Monday, December 28, 2015
Dog Photos with Santa
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!! This year I had the pleasure of taking photos of pet's with Santa at East Atlanta Animal Clinic. Here are some of the pictures I took. The dogs were so well behaved, so I'm sure Santa brought them so good presents!
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
My Family's Holiday Photos
All season I have been wanting to take pictures of my boyfriend and I and all of our animals. Well, I finally did it tonight (minus our cat). And here they are!
None of them are "perfect", but they are all perfectly us! Love my family!
Happy Holidays from our family to yours!
Happy Holidays from our family to yours!
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
My Sister and Her Family's Pictures
My sister and her family moved into their beautiful new home the day before Thanksgiving. It has been a long time coming. I am so happy for them and so proud of them! Congratulations to Becky, Stefan, Charlotte, new baby, and Gus on your new home!
Monday, December 7, 2015
Birthday Hike
Today is my birthday so I decided to do something fun during the day. I took two of my dogs on a hike at Kennesaw Mountain. They were so happy to get to the top!
It was a beautiful day, sunny and high of 65 degrees- cannot get much better for December in GA! And my dogs, Hattie and Waylon, were very well behaved- that must have been their birthday present to me :) It made for a great birthday!!
It was a beautiful day, sunny and high of 65 degrees- cannot get much better for December in GA! And my dogs, Hattie and Waylon, were very well behaved- that must have been their birthday present to me :) It made for a great birthday!!
Friday, December 4, 2015
Visiting Asheville
Asheville, NC is one of my favorite places to visit. The people are friendly, the night life is fun, the restaurants are AMAZING, and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous! My friend, Mary Hinton and I went to Asheville for a weekend in September. We both flew to Asheville, and I got to Asheville around noon on a Friday. Mary Hinton had a work commitment and was not able to get in until around midnight on that Friday.
We booked a room at The Residences at Biltmore, which was 1 mile from downtown, about 1 mile from the entrance of the Biltmore, and 1/2 mile from The Biltmore Village (an old village turned into shops and restaurants). The Residences at Biltmore is more like an apartment complex than a hotel- there are a few big parking lots, full kitchen in the unit, huge bathroom with a spa tub, sitting area with couch and tv (like a living room), kitchen table- seats 4-6, and separate bedroom with a decent sized closet and queen bed. There is also a great salt water pool with lots of lounge chairs and tables surrounding it. This is the place that you want to stay at when you are driving to Asheville, plan on hiking, shopping at local groceries, cooking a few meals, etc. It worked out great for us; however, if I were to take this same trip again, I might stay in a hotel instead because I would've liked a hotel bar/restaurant while I was by myself on Friday and I think hotel staff may be a little more hospitable. However, if I drive and go with my boyfriend and our dogs (because it is dog friendly!) I would definitely stay here again.
On Friday, I flew in to the Asheville Regional Airport and got an Uber to the hotel (yes, Asheville has Uber!!). I got to the hotel around 1 pm and I was starving, so I settled in and yelped some restaurants- found a place, requested an Uber and my trip began. I took the Uber to a restaurant at the Biltmore Village called Corner Kitchen. Corner Kitchen has a local feel and I could tell it was going to be good by the line of people waiting outside. Luckily, being by myself, I was seated right away at the bar. I immediately ordered a bloody mary to get my vacation started!
From there, I went to a local brewery and got some beers to bring back to my room, also asked the Uber driver to stop at a gas station on the way back to the hotel for snacks/waters/ etc. Once I got back to the hotel, I took full advantage of the pool and the beautiful weather!
When I left the pool, I was trying to decide if I wanted to go out and get dinner and a few drinks or go pick something up and cook at the hotel. Being in Asheville with all of the great restaurants and breweries, I decided to get ready and go out. I Ubered to Wicked Weed Brewery on the edge of downtown Asheville. I sampled all kinds of beers- my favorite being the blackberry Saison. I ordered a fried chicken sandwich topped with kimchi and other special stuff- it was delicious! I sat at the bar and conversed with people around me (after I got a drink in me). I will admit, I was a little nervous going out by myself. I haven't done that since college- which I did all the time but in college I knew I would run into familiar people at some point, which was not the case in Asheville. However, I could not be happier that I went because I had a great time, drank good beer, ate delicious food, and talked with good people. I left around 11 PM and ubered back to the hotel. Apparently, I may have had one too many because I woke up, in the bed at the hotel, to Mary Hinton poking me and asking me if I was alive (haha!). Poor thing had such a long day, then flew to Atlanta and had to wait for a connecting flight to Asheville, made it to Asheville around midnight, rented the last car available, found the hotel (luckily I emailed her the info earlier that day), could not get in touch with me, she tried calling multiple times, then to top it off, the hotel staff did not want to give her a key or let her into our room. Mind you, Mary Hinton has blonde hair and green eyes and the sweetest demeanor- she is the least suspicious person ever! Finally, after 30 minutes of convincing, they finally gave her a key to the room where she found me sound asleep. Oh and my phone was right next to me by the way. Obviously, I can be a hard sleeper. I have to commend Mary Hinton here because if all of that would have happened to me, I would not have been so pleasant. She was grateful to be there and ready to get to sleep so we could enjoy the rest of our trip.
