by Sarah Gatrell of Photo + Love.

In the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college, I broke up with a guy that I had been seeing for seven months and I felt terrible about it. "I'm making plans not to make plans while I'm here," my away message on AIM stated. I really thought I meant it, too. Because what could be more true than an away message composed of song lyrics?

For as long as I can remember, I've been planning something. I applied to colleges in high school, then picked one and went after I graduated. I chose classes and planned a schedule every semester. Then I graduated and moved, and started a new job, and began graduate school, where I once again chose classes and planned a schedule and left work one half hour early every Wednesday evening.

Then Rob graduated from college and he began graduate school, so we both packed up and moved to Charlottesville, where he chose classes and planned a schedule and I served lattes every morning and wrote my master's thesis every afternoon, wondering what in the world life might look like for someone who isn't a student.

And then there was a year of working full-time and being in a long-distance relationship, where life was about planning the next trip to see each other, or where we might be this time next year, and if we should get the white or the black kitchen table.

We planned our wedding, and a move from Minneapolis to Charlotte. Bridal showers, bachelor parties, boxes. It was 200 days until this and your lease starts on August first. I had a checklist for everything and a ton of excitement and anticipation packed into every moment of my day.

Now that we are here and settled, I'm finding myself wondering what every day life should look like. Planning a fun weekend away but absolutely treasuring our uneventful nights of Netflix on the couch and Thai takeout that we say we aren't going to get but almost always end up picking up anyway. A life of top knots and an early bedtime and leggings, but also an aggressive list of goals that I sit down to write at the beginning of every month. Brewing coffee in the morning while my husband is still in bed. And making plans not to make plans, as true or false as it may be at any moment.

Happy Monday! It's been a while since our last giveaway, so I'm excited to be back with a holiday one for you, courtesy of Caribou Coffee! One lucky reader will win a package full of holiday merchandise, just like the one pictured above (I was lucky enough to get one of my own).

Here's what's inside:

• A knitted, reusable coffee sleeve.
• A gorgeous gold and white travel mug (see mine pictured here).
• The largest and most convenient cold cup in the world.
• A pound of whole bean Caribou Coffee Reindeer Blend.
• A pair of sweet little espresso cups.
• One $10 gift card to Caribou Coffee.

Enter to win below--it's super easy, and you can gain a couple extra entries by following Caribou Coffee on Pinterest and Instagram. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is brought to you in partnership with Caribou Coffee. All of the merchandise you see above (and more) is available online and in Caribou Coffee stores.