Nostalgia

I've been having a couple of very nostalgic/sad-for-no-reason-except-missing-things days. It all started the other night when I went to a Stella and Dot jewelry party (love!) with my friend Jenn, and her friend Caroline who I had never met. Caroline is a music teacher, and told me about an adult singing group she's in called Collegium. Collegium is the choir I sang in all 4 years at Wake! I told her that I had sung in a choir non-stop from 6th grade through every semester of college. She encouraged me to look into joining, and I'm definitely thinking about it! I just hope my traveling work schedule will allow.

Yesterday I was trolling around facebook, as I so often do to waste hours of my life, and I saw that one of my friends had recently connected with Dr. Gorelick, the music professor at WF, and director of the Collegium choir I was in all those semesters. It was so fun to see his profile and befriend him online! Also of note: Dr. G is Kenny G's brother. The G stands for Gorelick. Fantastic! So anyway, both of those things added up to me being very sad and missing my former singing life, and mostly my Wake Forest life. Ugh.

I took Collegium every semester during my 4 years at Wake--every Tuesday and Thursday at 4:30. It was an hour of my life that was not consumed by business school or writing papers or much thinking in general. Pure fun! I miss that. The last Collegium class I went to right before I graduated was when all the sadness of leaving college hit me for the first time. The rest of the class got little gifts and flowers for the seniors, and I remember hugging Dr. G and crying all the way back to my dorm room. Thinking about that day right now still makes me sad, and makes me long for those Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Today at 4:30 I'll probably be getting ready to leave work, go home and make myself some dinner, and get ready for another work day tomorrow. Then, I would've walked home after choir, talked to Erin about her day, eaten dinner at the Pit and hung out with my friends until a late(r) bedtime. I miss it!

Alright, enough reminiscing about that. I am excited for homecoming in the fall, and will be content dreaming about moving back to NC one day! As for other excitements, John is running a 5k this weekend at the Green Bean Festival in Blairsville, GA in the mountains! I can't wait...you all know I love a good festival. Then we're going tubing on the river. So excited.

Any fun weekend plans, friends? Any nostalgia for a time gone by that you'd like to share? Just curious :)

Things I am looking forward to:

I was just doing a little calendar organizing for the rest of 2011, and its really looking good! There are so many exciting things happening--here's just a few:

-Mom and Daddy come visit in a couple weeks (and deliver furniture!)
-A weekend home at the end of August
-Birthday in September
-Trip to DC for a conference in September
-Homecoming at Wake
-Sara's bachelorette weekend in ATL
-Sara's wedding (ahh!)
-Thanksgiving and Christmas trips home


I know that's a pretty foward looking list, but I can't help but get excited about it :) I love seeing friends and family and traveling.

Bargain hunting

Those of you who know me know my love of a good bargain. So, this weekend, I broke my no-shop month (oops!) and got some amazing shoes! On Saturday, John and I went to Alabama to visit with his sister and her family. They live right over the border from West Point, GA. In the little old downtown area, there is an incredible shoe outlet. Name brands (some very high end), and everything is dirt cheap. Here are my two purchases from the weekend (I apologize in advance for the horrible photography):

Black, patent Kate Spade pumps with a very stiletto-like heel! $29.99 (jackpot!)

Sketcher's Shape-Ups. I've been equally intrigued and put off by these for a while. But I finally gave in, in hopes of a little extra help to get skinny. They're a little hideous, but I do like the pink shoelaces. Also $29.99!

This is happiness

Delicious seafood, a pretty beach view, and Braves weekend with some of my favorite people (and 10,000 wins for the Braves!).

Summer recipes

With all of my fabulous guests coming into town this weekend, I really want to make a special treat for all of us to enjoy. Last year I made this really fabulous Blackberry Peach cobbler, and I'm thinking of making it again this year:

Ingredients

4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups milk
Ground cinnamon, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.
Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.
To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

I also added fresh blackberries last year, because really, you can never have too much sugary fruit in a good cobbler. I'm probably going to head to Trader Joe's this afternoon For my ingredients. I went a couple of weekends ago, and the fruit was unbelievable! I bought (literally) giant tubs of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries for the prices of the tiny square containers I would normally buy at Publix or Kroger. TJ is the best!

In other general updates, I've made it half way through my no-shop July! I think next week will be a little hard not to at least browse because I'll be on the road by myself with nothing else to do (except lounge on the beach, of course). Now that I've got my spending a little under control, food is next!

