So much to be thankful for.

So my family came to visit for Thanksgiving and in the four days they were here I took one picture. ONE PICTURE! And it was of Kyle and Gigi. I was too busy enjoying every moment with my family that I barely touched my phone or camera. I even left my phone in the bed for a whole day. I just didn't care about social media, I cared about spending time with my amazing family. So I will catch you up on some highlights:
1. We deep fried our turkey! My dad has done it before and Kyle was so excited! It took 42 minutes and completely freed up the oven for all the other cooking.
2. Since we don't have cable I was a little bummed about missing the Thanksgiving day parade. But my amazing SIL found it streaming for free and we hooked up the computer to the TV and enjoyed!
3. My mom and SIL did all the cooking, thank god. Everything was so delicious.
4. On Friday my dad, brother and Kyle went and picked up all the baby furniture. My mom, SIL and I went to Target and picked out all the nursery decorations. This included curtains, lamp and lamp shade, crib sheets, art work for the walls. We then went to Lowes, got a beautiful paint and got to work. Nursery reveal to come. But it would not have been possible without the help of my family. I am so happy with how it turned out! Now I just need a baby to put in the room.
5. Saturday we went to Atlanta for a showing of 'A Christmas Carol' at Alliance Theater. So much fun! Beforehand we ate at Tap, a gastropub on Peachtree St, right by the theater. Highly recommend. Watching 'A Christmas Carol' was the perfect start to the holiday season!



So there are the highlights. Such a wonderful long weekend. And I have so much to be thankful for! can't wait to see them all again at Christmas in Pensacola!

Weekend Update

I'm linking up with Sami's Shenanigans to share my weekend!

1. One my way to Atlanta to visit Brianna, that's my excited face. She is in Atlanta twice a year for a conference, so it is the perfect excuse for a reunion!

2. Selfie in the elevator with Brianna.

3. We  celebrated National Margarita Day on Friday.

4. Emerald nail polish. Loving. Painted my nails while Brianna was giving her presentation on leadership at SEIFC.

5. Thrift shopping with Kyle on Sunday, just call him Macklemore. Found this gem of a leather jacket. Hilarious.

Music Midtown

My first real festival experience was Hangout Fest in 2011. You can ready about that here. SO MUCH FUN! I love live music. Living in Athens helps, but it is always nice to see a bunch a bands in a short period of time. Well I think it is NO COINCIDENCE that two of friends have asked about Music Midtown in Atlanta in September.

I am going to take this a a sign that I probably should put something together for the girlfriends to travel down to GA and go listen to some awesome bands! Brianna and Savannah if you are reading this is directed AT YOU! Expect an email in your inbox within the hour.

Good Bye Little Car

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent the first half of my weekend in Atlanta visiting one of my favorite people in the whole world! Brianna was in town for a conference. So I decided to hope on over and crash. We caught up over drinks (swirl margaritas to be exact!) Great!

We went to breakfast at the Flying Biscuit. DELICIOUS! 

Someone needs to replace a light bulb.

Pretty tablecloth

They dust the top of the biscuit with SUGAR

The french toast was to DIE FOR!

It was so great to be with my friend. When I got home Kyle and I started talking about my car. There were issues with the car and it is an older car. I crunched some numbers and it was more financially responsible to sell it then fix it. So we took it to Carmax to see what I could get for it. They appraised the car and gave us a number and I jumped. It was a number big enough to get us out of all credit card debt. HELL YES one goal of 2012 DONE! So we are now a one car family, with no credit card debt and we are paying less in car insurance and parking! I will take it (look for a later blog post on how life with one car and two drivers is working, ha!)

My last picture with the little car!

TGIF!

Thank GOODNESS it is Friday! This week has been hellish and I feel like I am being pulled in A MILLION directions. I need this weekend to recharge! I am going to Atlanta tonight to see this girl:

I'm excited to see my friend! Just got to make it through this work day! AHHH!


So let's do a little Photo Challenge catch up!
Photo Challenge 22: Where you Work

Yes my desk is a mess, and yes that is a Michael Kors and Zeta Tau Alpha Themis magazine on my desk.

Photo Challenge 23: Your Shoes

I wore these Thursday. My favs!

