San Francisco Day 1......

It feels so good to be home after a fun filled weekend of vacation. Vacation is always fun no matter where you go. Can I get an amen? However, after about 4-5 days, I find myself thinking, "I'm ready to go home." Then you finally get home. You walk in the door, and you INSTANTLY wish you were back on vacation. haha It is never a true win win situation. Chad and I did go to San Francisco this past weekend. We had a complete blast. Chad had to go for business, and I went to play. (Summer break is AWESOME!) The first couple of nights we stayed at the Orchard Garden Hotel right off of Bush Street. It was a fantastic hotel. The staff were extremely nice as well as the room/hotel itself. One thing I learned from planning this trip is San Fran is similar to New York City as the city is broken down into little "neighborhoods." Our hotel was in the Financial district which was really great. We were able to be right in the thick of everything that was going on and were able to walk to everything that we wanted to get to.

The first morning we were there we woke up early, of course. Our bodies were still on Eastern time. We decided to walk to this little breakfast cafe that was a couple of blocks away. It turned out to be one of the most amazing breakfast places EVER!

Taylor St. Coffee Shop was definitely one of the cutest little breakfast places I have ever been to. There were about 8- 10 tables crammed into this little tiny place. They had the BEST food. Chad got a spicy bacon hash with eggs and an english muffin, and I got the most delicious croissant breakfast sandwich with bacon, egg, cheese, spinach, and tomato!  We also got a side of what they call Millionaire Bacon. Boy did it live up to its name. It was a thick piece of bacon smothered in this spicy spice mixture and brown sugar. It was absolutely the best bacon I have ever had. It was super sticky and just delicious!

After breakfast, we headed down to the Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood and Pier 39. We walked around taking everything in until our audio tour at Alcatraz. 

I realized on this trip that I am horrible at remembering to take pictures. Alcatraz was so amazing and I do not have a single picture EXCEPT.......

We found out upon arrival to Alcatraz that there was a guest on the island. He actually used to be a prisoner at Alcatraz. He never told anyone that he was a prisoner except his wife. His name is Bob Luke. He was put on the island for robbing a bank using a semi-automatic weapon. However, he has been on his best behavior for the past 55 years. Mr. Luke decided to write an autobiography about his time at Alcatraz. Upon writing the book, he was forced to go back and tell his long life friends his most kept secret. Needless to say, everyone was excepting of him. He did write the book and happened to be signing copies of his book the day we were there. He and his wife were as sweet and cute as they could be. It was an extremely cool moment and experience. 

After walking about 6 miles that day, we decided to head back to the hotel to take a little nap. This momma needed a little break after all of that. We decided to go to dinner a little later. We went to the Tadich Grill. It had great reviews on multiple websites. However, we did not have a good experience. Everything from the service to the food was very non-impressive and disappointing. 

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and slept for a VERY long time......

It was heavenly!

Stay tuned for day two tomorrow! 

Chastain Park Fun!

"All we truly need in this life is God, love, family, and food!" 

Seriously....could my quote not be anymore real/true? When I think about life this is seriously all I think about. Friday night I got all of these things into about 4 hours of fun! Allen and Diana (Chad's parents) got us tickets to see Idina Menzel tickets in one of the coolest and most intimate venues in Atlanta. We were joined by Lindley and Manning (Chad's sister and her husband). We all seriously had the BEST time! Of course the food, music, and laughs continued all night.

This particular venue is interesting in the fact that it has stadium seating but with long bench seats and tables spread through out. We just so happened to have gotten tickets that were seated at a table (purposely got the table seats). The open venue is picturesque after the sun has set and the stars come out and lay above your head. The place is relatively small for a nice intimate experience with the performer.

The food was spread out in a picnic style fashion and we all ate until we were stuffed. Of course, Allen brought champs that when popped went everywhere....including on the lady next to us! ;) However, she was cool with it....maybe.

The feast included the delicious pasta salad (recipe in previous post) and homemade crostinis!

Idina did an amazing job and sang all of the songs that she is most famous for singing in her famous Broadway shows. She even came into the audience and allowed other people to sing with her!! The grand finale was "Let it Go." The song that put her on the map outside of her Broadway stardom.

Chad and I seriously had the best time with everyone. The music, food, and company was fantastic!!!

Mortgage Companies can be the death of a home buyer!

The title of this post is seriously how I feel. After dealing with all of our summer drama about our house this is what I thought about mortgage companies. I feel as though mortgage companies have ONE job.....give people who are qualified and deserving a loan to purchase a home.

Chad and I had a very interesting experience when buying our first home. We decided on Wyndham Capital Mortgage who is based in Charlotte, NC. Chad stumbled across them while he was doing his research back in May. We were connect with a man named Dennis Mccoy. Chad absolutely loved him, and I believe that the feeling was pretty mutual for Dennis also. Chad being an accountant knows numbers and can talk that language that not many of us can follow much less have an intelligent hour and half long conversation about. Chad and I were so thrilled about this company. They gave us everything we needed.

