Every day is an adventure. I share the view, the gratitude and the finds on Fridays – you’re invited to join in. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.

The View

I am so grateful for:

• A successful (and delicious) Test Thanksgiving (most of the baking pictured above.)
• Genuine enthusiasm about our holiday plans.
• Following my enthusiasm towards the (seemingly) insane English Paper Piecing.
• My lovely secret project (you can follow along on Instagram if you're not related to me)
• The lovely quilts that come from my online quilting bee, which are sent to My Very Own Blanket (a charity I love so much that I'm donating $5 from every Holiday Sanity to it.)

The Finds:

• In Flora Bowly's email newsletter, she shared this quote by Lily Tomlin:

“Gratitude is giving up all hope for a better past.”

It got me thinking. What would happen if you gave up hope for a better past? I work with people with really awful pasts: abusive childhood, cancer diagnosis, chronic illness. (Yes, we work on businesses, but all this comes up and informs any new adventure.) So I bet you have a past that you spend some time wishing was better. What would happen if you gave that up? If you stopped going over and over the things that went wrong, the people that hurt you, all that you missed out on? How much simpler would your present be?

• This is a great article for crafters who are growing their blog (perhaps with this workbook?). If you're just starting out, read the first part of the mini-series.

• Craft Friday! A great idea from Beverly, let's make instead of buy on Black Friday! (I'll be snuggled up with family, so crafting is inevitable!

• If you're dealing with your worst case scenario (cancer, divorce, parental illness), Vanessa will help you unlock your inner Sensei, figure out what help you want and need, and then get bold enough to ask for it. She just opened these sessions, and I made her promise to raise the prices SOON, so grab one while it's ridiculously affordable.

Since someone always asks, these are the recipes I've made this week:

• Pumpkin pie brownies (better the second day)
• Pumpkin Chocolate loaf (amazing)
• This pot pie wrapped in this pie crust ( very good, but I'm trying it in muffins tins next for the right filling to crust ratio)
• Sweet potato biscuits (very good, Southern-style biscuits with no sweet potato flavor (if I make these again, I'll add herbs)
• Everyday Pad Thai (One of my all time favorite dinners. I would eat this everyday.)
• Tempeh Chili Con Frijoles with Hush Puppy Corn Muffins (my favorite chili + muffin combo – I add black beans and jalapenos to the chili)

You can find everything I plan to make and do this season here on Pinterest, and all of the vegan recipes I plan to or have made here. 

Need a better plan for your holiday cooking and making? Holiday Sanity can help! It closes in just one week!