Italian food, a gala, and choir singing

Our weekend was spent between Gainesville, Dahlonega, Atlanta, and John's Creek....about a 50 mile radius of where we live. It was just one of those fun, random weekends where we get to see our friends and family and do some fun things too.

On Friday night, we had an impromptu double date with our friends Brian and Callie Hughs at the great Italian eatery Piazza in downtown Dahlonega. We gobbled up our fair share of carbs, and went to hang with Callie's brother Jake, who's a student at North GA. As we were leaving to come home, he and his friend were heading out....ahhh, college. 

On Saturday, David and I had a fun time skipping around in Atlanta...we stopped by to check on Hollie, we perused the real estate on West Paces, we shopped at DSW....all before we met our friends Lynne and John at the Ritz Carlton. Lynne is a client of mine, and we've become friends too. Her husband John's company bought a table at the fundraiser gala for the American Heart Association and we were lucky enough to be asked to join he and Lynne!

Everything looked beautiful in the ballroom!

Here's our fruit and greens salad - it was delish. We then had a petite filet topped with crab meat, and a lemon pie with meringue for dessert. 

The Head Coach for the Falcons, Mike Smith, was our speaker.

One of the larger prizes up for bid was a day spent playing golf with Coach Smith and Matt Ryan, sitting in the coach's box at a game, and calling the first defensive play....pretty cool prize!

We didn't bid on any of the larger items, but it was fun to listen to the auctioneer and see what everyone bought! They were able to raise over $1,000,000 last night for the American Heart Association.

The band was awesome - this is later in the night as people were leaving! We didn't want the band to quit!

I thought the programs were so pretty...

And was really diggin' the faux bois pattern of the paper.

We may not be hanging with the Falcons any time soon, but David won his bid on a TV - yay us!!! 

 To round out the weekend, we spent Sunday morning at John's Creek Presbyterian's church service. Amanda is singing in the choir, and our little Ben is in the kid's choir. This particular morning, the adult and kid's choirs sang together....it was so pretty! I wish I had been able to snap a pic of Ben singing in front of his mommy - too cute!

Don't Pinch Me!

We celebrated St. Patty's in a fun way...decked in green, with our buddies, at a little dinner party at home. 

I pulled together everything I had in green for my St. Patrick's night dinner table. Rebecca Wood pottery plates and bowls, magnolia leaf place mats, a few green apples, and eggs with reindeer moss!

Martha Stewart makes holiday entertaining so easy. I found all of my recipes on her website. I did a variation of Martha's Leprechaun Cider Sparklers - mine had champagne, Cran-Pom juice, and fresh lemon juice. The popcorn and our "sparklers" were delish during our gorgeous afternoon boat ride. The popcorn had chocolate drizzled over it along with a few Reese's Pieces.
My oatmeal shortbread was wonderful too...alot like a teacake only with oatmeal.
The stew was a nice change for us...I normally ask David to grill when we have company, but this time, all the work was done in the kitchen. The stew had beef, potatoes, peas, beer, beef broth, and onion. Really good!
And the cupcakes came from True Love's - there was Peach, Italian Cream, Red Velvet, yellow cake, chocolate cake, and strawberry to chose from. Not a bad one in the batch! 

I set the beef stew to cook in the Crock Pot. It allowed us to go for a boat ride and the food was ready when we got back!

It was a lovely afternoon to slowly cruise around the lake. Abbye and Haydon joined us for the weekend, and Callie and Colby came over for dinner with their husbands!

After Brince and Laura Lyn arrived (we were all so happy to see them!!), we had a fun dinner around the table, then moved outside for a little musical flip cup. 

We were so so so happy to have everyone here for the night! Even little Cooper joined us, LL's little canine buddy! The night was sort of "one last hoorah" in this house before we mosey to the new one! So glad our family and friends were here, and can't wait to have them in our new house too.

Week Three!

I am trying to hang in there with my photo challenge!
Here's my Week Three:

Daily Routine:
When I work from home, this is what it looks like. Papers, notes, client receipts, and a mega-mug of coffee. I am really looking forward to a home office in our new house!  

A Sign:
Along the lines of the new house, I really thought we would have CLOSED on March 12th, but hopefully it will be soon after the 20th. We are remaining patient, but are ready! 