On Saturday, we got up early (despite Mary Hinton's long a** day on Friday), went and got breakfast at Sunny Point Café which was another great Asheville restaurant. I had carrot pancakes which were perfect, thinking about them now is making my mouth water. The breakfast spot was farm to table, everything fresh, cage free eggs, all good ingredients- how Asheville does food. After breakfast, we decided to go take a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was the highlight of the trip. We had a map and just started driving- we got on the Blue Ridge for a few miles and saw a sign for Black Mountain which we had heard a few things about so decided to take that turn. We drove for miles, then came to a small area of shops and restaurants that looked really cute- we decided we would stop there on the way back because we wanted to get to Black Mountain. Well, we must have made a wrong turn somewhere or missed the sign because it looked like we were driving away from the mountains. We saw a sign for a visitor center and decided we would stop there. The visitor center was in Old Fort, NC. Our new favorite place!! The ladies in the visitor center were extremely friendly, they gave us a map and highlighted a scenic route for us to drive up the Blue Ridge. There was a thrift store next to the visitor center that we went in. We wanted to buy so many things- they had the coolest stuff and it was so cheap! However, we both flew so couldn't get too much. Then, we went to a little art gallery across the street from the thrift store and checked it out- we got a couple of things for our friend Millie who lives in Asheville, but who unfortunately, had a gallstone that turned very serious and was in the hospital while we were there.
After spending a good amount of time in our new favorite place, Old Fort, we followed the map up the Blue Ridge. We spiraled through the mountains, winding around huge boulders, and steep cliffs. It was gorgeous and thrilling!
We also stopped for ice cream- how could we resist.
We stopped at some of the overpasses to take in the stunning views.
At one point, we saw a suspended bridge on the side of the road and decided to pull over to check it out. This is where we pulled over.
And, this is what we found.
It was very cool! And very scary!! There was a sign saying limit- 4 people. The sign looked really old and rusty and then the bridge swayed A LOT while walking across. Once I got across, I realized that the nails "attaching" the boards to the end of the bride were moving with the bridge- that wasn't too comforting. At least we weren't too high up I guess... It was definitely worth it, but we did see some others on our drive (apparently, NC has more suspended bridges that any other state in the US) and decided we already pressed our luck on the first one.
We drove all the way up to Little Switzerland, a village with shops, cabins, coffee shops, etc. We wanted to drive further because we were told there was an apple orchard not too far from there, but decided to turn around since it would be getting dark soon and neither one of us wanted to drive the Blue Ridge at night. We headed back to Asheville, it took us about 1 1/2 hours to get back to The Residences at Biltmore. We showered and got ready to go out. We were both starving and feeling a little weak at this point, so first on the agenda was dinner. I remember going to an amazing sushi restaurant the last time I was in Asheville with my boyfriend. I could not for the life of me remember the name of that restaurant though. So, I yelped and found a place that looked good. It was okay :/ At least we got some food in us. From there we stopped in a Novelty shop that had everything from dishes to edible panties. Mary Hinton and I found these tiny hands, which had us dying laughing in the store. Laughing so hard we were crying and could not stop! We wore them around all night- made a lot of people laugh and creeped some people out. It made for a very interesting night!
We booked a room at The Residences at Biltmore, which was 1 mile from downtown, about 1 mile from the entrance of the Biltmore, and 1/2 mile from The Biltmore Village (an old village turned into shops and restaurants). The Residences at Biltmore is more like an apartment complex than a hotel- there are a few big parking lots, full kitchen in the unit, huge bathroom with a spa tub, sitting area with couch and tv (like a living room), kitchen table- seats 4-6, and separate bedroom with a decent sized closet and queen bed. There is also a great salt water pool with lots of lounge chairs and tables surrounding it. This is the place that you want to stay at when you are driving to Asheville, plan on hiking, shopping at local groceries, cooking a few meals, etc. It worked out great for us; however, if I were to take this same trip again, I might stay in a hotel instead because I would've liked a hotel bar/restaurant while I was by myself on Friday and I think hotel staff may be a little more hospitable. However, if I drive and go with my boyfriend and our dogs (because it is dog friendly!) I would definitely stay here again.
