Celebrating Friends

   Back in July, I headed to Jackson for Kathryn's engagement party. It was held at Colonial Country Club, where I had my wedding reception. They impressed me with their updated food and one of Kathryn's mom's did a great job with the floral arrangements on all the tables.

sisters

 We had a great time getting to hang out with everyone over the course of the evening! I was the spastic photographer and some people were probably wondering what the heck I was doing as I was snapping their pictures all night long, but I had a blast capturing the night for Kat and Dave. It made me really excited for their big day next year in April!! Hooray!!

My bestest and our moms

Bestest and sisters

some of Kat's bridesmaids

This pose will more than likely be recreated come reception time

The fabulous couple

  And just because I thought it was hilarious, I have to add in these pictures from the next day. Wrigley absolutely hated swimming in the pool, but would hardly move because he hated the life jacket even more! Penny stayed away because as soon as I let them outside, she went running out the door and fell in the pool. She swam like a champ to the steps though, so no worries!

"Get me out of this darn thing, woman!"

The Peachtree

All the girls: Danielle, me, Kathryn, Amanda, Margaret, and Evelyn

  Since Patrick was in Australia over the summer, I convinced my sister to come over and visit me for about a week over the fourth of July. Pat and I had also gotten our Peachtree race numbers as well, so I had an extra number for Margaret. Last year was my first year running it and I didn't get to put in a time  and was in group X. Ugh, that was terrible to start running so late! But since I entered in last year's time for this year, I moved up to group L. Woohoo! I kind of decided the week of that I actually wanted to race for time, but neglected to tell my sister who thought that it would be just a fun 10K. Whoops! We had a great time anyway and it was nice to show the city off to Margaret (even though I don't think she was listening to any of my comments along the way, especially once we got around 10th Street).

me and Margaret

me and my bestest

me and my seester

  Margaret and I finished the race in 1:15:12 which was an improvement over my race the previous year (1:23) and I felt great during this race! We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging at Danielle's pool and then went over to a neighbor's house for a backyard barbeque. It was a great week and I am so happy that Margaret came and shared it with me! I'm also glad she didn't kill me after the race! :) I am looking forward to next year's race!

Trip to Nashville

I am really surprised that I still have followers because I've been so bad at updating this blog, but I do have one main reason why I disappeared over the summer. Patrick's job actually took him to Australia and I am a little weird about people knowing when and where my every move may be, especially since I was home by myself this summer!

Anyways, Allison and I took a trip up to Nashville over the summer to visit with Katie and Tyler. Neither Allison nor I really wanted to drive and we found a solution: the Megabus! It had just recently come to Atlanta and we decided to try it because it was super cheap and we figured we would be together if anything went wrong, so why not? I think it cost us about $10? I can't really remember, but it was ridiculously cheap! 

It's a very cheap because you get picked up on the street (not from a station or something like that) and get dropped off on the street wherever you are going. It added one more hour to the normal trip had we driven, but it was so nice not to have to drive! Neither of us was tired after we got to Nashville because we could rest on the bus and we didn't have the stress of driving!

We scored a bench seat up on the upper level of the bus and it was neat being able to see the sky through the skylights and didn't make you feel very cramped at all! Al brought us sandwiches for lunch and we had one stop right outside Nashville to drop off some people, but it seriously wasn't bad at all! If you need to go somewhere for the weekend, I would highly recommend it because you can't beat the price and it truly wasn't bad! (I know it helped having Al with me though because we were able to share a seat together and not having to seat with some weirdo.)

We ate dinner out on Friday night and then went downtown to a few bars before calling it a night. We had a great time and were highly entertained during our dinner as we sat outside on the breezeway and saw a couple of homeless people getting arrested for being out of control, I'm sure.

 During the day on Saturday, we drove down to Franklin to eat lunch. I forget the name of it, but it was amazing!! We walked around downtown and it was so cute! There were so many adorable shops and we had a great day until it started raining on us a little. Oh well! We went back to Katie's house and enjoyed sitting around and catching up before dinner at a fantastic little restaurant! It was nice to get out of Atlanta and enjoy some quality time with Katie, Allison, and Tyler!

 We also enjoyed Katie's new addition, Momma G. She was quite hilarious and is kind of like a "dog-cat" as she will chase after rubber bands that you throw to her. I love it and I was able to take medication to keep my allergies away from her. Hooray! Thanks, Katie and Tyler for such a wonderful weekend!

Momma G

Pinterest Projects

Project #1:
  I finally uploaded some pictures from my camera from the Cinco De Mayo party and realized I never posted about my little project I snagged from Pinterest. I used the little drink umbrellas and stuffed them in my grapevine wreath that I already had but had never used from last year for our front door.

  I bought some moss, two flower pots, and two topiaries from the craft store and went to work on my little umbrella topiaries below. I'm pretty pleased how they turned out, but have no idea how to store them after the fact? Sorry, Pat, they might remain out all the time! :)

Project #2:
  I saw this painting over on Bower Power and knew these colors would look great in my dining room, so I had to recreate it! I enjoy symmetry and knew I needed to make two of them. I snagged some paints and two canvases from Michael's and went to work one night.

