A day in the life

Ahhhhhh..........
That is the sound of my brain, my soul and my body relaxing into the winter break. I have to admit it did not start off this way. I was over 20 minutes late to my extremely overdue haircut appointment today due to massive Atlanta traffic at 10:30 in the morning. I continued to stress myself out by picking up my blackberry to read emails from idiot clients while I spent 12 minutes on an exit ramp. I walked into the salon where I had then significantly stressed my poor stylist out by arriving so late. Luckily, I came bearing Cabernet and chocolates for her.
I spent the remainder of my day listening to Christmas music while I sat by our twinkly tree with two wonderfully warm kitties on my lap. I'm off to see the Santaland Diaries shortly.
What does tomorrow have in store for me? Maybe some recycling and more of the same. Sounds absolutely perfect.
How about you?

The Holidays Are Upon Us

It was a shock to come back to Atlanta after the cruise. Where were the drives to work in the morning that allowed me to take in all of the fall colors and crisp air? They were gone along with the leaves. It was officially winter and I was not happy about it. Luckily, I had a trip to Helen up my sleeve with the hostel (or hostile) gals AND Greg finally caved into getting a REAL Christmas tree from a tree farm.

The past few weeks have been filled with wintry goodness. Helen is cheesy but if you surround yourself with people who can really appreciate it for what it's worth; it's not so bad. I promise. We made sure our cabin had all the essentials: a hot tub and a fireplace. All you need to complete the equation is a few bottles of red wine and some friends. We managed to hit up a local winery on Saturday to procure some surprisingly good Georgia wine.

The Christmas tree farm was awesome. We drove out to Georgia farmland to The Old Barn Christmas Tree Farm. We chose this farm because I had to have a Virginia Pine. It felt so good to walk the rows of trees looking for "the one". We managed to score some spectacular service and a tree all for less then $30.

Now all I need to do is find gifts to go under it....

Wedding Bells and Tan Lines

Why hello there!

It's been a month since my last post. I'll try and make up for it with good news and a travel report. I just got back for Neil and Lindsey's wedding cruise. The wedding festivities started off in a lovely beach house my parents rented on Folly Beach. This also marks the first time Greg and I have shared a bedroom on a family outing. Very exciting!

As Neil, Mary and I browsed the wine selections for the rehearsal dinner, Neil came up to me and said, "So, We're getting married on Sunday". Thoughts raced through my mind: Why would they do this considering all the people who have traveled to see them off on Saturday? Are they insane?

As it turned out, the cruise line had just called saying the ship was delayed a day due to a medical emergency. The wedding would be on Sunday and our cruise would be cut short a day redirecting our initial port destinations. What did we do? We called family and carried on. We still had the rehearsal dinner that night and the post-wedding reception became an open house for guests on Saturday.

Now, Neil and Lindsey share the same anniversary as my grandparents.

The wedding was short and sweet but certainly not lacking in love.

After a quick reception, we bid our farewells to the rest of the family and Greg. I set sail with my shipmate, Mary, for Nassau. Nassau provided us with a unique opportunity. A rare glimpse inside of Atlantis. It all started with some gambling in the casino where Mary stumbled upon a room key. That room key was the golden ticket into the pools and more importantly the water slides. We laughed like hyenas and cursed like sailors as we were launched down slide after slide. Thank you, Suzette.

The following day we were dropped off on Great Stirrup Cay for beach, sun and drinks.

My favorite port, by far, was Key West. I spent my Thanksgiving Day walking its streets and enjoying every moment of it. We did a tour of Hemingway's home and pet as many poly dactyl cats as we could! We enjoyed a lunch of peel-and-eat shrimp at Sloppy Joe's with some of our fellow mateys. We then found our way to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park for sunset. There, we enjoyed the generosity of a couple celebrating their 5 year wedding anniversary. Nothing says Key West like a sunset champagne celebration with strangers!

Our last day on the ship was cold and windy. Mary and I spent our time catching up on reading and sipping on red wine in our cabin. Our final dinner with the wedding party was savored in the same room Neil and Lindsey were married.

I wish I could say that the cruise ended on a high note such as this. Unfortunately, I spent the entire last night and early morning hours seasick. I was so happy to get to Charleston and back to my life on land!

Click on the title for pictures.

Love Birds

I've finally had a moment to upload the honeymoon pictures and even add comments to them.

Click here to view our FAB pictures.