After we found a house, everything continued to go really smoothly until the night of July 3rd. We were told by our real estate agent (Szana Marr- who is AMAZING) that due to an unpermitted bathroom we would not be able to purchase the home. These were the rules of our mortgage company. I was DEVASTATED to say the least. I cried the whole weekend. Of course, we could do nothing about anything that we needed to do because it was a holiday weekend. When Chad and I got back into Atlanta that Monday we quickly set out to call Dennis. Without boring you with all the details of the process, Dennis went out of his way to find a way to get us our loan and it HAPPENED (obviously because you all know we got our house...keep reading though...this post has a reason.)

Dennis and our real estate agent Szana made our dream come true by finding us the perfect house! If you are buying a home in the Atlanta area...I SERIOUSLY recommend both of these people! Now that we are settled in...I had not given much thought to Dennis until last night. About 7:00 pm my doorbell rang. I went to the door to get it and found a package. Chad and I quickly opened up the package to find that Dennis had sent us a tin FULL of some of the most amazing cookies! They are from the Carolina Cookie Company. Y'all....these cookies are AMAZING! There were an assortment of oatmeal raisin (my fav.), Chocolate Chip (my fav.), and Sugar (my fav.)!!!!! You guys should seriously check this place out!

http://www.carolinacookie.com

They would seriously make the best little gifts EVER! You can thank me by posting in the comment box and letting me know what you think about them once you have had them. You will not regret it.

Now all I need is a glass of milk and some trash TV! ;) Have a great Friday!

Relishing the last days.....

Well folks......

The lazy days of summer are coming to a close for me. However, this summer has been anything but lazy for me. As someone put it yesterday....I need a vacation from my summer break.

It has been one of my most enjoyable/active summers except for the summer that I met my husband. I hold that one a little closer to my heart than most summers I have experienced in my lifetime. With all the exciting things that have happened this summer, I am excited to have a nice relaxing night at Chastain Park tonight watching Idina Menzel sing her tremendous lungs out (for those who do not know Idina Menzel: rose to fame by performing on Broadway, sings "Let It Go" from the movie Frozen, and was the one who got her name butchered by John Travolta at an awards ceremony.)

I actually have never been to Chastain Park to see a concert, so I am excited to see what all the fuss is about. We are going with Chad's parents and Chad's sister/her husband. Chad's parents have gotten us a table to sit at while we watch the performance. You are allowed to bring a picnic with you to the concert. I have made a little mozzarella, tomato, pesto, and pasta salad. It looks scrumptious and colorful enough to be enjoyed on a summer night at the park!

I used the recipe below to make my pesto. I tweaked it a little bit for my own taste profile (a little more Parmesan and pine nuts.) I am a little prideful about this pesto because I have been working hard to grow my basil plant that was OUT OF CONTROL! ( No picture evidence unfortunately) All of my basil came straight from my own basil plant which makes the pesto taste even better obviously!

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/how-to-make-pesto/

I used this recipe for the pasta salad but used tri- color Rotini pasta instead!

https://lexbake.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/mozzarella-and-tomato-penne-pasta-salad/

I will have to get back to you about all of my adventures tonight with some pictures. I have come to find that everyone that reads my blog is all about the pictures. Maybe I need to invest in a good camera Chad! ;)


Hope everyone has a fantastic Friday summer night!

MIAMI....KEY WESY....COZMEL

Chad and I are so excited for our trip tomorrow! We are flying out very early tomorrow morning to Miami. We are going to hang around for a little bit in Miami then board the boat! Our first day is in Key West. We have planned to do a sunrise 28 mile jetski ride! We are so excited and have a water camera to take pictures! We plan to eat and just walk around and explore! We then go to Cozmel to spend the day. We do not have anything planned. Skorkling is supposed to be amazing in Cozmel, so we plan to do that! Anything else is up for grabs! Then we have a day at sea and then home! We are very excited! Can't wait to share pictures!

Relaxing Weekend/ Father's Day!

