Months have passed since the last time I picked up my camera and walked around with it all weekend, snapping photos of my coffee and the street and all the things we eat and drink and do from Friday night to Sunday afternoon, so this weekend I announced that I was going to take pictures of everything, because it had been too long.

It was one of those weekends that just slowly unfolds--we had tickets to an oyster roast at one of our favorite breweries in the neighborhood, so our plan was to walk to the grocery store for a crab cracker and/or an oyster knife first. On our way to Publix we passed the new Anthropologie location which always lures me in "just to smell the candles;" so we made our rounds and checked on all the dresses that were 25% off even though the clothes there are very rarely my thing. Christmas decorations were out in full force and it made me forget that I'm generally anti-Christmas-before-Thanksgiving (although we will most likely be decorating our apartment sometime in the next 48 hours because hey, it's the most wonderful time of the year).

We walked out of Anthro and Rob said, "Do you want a coffee?" which is cute because I always want a coffee. We stopped by the Not Just Coffee at Atherton Mill and ordered one iced latte and one cold brew because it's almost Thanksgiving but down here it can feel like spring in the sunshine.

On Sunday I woke up early with Ender, walked around outside with him, drank a cup of coffee, and went to barre at 9:00. I came home and Rob was still in bed, so I ate leftover frittata from the day before and cleaned my desk. We walked the dog and came home to lounge and got in one of those arguments that come out of nowhere and I watched Grey's Anatomy and cried even though I'd seen it before.

The sun began to set and I made a quick dinner of steaks and broccoli and we ate at the coffee table like we always do, and after we ate, we cleaned the kitchen and returned to the couch where I sat with my head on Rob's shoulder and felt that deep, profound happiness that I think we all must dream about at some point or another. I keep saying that we aren't going home for Thanksgiving this year, which is a first; but what I really should be saying is that we are staying home for Thanksgiving this year, because that's finally what this feels like.

As I got in bed, I realized I still didn't pick up my camera even once.

Photos or not, these are the days I'll always remember.

Photo by Joshua Vasko for Freckled Italian.

Ender's first birthday is the day before Thanksgiving, so we thought we'd throw him a party a little early and avoid the holiday craziness in everyone's schedules. We joke that we didn't have any friends in Charlotte until we got a dog, and even though it sounds ridiculous, it's actually true--so it was fitting that our Charlotte best friends and their pups all came over for an afternoon of treats and celebration.

We decided on a circus theme, so I ordered some decorations from this suite on Minted--I dreamed that the dogs would wear the paper crowns but kept realistically low expectations, and I was totally surprised by how easily they wore them. Like me, they'll do almost anything for popcorn.

It was so funny and cute and everything worked out exactly the way I hoped it would. I'm about to share a ton of photos with you, so before I get into that I thought I'd list the party details, because I'm still giggling about all of them:

• Puppy Party invitations that I addressed to each dog.
• Decorations from the suite I linked to above: Bunting Banner, Circle Garlands, Table Signs, Cupcake Toppers, Party Crowns, and Mini Notecard Favors.
• Dog birthday cake from Canine Cafe in Charotte. We got the peanut butter banana flavor because the woman who runs the place said it was "paws down the favorite." I also grabbed a few freshly baked dog biscuits while I was picking up the cake and put them in little cellophane bags with blue ribbon as party favors.
• Champagne cocktails with cotton candy.
• Circus-themed snacks included hot dogs, popcorn, salted peanuts in the shell, and cupcakes.
• The other drinks I got were chosen strictly based on how much their labels made me feel like I was at the circus: Not Your Father's Root Beer in bottles and a bunch of PBR in cans.

This post is brought to you in partnership with Minted.

Photos by Rémy Thurston for Freckled Italian.

I'm a big fan of crock pot dinners because they make me feel really productive in just a couple of minutes: throw some stuff in there, turn it on, and check something off your to-do list. You only need a few ingredients for this one, which we just ate straight up in a bowl with a couple of toppings, but you could throw it over rice or make tacos out of it, too.

I wanted to call this one Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas, but I think fajitas need a lot of butter and a really hot skillet, so we're calling it "Crock Pot Mexcian Chicken." It's delicious, and really pretty when topped with some avocado and a wedge of lime.

Ingredients: 

• 1-1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts or thighs
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 medium red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, sliced
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1-2 tablespoons (or one of those little envelopes) taco seasoning
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Toppings: more onion, sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, lime wedges

Instructions: 

1. Place vegetables at the bottom of your crock pot. 
2. Layer chicken on top and season with taco seasoning. Turn the chicken over and repeat.
3. Turn crock pot on to high for 3 hours. 
4. After time is up, remove chicken and shred or chop. Put it back in the crock pot and keep warm until serving.