Visitors

I love having visitors in Atlanta (if you're reading this and you haven't been down here to see me, you should come!). I've been lucky that a lot of my friends from home/Wake have come down here in the past couple of years. This weekend I'm so looking forward to Sarina's third annual ATL trip, and my aunt, uncle and cousin's first trip down here!

Like I mentioned before, we have no real plans except catching a Braves game with John on Saturday night. It'll be my first one of the year, so i'm definitely looking forward to it. Its supposed to cool down into the 80s this weekend (hooray!), so i'm hoping the weather will be nice and not too deathly hot like its been all week. I'm thinking we may also go to Mary Mac's Tea Room for some amazing Southern food, and perhaps a trip to the World of Coke. I haven't been in about 2 years, so I'm up for drinking 60 Coke products again!

Anyone else have fun weekend plans? Unfortunately the end of my weekend will include packing myself up for a work trip next week. I'm looking forward to some time in Pensacola on the beach by myself :) I plan to work in a little relaxation for sure.

Weekend recap

Today is one of those days when I feel like I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. It was a good one though! I went to Knoxville, TN with John to visit one of his good friends. He hosted a huge low country boil and a major corn hold tournament. Lots of fun was had and lots of good food was eaten! I even ate crawfish (whole) for the first time! I wish I'd taken pictures but alas, I was happily without my blackberry for the day. I also got to (finally) catch up with Kristin on the phone this weekend, which was a treat. I am so terrible at calling her/returning her calls, but every time we talk I remember why I love her so much! Someone please remind me to call her more often. Lastly, I held a baby for the first time on Friday!

As for other news, there really isn't much. Sarina is coming to visit Atlanta this weekend and I am SO excited! My aunt, uncle and cousin are also coming to visit (at the same time), so hopefully i'll be able to juggle everyone. The only plan so far is a Braves game Saturday night with the whole gang, including a post-game B-52s concert. Yes please!

I've also put myself on a no-shop diet for the next month. June's credit card bill was a little insane since I rediscovered my love of Lilly (and bought at least 3 different items that I can think of right now), and have started filling in furniture at my new house (I bought a desk and 2 end tables when I was in Raleigh last month--can't wait to Mike and Linda to deliver them!). So alas, no clothes/shoes/jewelry buying this girl until at least August 2nd. Home buying is ok, but only if its to purchase a bed/bedroom set, since I've been on the prowl for that for a while.

Hope y'all had great weekends and are enjoying the summer heat. 99 tomorrow in Atlanta...I'm bracing myself for the worst!

Peachtree Road Race

We had such a good time watching! Maybe next year i'll make an attempt to do the race....maybe!

Back on the wagon, 4th of July, etc.

I'm back in Georgia after a long (yet short) week in Louisiana. We were all set to fly to Lafayette last Monday morning, but Delta apparently had other plans. Many delays and 3 broken airplanes later, they cancelled our flight and held my bag hostage. I was livid and exhausted, but happy to be in my own bed. I think I went to sleep at 7:30 pm and stayed that way until 6 am the next day, when I turned around and went right back to the airport. Oh the joys of travel.

Once we all finally made it (late Thursday..more delays for half the crew), we had a phenomenal Cajun meal. Stuffed crabs, sweet potato beignets...I could go on and on. I continued to eat my way through the Bayou with some shrimp poboys, fried oysters, and crabcakes. If I could eat like that all the time (and not gain 500 lbs), I would be a happy girl. I did pick up a local cookbook in Gueydan, LA and plan to start using it soon! I'll keep you posted on my Cajun/Bayou cooking attempts.

So, over all I had a good time last week, but have definitely managed to gross myself out with my eating again. I think I've gained between 2-3 pounds back that I had lost. I want to get on top of losing these pounds again, and then get serious about losing another 5 to really complete my goal. I think I can do it! I went to Trader Joe's with Jenn this weekend, and bought tons of fruits, chicken sausages and other healthy stuff. Detox starts now! (Minus the Peach Chikfila milkshake I had at lunch...they only come out once a year, I couldn't resist!). I believe that tonight will be a fruit-only night, or maybe a smoothie made in my new Ninja blender--can't wait to test it out!

As for the rest of my holiday weekend, I did lots of laying by the pool, hanging out with friends and watching the Peachtree Road Race! Pictures to come tomorrow!