End of Summer Reading

Guess what??? My new KINDLE arrived last week and I have already loaded it up with new books to read...oh how I have missed it!

Book #1 (current book I am reading): Mini Shopaholic

I am SO SO SO happy that Sophie Kinsella has come out with a new chapter in this series. I have read all the Shopaholic books and was so depressed when I finished the last one...until now! I am about half way through this one and it is great - there have been times I laughed out loud while reading it. Most of you know I take my Kindle with me to the gym to read on the cardio machines, so I got some strange looks when I was laughing to myself on the treadmill! I would strongly recommend this one.



***Note: Since I wrote this post, I have finished the book - so cute! I think there might be more to come in the Shopaholic line!

Book #2 (on pre-order for November delivery): Happy Ever After

I absolutely can't wait until this book comes out. I love 'series' of books and Nora Roberts loves her some series! Much like with Shopaholic, I was in a depression when I finished these books and now she has finished the last in the group. Maggie has discussed these on her blog before and I am hooked. I have read other Nora Roberts series as well and they are all good reads.



Ryals gave me my Kindle for my birthday last year and it is the best present I have received. I use it so often, it has paid for itself over and over! The new price of the Kindle is $139 which is about a third of what it used to be. It would be a great present!

Weekend in SSI

This weekend Ryals and I hit the road for wedding #1 of 3 we have to go to in the upcoming weeks. Bonus points - we got to hang out with The Roberts during our time on the island! We hit the road Friday afternoon to head down there (no extra time taken off, end of year = no days left...booo). We ended up getting to the island around 10 PM. I was so happy to see Meredith, Johnathan, Brendan, Dustin, Stacy and Kevin when we got to where we were staying - so sweet of them to be there to greet us when we got in...oh wait, no, they just wanted to ICE Ryals! Ryals was very surprised to see that his 'gift bag' from the bride and groom was actually a Smirnoff Ice. He was a true champ and downed it right there in front of everyone!

The bride and groom put...Smirnoff Ice in their gift bags? Classy!



R is such a good sport!





After that lovely encounter, we made our way over to Ocean Lodge for the rooftop bar and tapas restaurant. I have been wanting to try that place out ever since I heard about it. My parents are staying there for GA/FL and wanted us to scope out their rooms as well. It was great - the wedding party was there and had just come from the rehearsal dinner. The weather was perfect and the views beautiful! We had a couple of drinks and called it a night.

Saturday morning we met Johnathan and Kevin down at the village where they both ran in a 1 mile race...and they WON it! Who knew all those drinks Friday night would help them get 1st and 3rd place???



I got a tour of Meredith's work in their house...it looks GREAT and she has put so much effort into making a home for she and Johnathan. My favorite areas were the den, piano room (this room had the biggest improvement in my opinion) and kitchen. After that we hit up Larry's Giant Subs (favorite. sandwich. ever) and went to the beach. We got a few hours in the sun and I actually got a little sunburned. Mer and I had to leave early to go get ready, so we headed back to their house.

The boys picked us up and we made our way over to Epworth by the Sea where the wedding ceremony was. It was a small wedding in a beautiful wood chapel. The brides colors were green, brown and purple. Both bride and groom had two attendants each and the bride had 12 honorary bridesmaids (sounds like our friends). The bride looked stunning in a Grecian style flowy dress with a sweetheart neckline and bead embellishment at the bustline...gorgeous! She wore a veil at the ceremony and changed to a sideswept 'do with a flower in her hair for the reception.

The reception was my favorite of all. It was held on the lawn of a GORGEOUS house in the village right on the water. They had a James-Taylor-esque type band, lights strung across the yard and a buffet complete with stuffed mushrooms and peppers, artichoke dip, low country boil and a fabulous raspberry filled wedding cake. My favorite weddings are held outdoors under the stars (a la Kim and Nick).

So sweet...Rachel and Bret Joiner 09.25.10:





It was SO windy...why did we even style our hair?



LOVED the setting!



So happy to see Mer and J-Rob!



All the boys - Johnathan, Kevin, James Derrick, Ryals and Brendan:



Posing...



Chowing down on the delicious food!



