this week's happenings...

This is a crazy week, but I'll save the best for last....

First, I owe a big shout out to Groupon. They provided a lovely meal for Jamie and I on Sunday night from New York Butcher Shoppe (I'm talking filets, potatoes, salad, bread) for only $15! And not only that, I got a great mani-pedi on Tuesday night for only $15 (with some tip thrown in, of course!). If you haven't checked it out, you need to. I'm careful only to buy what I know we'll use, otherwise I could go nuts! Oh, and Atlanta on the Cheap is a great blog that will list all the daily deals - there are so many!

Then, on Tuesday night we went to the Westside Street Food Parade right around the corner from our house at Strongbox. It was so much fun. I love the street cart idea that is running around Atlanta. Must say that Yumbii is my favorite!! Wish I had taken my camera, as it was quite a site to see. Yummy food, great neighbors...I love our side of town. :)

Yesterday, we had some hedges put in along the side of our driveway. What has this world come to now that we spend our weekends doing things around the house, and one of my most blogworthy happenings has to do with landscaping?! Oh well...I must admit, we're loving it! Pictures to come.

And finally, in about three hours, pretty much my whole family is jumping on a plane to Virginia for my BROTHER'S WEDDING WEEKEND! Yay! We are so excited. There is nothing that I love more than a weekend with family and friends celebrating those that we love. Plenty of pics to come next week!

Happy weekend everyone!

Gabby says...

Happy Fall!!

(even tho it's 83 degrees today)

And here's a little quiz my friend, Caroline, passed along.

1. What is your favorite 80's song? My Sherona by the Knack. Was my pump up song on the way to sporting events in high school.

2. If you had $1000 to spend in one day (frivolously!) what would you buy/do? I think I would treat the husband and I (and a few other friends) to dinner at Bacchanalia. Of course mine would center around food. But it's consistently ranked the #1 restaurant in Atlanta, and for us to go, it's probably going to take this. :) And maybe precede dinner with drinks/apps at either Miller Union or JCT. Ridiculous, I know.

3. If you had to rename your spouse, what name would you pick? Ha. Let's see.....I have no idea.

4. What piece of advice would you give to your younger self, if you could? You don't know everything!!! And if you're stressed out now, just wait til you get older cause you have zero real responsibility until after college.

5. What is the best NON-wedding/delivery moment of your life thus far? Auburn/VA Tech Sugar Bowl weekend. My last semester at Auburn. 13-0 season. Ok, maybe not the absolute best moment of my life (that'd be a little pathetic), but so much fun and the first thing that came to mind.

6. If you could pick any (outside the home) career in the whole world what would it be? I'd own a coffee shop right around the corner from my house.

7. What is the BEST laugh you have had lately? I can't nail one, but it was probably in the company of the husband and my family.

just sayin'

I haven't said much. I won't say much more. And it may not last long. But, today it is too hard to completely contain my excitement...

Waaaaaaaaaar Eagle!

LOST

I never got on the LOST bandwagon. There was all sorts of hype from lots of my friends but I just couldn't commit, and then it was too late. Series finale. But now there's Hulu. If you've never heard of Hulu, you should check it out. So many tv shows directly from your computer. It started out as something to do, and now it's a little bit of an obsession. But I am halfway through Season 2. I know, waste of time. I promise I won't find another series after this. But for now....I'm lovin' it

I'll close the week with this. Speaking of guilty pleasures/waste of time, there are so many things wrong with this picture...

family, friends, and fall colors

This past weekend, Jamie and I went up to Cashiers, NC and it couldn't have been better weather. I forget how amazing fall is in the mountains!

Quite the view while cooking breakfast

Brrrrr

Mom, dad, J, and I ventured to Highlands for a

yummy lunch at Madison's. And we might have

had some Bloody Marys. :)

the colors!

on our way home

And last night, I got to have dinner with my precious friend, E. She and I do not see each other enough, but when we do get the chance it's like no time has passed. And guess what she brought me? CANDY CORN!!

love her

Friday Musings (I'm Famous!)

So, let's start with the fact that, yes, I am famous. My co-worker, Courtney, is an avid runner who gets the WINGFOOT magazine. Here's the cover.

And when she opened hers up, guess what she saw on pg. 13, bottom right.

That's me. And all my running glory. Hilarious!

I know it's been a while, but after perusing through people.com, I just have to say...

Who, in their right mind, would ever go from this

<---- to this ---->?!?!

Jesse James, you are one weird man.

And, finally, y'all just need to see this video. Chris Tomlin at his very best. Seriously.

food!

Food is always on my mind, but there are a few things I had to share with you —

1 - Did I tell you our neighbors have chickens?! We love, love, love Brian, Sarah, and their adorable three kids. They are great neighbors (he's a vet!) and they are all about being as self-sustaining as possible. This past spring they built three really incredible and "fruitful" square-foot gardens filled with vegetables and herbs. And they also purchased some CHICKENS...baby chicks! Now that it's October, the chickens have grown and are starting to lay eggs. As a result, we've had lots of baked goods come our way (delivered by sweet Fiona, the oldest daughter). We hit jackpot two weeks ago, when this was delivered to us —

Fresh, home-grown eggs!

