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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Piedmont Park Picnic

Ever since we moved to Atlanta (almost 4.5 years ago!), we've wanted to have a picnic in Piedmont Park. Simple enough, but for various reasons we just hadn't made it happen. As I was driving back from Gatlinburg a few weekends ago, I got home earlier than expected and it was sunny outside but not too hot. We figured if we didn't go for it then, it might never happen.

It took about 20 minutes total to pack up a few things, stop by the store to pick up some food, drive to the park, and setup our little area. It was so easy, we couldn't believe it took us this long to do it. Molly loved our picnic and so did we.




our make-shift, disposable cooler






Out of nowhere it was looking like it might storm, so we started packing up and getting ready to make a run for it.  It never actually rained on us but we could see the storm clouds rolling over our neighborhood.



And then...a beautiful rainbow!


It was a pretty darn perfect evening, which set the picnic bar rather high for us first-timers. We're hoping there are many more picnics in our near future - hopefully before another 4.5 years go by.





Thursday, May 24, 2012

Sara's Bachelorette Weekend

Last weekend, I drove up to Gatlinburg, TN to celebrate my cousin, Sara, for her bachelorette weekend! Sara wanted more of a girls weekend rather than a traditional bachelorette party. And for the most part, that's what she got - but her friends didn't let her get away without a little bachelorette fun :)

Friday night we threw a lingerie shower and played some really fun games. These girls are so creative! Her MOH, Mary has most of the pictures from that night so hopefully I'll add some of the more tasteful ones later ;)

a few of her goodies!

opening my present :)

Sara's Bride cup for the night!




Saturday we headed to the Tanger outlets and shopped til we dropped. I did some serious damage there...



After our shopping excursion we headed back to the cabin for the night. We stayed at my parent's cabin up in the mountains. I hadn't been there in over five years, so it was great to see the place. Sara and her friends live in Knoxville, which is about an hour and a half away, so they come to the cabin pretty regularly. In fact, I think they've all been there more times than I have! (For anyone interested in staying there you can rent it here. Free advertising, mom and dad - you're welcome!)

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we hung out on the deck for most of the afternoon and played Spoons (or Forks...). It quickly became a fierce competition!

view from the deck




Stephanie wins!



Sara wins!

can you tell we are related?!


cousin love

We waited until it got a little cooler so we could go in the hot tub that night. After several hours, we couldn't get it above 89 degrees (user error?) so it was more like a lukewarm bath. But Sara really wanted to go in, so I braved it with her. We didn't stay in very long though :)



The cabin is called "City Lights" because it has a fantastic view of the downtown area all lit up at night. I couldn't get my camera settings just right, so this is the best I got - but it's so much prettier in person.





Sunday morning we all said our goodbyes and headed home. It's about a four hour drive to Atlanta, and a little over an hour of it is through the Smoky Mountains. Since I was by myself, I got to stop the car a few times and take some pictures along the drive for once.









Sara's mom (also my godmother, hi Aunt Liz!) is my mom's older sister, and Sara has always been like a big sister to me. When we were younger, and we both despised our respective siblings (sorry, we love you all now), we turned to each other for relief. Before the days of text messages, IM, and email, we used to hand write each other letters all the time, snail-mail style. And we still have each others' addresses memorized to this day because of it. We just have so many great memories together over the years. We stayed up extra late both nights this past weekend talking about anything and everything, just like the old days (minus Uncle Dave's morning ritual of singing "Oh let the sun shine in!" to us). It was so great to spend this weekend with her. And, I actually have to thank her for my life. Before she was born, my parents had a deal that if Sara was a girl they would start trying for kids, and if she was a boy they would wait. I'm so glad she was a girl! I arrived just 11 months after she was born :)  So, thank you Sara for being you! And for being such a great cousin and friend. I love you and can't wait for your wedding next month!



Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Date Night

This month has been absolutely crazy for us - and it's not over yet! On top of all the fun traveling and events we've had going on lately, Bo has been out of town for work almost every week. So with all the chaos that is our life, we actually have to schedule time to spend together - just the two of us - and put it on the calendar. As in, time that doesn't involve staring at the TV/computer/iphone :) 

Back in December, when we went to A Christmas Carol at the Shakespeare Tavern, we saw an ad in the program for The Canterbury Tales. Bo really wanted to see it, but it was only showing during the month of May - which was already jam-packed for us. We only had two free days in the entire month to choose from, so as the designated Events Coordinator in our marriage, Bo bought tickets right away to make sure we went.

as usual, we got there early to get awesome seats


Even though we were pretty exhausted from the graduation and wedding festivities from the previous three days, we had a great Sunday evening together and we are so glad we went to see this show. They performed six of the tales while we enjoyed dinner, wine, and even dessert (their apple crisp is amazing!). We've seen most of the actors perform in A Christmas Carol over the past few years, so it was cool to see them take on different roles in a new play. I highly recommend it if theater is your thing - or even if it isn't. I wouldn't exactly consider myself a theater person but we do really enjoy going. The play was very well done and extremely entertaining - much more so than I remember from the excerpts I read out of the book cliffsnotes during high school English class. Although, since Bo has the book I may actually read it one of these days.

Oddly enough, we've now been to the Shakespeare Tavern four times, and still have yet to see a play written by Shakespeare himself. So until then, we'll keep it on our Atlanta Bucket List - we'll be going back for sure.




Sunday, May 20, 2012

Lauren & Rob's Wedding

The morning after Leslie's graduation, we woke up and drove back to Atlanta. We had a wedding to attend that day - my coworker Lauren was getting married! Fun fact: I also used to work with Rob, her now-husband, at my old job. Small world.

We actually didn't make it back in time for the 2:30pm ceremony, but the reception wasn't until later that night so we had some time to nap, unpack, and relax before getting ready and heading out the door again.

The reception was held at the Greystone at Piedmont Park. It was so beautiful! I've been there for a few other events, and it was a great setup for a wedding.

view of the front of the building

view from the back of the building


After hearing about all the details at work every day, and even helping her with a few things, it was awesome to see it all come together on the big day.


groom's cake - Lauren & Rob both went to UGA. Obviously I did not help her with this ;)

wedding favors - homemade peach preserves, and her sister made the labels. so cute

guests pinned the year they met Lauren & Rob

Mr. & Mrs. Thomas!

 





And then my camera battery died - so early in the night! I guess I took too many pictures the day before, and obviously forgot to charge it when we got home. My writing won't do it justice so you'll have to take my word for it that it was a fun night! And it has become glaringly obvious that I wouldn't be much of a blogger without my camera :)





Thursday, May 17, 2012

Leslie's Graduation

Last weekend we drove down to Gainesville for Leslie's law school graduation from UF. We are so proud of her!! She also went to UF for undergrad, and is now a Double Gator - so from one to another, welcome to this elite club, Leslie!


Leslie's cheering section





it's go time!!

Leslie was hooded by one of her best friends, Liz, who graduated from UF Law last year. So cool!

Levin College of Law Class of 2012





After the ceremony, we took a ton of group pictures. She had a huge fan club!! We traveled from all over to support her that day.


family love

sibling love

gorgeous graduate


very proud parents

Liz & Leslie

fiances!

Leslie and her godparents, Uncle Will & Aunt Barb

Leslie & Grandma

love my family!

Go Gators!





After the photo shoot, we headed to Swamp for the party - complete with presents, drinks, and dinner. She sure got spoiled. Everyone was so generous!

what's yours is mine, right?

so excited to get a NEW CAR!








Of course, we can't go to Gainesville without going to our favorite bar, Salty Dog. It doesn't hurt that we still know all the bartenders. It was a great way to end the night.













It's hard to believe her eight years at UF have finally come to a close. Congratulations, Leslie!!