Here is an abbreviated travel blip:

We flew into St. Thomas and took the ferry over to St. John where we rented a Jeep. I enjoyed watching Greg navigate the island driving on the left side of the road as I absorbed all of the jungle scenery. He rented an incredible love bungalow with breath taking views. It also had a hot tub for star gazing.

For those of you that don't know: St. John is about 17 square miles and about 3/4 National Park. We rented snorkel equipment and spent most of our days as follows:

Wake up.

Eat breakfast on the deck overlooking Peter Bay.

Pack a cooler filled with lunches and brews.

Head to one of the many National Park beaches.

Come back to the house to clean up and head to "town" for a romantic dinner.

I'll let the rest remain a mystery!

The wildlife on the island was awesome. We swam with sea turtles and rays, saw a mongoose and wild donkeys on the side of the road and counted more lizards and bats than we could imagine. I can't wait to go back!

Happy, happy

It is so good to be back into the groove of normal life. The wedding was wonderful. It was the single most amazing day of my life. Our honeymoon in St. John was exactly what we wanted: lots of rest and lots of beach! I'll post those pictures soon.

We're plugging through the final details of the wedding like opening gifts and writing thank you notes. Tough, huh?

Last weekend, I went to a corn "maize" in celebration of all of the lovely Fall weather here.

I am thankful for...

...September weather...being with a man for 11 years who still romances me...friends that throw me panty parties....bosses that let you claim a "mental health" half day after a very long week...kitties that love Friday afternoon naps as much as I do...people sending well wishes to my mum...

Most of all I'm thankful the wedding is just a few days away!

May The Forest Be With You

Maigh was kind enough to plan a long weekend away from wedding stress, work and pretty much everything. I spent three days with three ladies as we got to know each other and perhaps ourselves a little better.

The hostel welcomed us with a bumpy ride in from the main road as we blared The Pixies. We were quickly introduced to a world of soft sandy paths, screened in bunkhouses, sawdust toilets, outdoor Angel showers, chickens in trees and drinking from jars. I loved it.

We spent our time exploring St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island and the grounds of the hostel. We laughed at how our organic wine tasted like "The Dome" and sang along to Indigo Girls songs around the campfire. We made friends with our hippie hosts and spent starlit evenings swimming happily in the lake.

I'm having a hard time retaining the peacefulness I experienced this weekend.

Enjoy some of the snapshots from the weekend: Mine , Kelly's and Maigh's (she was our little shutterbug).

Optimism

I don't know if you ever explore some of the other blogs and websites I link to on this page. For my daily dose of environmental activism, I head to No Impact Man.

He recently mentioned that, "Optimism is the most radical political act there is".

And I agree. Not only is it an interesting view on political action, but also a wonderful way to live your life. I'm fortunate to have people in my life that lead me to places like this for a long weekend.

Shower Me with Love

Ashlea and Stacie threw an amazing shower for me last week. I thought I would amuse you with this picture of me reading off my list of "Wedding Night Comments" while wearing my bow bonnet.
Good stuff. This week marks the one month countdown to the wedding!
*Click on the title see more pictures from the shower.

It's official

Things are moving quickly now.
The invitations are out. The response cards are trickling in.
Greg and I ventured to Asheville again for very official business. Hold up your right hand and swear stuff.

The road well traveled

Strange Sighting

Last weekend, I was caught in traffic on my drive back home for wedding planning and I spotted this picture on the back of a van. An image of a little kid in a cowboy hat. It really gets your imagination going....Is this child missing? Did he pass away? Are they just proud parents? Are these people just messing with me?
Any other thoughts on this?

A little down time

I would like to welcome you all to my first Saturday night blog. It didn't start off this way. For once, I had two parties to go to. I had my hair "did" today. I watched as they started to frame a house IN MY BACKYARD. Seriously. We won't get into that right now.
Just for kicks, we'll get into why I'm couch bound. I was walking down our foyer steps with a pasta salad (potluck B-B-Q stop #1) and a Bond Girl costume (07.07.07 celebration stop #2). With so much stuff in my hands, I couldn't see where I was going and completely missed the last step. My ankle did the notorious wibble-wobble and that was that. I downed a pain pill with a glass of vino and ate my pasta salad for dinner. Danielle mentioned that the universe must be telling me that I needed a night alone. And I do. Signing off from the couch...

Rant

#1 McDonald's melts your brain.

I know this because they recently opened one near our house. I sit at a flashing signal light waiting to find out what direction these people would like to turn after getting their food. One in every ten cars that sits across from me actually puts on a turn signal to indicate "Hey, there other drivers! I'm turning right!". The other nine cars I suspect are chowing down on a Big Mac or are simply intoxicated by the smell of french fries.

