...and WOW

I feel like I have been so behind on my blogs! I haven't put up a good one for a while! This week has been very busy for me. We have had some changes on our team and work and they have moved one of the designers from our team to a different team in the office. Since she left, not only are we one woman short but we also have gotten in a ton of work! Usually when I do blog postings, I do them during my lunch break, but I have been working through lunch this week!

Also, Renee and I are moving to a different apartment in the same complex. We have been packing every night this week and will make the big move Tuesday. We get the key tonight and I am so excited about our new apartment! My room will be a little bit bigger as well as my closet. Packing and moving is on my list of things that I do NOT want to have to do very often. I feel like such a nomad because I have lived in FOUR different places since I have moved to Atlanta. So that has kept me very busy this week as well.

I have been so lucky during the month of May to have fun things to do every weekend! First, Meredith's bachelorette party in Florida and then a fabulous wedding weekend at The Cloister for Ryals' good friend, John Carson and his now-wife Ashlea. The weekend started out with Ryals and I leaving at noon on Thursday to head to St. Simon's Island. We wanted to avoid the terrible rush hour traffic in Atlanta and have a fun dinner out on the island. We got there around 4:30 and met up with Johnathan and Ben Lyons (Lauren Giles' BF). Let me just tell you all, I am SO proud of Meredith for what she has done so far down at J-Rob's house! It looks so good. She got the cutest rug from Lowe's for their den that I just love!

Once we got settled at their house (we stayed there Thursday night), myself and the 3 boys went and met up with some people over at Coastal Kitchen , a really great restaurant right on the water. Let me just tell you, it was me and about 10 guys, so it was a fun testosterone time. After that, Ryals, Ben, Johnathan and I went to The Crab Trap for dinner. It was mainly fried, but I didn't care! After that, the 4 of us went to Brogen's and sat outside on the porch for drinks and met up with some other members of the wedding party. We called it a night around 1:30 or so.

The next day Meredith got down to SSI around lunch. After grabbing sandwiches at Larry's Giant Subs (my FAV), we went and checked in to our rooms at The Cloister. The title of my blog post comes from the Groom. He texted us earlier in the day and said "just checked into our Beach Club Suite at The Cloister...and WOW". So that was pretty much the theme of the whole weekend. Our rooms were so nice. I couldn't believe that they put all of us up there!





Of course, we hit the Beach Club as soon as we got ready. We spent the majority of the day out in the sun, which was so nice!





After that, it was time to get ready for the rehearsal dinner at The Lodge. We all got on a bus and they took us over there. The Lodge is the resort's golf club and it is such a beautiful setting. We started the night with cocktails on the porch, overlooking the ocean and golf course. A bagpiper played in the background and the sun was setting! Just gorgeous!













The dinner itself was incredible. It was like a mini wedding reception. The decor was beautiful and the food was a three course meal consisting of a wedge salad, a filet/crabcake/mashed potato plate and the Groom's chocolate UGA-themed cake. I was blown away! As the night went on, our table got a little rowdy (thanks the never-ending vino). Everyone had a REALLY good time...











Ryals ESPECIALLY had a good time! :)



The next day, Ryals and I hit the Beach Club early to get a full day in the sun, since all the groomsmen had to start getting ready at 4. We had lunch with the Groom, his family and the Rea's over at the Beach Club buffet. Then we headed down to the beach to get some more sun with the whole gang! The boys hit the road at 4 to go put on their tuxes, so Meredith and I stayed at the pool with the girls until after 5 which was so relaxing.

We got ready for the wedding and headed over to the main hotel for the ceremony and reception. The ceremony was in a garden and it was really classy. They hung chandeliers from the oak trees and the spanish moss made everything look so elegant!







After the ceremony, we walked around the marsh side of the hotel on our way to the reception and captured the sunset. All along the walkway, they had servers with trays of wine, mixed drinks, and appetizers waiting for us!









Once we had a cocktail hour in the courtyard, we went in to the ballroom and it was beautiful. Lots of creams/champagnes/whites as the color scheme. I was blown away. It was a small wedding, but very classy and elegant. We enjoyed a "southern" buffet complete with chicken fried steak, stewed okra and tomatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc. They also had a shrimp and grit station which was my favorite. They served little salads out of margarita glasses. The wedding cake was chocolate with white fondant and I definitely enjoyed some of that too!













We danced the night away to Papa Soul (Glenn had them at her wedding - I love them!) and watched the Bride and Groom dance, cut the cake, toss the garter and bouquet and leave in a shower of rose petals and fireworks. It was a fabulous weekend and I can't wait until the next one!



















Next up...Johnathan and Meredith...07.10.10

XOXOXOXOXOXO

New Blog!

I had a fantastic time this weekend! It was so good to catch up with everyone and have three relaxing days in the sun! Unfortunately, I did not take any photos but I am eagerly awaiting everyone else's pics of Meredith's last fling as a single lady!

Lauren Gray told me about a new blog while we were riding back on Sunday. It is called "The Pioneer Woman". I have briefly read it this morning and think it is really cool! Check it out!

Short but sweet. See you girls later!

Sips 'n Strokes

I was so sad to miss out on Monday Night Girls' Dinner last night, but I did miss for a good reason! One of the sales reps that calls on us at work asked our team to go to Sips 'n Srokes last night. This has been on my list of things to do for years!

The Dunwoody location of Sips 'n Strokes is up in Dunwoody near Riley Salon (remember Riley Salon? hahahahaha - blast from the past) on Chamblee Dunwoody. It took me a while to get up there in rush hour traffic, but was worth it! We started off doing dinner at a place called Mudcatz which was right across the street. It was definitely an interesting place (be sure to check out the gallery pictures on their website). Not the greatest food, but great drinks and conversation!

After snacking on onion rings, shrimp and salad, we made our way across the street to the studio. It is basically one big room with tables and paintings everywhere! When we walked in, there were cute girls galore (and one boy - ha) - I would imagine that there were about 50 people or so there. We had our own little table and the sales reps that took us set up a little champagne, wine and CUPCAKES station to enjoy while we painted!



I loved the painting that we got to paint last night, but was a little concerned about how I was going to make it look like the one on the website! Well, they have a teacher up at the front of the class that walks you through every step of the painting. Once you get all the main shapes down, you can add your own little accents to the painting to give it personality. Of course, a group of 10 designers would not follow the rules and would try to make a completely different painting. I was cracking up because I kept looking at all the other groups' paintings (which all looked exactly like they were supposed to) and then I looked at our group and nothing looked the same! Haha - people even commented on how our group really went outside the box!

Soooo...I thought I would give mine a more abstract feel and after a couple of glasses of champagne, my inner-impressionist came out! Hahaha - I don't think it looks much like what it was supposed to, but its different.



Here are some more photos to enjoy!



Douglas' painting was like the polar opposite of mine! All neat and clean while mine was a mess!



The whole group!