We stayed at the wedding until the end, when we watched the Joiners drive off on a golf cart and were showered with lavendar (great idea). After that, we hit up Brogen's for a few drinks. Sunday morning Ryals and I had brunch at the 4th of May and then went over to casa Roberts for some movie-watching and lounging around. We hit the road at about 3:30 and took our time getting home, even stopping in Macon for some El Azteca.

I already miss SSI...can't wait to go back October 23rd for Girls' Weekend! I'm gearing up for the upcoming weekend in which we will be in Atlanta...hopefully the Dawgs won't go 0-4 this weekend!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

...at least we won the TAILGATE

Well...I'll start off by saying that I am obviously disappointed with this year's football season so far (the games, not the partying!). But I would like to remind everybody (myself included) that you need to stick by your team in good times and bad. We'll get back to being a good football program soon, it just may take a little time.

That being said, we travelled to Athens this weekend for the UGA vs. Arkansas game. This is probably the biggest home game I will get to go to this year because I have weddings to go to for the next two home games (Tennessee and Vanderbilt). Its weird to think that the next time I'll be in Athens is in November! I took off a half day from work on Friday and Ryals and I hit the road to head to the classic city. We met my parents at LAST RESORT for lunch on Friday around 1 PM. I just love that place - I had the black bean crepes and they did not disappoint! Friday was spent walking around downtown, shopping and taking it all in. We hit up East West Bistro Friday afternoon for happy hour! So nice that I wasn't working - I indulged in a glass of vino.

Friday night we went to a wine tasting event at the Vet School to benefit the Bulldog Rescue. Outside the vet school, there were table set up with all different types of wine as well as raffle prizes and a big spread of appetizers. It was nice to relax outside and sample the vino and app's. There were some really cute dogs there and I made friends with a cute doberman pinscher puppy:



I just loved him! I could have taken him home! We also got to hang out with Russ, the Uga stand in for the time being:



After a few hours of that, we went back downtown and ate some dinner @ East West (can you see a trend here? We LOVE that place). The rest of the night was spent @ Hotel Indigo to see the Swinging Medallions play! It was so fun - that will make the 2nd time I have seen them in concert. Hotel Indigo is a really cool place to hang out - they even had a complimentary trolley that took us home!

We got up uber early on Saturday to prepare for the tailgate. We were at the FIJI house by 8 am...blahhhhhh. Tailgate was set up in record time. Our friends, the Stevens who own Chick Fil A franchises help out with the tailgate and they brought a huge spread of Chick Fil A. We even got to sample the new Spicy Chicken Biscuits (which will not be available to the public until January). I <3 tailgating!

Jeff and Courtney came to Athens - yay! I miss them and can't wait for her to move to Atlanta:



The game was spent alternating time between sitting with my parents in club level and hanging out with Ryals' dad's crew in the sky box (not too shabby!). The game itself was not so good - the last few minutes were quite exciting when we made a bigtime comeback and the crowd got really cranked up. Then, Arkansas scored and that was that...boooo. But all in all, we had a great time!





I cried all the way back to the tailgate where everybody met back up for drinks, food and more college football.

Saturday night we freshened up and hit DePalma's on the East side to spend time with Ryals' dad, his girlfriend and the Butlers. After that, we went back downtown and headed over to Reds (formally known as Basil Press) to watch the rest of the football games with Jeff and Courtney. That place is crazy - there are literally TV's on every single wall. How about those Auburn Tigers? I can't believe that - we watched that game and then called it a night out of sheer exhaustion.

Sunday was spent at Porterhouse brunch ($10 all you can eat, don't mind if I do). I had a celebrity siting at Porterhouse - I saw Aaron Murray (UGA's new starting quarterback). I told him what a great game he played and he thanked me - he also told me he is going to give me free sideline passes for life (not). R and I drove back to Atlanta. We stopped at the Georgia Club on the way (off of 316 right outside of Athens) and walked around the grounds, looked at houses and took a stroll through the clubhouse - very very nice! Sunday afternoon/night we took a long walk up in Brookhaven around the new development and looked at/critiqued houses. We finished off the run at Yoforia (yum) which ended up being my dinner. Not a bad way to end up the weekend!

I am looking forward to this weekend in St. Simon's where I will get to see the Roberts and go to some of my favorite places!

