just another day in paradise...

The last two weeks have been pretty full on.  I have been moving into my new apartment, my purse, keys, phone and camera were all stolen from my desk, and yesterday I ran out of gas. 

The move went fairly smoothly - with alittle help, I was able to hire movers to get all the big stuff (and since I moved to a 3rd floor apartment - this was HUGE).  My purse being stolen was more of a pain than anything else.  And as my luck would have it - I ran out of gas in the Taco Bell drive thru...things could have been worse. The worst part was that after walking to the gas station and a nearby Goodyear, I didn't get my Taco Bell.  I decided I should probably go back today and make things right ;) 

Yesterday, we had a photographer come in and take everyone's headshots for the website.  I don't think mine will be on the website, but I got to get one made anyways.  Turned out pretty good! I have to admit though - there is alittle airbrushing going on.

With everything that's been going on, I haven't had much time to work on my patio furniture.  I'm hoping this weekend I'll be able to make some progress. 

let's just pretend it hasn't been two and half months...

Here is my most recent project.  I lost the "before" pictures, but it involved chemical paint stripper, about 20 pages of sandpaper, three cans of mineral spirits (mostly used to clean myself off), 2 coats of primer, two coats of paint, and a polycryllic top coat for easy clean up on the top of the table.  I'm so glad to be done.  I bought the table and two chairs off of craigslist for $35 and found the other two chairs at goodwill.  I'd say I got a pretty good deal, and am really proud of how it turned out!

You can't tell but the chairs and legs are actually a really light green and the top is a bright white!

Here is my next project - outdoor furniture for our balcony, a bench and two chairs.

harry potter and the deathly hallows, part 2

It's official.  The last installment of the Harry Potter movies will be hitting theatres on July 15th.  The newest trailer for the movie came out recently.  Click Here to watch it!

It's going to be bittersweet...For the last 15 years, I've been reading/watching Harry Potter.  I guess I still have the theme park.

boppin' em on the head

Last weekend was Easter!  I had Good Friday off from work, so it was a nice long weekend.  I had a leisurely (long) drive home to Thomasville, exploring the back roads of Georgia.  Drove through some interesting places: Kilpatrick's Raid historical site, Zebulon, GA (named after Zebulon Pike who discovered Pikes Peak), Andersonville (Civil War Prison), and a Tyson Chicken plant (peeeewww).  A highlight of the day was the "Christian Ministries and Car Sales" that I passed by somewhere around Lovejoy....oh the things you can find in Georgia.   

 

Saturday, Kate and I helped get the house ready for the Derby party.  We washed the siding on the front and back of the house; taking turns being the brusher and the water sprayer.  I'm sure it would be quite a task by yourself, but we got it done pretty quickly.  Next, we spread grass seed in the backyard and set up the sprinkler.  Our last task was to help Daddy cut boards to brace the fence gate.  This resulted in only a few disagreements about angles and mathematics, so I'd say it went smoothly. 

 

Enter Grandma Jones, and the afternoon of baking.  Kate and I kicked it off with some Easter cupcakes, and then we (by we, I mean we watched Grandma Jones) made a beautiful 4 layer coconut cake!  It was definitely a hit at lunch.

 

Sunday we went to church and then headed to Tallahassee for a lovely lunch with the family.  We were missing a few faces this year though.  Susu, Becca, and Daniel were missed!!  After stuffing ourselves to the limit, we played a quick and really awful game of bocce ball and got back on the road.  The drive back was pretty uneventful, except for Kate's impressive psychic radio powers.  She would say a song she wanted to hear and then it would be the very next song that played.  That happened more than once. 

 

Did you know that at the end of the song, Little Bunny Foofoo is turned into a goon??

Friday night was a pretty chill, mellow night. I spent the night watching movies with my friend, Jessica. There was a thunderstorm and I had a long week, so I really just wanted to be lazy. We watched "Tron" and then "He's Just Not That Into You." I'm pretty much a Rom-Com Connoisseur, so the later movie was great, but the first one wasn't exactly my style. Our movie night was fully equipped with popcorn, Sprite, and Chocolate candy. Can't get much better than that! Needless to say, I enjoyed the movies, the food, and being lazy.