# 2 Greg and I are not "Hippies".

We are environmentally and socially aware people. We bathe regularly. We do not wear patchouli or Birkenstocks. We own ipods. We don't listen to the Grateful Dead or drive VW vans. We do love the Earth and -most- of its inhabitants.

My jars are half full

How about yours?
The days have been filled with wedding planning and talk. We went to Chris and Kristin's couples shower to celebrate with good eats and good company. The strangest thing about the party was running into Ashes, a cockatiel I used to pet sit for over ten years ago. That bird is still rockin'! Oh, and I fell in love with the Hammy Hammock in the backyard. There is nothing better than relaxing after a few beers and watching the trees sway above you.
Sunday was spent sunning under the north Georgia skies. I thank the Reeces for a pleasant afternoon and the privilege of excavating mason jars from their yard.

Mi Vida Loca

The past few weeks have been filled with all kinds of goodness. Farmers' Fresh Foods has been providing the good eats and my friends have filled the days with laughter.

The West End Girls did a wine tasting which always puts me in a good mood. How could it not? Good wine and good company always leaves behind a warm and fuzzy feeling.

We hosted a Bike n' Grill this past weekend for our fellow biker buddies. I should really say Greg's fellow bikers because I simply cruise along enjoying the scenery.

Things are FINALLY falling into place for the wedding. It's about time! For being a planner by trade, I've really slacked at my own wedding planning. I'm ready to put it in high gear these next few months.

As for what I've been reading lately, it's all about food. No joke. I recently finished Barbara Kingsolver's latest book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I just started The Omnivore's Dilemma per Jennifer's comment last month. I'm officially on my way to becoming the biggest food nerd known to man.

Bag 'o plenty

I've been frequenting the local Farmer's market on Saturday mornings for the past few weeks. I must say, I enjoy the drive into town for a stroll through the booths filling my tote with goodies.

This week was the kick off week for the CSA I joined. I left work a few minutes early to make sure that I didn't miss the pick up window. I was so pleased to get a teaser email detailing this week's bounty: lettuce, new potatoes, cabbage, parsley, Hakurei turnips, strawberries and spring onions. I rushed home and immediately popped a strawberry in my mouth and starting making plans for upcoming feasts. I'm thinking the new potatoes will be a part of Heckman's Famous Potato Salad recipe tonight. Then, maybe some coleslaw for Memorial Day? But what about those Hakurei turnips??? The CSA manager recommended serving them raw with a slice of brie. I'm down. Brie + anything = yummy goodness. I plan on doing a little more research on those turnips since I have half a paper lunch bag full of them! Please post suggestions if you have any.

A Happy Mother's Day to all....

Saturday morning Greg and I stumbled out of bed at the ripe hour of five forty-five to greet the race particiapants with a t-shirt after the Susan Koman walk/run. Greg's mom passed away from breast cancer 10 years ago this month. Our morning was filled with smiling faces all in line to receive an XL t-shirt from the two of us armed with black permanent markers. As with every breast cancer event we participate in, I'm reminded of the love, grief and hope that connects us all.

My own mother received a personalized e-card from me today similar to the one you see pictured here. I took several around the house and yard only to finally chose one in my front flower bed. I attribute my green thumb to my mother and her side of the family.

I don't think I've ever posted a picture of my two "children". Pinochle is on the left looking off into the distance and Danka is on the right striking her best show cat pose. I took the picture with a tripod off our entrance steps which is my explanation of why the top if my head is missing from the photo.

A weekend of eating

Goodness there was a lot of eating going on! It all started with a potluck lunch at work. I always leave with a stomach ache from overindulging. We headed straight to the Braves game which included beer, boiled peanuts and a pretzel.

Saturday morning began with a trip to a local farmer's market. This jump started week one of supporting local farms. I picked up some organic yellow grits, another herb for the garden-Sorrel and a bunch of carrots. You can see my bag overflowing with carrot greens! Then, off to Ashlea and Jeff's low country boil. Yum! Good times with old friends.

On Sunday, I must have OD-ed on food because I totally flaked on a brunch date with Danielle and another gal. I never do that. Seriously. I worked off my guilt in the yard. I don't know if it makes up for my bad behavior, but I plan on making a grit casserole with my local grits for her Mother's Day brunch this weekend.

I've been tagged

Yep. I've been a blogger for well over a year now and managed to escape the dern memes. Jennifer got me. It's okay. She's the co-creator of the My Boyfriend's Back choreography so I forgive her.