Kaiser 5K @ Turner Field

This past Thursday, September 16th, Renee, Hollie and I ran the Kaiser Permanente 5K @ Turner field! I have never done a 5K (or any sort of race before) so this was new territory for me. My company sponsored a tent and we had about 4 runners and 10 or so walkers from my company. Hollie signed up under our team.

A view of the massive number of tents @ Turner Field blue lot.



Walking around and saw the Chick Fil A cow!!



Team Waffle House had the BEST shirts!



My friend, Jangmee and myself hanging out at the VeenendaalCave tent!



We got there around 5 PM and hung out with some gatorade, chips and salsa and live music! Renee got there a little while later and it turns out that her company tent was right next to mine! Hollie literally got to the race at the very last minute due to ridiculous traffic - we were lining up and she didn't even have time to stop by the tent so she had to run the whole race with her cell phone in her sports bra! Haha.

I was a little overwhelmed at first by the amount of people running the race - it was in the thousands and we were all packed in at the olympic rings in downtown waiting to run. Once they signaled for us to go, it took about 5-6 minutes for us to even get started running. Hollie and I stayed together for probably 70% of the race. I slowed down at a huge hill right by GA State University and Hollie went on. She waited for me at the finish line but somehow missed me! I caught up with Renee right before we hit the finish line. I was exhausted! My time when I crossed the finish lines was in the 34 minute mark, but you should subtract about 5 minutes from that due to the fact that we ddin't get started right away.

When we got done I was SWEATING my butt off! Renee and I picked up our t-shirts and headed back to the tent. Ryals came to support me and was waiting there with Powerade when I got back - so sweet! The 4 of us hung out, drank beer, ate Jimmy John's and talked about the race. I am so glad to have finished my first 5K and will be continuing to sign up for more in the future! I had some pretty good running buddies too... :)

Thanks to Ryals for all the encouragement! Next year he said he will run :)





So glad to be done with THAT...now when's the next race???

College Gameday: UGA vs. Louisiana Lafayette

I'm a little behind on my blogging...don't shoot me.

So as you all know, the Stones like to do it up for tailgates @ UGA. The opening weekend of football season was no different. We had a long weekend in Athens for Labor Day and took full advantage. Friday night we hit the town, starting @ East West Bistro. We then hit BOURBON STREET for some freshman-in-college style partying (which included dancing on the booth). We headed home early because it was a noon game the next day - BUT I woke up the next morning with a Smirnoff Ice in my purse...must have been a good night.

Saturday we got up early to set up the tailgate. I was feeling so cute in my new gameday dress (thanks to Hollie B's post on the adorable dresses @ Festivity). We had a huge spread that included Chick Fil A biscuits and minis, dips galore, Subway platters and a fully stocked bar. I started the day off with a mimosa...deliious!

Atlanta Design Chick & Ryals



Big crowd at this tailgate!



Mom and the Mitchells



Look @ Dad's face...hahaha!



The Stone Bros out in full force:



K-Rea stopped by!



Mom and her college buds (they all look alike)!



Muller Family Christmas card:



The Dawgs were victorious and pulled out a 55-7 win. Saturday night was spent @ DePalma's (where Ryals and I both almost fell asleep in our pasta).

Sunday (after hitting up Porterhouse brunch) we hit the road to head back to Atlanta. We spent the day running errands, shopping, etc. We hit up JCT Kitchen for their infamous "Sunday Supper" and then finished the night @ Craft Bar for some drinks. I was exhausted! What a great holiday weekend!

I'll be back soon with tales from Columbia, SC and this weekend's UGA matchup vs. Arkansas...Stay tuned!!

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Cutest Movie Ever...

Tonight for Monday Night Girl's Dinner we changed it up a bit and went to see the movie "The Switch". I had seen previews and had been wanting to see it. It did not disappoint! I thought it was precious and one of the cutest movies I have seen in a while. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who loves chick flicks!





Glad to spend time with the girls as usual! It was funny to see what everyone snuck in the theater as their dinner. My favorite was Maggie whipping out her rubbermaid container full of homemade lettuce wraps, complete with real silverware. I <3 MNGD!

XOXOXOXO

My Closet: For Sale

Okay I am selling this dress:



It would be such a cute game day dress! I have worn it only 1-2 times. It is from Anthropologie and is a size 0. It is $35. If you are interested, please email or leave a comment!