Tuesday, October 30, 2012

O.T.W. Fall Getaway, Part II

Part II of our Fall Adventure takes us from Stone Mountain, GA to Senoia, GA.

Back in July of this year Southern Living Magazine released their issue with the cover story being the 2012 Idea House. The Idea House is a beautifully decorated farmhouse in Senoia, GA. It was instant love for me. Truly everything I would include in my dream home. Literally from the wrap around porch to the open floor plan to the amazing back yard-- it would all be included in the home of my dreams (hopefully one day).

 



As I read and reread the issue of Southern Living I knew I had to make it Senoia to tour the house. Senoia is about an hour from Stone Mountain so after a quick breakfast we loaded up and headed that way.

I knew from the article in the magazine that Fried Green Tomatoes and Driving Mrs. Daisy were both filmed in this small southern town. However, once we got there we realized the several other movies were made there.

Currently AMC's The Walking Dead is being filmed there. I love anything with celebrity ties and this had me so excited.

The show is currently set in the fictional town of Woodbury, GA so the town had a Bank of Woodbury and banners throughout the downtown area.


The downtown/main street area was the cutest! It is the quintessential southern town.


As we shopped we made small talk with one of the owners and he explained that as they film The Walking Dead the production company blacks out their shop windows and film in the street out front while business goes on as usual with patrons entering using the back door.

After touring the quaint downtown area we headed to Maguire's Irish Pub for lunch. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was perfect. Ryan got crazy and ordered a mac-n-cheese burger. Who has ever heard of such? Lunch was great.


After lunch we made our way to the 2012 Southern Living Idea House. I thought this house was beautiful when I saw it in the magazine, but in real life I was head over heels in LOVE. I can't even explain how much this house is every single thing I could ever want.

Just at home on the front stoop


Ryan quickly informed me that I wasn't alone in that thought process, as it was probably every other persons dream home too. That's fine... I can share my dream with others.

The house was decorated for the holidays. They had some great ideas that anyone could DIY.  The wreaths were made of magnolia leaves and the tables were decorated with jars of evergreen and cranberries.

Here is a picture of the living room when not decorated for Christmas:

From Southern Living's website

Look! I'm at home in the dinning area-- ready to host a holiday gathering.


The gingham painted pattern in the "keeping room" was awesome.



Some of the reoccurring things in the house included sliding barn doors, old trunks, and paintings of cows. All things I love.




I couldn't help but think of my friend, Katie, in the room below because her wedding bouquet had the dried Lily pad seed pods that are displayed in the bowl. That Katie is always in the know about what's cool.

I had a tough time figuring out what the print above meant. Finally it came to me-- it's Southern twang for A T L Georgia (because that's how we say it down here) 

In the magazine the deer painting in this sitting area looked like this:


from Southern Living website
But in real life it was much more textured.
 

The idea house had lots of trends that we had seen the day before at the Country Living Fair such as the paint by numbers paintings, the deer antlers,  burlap, and skeleton keys.



The hardwood floors, below, are restored from the original portion of the farmhouse dating back to the 1800's.


If this were my home you would be invited to roast marshmallows by the outdoor fire pit.  We would also sip wine here and discuss life and then I would ask you to sleep over in the guest room so as not to drive home from Senoia. The next morning I would cook you breakfast in my fancy kitchen while you sipped coffee in the keeping room. If only....


The 2010 Southern Living Idea Home was also built in this small town and was open for tours, although it was unfurnished and not decorated. The 2010 idea house was actually a brownstone similar to what one would find in Savannah, GA.

The back of the brownstone, pictured below, backs up to a pond and looks out toward the 2012 Farmhouse.


There was a real estate agent on site at the brownstone. She and I chatted regarding pricing and why Southern Living chose to do more than one idea house in this small town.

She explained that eventually this entire area will be developed into a small subdivision of sorts. As it turns out, one of the owners of the production company fell in love with this area and decided to develop the community. The lots are marked off for sale and the brownstone is up for sale for just under $1 million.

Here are a couple of the houses in that surroud the pond in the community:


Truth be told, I would move into this smaller white one tomorrow. How cute is it?


The Farm House has already been sold and went for somewhere between $550K and $600K.

If I had half a million dollars readily avalible to purchase one of the homes I would be moving to Senoia, GA. I would open a small shop in downtown. I fell in love.

Monday, October 29, 2012

O.T.W.- A Fall Getaway, Part I

What a great fall weekend we had. Every now and then a weekend getaway is just what the doctor ordered.


Mom, Dad, Ryan and I went spent the weekend together in Georgia for all kinds of Fall Fun!

Saturday morning we were up bright and early and on the road around 6:30 a.m. We ventured over to Stone Mountain, GA for the Country Living Fair and a day of fun.

We didn't really know what to expect in regard to the Country Living Fair, but from what we had heard we knew it would be right up our alley (for mom and I anyway). As far as Dad and Ryan they enjoyed it and were really good sports all weekend. Mom and I shopped and came up all sorts of DIY's for the men to tackle.

We arrived at Stone Mountain around 10:00 a.m and started our day.