Here are my 7 random facts:

# 1. I love singing along to show theme songs. You should hear me during the opening credits of The Office and Scrubs.

# 2. I think I would make a mighty fine river otter.

# 3. In 3rd grade, our class watched Old Yeller and I had to leave the room because I was crying so hard when it came time to shoot poor old Yeller. I also never finished Where the Red Fern Grows because I heard they shoot the dogs at the end of the book. Let's just say, I'm not a big fan of shooting dogs.

# 4. I haven't eaten meat (seafood on occasion) in 11 years but if I did breakdown it would be an Arby's roast beef sandwich smothered in Arby's sauce.

# 5. I can't sound words out in English. I've memorized every word I know and it drives my mother crazy. I can, however, sound out words in Spanish. Comprende?

# 6. I knew a girl who kept a booger collection in empty jewelry boxes.

# 7. I love living in the 'burbs.

Oh yeah...I'm gonna tag some of you fellow bloggers out there!

Earth Day Craze

Okay. Evidently you've been wondering what I've been up to this month. Yeah, sorry about that. Work has been nutty, we did a little wedding planning and I came down with a case of the nasties....sinus stuff.
What has been dominating my thoughts lately? The impact my lifestyle has on this planet. Greg and I have tried very hard over the years to have as little negative impact as possible. Not that we're perfect by any means, we no longer carpool and it's taken a year and a half to find a recycling center near our new house. Thanks, Meredith!
My latest fascination has been with supporting local farms and reducing the mileage between our food sources and our kitchen table. I'm reading Plenty: One Man and One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally. It just came out last week and it has certainly has peaked my interest. I've done a little investigating about local farms and came across the following website. As it turns out, I can pick up a bag of locally grown produce and eggs once a week during the growing season. It's not the cheapest thing in the world, but until I can grow more than a herb garden and a few tomato plants in my yard; it will do. If you're inspired, you should check it out. I'll keep you posted on our attempt at doing more local eating! Bon appetit.

Sensory Overload

The other night, after a long day of working late I went outside on our deck to enjoy a beer alone. Greg was inside playing a very loud video game and after dealing with the public all day long...I needed some time alone. I sat out there and it reminded me of the last time we went camping. The evening was dank with a recent rain and the quiet solitude was comforting.
I looked up into the Georgia pines and saw something flashing. An airplane? No. It was the appearance of the season's first fireflies. I soaked up the woods and all they had to offer....little did I know what the next day had in store for me. Both of those experiences reminded me of how lucky I am.

Freeze frame

A month or so ago, I received an email from a gal I went to high school with as she prepared to pull together contacts for my ten year reunion. Later, I was sent the website for the details for the reunion. It was only recently that I explored the site a little more and stumbled across the Classmates section.
I was floored.
Most of my classmates are married with kids. Everyone looks old, too. I don't know if the single people are just scared to post their profiles or what? It really freaked me out.
See for yourself: EHS 2007 reunion. I haven't included my own profile as of yet. I'm still in shock.
I've posted a lovely picture from my sophomore year. It was Great Gatsby Day with my English class. You can see me sporting a blonde wig dressed as a flapper on the left.

Spring Fever

I've got it. How could you not? The sun is shining, the daffodils are up, and Daylight Savings is soon upon us! Danielle brought over these fabulous daffodils from her garden. We're enjoying them and I thought you might, too.

For a few hours this weekend, I was on serious weed control in the backyard. Sheesh, those things grow fast! I'm just ready for the rest of my garden to awaken from Winter's slumber. Our priority this year is erosion control on the back slope. I can't wait to start digging in the dirt again!

Good times

The long weekend trip to California proved to be a huge success. I've included a brief travel journal for our time out there. Thank you to all the ladies who joined me in celebrating my birthday, Laura's birthday and my upcoming wedding to the man of my dreams!

Day One: We all arrived in San Francisco a little worn from our respective hometowns at 10 PM local time. We quickly checked in to our fabulous hotel and headed across the street for some cocktails. Elliott and Danielle proved to be the more logical ones as they headed back across the street at a reasonable hour. Not the rest of us! We were there as they turned the lights up and the music down.

Day Two: We awoke bright and early and ready to SHOP. Off to H&M! Next, we picked up our new friend, White Thunder. White Thunder took us to brunch in Sausalito. Greg was such a doll and gave Danielle money to treat all of us to my birthday brunch. Awwwwww......

