Christmas is COMING!!

Today I got rid of all things pumpkin and pulled out the holiday cheer! We went to buy our tree at a little Christmas tree stand down the road.. Toby came along too. We take that dog everywhere. I love continuing old holiday traditions from when I was a kid, but I also love starting new ones with Brian now that we're married.

Last year was our first married Christmas. Both Brian and I have boxes full of ornaments from our childhood- we both get an ornament each year from our parents. I wondered why his box was so much bigger than mine. When we opened our boxes, all of my ornaments were loosely wrapped in tissue, but Brian's were perfectly placed in their original boxes they came in. We both had a "baby's first Christmas" ornament, almost identical to each other, only his was fully intact and mine was missing pieces and had to hang upside down. :)

So this year we continued our tradition from last year. We made Christmas cookies, lit a fire, drank hot cocoa, and watched Home Alone. Brian pulled out his perfect boxed ornaments, and I pulled out mine. It was fabulous.

blurry, but the only one we had

Sips & Strokes

Last night my friend Kristin and I went to Sips & Strokes to paint the wild flowers painting. It was a fun class.. a little challenging for both of us because we wanted everything to look perfect! The best part was the splatter paint at the end. I like these classes because they tell you exactly what to do, although I find myself not following the rules exactly. :) Here are some pictures from the night!

Our finished products

Turkey Day 5K!

I love holiday traditions, and I hope this becomes one for us. We had so much fun at our first Thanksgiving Day 5K! We joined the other 12,000 runners at Turner Field and trotted our way through the 3.1 miles without stopping. It was so much fun! I want to do more!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Traffic was bad...I guess with 12,000 people there is going to be traffic.

We made it there in time!

There was also a half marathon going on at the same time..

We finished in 31 minutes.. We wanted to stay together the whole time. I was a few paces ahead of B for most of the race. When we got close to the finish line, he SPRINTED off to finish and beat me. Not fair. :)

The perfect start to Thanksgiving day!

Some of the half marathon runners going through Piedmont Park.

Happy Birthday Mom!

This year I get to spend my mom's birthday WITH her! We're down in Florida for a few day. I love my mom and am so thankful for her. The thing I love about her the most is her spontaneity. Whether it's waking Nat and I up at 2am to go shopping in the middle of the night on Black Friday because she was so excited and couldn't wait until 6am, or taking a random trip to Baltimore when I lived outside of DC just because we had never been... We don't need a plan to have a good time. We just need to be together. I love you, Mom! Happy Birthday!!!

App State vs. UF

My sister Natalie is a freshman at UF this year and it just so happened to work out for Brian and I to come down to FL for the App UF game! The whole family went to the game and it was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from the day!

My family was divided. Dad said that since he has a child currently attending UF, he had to go for them. My mom cheered for whoever had the ball.

The Swamp! Over 90,000 people were there that day.

Natalie made this awesome chocolate peppermint cake with ganache for an early bday celebration for my mom. It was SO YUMMY!!

Scott & Nat

Dad & Mom

John & Tiff

Us...

and Toby! Sporting his App State colors. :)

another glorious saturday

It was a BEAUTIFUL crisp fall day today! We ventured out yet again to our favorite place... Piedmont Park. It's the perfect place to go when you need a "city, outdoors & people fix." Tons of people were out today and the leaves were brilliant. It was a glorious day.

someone is clearly ready for the dog park!

and he's off!

our best attempt at a family shot :)

it's a struggle, but i can still lift him up in my lap

absolutely lovely

loving this season

It's COLD here in Atlanta! We hit the low 30s last night but have resisted the urge to turn on the heat. We have been heating our cozy home with a fire instead. I don't know how much longer we can go.. But I loved waking up to a fire this morning and drinking my pumpkin spice coffee snuggled up with a blanket and the pup. We had another lovely relaxing Saturday with a jog at the park and another trip to the dog park. It's so fun to watch Toby play and greet all the new dogs when they enter. He's very social. I love spending the day in midtown. Tons of people, tons of dogs, yummy restaurants, and beautiful homes. We made a stop at Trader Joe's and Starbucks for the first peppermint mocha of the season. Now I sit here, snuggled up with a blanket on the couch, sweater boots on, next to Brian in his union suit (maybe we should turn on the heat), watching the 3rd Harry Potter movie (we're having a marathon before the new one comes out), and listen to my pup snoring. He's exhausted from his exciting day. I do love the weekend.