Aren't they beautiful?

I didn't do anything fancy, but we did scramble them and have them for breakfast. And I must say, they were the best eggs that I have ever eaten. Maybe part of it was in my head, because I could see the chickens out my window, but they were absolutely delish!

2 - On another side of the spectrum, I made a meatloaf this week. Never have I ever made one, craved one, or even thought about it. But, Pioneer Woman (if you've never seen her blog, please check it out...if only for the recipes) posted a recipe that actually intrigued me. And when I mentioned the idea to Jamie he told me meatloaf was one of his favorite meals. Who knew?!

I must admit, this might have been one of the greatest things I've ever cooked/eaten. And that's coming from a previous non-meatloaf eater. (I have to tell you that I got to use homemade bread made by Lindsay from a get together we had this weekend. So that probably helped...but) Try it yourself!

[Photo courtesy of The Pioneer Woman]

3 - And as previously mentioned, we had some neighbors over this past weekend for some football, cornhole (that I'm not sure anyone actually ever played), and food. It was quite the spread with Lindsay's bread, freshly boiled peanuts, apple pie, and homemade cheeze-its (so yum! recipe here, made by neighbor Kristin.) I also made a huge pot of one of our Allen family favorites, Chicken Tortilla soup. Recipe to come!

Don't you love the food cravings that come with the change of seasons? Here's to soup, pumpkin flavored everything, comfort food, and fall spices!

[Now if I can just find my candy corn (thank you for the suggestions, friends!).]

Where is all the candy corn and pumpkins?!?!

And I'm not talking about the Publix brand. Or the Kroger brand. I want the Brach's brand! The real candy corn + pumpkins!

Why can't I find them? Can anyone tell me where they've seen some? It's of the utmost importance! My transition into fall will not be the same without them!

Project

Tonight, I'm working on a project. And here's a snapshot below —

Pictures to come soon! I'm really excited about this one!

10 + 10 + 10 = 30

I've talked about my friend Charlsie before. She's been one of my friends since we were wee little kiddos. And since she's been old enough to do the math, she's been really looking forward to her 30th birthday. Mainly because her birthday is October the 10th. And her 30th birthday just happened to be this year, 2010. If you're still not following me, yesterday was her birthday. And yesterday's date was 10/10/10.

10 + 10 + 10 = 30.

I mean, that's pretty cool, isn't it?! And perfectly fitting for Charlsie! So, I couldn't not be there to celebrate!

Birthday girl at her party in the Aug.

Me and Chuck.

Love you long time.

southern pumpkins

As I've mentioned a million times, I LOVE decorating for all seasons and holidays. Southern Living featured some adorable pumpkin centerpieces in their latest issue, so I decided to give it a whirl to add a touch of fall to our home.

Start with a pumpkin (or two!), and a few plants. SL featured a fairytale pumpkin, but I wasn't getting that fancy for my first try. So I just picked up whatever was at the Home Depot, while I was getting the flowers. For flowers, I did a mix of pansies and violas and rosemary.

After scooping out the pumpkin interior, line it with a plastic bag or tin foil (note: this is important, so don't skip this step!). Then, fill with potting soil, and plant the arrangement you prefer.

And voila! I made a few extras to give away, but there is one sitting on my front porch.

Warning: These are only supposed to last about a week, unfortunately. Then re-pot the plants in another container. And I'm not sure you should water them much...I learned this the hard way when one of my pumpkins fell apart on my kitchen table. Oops.

1:52:38

Race day has come and gone, and I made it in under 2 hours (official time listed above)! Quick snapshot of our day —

5am: alarm going off

5:30am: bagel + peanut butter

6am: leave to meet Gavin, Lindsay, and her dad

6:30am: get dropped off by Jamie and Gavin, wait in line forever at the women's restroom, head straight to the START line

7am: horn goes off and the herd starts moving

(now we start keeping track by miles)

Miles 1 - 4: stumble and run our way through the dark early morning

Mile 4.5: sun starts coming up

Mile 5.5: pass our cheering section (amazing! led by head cheerleader, Sue)

Mile 8: hit super hilly neighborhood, but still running hard

Mile 10: Blackburn Park starts kicking my butt...wondering if I'm going to finish, unfortunately break my pace and let little sister press on

Mile 12: try my best to keep running (even at a snail's pace!)

Mile 12.8: teased by passing the Finish Line on the other side of a fence, sprinting downhill

Mile 13: realize the last trek is uphill and want to throw up, but instead just keep running

Mile 13.1: FINISH!!

Lil' sister and me

Laura, me, Robin Anne, and Lindsay

after the race with our medals!

Action shots: Linds, Robin Anne, me

Lindsay's dad also ran, and did awesome! Action shot of Jim

on the left, and daddy/daughter photo on the right.

I'll be runnin', runnin'...and runnin', runnin'

on Sunday, that is. 7am. Olgelthorpe University. The half marathon is finally here!

And because it's Friday, I'll leave you with this HILARIOUS video. Jimmy Fallon is quickly becoming one of my favorite funnymen. And of course, JT is ridiculously talented.