On Friday, I flew in to the Asheville Regional Airport and got an Uber to the hotel (yes, Asheville has Uber!!). I got to the hotel around 1 pm and I was starving, so I settled in and yelped some restaurants- found a place, requested an Uber and my trip began. I took the Uber to a restaurant at the Biltmore Village called Corner Kitchen. Corner Kitchen has a local feel and I could tell it was going to be good by the line of people waiting outside. Luckily, being by myself, I was seated right away at the bar. I immediately ordered a bloody mary to get my vacation started!
When I left the pool, I was trying to decide if I wanted to go out and get dinner and a few drinks or go pick something up and cook at the hotel. Being in Asheville with all of the great restaurants and breweries, I decided to get ready and go out. I Ubered to Wicked Weed Brewery on the edge of downtown Asheville. I sampled all kinds of beers- my favorite being the blackberry Saison. I ordered a fried chicken sandwich topped with kimchi and other special stuff- it was delicious! I sat at the bar and conversed with people around me (after I got a drink in me). I will admit, I was a little nervous going out by myself. I haven't done that since college- which I did all the time but in college I knew I would run into familiar people at some point, which was not the case in Asheville. However, I could not be happier that I went because I had a great time, drank good beer, ate delicious food, and talked with good people. I left around 11 PM and ubered back to the hotel. Apparently, I may have had one too many because I woke up, in the bed at the hotel, to Mary Hinton poking me and asking me if I was alive (haha!). Poor thing had such a long day, then flew to Atlanta and had to wait for a connecting flight to Asheville, made it to Asheville around midnight, rented the last car available, found the hotel (luckily I emailed her the info earlier that day), could not get in touch with me, she tried calling multiple times, then to top it off, the hotel staff did not want to give her a key or let her into our room. Mind you, Mary Hinton has blonde hair and green eyes and the sweetest demeanor- she is the least suspicious person ever! Finally, after 30 minutes of convincing, they finally gave her a key to the room where she found me sound asleep. Oh and my phone was right next to me by the way. Obviously, I can be a hard sleeper. I have to commend Mary Hinton here because if all of that would have happened to me, I would not have been so pleasant. She was grateful to be there and ready to get to sleep so we could enjoy the rest of our trip.
On Saturday, we got up early (despite Mary Hinton's long a** day on Friday), went and got breakfast at Sunny Point Café which was another great Asheville restaurant. I had carrot pancakes which were perfect, thinking about them now is making my mouth water. The breakfast spot was farm to table, everything fresh, cage free eggs, all good ingredients- how Asheville does food. After breakfast, we decided to go take a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was the highlight of the trip. We had a map and just started driving- we got on the Blue Ridge for a few miles and saw a sign for Black Mountain which we had heard a few things about so decided to take that turn. We drove for miles, then came to a small area of shops and restaurants that looked really cute- we decided we would stop there on the way back because we wanted to get to Black Mountain. Well, we must have made a wrong turn somewhere or missed the sign because it looked like we were driving away from the mountains. We saw a sign for a visitor center and decided we would stop there. The visitor center was in Old Fort, NC. Our new favorite place!! The ladies in the visitor center were extremely friendly, they gave us a map and highlighted a scenic route for us to drive up the Blue Ridge. There was a thrift store next to the visitor center that we went in. We wanted to buy so many things- they had the coolest stuff and it was so cheap! However, we both flew so couldn't get too much. Then, we went to a little art gallery across the street from the thrift store and checked it out- we got a couple of things for our friend Millie who lives in Asheville, but who unfortunately, had a gallstone that turned very serious and was in the hospital while we were there.
After spending a good amount of time in our new favorite place, Old Fort, we followed the map up the Blue Ridge. We spiraled through the mountains, winding around huge boulders, and steep cliffs. It was gorgeous and thrilling!
We also stopped for ice cream- how could we resist.
At one point, we saw a suspended bridge on the side of the road and decided to pull over to check it out. This is where we pulled over.
And, this is what we found.
