My next vacation will be....

Sin city. 

Because of this.  

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Garth Brooks is officially out of retirement!  And he signed a deal with the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.  Weekends in Las Vegas will now host perhaps my most beloved musician of all-time.  

And I've always wanted to go to Vegas.  

Little fun fact:  Did you know that Garth Brooks is the best-selling solo artist of all time in any genre?  Beating out even the King of Pop, MJ.  Don't believe me?  CNN will tell you so.

Happy Weekend!

It should be a laid-back weekend in our household, and I'm pretty excited about it.  We do have to run some errands for some exciting happenings in our lives, but more to come on that later.  For now, I'll leave you with these adorable fall trends from Anthropologie.  I could totally live in that store!  (Yes, in the store.  I'd have all the great clothes I needed.  Tables to eat on.  Adorable plates for my food and saucers and teacups to drink from. You get the point.)

Moss

My friend, Tyler, is one of those people who has a knack for decorating.  She and her husband, Will, bought a house a few months ago, and she has done a fabulous job getting the entire house looking absolutely beautiful and homey!  Her latest post on fall decor has some great ideas, and I think my favorite part of it all is the moss that she adds as an accent.  My mom uses moss all the time, but I haven't even thought of it (emphasizing once more that I am not a decorator at heart!  But I do love to steal ideas!).  I'm a big fan of cool colors, and since most of my fall decor is a little brighter, I think the moss will help tone it down a bit.  Mom tells me that I should go to Michael's for moss, so if I get motivated enough I might just go get some.  With so much going on right now, I might just have to tuck this away for next year.  Or maybe Thanksgiving?

the boots

My younger sister is what I would call "fashion forward."  I, on the other hand, am more like "fashion behind."  

Our story usually goes like this - 

Robin Anne comes out wearing something that is a brand new trend (i.e. skinny jeans).  

I give her a distasteful look and tell her that I'm never wearing [skinny jeans].  

Six months later, I own a pair of [skinny jeans].  

Now, it doesn't always happen like this.  There are occasions when I will really never buy something that she wears (mostly because, unlike me, she can pull everything off).  And then there are times when I actually like her newest trend right off the bat.  

The latter is what happened with "the boots."  Here's how it went down...

Robin Anne shows up wearing these awesomely beautiful boots.  

Turns out they belong to her roommate. 

Robin Anne eventually bites the bullet and gets her own pair. 

I know that there's no way I can convince myself to buy them at full price, so I settle with boot envy.

At the end of the season last year, I find that the boots are on sale. 

I call sister and tell her the situation and that I think I'm going to buy the boots.  

I can hear the resistance in her voice.  Again?  She's thinking.  We're going to be seen all over Atlanta in the same boots all fall?! (To her credit, this actually matters to a fashionista and I do this often. Oops.)

I feel bad, so I pass up the boots and tell myself that they will probably be out of style by next season.

Fast forward to fall 2009.  

It's almost boot-wearing weather, and I realize that the boots are still perfect.  And in style.  And I'm having major not-buying remorse (if that exists).

Little sister now lives in a different city and I didn't buy the boots?!

Friend Lindsay and I are hanging out and she tells me about these amazing boots that she just bought on sale.  

She pulls them out, and alas!  They are "the boots!"  

She tells me they're on sale at Nordstrom.  And she's ok with us walking around the ATL with the same pair of boots on (and the same wallet for that matter - what can I say?  We have similar taste and shop in all the same places!). 

Right away, I call the husband and explain the scenario (i.e. justifying why they'll be a purchase for X dollars on our bank statement - welcome to marriage!).  I get a "go for it." He's the best.

I immediately order the boots online to pick them up at the store (mind you, still more than I normally pay for boots, but after this story? Come on!)

I get a message from the salesman that my shoes are ready for pick-up.  Hooray!

I get a second message from salesman saying that he was mistaken.  They don't actually have my size.  Oh no!

I get a third message from salesman saying that they actually found my size!  It's an emotional roller coaster (can we say dramatic!).  