Source: bowerpowerblog.com via Emily on Pinterest

Blank canvas

After letting them dry overnight, I hung them up next to my china cabinet that I finally got around to painting!! I am very pleased with the outcome and so thankful that Katie shared her art! She is so talented and I must admit that I wish I had even some of her great ideas and her skills as a DIY-er!! (I hope I don't freak her out if she ever happens upon this post!)

side by side paintings

Finished products with my finished china cabinet (can you tell my fav colors?)

Project #3: Hair Ties

Source: theresakistel.com via Emily on Pinterest

  Instead of buying these hair bands for a pretty penny, I am going to make them myself! I have seen two tutorials on pinterest and it is definitely easy enough! I made a couple last night and will finish the rest this week! I have several yards to go!

Project #4: Christmas Bell Wreath

  I made this last year, so it's an oldie but a goodie and I can't wait to bring it back out this year at Christmas. Of course, I'm no Martha, but I do enjoy it.

Source: marthastewart.com via Emily on Pinterest

 Though I might make it smaller the next time--wire hangers are hard to bend!!

Project #5: More Art

  I have a small board on Pinterest dedicated to art that I like and I can't remember if these pieces have made it on there or not. They are all pieces at a home furnishings shop in Jackson and I love the colors of each of them and just might have to try my hand at them! 

Race Recaps

  On August 18, I ran the Vinings Downhill 5k with Allison. Doc and her husband also signed up for the race and we met them (accidentally) in the port-a-potty line. (This wasn't quite like we had planned, but I hadn't been able to call her before the race yet, so it worked out nicely!) I actually had a PR on this race! Hooray! I keep improving my time each 5k I do, though I haven't gotten under 30 minutes YET. Oh don't you worry, I will!! :) This was a pretty fun race to do and there were so many people out since it's called "the fastest 5k in Atlanta" and is a Peachtree qualifier (like most races in Atl, I'm discovering). 

Now I have never run straight down hill before and later in the day, my calves were killing me, but it was a good race. Apparently, they changed the course from last year (they said) and ended it up hill at a school over 3 or 4 speed bumps, but I was still able to sprint at the end. I finished with a time of 31:20.18 which is my best time for a 5k yet. I do want to break 30 minutes in my next 5k, but I haven't signed up for another race yet.

Welcome to Atlanta!

the morning sun was rising 

doc, me, and allison ready to race

  Y'all saw that I signed up for the Big Peach Sizzler 10k over Labor Day and I was quite impressed with this race! The course was relatively flat for Atlanta and it was fun since it ran around my 'hood. I actually ran this race by myself though my friend, Katie, was running a 10k in Cumming at the same time. I was a little nervous running by myself (I am always at least meeting someone at the race), but I met a very nice (and fast!) girl in line at the bathrooms before we started. I was enjoying the run when I heard a lady next to me on the left say that she was "going to take it easy since she had run 12 miles the previous day". I was super impressed, but just kept running. Maybe about a half mile later, I look to my right and there is the 12 mile lady! I ask her about her run the day before and she tells me she is training for an iron man at the end of the month and when I ask her what pace she is going to run, she says, "just to keep up with you". We chat for the next few miles and I tell her my roadblock is 3 miles. Once I'm over 3, I feel like I can keep going, but until then, it's a little harder (especially on a treadmill). She agrees and says she isn't going to walk until after mile 3. Well, mile 3 comes and goes and I think I ended up losing her around mile 4. I swear, mile 5 was tortuous and I was freaking out to myself, wondering how the heck am I going to finish 13 in November, but then I saw mile 6. Hallelujah! There was a photographer telling people to smile for the camera (seriously? I took the most awkward pictures here!!) and then I rounded the bend to see the finish line! I was able to sprint at the end for this race too and felt okay except the outer side of my right knee was starting to bother me. I finished this 10k in 1:07:13.55 and shaved off about 8 minutes from the Peachtree!! Here is hoping to shave off another 8 minutes on my next 10k!!

Such a cute logo and it's on bright orange shirt! Fabulous!!

Post race photo-I might need matching tops and shorts for racing (I'm a little wild with my colors!)

  I will probably try to run both of these races again next year as they were both fun and seem to be staple runs in Atlanta. I haven't done that much running since the Sizzler and am really needing to amp up my runs for my half marathon training, but my right knee has been bothering me. I am thinking it's my IT band and that I might need to find out where I can buy a foam roller and some good stretching exercises for it so I can keep it healthy. Fellow runners, any thoughts?

Here We Go

My next race to help me prepare for my half marathon. Hopefully I can improve my time from the Peachtree this year. So far in all of my races, I have improved my times, but I haven't really kicked my training up yet so I'm a little nervous about this race! (don't even get me started about the half!!!)

Terrifying

Patrick and I are signed up for our first half marathon. I'm not so sure about it, but I've got to start training!! Eek!!