Merry Christmas!

birthday dinner & jingle jog!

One of my most favorite things is trying out new restaurants, and my birthday was the perfect time to do it! A friend at work recommended Agave in Cabbagetown, an eclectic southwestern It was fabulous. Fun atmosphere, high energy, tasty margaritas, and impeccable food. The guacamole was the best I've ever had.. Everything tasted amazing and was so beautifully presented. Come visit us and we will take you there!!!

I had the stuffed trout with crawfish, onions, mushrooms, and basil over Spanish rice with a roasted tomatillo sauce.

Brian had the herb and chile marinated steak over roasted yellow corn & goat cheese mashed potatoes topped with a smoked chile and honey BBQ sauce.

Since the Thanksgiving Day 5k was so fun, I signed us up for an even more festive Jingle Jog! Both Brian and I have been sick this week, so we weren't sure if we'd be able to run it. The alarm went off at 6am and Brian said, "Are we really doing this?" I pulled the birthday WEEKEND card and said "YES!" And we did. So did Toby! It was in the 30s when the race began, but the sun came out and it ended up being a beautiful day. Running with a dog in the midst of thousands of runners and hundreds of dogs was a bit challenging, but we had a great time!

Look at all of the red and green!

Jingle, jingle, jingle..

Toby was so tired. As soon as we crossed the finish line and were waiting in line, he collapsed. And he has been sleeping ever since we got home.

this weekend

I have been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time.. Carrie and Andrew came to visit! I have been dying to meet this guy. They came over to our place for dinner and then we went to brunch and the park the next day. Carrie and I even managed to squeeze in a little shopping on Saturday. It was lovely, despite me being sick.. I did not want a little cold to get in the way. It was so great to hang out all together. Thanks for coming, guys!!

Carrie made this awesome chocolate cake with peppermint icing for an early birthday celebration

Carrie & Andrew at brunch

me & Brian

it was freezing outside!

I love this one of them at the park!

because we don't have enough of the two of us...

group shot

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