Saturday is when things get real fun! My other friend, Caitlin, and I rocked the cowboy boots, cowboy hats, and jean shorts for a TIM MCGRAW concert! Country bumpkin at its finest! On the way to Atlanta for the concert, trouble began. Caitlin's car (that had just been recalled) had a few technical difficulties. We spent the first half of the drive stopping the car about once every two minutes because it died in traffic. Somehow, miraculously, we made it to the ampitheatre parking (which by the way was outrageously priced.) Finally, we got to the concert and it was FANTASTIC! The Band Perry kicked it off and then Luke Bryan proceeded to play for a good hour or more. Then, Tim McGraw came on! I grew up on Country music, so I knew almost every song he sang! It was great. I think my favorite part might have been when Luke Bryan and Tim McGraw did a duet. So good!

After the concert, we walked back with a few new friends that we made at the concert and started driving to meet Lizzie in ATL so that I could stay with her night. Caitlin and I are both pretty bad with directions, so we had a heck of a time finding our way outta there, but we managed to make it after about 30 minutes. I got to Lizzie's place, went to bed, and got ready for another awesome day!

better late than never...

Saturday morning, I went and picked 2 gallons of strawberries at Washington Farms in Loganville, GA.  I intend to make jam out of them, but should probably go ahead and freeze them since I won't be able to accomplish the jam-making this week.  It was a beautiful day, and the strawberries were bright red and HUGE!...and I didn't have to combine my bucket with anyone elses.  These are all mine!  The second half of Saturday turned out to be a lazy day which included my favorite marathon...NCIS. 

 That night, Kate persuaded me to let her stay in Atlanta after her Tim McGraw concert, go to the Sweetwater Festival on Sunday, and then take her back to Athens that evening.  Well...I'm glad she did because Sunday ended up being a great day.  It didn't quite go as planned, but turned out pretty fantastic anyway.  I went to work monogramming for a few hours Sunday morning, and we set out for the Festival around 2pm.  Atlanta had a lot going on this weekend (2 festivals, Braves at home, concerts, etc.), so traffic was miserable!  After we spent at least 45 minutes trying to get to Candler Park, and alittle traffic induced anxiety set in, we decided to ditch the plans and get outta there!!  Plan A. We quickly generated a new plan to escape Atlanta, go on to Athens and find something fun to do there. 

 While sitting in the Taco Bell drive thru for lunch, we smelled the most glorious smell ever!  Someone was grilling out somewhere.  You know the smell - one neighbor starts their grill up and its almost a chain reaction around the neighborhood as the scent reaches every house.  Before you know it, everyone is driving to Publix to get something to grill.  Well...we couldn't get it out of our heads that we had to grill out for dinner, so once we got to Athens, we set out to make it happen.  After going to a few grill-less parks, we ended up at Memorial Park.  Once we found the grill, we went to Publix to buy all the necessities; charcoal, meat, seasoning, plates, potato salad, aluminum foil, and sweet tea...I got steak and Kate got salmon.  The grill lit and stayed lit until the coals were ready (which is kind of miraculous, as I tend to have trouble with grills).  After the first few bites, and a few minutes of admiring how great we are at cooking on a grill in a park, a loud speaker came on informing us that we need to leave...the park is closing.  So, we quickly threw everything back into my newly acquired grilling bag (which will be kept in my car for spur of the moment grill-outs), and finished our dinner in the car at the Intramural Fields...at least here there was a bathroom to wash our dishes.  Success! 

lifestyles of the rich and famous

Having never been to a Braves game before last week, I'd say two in one week is pretty impressive.  I was worried that I may have some sort of curse on the Bravos, but I was informed that they just really aren't that good...  Regardless, both times have been great fun!  Last night I was alittle spoiled and watched the game from Suite #11 in the Golden Moon Casino level of the stadium.  Thank you Tishman Speyer!!  We had free food and drinks and a choice of seats inside or outside (with ceiling fans of course).  It was pretty "suite"....ha.  We even had a pac-Man game!  My favorite part by far has to be the private bathroom with real toilet paper!

I was alittle dissappointed in the turnout of last night's game.  There were SO many empty seats.  Maybe the team just needs to be shown alittle love. 

Here's a fun little poll if you feel like commenting. Every batter gets to pick a song that plays when they go up to bat.  What would yours be?  Mine is definitely Stand Up and Get Crunk.  My co-worker's is Come on Feel the Noise (pretty good choice I think).