Another weekend has come and gone...yet again. However, this weekend was especially good then most of my weekends. Chad and I got to finally go home after a couple of months and spend time with our families. I love that God has blessed me with TWO amazing families that I get to share life with! Friday night was full of family, food, and fun. Diana and Allen had my parents and brother over for a nice evening of celebrating our daddys for a wonderful meal! It is always so amazing to have both families together chatting and spending time together! Not everyone can say that you know! ;) Saturday was full of walking in downtown Thomasville, going in and out of shops, seeing friends, and of course eating lunch at Jonah's! Our meal was fantastic as usual! I suggest the blackened grouper sandwich with a side caesar salad! The caesar salad can be a little anchovy, but is to die for as well as the sandwich with the amazing signature Jonah's sauce. Oh, don't forget the hushpuppies. Basically the best part..can I get an AMEN? Chad and I then parted ways. Chad went to get a china cabinet from his grandmother's house that we were bringing back home with us. It is a very pretty piece and perfect for what we needed! I am going to strip it, repaint it, and make it a little more our style...pictures to come in a few weeks of my project! We finally met back at my house to get ready to go to Amy and Tyler's wedding. Amy and Tyler are friends of ours who grew up in Thomasville and went to UGA with us. Their wedding was great and wish them all the very best as they embark on their journey of marriage together! Lastly, Sunday was full of hugs, kisses, and Happy Father's Day...and Barbs! It was so great getting to hang out with my family all morning and then Chad's family that afternoon. Of course, saying good bye is always the worst to me. I cannot stand leaving the places and people I love most. While in the car this afternoon after a couple of hours of driving...my mind started to wander about the amazing things in my life that God has given me. It occurred to me while watching the sun stream through a dark rain cloud that I had not even wished the Father of all Fathers a very Happy Father's Day. I love those humbling moments of reflecting on the earthly pleasures that I have and being reminded by my Heavenly Father that He made all that possible for me! Hope everyone had as great of a weekend as I did and that you wished your Heavenly Father and earthly father a very Happy Fathers Day!

New York!

Hey Yall! Its been awhile since I have blogged. I have been putting more into my work then blogging this semester I guess! ;) Anyway, most of you know that Chad and I went to New York for our fall break weekend. A lot of people wanted to know how it was and so forth so here is the run down of the trip for you. We left on Thursday after we got out of class. We flew stand by on a college program called AirtranU. We got on the very first flight that went out as soon as we got there and we got FIRST CLASS. I never want to have to sit in the regular class again! We left the airport about 8:00. The flight was originally delayed because of weather. That worked out in our favor I guess. We got to New York about 11:30ish. We took a taxi to our friend Mason's apartment who lives in the city. We went immediately to his apartment and watched the end of the World Series, which lasted until about 12:30 might I add. So Chad and I went to bed about 1ish and then we got up at 3 that same morning. Yeah, it was crazy and we were tired. But we left Mason's apartment about 3;]:30 and headed to Regis and Kelly. We were the first people in the stand by line. We waited from about 4 a.m to 8:30 when they finally allowed us to go into the studio. We got to watch Regis walk across the street to the studio, and then watch the show. Highlight of my trip I might add. After the show was over we walked through central park, Time Square, and down Broadway. We then ate at this Hamburger shake place that was pretty good. Then we met up with Chad's sister for a few hours. That consisted of sitting in Starbucks out of the freezing cold weather. After we left Megan, Chad and I went to the 9-11 memorial. We did not actually get to see it because we did not have tickets, but it was cool just to be in the area and see it through the fence they had up. Since we were in that part of town, we went to Mason's work to get his apartment keys. Now it is about 8 p.m. Chad and I are about to fall over on the street and go to sleep. We got the keys and got a mini tour of Goldman Sacs. We went back to Mason's apartment and rested until he got home. Then we went to eat at this little hole in the wall Italian place. It was pretty good. Then we went home and slept! woo! Day 2: We slept in late and woke up to snow, rain, and wind. We decided to brave the weather and go out to a pretty famous bakery called Amy's Bread. It was SO GOOD! We walked about the city for as long as we could stand it and then eventually ended up at a Georgia bar to watch the UGA game. It was a cool experience because everyone in the bar was an UGA alum, so the place was packed and all cheering for the same team we were. After the game was over, Chad and I went back to Mason's apartment to change out of our wet clothes. Me more then him because I forgot my rain jacket. We then ate dinner at this restaurant called Becco. It was amazing! We ordered this special that they had. You got a salad and then 3 of their pastas of the day which was penne shrimp in a vodka sauce, pumpkin ravioli, and a pesto green bean pasta. They were so AMAZING! Best meal we ate! Then we got the dessert sampler with all kinds of cheesecakes and cakes. It was so great! Then we went home and slept after that! Day 3: We got up and went down to Kliendfields (the Say Yes to the Dress Wedding show). Second best thing that happened to me on the trip. Chad was not really thrilled about this part but i love it! Then we went and ate brunch/lunch at a place called the Dish. It was really good too. We had like a breakfast platter thing. Then we went back to the airport where the drama began. We couldn't get a flight back to Atlanta flying standby because so many flights had gotten cancelled the day before. After throwing a complete crying fit, we settled on buying plane tickets home. Its still a touchy subject for me to talk about because Chad is stubborn. What else is new? Anyway, that was the extent of our trip. It was amazing! I want to go back to badly already! So if you want to contribute to the Megan going back to New York Fund just e-mail me. We can work something out! :) Here are some pictures! Love you guys!

First Class BABY!

Freezing and waiting on Regis and kelly! Woo Hoo 4 a.m!

Regis and Kelly!!!

Central Park!