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.

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.  

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.

O.T.W.-- Another Wedding and A Hike!

This "Over The Weekend" post will be mostly pictures.

Deidra and I hit up a wedding, which was just beautiful on Saturday. The receiption was held at The Stables at Russell Crossroads.

On Sunday I tagged along with Lacey and John as we hiked up to the recenlty restored Smith Moutain Fire Tower on the Lake Martin.

 

If you live in our area you should hike up the Fire Tower one weekend. The hike is relatively easy and definetly worth it.

Awesome weekend.

O.T.W. Justin's Birthday Party

This past weekend was the big birthday party that my parents and I put together to celebrate my brother's 30th Birthday!!

We hosted the party at our family farm so we went with a rustic/country theme. I know boys this time of year will miss a party/wedding/shower all together if it interferes with football so I made sure we had football on the big screen.

We also had live music to set the tone for a fun night.

I think everyone had an awesome time! Especially my brother, Justin (which is what it was all about).

The weather was perfect Saturday for our outdoor soiree-- Sunny, high the 80's, low that evening in the 50's. Not too hot, not too cold.

I was inspired by pinterest if you can believe that. We wrapped hay bales for extra seating, I handmade/crafted the 'Happy Birthday' Banner, we made burlap tablecloths, created the rustic corn center piece for the food table and used turkey feather place mats and mason jars on the smaller tables.

My parents and I worked hard to turn a blank canvas (with no lighting) into a perfect place to celebrate my bro! To kick the party off I made a short speech and that's when things got going.

We served Bar-B-Que sandwiches, Rotel Cheese dip, Buffalo dip, baked beans, potato salad and cole slaw. The food was delicious and kept with the manly "football and fun on the farm" theme.

Any reason to party with friends is a win in my book. We had a portion of the invitation Katie Beth designed used on the cake. It turned out so cute!

Dad work hard getting all the lights hung so that we would actually have light for the party since it is pitch black on that side of the barn. The party lights absolutely help set the tone.

Daniel Jackson (DJ), pictured below on the right, saved the day by figuring out how to get the projector, sound system and satellite working. We were in over our heads with that and I had decided to just cut the football all together. DJ showed up and worked it out. I'm going to have to buy him lunch. Thanks DJ!

Everyone sipped the signature cocktail, Georgia Tea (provided by Deidra) and began to loosen up.  That's when the dance floor began heating up.

Overall the party was a huge success in my book! Everyone had a great time celebrating the Big THREE OH with my brother.

O.T.W.-- Farm Day & A Wedding

This weekend I spent a good portion of my time gearing up for the 30th Birthday Party we are having for my brother.

But before I got to work on that... Friday night I enjoyed a few glasses of wine before going to see the movie TAKEN 2.

Friday was a long day and those two glasses of wine were much needed!!

My bro's party is going to be at our family farm. Mom, Dad and I went up on Saturday and worked, worked, worked.

We purchased the "Decoration Special" which got us 5 bales of hay for only $20.00. Worked out perfectly since we are using the hay for decoration. 

It was such a nice day at the farm and we got lots accomplished!

Saturday afternoon we hurried back to town so that I could get Ryan and myself ready for our friends Anna and Kevin's (we call him yogi) wedding.

(borrowed this pic from facebook)

Deidra scooped us up and we enjoyed an evening of fun celebrating the newly married couple!

Whitney, Deidra and I had the most fun chatting and laughing.



Long lost pal Ryan Sanders was in town for the wedding. It was great to see him!

Just as a side note: Isn't my Ryan the most handsome? I tend to think so.

Good weekend. Good fun. Today is hump day-- half way point, man! Hang in there.

Detox Water

I've been detoxing this week, although I have no idea exactly what that means in terms of this water.

I recently came across an Apple Cinnamon Detox Water on Pinterest. After reading the correlating blog post about it, I thought I would give it a try.

 

I sliced up my apple into thin slices, topped with a cinnamon stick and added ice and water.

The blog post says that it needs to sit at least ten minutes, but I have found that if I make it at night it's more flavorful the next morning. (after only ten minutes it still tastes like regular water)

I've done some research regarding Apple Cinnamon Water (read: googled it) and it appears that cinnamon has some healthy benefits and obviously apples are good for you.

Who knows if it's detoxifying me or not, but it's pretty tasty. It's also a more healthy alternative to the flavors add-ins like Mio or Krystal Light.

It taste like Fall!

O.T.W. Damn Smokey

Friday night Ryan and I took it easy and were actually in the bed watching the movie, Friday, by 10:00 p.m.

I can't see this movie on TV without thinking of my friend and college roomate, Kaci. When we were in middle school (around age 12/13), we would stay up late, until our parent went to sleep, and bust our our VHS of this movie. We watched it just about every weekend. We had the movie practically memorized. 

Saturday Ryan and I didn't have any plans other than knocking a few things off the ole To-Do List.

Ryan's dad came over they worked on few things around the house while I busied myself with a couple of projects.

One of which was painting my porch swing a high gloss black. Inspired by the black swing on the porch of the Southern Living Idea House. I sanded it,  primed it and got most of it painted before the rain set in. I just need to paint the back of it before I show you how it turned out.



Applying the tinted primer to the white swing.

I had a little accident while painting the swing though. I was sitting cross-legged on the ground painting away when I knocked over the entire can of black oil paint which went all over my right leg and right butt check.... it was a mess. We have black foot prints around the house from me running to the back yard. Let's just say I ended up in panties on the back porch.  Big Mess. Huge.

Saturday night Ryan and I had a date night, but I must be honest here (and if you follow my instagram you know this) it's really hard to vie for any attention from my main man when it's football season.

Can you tell where the TV is located?

So I just mind my business across the table and enjoy a few cocktails.

He didn't watch football the entire time... We really had a nice dinner together.

Overall, it was good weekend to get caught up on chores, rest, and projects.