Top 10 - Trip to the US

10 highlights from my trip to the US (excluding Thanksgiving which deserves its own post), mainly revolving around food:

*sorry pics are not the best since they are from my phone! 

^^A trip to Whole Foods 

^^Dim sum & chinese food with family. Plus beef chow fun craving finally satisfied.

^^Grilled cheese and tater tots in the city from here

^^Maternity clothes shopping complete with a belly pillow

^^Thai food with my oldest friend

^^Catching up with old friends over New Haven pizza

^^The best pancakes I've ever had from here

^^First baby purchases, particularly, these shoes to match mine and A's Sperrys! 

^^Spending time with sis

^^Celebrating with room

And then it was off to the airport directly after the wedding! It was a short trip, but I was so happy I decided to go for the week especially since this will probably be the last trip I take without a little one for a while.

Thanksgiving Recap

I was SO excited to be able to spend Thanksgiving in Connecticut this year. (The one downside was A wasn't able to come with me since he had to work.) It's been five years since I've been able to celebrate my favorite holiday in America and we had all of the classics on the menu which included:

Herb roasted turkey with gravy (17 pounds, dry-brined the day before with 3 tablespoons of salt)
Boneless ham with pineapple
Mom's sage & sausage stuffing
Classic mashed potatoes
Roasted butternut squash
Sweet potato casserole (first time I had it with marshamallows!)
Green bean casserole (the French's recipe, but we used fresh green beans and added fresh baby bella mushrooms)
Sauteed brussels sprouts
Buttered corn kernels
Cranberry sauce (Ocean Spray jellied is my childhood favorite)

We snacked on a few appetizers while we cooked which included:
Shrimp cocktail
Cheese with vegetable crackers
Clam dip (canned clams with softened cream cheese, sour cream, onion, scallions, parsley, salt and pepper - simple & so good!) with Cape Cod potato chips (another favorite)

For dessert there was a classic pumpkin pie plus a cranberry apple pie from Lyman's Orchards, which were of course served with whipped cream and ice cream.

I don't have any exact recipes since my sister and I kind of winged everything based on our past experiences and it all turned out great! I was definitely happy I bought a pair of maternity leggings the day before as they were super comfortable and stretched to fit my Thanksgiving dinner food baby :)

^^The 17 pound dry-brined turkey rubbed with butter and ready for the oven. A few leaves of sage and sprigs of rosemary and thyme were tucked underneath the skin too. On the bottom of the roasting pan are onions, celery, carrots and a few apples. 

^^Finished turkey with a few of the trimmings - brussels sprouts, ham, butternut squash, mashed potatoes and gravy.

^^Stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce

^^I love this picture of my sister's boyfriend John with their dog Ginger. I thought she was going to pounce on the turkey! She had her own special dog food meal of Turducken afterwards though so she didn't miss out on Thanksgiving dinner.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Week 14

How far along? 14 Weeks, 6 Days
Total weight gain/loss: Up 2 kg (most of it probably due to Thanksgiving)
Maternity clothes? A few maternity tank tops and leggings which are sooo comfortable. I took advantage of the Black Friday sales and stocked up on a bunch of clothes from Target and Motherhood Maternity.
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: Sleeping through the night pretty much except getting up maybe once to pee
Best moment this week: Seeing family and friends in the US! Plus buying the stroller I've been eyeing and bringing it back to Italy with me on the plane with no problems.
Have you told family and friends: Yup, facebook official
Miss Anything? Sushi
Movement: Nothing yet
Food cravings: Still cheese, the cheeseburger and also bagel with cream cheese I had the other day tasted so much more amazing than usual for some reason
Anything making you queasy or sick: The fish section at the supermarket today
Have you started to show yet? I think there is actually more than a food bump starting to show
Gender prediction: I'm still thinking a girl :)
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Mainly happy this week
Looking forward to: Reading books about baby's first year I picked up in the US plus decorating our Christmas tree, which A surprised me with when I got back from my trip