Christmas Season Kick-Off

So many of our friends were heading to the SEC Championship, and lots were in town for the game. So, on Friday night, David and I had dinner in Atlanta with the Muller-Stones, The Wages, the Kings, The Hills, and Renee. We had dinner at Haven and it was wonderful! We didn't want to leave our friends! But we had to because....

So happy the Kings were in town!

 We got up at 5:30am on Saturday morning to buy toys for the Gainesville JayCees Empty Stocking Fund. David and I were surprisingly chipper!

But, Callie, Brian and Colby were definitely feeling the early morning wake-up!

It was so odd to go into WalMart at 6am when its dark, and walk out into the sunshine at 9am - 3 hours later!

 After we both took naps, I got ready to head to the Georgia Theater to watch the game with David before the Heery's Christmas party at Rusty's house.

I made these amazing cookies for the party. They use whole wheat flour, canola oil, almonds, and maple syrup instead of sugar. They're easy to make, and healthy too!

To balance out the healthiness of the cookies, I made Paula Deen's spinach and artichoke dip....not quite as healthy, but delicious!

The crowd was so excited at the Theater - until the second quarter. And after half time, it was just plain sad to watch.

Last year, Rusty and his wife Ginger didn't host the Christmas party because his oldest son was about to be married - they had a lot going on! So, this year, the tradition continued and everyone was happy to celebrate the holiday season together.

This huge Christmas tree was such a beautiful sight in their entryway!

I am just sick that these are fuzzy...taking pics in front of a well-lit tree is apparently tricky.

That's Deanna, Me, Chad, Suzy, Rosemary, Jeannie, and Molly - The Heery's Too Girls!

Rusty and Ginger's house is just beautiful, and Ginger had everything looking so festive!

Emily, Me, and Molly in our fur!

 David and I left the party around 11, and headed back to Gainesville. It was such a nice evening! On Sunday, we slept in and spent the rest of the day getting ready for and hosting a Christmas dinner for our friends Callie and Brian Hughs, Laura and Brett Fowler, and Jamie....so sad Colby couldn't be there, but she will be next time. Stay tuned for pics of the dinner party, and to my B&B blog for pics of our festive house!

Woah.

Do yall ever have those weekends where Sunday afternoon you think "what in the world just happened?" Like, where has the time gone? Our weekend was like that. We did so much, and got to see so many friends! David and I were a little pooped last night, but it was worth it. Beware though: it may exhaust you to read all of this! :)
Happy Monday everyone!

On Thursday, the Jaycees had a happy hour at Recess, a restaurant on the square in downtown Gainesville. David and I stayed for dinner after socializing for a bit, and made our whirlwind plans for the weekend.

First stop: The John Jarrard Foundation outdoor concert at Brenau. John Jarrard was a Georgia Music Hall of Famer, and this was the 10th annual concert in his memory benefiting several charities. Performers include Blackberry Smoke, and Balsam Range, and one of Gainesville’s own, John Driskell Hopkins (bassist for the Zac Brown Band).

One of the Jaycee wives's family owns Turnstile Deli and graciously offered to bring dinner munchies for everyone to have before the music began. So, I volunteered for the desserts. I made Paula Deen's Symphony brownies....

.....Sugar Cookies from Bon Appetit Y'all......

.....and Blythe Danner's cookies from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook.

All of the sweets turned out great! Its hard to beat a Symphony Brownie, but the sugar cookies were really good, and the almond cookie from Gwyneth's cookbook is more like biscotti - they were really good for breakfast in the morning too with  my coffee!

On Saturday, we again joined Gainesville friends at the Melanomo event on the Chattahoochee River. Our friend Jamie grew up with Neil Gaines who's been battling Melanoma since 2008. Neil, his wife Margaret, and his family host an event at their cabin about 15 miles from here every year. The UGA game was on, there was live music and BBQ too. It was an afternoon of celebration for Neil's life and a nice time with friends.

Neil's dog sat in the river like this all afternoon watching the fish. I thought it was the most adorable thing!

Glad the Dawgs won!

I could barely keep my eyes off this little guy. When we walked up to the BBQ, I spotted him right away. I was like "Oh my gosh! Its a baby Baxter!" I could have taken him home with us! His name is Diesel, which is awesome. David explained that our Baxter is a bit larger in stature than most Beagles, and Diesel is actually a normal size. Even cuter!!!! I wish Bax had been with us so he could play with this guy.

Speaking of cuties, our friends Callie and Brian just got an 8-week old black lab..tentatively named Remy. I was obsessed!

Jamie and David

"New Mommy" Callie and her little guy!

Me, Callie, Colby and Laura

After lunch, the silent auction, and some "MelaNoMo" chocolate cake, Colby and I headed to Atlanta to celebrate with our friend Tiffany for her 28th birthday!

We got dressed with Hollie and the 3 of us met Tiffany and 7 of her Auburn girlfriends at Eclipse de Luna for dinner.

And afterwards headed to Gold Room for some dancin'.

Sunday was such a gorgeous day, so we grabbed some munchies and hit the lake to meet Amanda and Ben. Ben is in Kindergarten and is learning new things every day. I love hearing our little guy tell me all about his teachers, his playground, and his days at school.

Here, we started with 1 and counted to about 115. He can count to 200, but he got a little tired. That was ok; but I could listen to him count to a million!

My David and Ben caught two fish! Here they are letting the fishies go back into the lake...

After an early dinner of grilled chicken salads, which Amanda was so sweet to bring, we cruised back home.

Every time we're on the boat, David and I just smile seeing how happy this guy is to be on the water! He LOVES it!

fun times!

We had such a nice weekend! We did a lot but it was all fun. On Friday, David and I headed south on 985 to meet Hollie, Wesley, and Kim for wine and apps before meeting everyone at Noche for dinner. We met The Kings, The Wages, Renee, Alyssa, Amy, and the Muller Stones for a fun dinner. Afterward, we hung out on the patio at Hudson Grille. On Saturday morning, us gals all gathered at Bella Bridesmaid to try on dresses for the upcoming Muller-Stone wedding! So fun! After a great lunch at Buckhead diner, we found The Dresses at J.Crew. One more thing the bride gets to cross off her list! yay!

I then cruised back to Gainesville to join David at the JayCee's Beer Olympic Saturday at the Smithson's place. Sunday was spent on the lake again - great weekend!

The new Noche in Town Brookhaven

Buckhead Diner - always great! A classic!

Here, the ref is explaining the next game to the participants. Each guy was paired up with a partner - David's partner Steve was super nice, and his fiance Olivia was adorable. They competed in CornHole (David and Steve didn't fare so well in that game), team funnel, the obstacle course, and Beer Pong. David and Steve were the Beer Pong Champions!!!! I am so proud!!

The slip n slide - the last leg of the obstacle course

Jamie's Boot-Cup-Trophy says 1st Place Corn Hole Champions. Quite the trophy. He's giving David a pre-course pep-talk!

And here's David finishing out the course! He and his partner came in second behind the ref and his teammate; but the ref's wife was the time-keeper so I'm pretty sure somethings fishy there.

A few more snap shots of the race...

Wow! That took a lot of energy!

Here's our favorite new Kindergartner!!!!

David with his trophy!

My favorite kiddo!