The first chance I get, I dash to the store, and finally!  

I-go-home-with-"the-boots"-!

Worth it?  Um...I may or may not have worn them every day this weekend.  

A little pathetic?  Definitely.

Thai Lettuce Wraps

One of my favorite meals is the Thai Lettuce Wraps Appetizer (plenty large enough for a meal!) at the Cheesecake Factory.  Gaining inspiration from Lindsay (I might as well mention one more time how amazing of a cook and baker she is!), I decided to try my hand at homemade Thai Lettuce Wraps.  While Lindsay would make up her own variations based on what she tastes, I have to read recipes!  Thank you Google - you can find the exact ones at Meemo's Kitchen blog.  

On Wednesday night, I tried my hand at them, and they turned out super yummy!  If you're a cooking pro you can probably disregard this next part, but I have to admit that this dish took me a lot of time and energy.  Worth it in the end?  Definitely.  But be warned.  

Husband ready to eat!

Close-up

*A few variations that I did try:

- For time and money sake, I bought Ramen Noodles, Oriental flavor, and cooked them as instructed.  Then drained the noodles, and topped with peanuts.  Wasn't too bad at all.  And only $.25!

- Another time saver, I decided to only make two sauces that we like - the Thai Sweet Red Chili sauce and the Peanut sauce.  They also happened to be the only two that didn't require a blender or food processor, which saves lots of clean-up time!  

- To cut costs, I decided to go with iceberg lettuce.  Never again!  Iceberg breaks apart too easily; therefore, making the meal even messier.  Plus, bibb lettuce is like butta.  

- Finally, the Thai Sweet Red Chili sauce calls for 3 Tblsp hot ground chili paste.  Well, I just couldn't find any at the grocery.  But I did have hot chili sauce from Dekalb Farmer's Market that worked just fine.  

Various Happenings

Our lives are generally not this exciting, but the past few days have been so fun!  This weekend, Jamie and I headed over to Carrollton to celebrate Hutton & Collier's 4th birthday!  These are my precious nieces and the youngest of the Green brood.  Because their birthdays fall in the middle of college football season, for the past four years they have had the same party.  Mom & Dad rent a moonwalk, the kids jump and play all day, and the parents watch football!  Of course my sister, Jennifer, does her best to add variations so that they don't feel trumped, so the theme this year was a princess/pirate party with face painting, a "go fish" game, yummy snacks, and of course - the giant moonwalk in the shape of a pink princess castle. 

It was a perfect Saturday!  I was deemed head photographer, so I didn't get many pictures with my own camera, but here are the few I came home with....

Me & Collier, Jamie & Hutton - watching 

Auburn beat up on Tennessee

Wyche and Collier getting their morning exercise

at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Aaron's house

Luke and Courtney are the friends we visited in California.  As I mentioned before, they are great friends and incredibly generous.  For our wedding gift, they gave us tickets to see U2!!!! 

The show was last night, and beyond incredible.  Such talent, amazing graphics, phenomenal lighting, and great music.  Plus, we had amaaaaazing seats!  It was a night we won't ever forget!

Rockstar pose

The man himself - Bono

And here are two videos for you to enjoy - 

Vertigo

a small bit of Amazing Grace into

Where the Streets Have No Name 

something that I should never keep in the house....

(but that I just bought at the grocery yesterday.  oops :)

This stuff is seriously amazing, so if you haven't tried it yet I can't decide if you should or not.  Because once you do, you'll be hooked.  I had it for the first time when I went to Europe in 10th grade.  When I found out they served chocolate at breakfast, I knew I'd fallen in love.  I guess when you call it a "spread" it makes it ok.  Anyhow, it's a hazelnut chocolate spread, and can be eaten on toast, crackers, in croissants, on top of cookies, or simply by itself.  Simply delic!

It wasn't available in the U.S. until a few years ago, and it is ruining my healthy eating choices.  Oh well.  You can find it at most grocery stores!