We then headed up to Muir Woods to hike off the crazy amounts of food we consumed at Fred's. We ended up on the Ocean View trail that nearly killed me. Afterwards, we all crawled back in the van and about lost our lunches winding along HWY 1 on the drive to Dillon Beach. My birthday closed with a dinner of frozen gourmet pizza, beer and some hot tubbin'. Ah, what a day!

Day Three: Wine Country!!! We visited 4 wineries and thanks to Lindsey for being our DD. We hit up a cute wine and tapas bar for lunch. The evening ended with some sampling of the wines we bought earlier in the day followed by some extreme hot tubbin'. We had wicked winds and storming Saturday night...it actually blew part of the roof off!

Day Four: More wine country. More incredible views. More good food. More hot tub fun.

Day Five: Back to reality.

Click on the blog title to see pictures from the trip. There are A TON of them! Thanks again, White Thunder Herd.

Jet Setting Thursday

In just a few short hours, we will be heading to the great state of California.
San Francisco tonight, Muir Woods on Friday and then off to Wine Country......
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

My dears...

A little over a year ago, we found out they were putting a subdivision behind our house. In our woods. Well, they really aren't ALL our woods but it sure felt like it! We loved the privacy they provided and the wildlife spotting from our kitchen windows.

About the same time we found out about the subdivision, we saw two deer from our kitchen window one morning while we were getting ready for work. As the construction started in the subdivision, we thought about the fate of our friends. We hiked around the construction site a month or so ago and found deer tracks in the mud. Wahoo!

This morning, I was up making monkey bread for our President's Day breakfast and Pinochle started making all kind of noises by the window. Low and behold I went over to find a deer hanging out near our woods. I ran to grab a camera and managed to snap a quick picture.

Enjoy some our our southern wildlife, ya'll!

XOXOXO

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

I remember the days that we decorated paper bags or shoe boxes and lined them along our classroom to fill with cards and candy. I'd go home to find my mom had bought us ACT fluoride protection in bright red. Squeeze the bottle and the cap fills up with mouth wash! Man, I loved that stuff. I probably could use a good mouth wash after a day filled with chocolates and conversation hearts.

Memories...

Recently, Greg and I have been watching the Dog Whisperer. I've been thinking a lot about Zoe lately and I really miss having a dog in our life. Greg and I both admit that right now is not the best time for us to adopt a dog, so that will happen towards the end of this year - I hope!

Our thoughts then turned to what kind of dog do we want? One day, I'd like to have another Golden Retriever again, but not now. My vote for our next dog is a mutt from the pound. Our cats are not "breeds"...they simply wandered into our lives. Greg, on the other hand, wanted a certain breed we had seen one day while at a local bike shop. We've been debating the breed of this dog for quite a while now. I remembered the dog as a medium-sized pup with gray short hair. Maybe it had a few spots around the head was probably part of the hound family? Greg remembered it as closer to a Weimaraner.

Last night on our walk between a pub and our dinner destination, we passed that same bike shop again. Sure enough, a gray dog was sitting outside. We walked up and one of the bike guys came out of the store. I asked him if this dog wears a pearl necklace from time to time and he laughed and said, "Yes, but he doesn't like to admit it!". We spoke for a few minutes about his dog when I asked what breed he is. A mutt. He's probably part Akita and part Great Dane according to his owner.

We went to dinner and on our walk back to the car the bike dude called us back. "Hey, I have something for you!" He went into the store, grabbed a pearl necklace and called the dog over. I laughed and dug into my purse for my camera. So, I've included a picture of Night sporting his pearl necklace. I hope that it will help jog our memories in the future!

Make new friends, but keep the old....

Greg and I added to our household this weekend. Really, we just added to one of the fish tanks. We finally bought some fish for the saltwater tank in our kitchen that has housed only live rock, live plants and a whole bunch of hermit crabs for the past year. We needed some fish. On that note, I'd like to introduce to you:
Gumbo, a yellow-tailed damsel.
Boy George, a bi colored dotty back.
Olive, a pink spotted watchman goby.

As we were driving home, we started reminiscing about all of the fish and fish-like creatures that have passed through Greg's tanks over the years. Naming the fish has always been so much fun for us. Let's recount some of our friends: Prickly Pete, Gilbert, Buzz, Guermo, Felix, Moltar & Margarita (a hermit crab couple), Tex, Lemont, Glida and Nugget just to name a few.

Destination-California Wine Country

The plans are coming together for a long weekend in Northern California with some of my lady friends. It will be a bachelorette weekend of sorts with a dash of birthday spice. And I'm just a little bit excited. To say the least.

Cheers.