Photo Challenge 24: Your Bathroom Cabinet

My cabinet looks a little bare. My vanity is covered in stuff (mostly make up) and then I have tons of storage under the sink. I am currently using Philosophy products for my skin care routine. I really like how they work. Just not a fan of how Hope in a Jar smells. Love the Microdelivery peel, and it smells like citrus. 

Some other things I am loving this Friday:

These bib necklaces form Eclcetic Ornaments Etsy shop!

This maxi skirt from Old Navy- it is actually BLUE

This polka dot dress

This floral dress

This hot pink blazer

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Husband's Birthday!

So it's been awhile.... life got crazy there for a second. After my birthday we moved straight into a visit from my in-laws and the husband's birthday! For birthday dinner we went to Agua Linda, look how happy the birthday boy is about his hat!

YAY for margaritas!

I got the husband the Steve Jobs' Biography, a new work shirt and some socks. But he was really thrilled about the tie clip my parents got him for his birthday.

While the in- laws were here we went to Atlanta to visit the mall (thank you again for the jeans and moccasins!) we also got to enjoy some of my mother in-laws wonderful cooking skills! My father in- law used my ticket for the Auburn game, and I think he and the husband had a great time at the game!

I got a wonderful fall centerpiece for the table.

I did a simmering pot, our apartment smells delicious!

While November has been so busy, I am THANKFUL of all of the time we get to spend with family and celebrating birthdays! Now if I can just make it through Thanksgiving and all the cooking on November 24th I will be a happy lady!

Weekend in ATL

Well I had a WONDERFUL weekend! my beautiful mother, future sister in law and her mother came to visit me in Georgia! My brother came as well, but he came to Athens to hang out with his brother in law while I stayed with the girls in Buckhead and had a girls weekend!
In anticipation of this trip I emailed a good friend of mine (fellow Tech alumna, sorority sister and Georgian) to get some advice about where to eat, and thank goodness I did because her advice was priceless. We all celebrated my birthday at Kyma. GREAT GREEK food! So delicious. My brother and husband decided to be adventurous and had skate wing... yes like the fish you see at the aquarium.

 I hope these guys caught my brothers dinner... oh the crazy things you find on the Internet.

We had a lovely evening, but we were back at the hotel early to go to bed so that we could get up early to go find my BRIDESMAID dress! My brothers wedding is 198 days away! I had no clue were we were going to look, but when I found out we were going to Bridals by Lori I almost flipped! I had a great time trying on dresses and finding a great one, that I love and my family loved! And yes, I saw Monte!

After dress shopping we decided to go to the aquarium, LOVE! My out of state visitors said that it was the best aquarium they have been to! I got so annoyed by all the people using the flash on their cameras. It clearly states on all the exhibits to not use a flash. I would hate to be one of the fish and feel like there were paparazzi chasing me all over my tank. I did have an embarrassing moment going through security. After leaving the bridal shop I had put all my "special undergarments" in my bag but forgot to leave them in the car when we got to the aquarium. I warned the poor guy checking bags at the aquarium security that I had a bunch of underwear in my bag and I didn't want to embarrass/ weird him out. My mom died laughing. Oh well!

My mom was shocked by all the nice cars in Buckhead. We started playing count the Maseratis during our trip! Our trip to Lenox Mall totally helped with that game!

While I was not shocked at all the nice cars.... I WAS SHOCKED THAT SANTA WAS ALREADY AT THE MALL!! I am all for a little holiday cheer before Thanksgiving, BUT SERIOUSLY, SANTA IN THE MALL! Slow your roll Lenox Mall.

After the mall trip (amazingly no one purchased anything!) we went back to the hotel to figure out dinner plans and hit up the hotel lounge. I found a new favorite drink, raspberry lemon drops! DELICIOUS! For dinner we went to Chops. AMAZING steakhouse and the ONLY TWO PICTURES I TOOK FROM THE TRIP:

Of course they were of food! Even though we had a celebrity run in... Ne Ne Leakes from RHOA was at Chops!! My future sister in law's mother and I ran outside to get her autograph. She was so tall in person, and very nice!!



I had a GREAT girls weekend and visit with my family. I ate so well, I don't think I will have to eat for weeks! Hope everyone else had a great weekend! Now, I am preparing for my husband's birthday tomorrow and my in laws arriving tonight and visiting for the rest of the week! Can't wait to show them around Athens/ Atlanta! So much great family time!