Upon entering the fair grounds we were a little overwhelmed. There were so many people, so many booths, and so many directions that it was tough to know where to start.

The wire wienie dog may live at my home now.

But with a map in hand we dove right in. One of the vendors I began talking to described the Country Living Fair as being ETSY in real life. I honestly couldn't have agreed more.



Booths included art work, antiques, jewelry and all things handmade from soaps to pillows.

I could have filled a truck up with furniture and decor, but alas I didn't have the funds or the truck so I made a few simple purchases.

We ate lunch at the fair which consisted of ribbon fires, corn pups, kettle popcorn, and fried pickles. Super healthy!


Ryan may or may not get tired of posing for pictures. ha.

After spending several hours conquering the Country Living Fair we decided to check out the rest of Stone Mountain Park.

I had never been to Stone Mountain State Park so I had no idea of what all it had to offer. As it turns out it is a beautiful park with all sorts of things to do. From walking trails to campgrounds, from a train ride to a Skyride to the top of the Stone Mountain it had plenty to fun things for the weekend.

The first thing we wanted to do after lunch was take the Skyride up the top of the mountain.


The Stone "Mountain" goes roughly 1100 feet up and 10 miles below ground.

I asked everyone to convey how scared they were about going to the top in a photo:


Apparently Ryan smiles in the face of danger, Dad is amused/scared/excited, Mom said I could NOT put her scared pic on the Internet, and I'm panic stricken.




It was beautiful from the top of the mountain. Probably one of our favorite parts of the trip.


After taking in the veiws we headed back down to check out a few of the other treasures the park had to offer.


That evening we went to the Laser Show (been there done that-- probably wouldn't do it again) and then had dinner and cocktails at a little cafe in town.


 
Up next... Part II which will include A Dream Home, a semi celebrity town, and lunch at an Irish Pub.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A Dignified Gentleman

Sunday night my parents invited Ryan and I over for dinner. Obviously, when my mom is cooking you don't turn it down (because it's so good), so graciously we accepted the offer.

She had made deviled eggs, sweet potato casserole, turnip greens, homemade mac-n-cheese, chicken, and cornbread. It was some good eating!

My favorite part of the evening had to be when Dad got up from his seat and Harley promptly hopped up into it and peered over as if to say, "I do believe I will have a deviled egg, please sir."


I had to snap the pic. He is so sweet. Dogs make life better. Period.  

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Televison Debut

Yes, you read that right. Lacey and I made our Television Debut last night on our small town's local station, WAXC-TV's show, At Home with Kenny Dean.

The irony of our debut lies in that we made our premiere last night and today happens to be National Television Talk Show Host Day. I think it's a sign. We may have found our calling!

Lacey and I "co-hosted" the local show for the entire hour. Kenny Dean (the host of the show) gave us free range regarding what we wanted to talk about.

Lacey and I bounced ideas off of each other in preparation. We had lots of fun topics we wanted to cover from fashion trends to what was trending on Twitter. By the time we had the outline completed for the hour long show we had roughly ten topics we could discuss and feel solid about giving our "expert" opinions.

If you know Lacey or me then you know we love all things celebrity, fashion related, or Rolling Stone oriented--- basically all things pop culture. So this was heaven for us.

After we had our rough outline ready it was time for hair and make up.

Ryan called me yesterday afternoon to inquire if I was ready for the premiere. After talking for a few minutes he asked where I was headed to which I replied, "Hair and Makeup."


Maybe "hair and make-up" was just at my house in the guest bedroom, but we did do our hair and make up prior to going live.

Lacey and I like to think of our duo as being the younger, Southern version of Kathy Lee and Hoda. (here's hoping we actually make to their level one day).

I think Kathy Lee and Hoda would approve of a small glass of wine pre live taping. I mean, they have wine at 10:00 am during their show.


About to head to the TV Station-- super pumped!

Our first topic was about the trend burgundy (or oxblood) colored jeans. We created two boards to show the audience how to style them more dressed up or how to make them more appropriate for casual Fall attire.



As you can see in this picture (below) were really working heavy lipstick.


The heavy lipstick was so that we could show off the next trend we discussed which is the darker wine colored lipsticks that are hot this season.


After the "fashion talk" we discussed Twitter and Instagram and how important both have become in media.

Yesterday was National Fear Day and that happen to be what was trending on Twitter. In order to scare our audience Lacey and I shared a high school photo from our Back in Black Pep Rally circa 2002.

We had a good laugh at our own expense. I knew dark lipstick was "in" even back then!

Since the show is live viewers are invited to call in with questions. We answered four viewer questions ranging from whether or not scarves would be in this season to whether or not printed leggings were okay to wear.



By the end of the show we were feeling really good about our TV appearance and even did commercial for a local business (that carries Vera Bradley) completely off-the-cuff. I'm sure sales went through the roof today!


The show was a success in my opinion. Lacey and I have gotten great feed back from viewers. We are hoping to be a regular appearance on the show (at least until we're offered our own show- ha).

If you missed us last night and live in our area be sure to tune in next month for our next appearance.
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