We drove all the way up to Little Switzerland, a village with shops, cabins, coffee shops, etc. We wanted to drive further because we were told there was an apple orchard not too far from there, but decided to turn around since it would be getting dark soon and neither one of us wanted to drive the Blue Ridge at night. We headed back to Asheville, it took us about 1 1/2 hours to get back to The Residences at Biltmore. We showered and got ready to go out. We were both starving and feeling a little weak at this point, so first on the agenda was dinner. I remember going to an amazing sushi restaurant the last time I was in Asheville with my boyfriend. I could not for the life of me remember the name of that restaurant though. So, I yelped and found a place that looked good. It was okay :/ At least we got some food in us. From there we stopped in a Novelty shop that had everything from dishes to edible panties. Mary Hinton and I found these tiny hands, which had us dying laughing in the store. Laughing so hard we were crying and could not stop! We wore them around all night- made a lot of people laugh and creeped some people out. It made for a very interesting night!
We got up Sunday morning very excited because we were going to the Biltmore Estate this day! Mary Hinton had been before, and it is one of her favorite places. This was my first time, and it was amazing!! We spent most of the day touring the house and the gardens, then spent some time at the winery sampling some tasty vino. It was a great day!
It was an amazing trip and much needed girls weekend! The only thing that would have made it better is if our friend, Millie, was able to spend the weekend with us. We will have to schedule another girls trip soon!
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Anna's Amazing Year
Today, I am talking about my friend Anna. She is the girl in the picture above, the one raising her hands, about to do a cartwheel. Her and I met on Craigslist- crazy! I know. I moved to Atlanta from Auburn, where I went to school, and moved in with my sister. I love my sister very much, but we do better when we live separately. Anna was in the same situation, she moved to Atlanta from Statesboro, where she went to school. And like me, she moved in with her sister who already lived in Atlanta. Again, her and her sister do better when they do not live together. So, one night, I posted on Craigslist looking for a roommate. I set out the criteria, price range, fact that I had a dog and needed a dog friendly place to live and dog friendly roommate, etc. Anna was the first to respond to my ad. We chatted some and face booked each other. We found out that both of us had dogs who were our best friends, which made us click right away. We met for the first time at the Piedmont Park dog park, so the dogs could meet as well. We knew the dogs would work out when they sniffed each other and moved on. Anna and I both thought okay, she seems normal enough to live with and we started looking for apartments together. This was a PROCESS and really helped us get to know each other. One night, we decided to grab drinks at a bar in Little Five Points, and this is when we realized we were going to be really good friends. We found the perfect apartment in Little 5 Points/ VA Highlands/ Inman Park area. It had so much character, and was a short walk away from Freedom park where we took the dogs almost daily. We went out all the time, met new people, and shopped (at stores and in each other's closets). We were in our 20's, living in Atlanta having the time of our lives!
During this time, Anna reconnected with this guy she knew from GA Southern, Josh. Right off the bat, they hit it off. I could tell he was a great guy by the way he treated Anna and her dog, Cloie. They started getting pretty serious and moved in with each other the following year. Josh proposed in 2014 and I had the pleasure of taking their engagement photos! Here are a few:
I swear Anna is one of the most photogenic people I know!
Her wedding was not long to follow, in October of 2014, Anna and Josh said their "I-do's". It was a beautiful ceremony, filled with love and laughter and a really fun dance party, I mean reception afterwards!
Here are some pictures I took that day:
(please not that I was not the official photographer for the wedding and I was also in it, so didn't get all the essential wedding photos)
To top off 2014, Anna graduated from Kennesaw State University.
Last year was an amazing year for Anna and Josh. But this year is even better because Anna is pregnant with a baby boy!!
Anna- I am so happy for you for all that you have accomplished and all you have to look forward to!! I'm happy to have been a part of all of your amazing life events over the past few years. I couldn't have asked for a better friend/roommate to explore Atlanta with. I love you and Josh and cannot wait to meet baby Jackson!! Congratulations!
I swear Anna is one of the most photogenic people I know!
Her wedding was not long to follow, in October of 2014, Anna and Josh said their "I-do's". It was a beautiful ceremony, filled with love and laughter and a really fun dance party, I mean reception afterwards!
Here are some pictures I took that day:
(please not that I was not the official photographer for the wedding and I was also in it, so didn't get all the essential wedding photos)
To top off 2014, Anna graduated from Kennesaw State University.
Last year was an amazing year for Anna and Josh. But this year is even better because Anna is pregnant with a baby boy!!
Anna- I am so happy for you for all that you have accomplished and all you have to look forward to!! I'm happy to have been a part of all of your amazing life events over the past few years. I couldn't have asked for a better friend/roommate to explore Atlanta with. I love you and Josh and cannot wait to meet baby Jackson!! Congratulations!
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