Clouds:
On this day, I was supposed to take a photo of clouds....well, as you can see, there wasn't a cloud in the sky! This is downtown Athens...it was kind of quiet with the students on Spring Break, but the Clint Eastwood movie being filmed created a bit of commotion.

Something I bought:
I couldn't resist these fun shorts from Heery's! It better stay warm so I can get some sunshine on these wintry legs of mine! :) 

Sunglasses:
#Goofyselfportrait
I grabbed these shades at Forever21 for a whopping $4.80. I love them.

Color:
GREEN!!!
For St. Patty's, we had friends and family up!
Abbye, Me, Colby, Callie, and Laura Lyn in our festive green!

A corner of my house:
Because I have things a bit out of order with what all I am doing for our move, this was the tidiest corner in our house right now, and the only one I wanted to show! I love the natural light in this room and how cheerful the green and turquoise are!

Guess who I was 5 ft. from today?

Hi Friends! Soooooo, guess who came into Heery's Too today? Amy Adams! She walked by the store a few times while she was out exercising, and FINALLY came in. She had already stopped in at Heery's Clothes Closet and Encore, so we were praying she'd come in H2 next. Rosemary and I were both giddy and really trying to play it cool. I was still about to bust out laughing with nerves though! 

She had on walking shoes, yoga pants, and sunglasses with her hair in a ponytail.

She's is in Athens filming a movie with Clint Eastwood and Justin Timberlake while all of the college kids are on Spring Break. There are movie trailers, stunt trailers, and lots of equipment on College Avenue right now... they've been filming at The Globe. 

They've been all over Georgia filming the past few weeks, and we've been happy to have them in Athens today! Mr. Eastwood was at the cemetery filming earlier today, and Justin Timberlake was at South City Kitchen in Atlanta earlier in the week. I hear they've been in Macon too....but I'm pretty sure Athens would be their favorite. 

I loved her in this dress....and the necklace was so pretty! 

This is more like what she looked like today.

 

And here's the movie star Trio!

 

Yard Sale and Ride around the Farm

Our first day of the yardsale! Yikes! It was early!

And the car was packed full!!!

Between my mom and me, my Aunt Dinah, our friends Patti and Suzanne, my MIL Pammy, and Aunt Vicky, we had a TON of fabulous stuff to sell. Friday was a big day....we only had a little bit to pull back out on Saturday morning.

Tons of lamps!

And enough bedding and pillows to outfit a few houses!

My Dad's office parking lot is the perfect place to set up...it was awesome to have access to his kitchen for coffee and his ladies' room! :)

David and I bought this sofa from his Aunt Vicky....we are going to recover it for our new house! David was in and out while we women tended to the sale. I love being from a small town, and was able to see a lot of friendly faces that I grew up with over the weekend.

On Saturday, Meredith came through on her way from SSI...I was so happy to see my friend!!! And wished I could've visited more...but she was on the hunt for treasures too!

Friday was a bit overcast, but Saturday of the yardsale was sunnier...check out this sunburn I got where my sleeve ended!

 On Sunday afternoon after church and lunch, my Dad took David and I along with my Mom and cousin Gracie for a drive around the farm. This farm has grown over many generations, and it's gorgeous to see what's being planted and grown on Coody land. My Dad has done an amazing job of maintaining it and making room for more crops to be planted, and roads to be made.

Here's a wheat field. Other fields will have corn, cotton, or peanuts. While my dad loves farming more than anything, other farmers lease and tend the land.

Mr. Coyote was hunting in this field. He's the black speck to the left of the tree line.

This huge oak tree is generations old...its got a hollow core where animals burrow in the winter.

Gracie and me

David and me

And my adorable parents

These fields will have Hardy Farms peanuts planted in them

 While riding around, we stopped at one of the old Coody cemetaries tucked under a few trees on the edges of one of the fields. I hope you don't find this morbid! I just thought the headstones were charming, and the dates on them fascinating!

I think this would be my great-great-great grandfather....

S.B. Coody had 3 wives, and outlived all 3 of them. The first two died in childbirth.

This gorgeous azalea grows at the current Coody cemetary.

And these cows graze close by too.

Hope you enjoyed this little mini-tour!