Road Trip!

 

Some exciting things might be happening in the next few weeks that will keep us from travelling on the weekends (stay tuned!), so we decided to try to get a quick road trip up to Charlotte, NC in while we can to visit my parents, Kevin, Shannon and Jack, and do a little wedding venue shopping. (Don't worry, though, we didn't find anything that we've made a decision on yet.) But boy are there are some beautiful venues in Charlotte; my favorite areas there are Dilworth and Myers Park, with their tree-lined streets and cute southern charm.

 

After making our way through a hand-ful of venues, we stopped for a beer sampler and some college football at Rock Bottom Brewery in downtown Charlotte.

 

{via}

Of course, as you can tell by my borrowed picture above, I forgot to take any pictures ALL DAY. Between navigating around town, trying to keep all my venue information straight, and then seeing my nephew and getting all caught up in his cuteness, pictures went out the door.  

 

I did manage to get a couple of this cutie on the way home Sunday morning:

 

He decided that this was the best way to lay...

 

Life Lately

Well, weekends lately really, because during the week it's pretty much wake up, drive, work, drive, go to sleep...and doesn't leave much time for anything more than a quick load of laundry, some vacuuming, or a bit of some good ol' tv watching. :) No complaints, though, because the weekends spent with Pete and Chubbs always make up for the long week.

 

Also, you'll be happy to know we were just talking about needing to bring our nice camera out more often rather than just our iPhones; so hopefully my picture quality will be picking back up again soon for you all.

Happy Brithday, Broham

Dear Kev,

I'm still not sure where Broham came from...but HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! You've proven to be a pretty great brother over the years and it has been awesome watching you become a husband and now a father of (almost) two! Your sense of humor and witty comments make me crack up on even the toughest of days - one of the best things about you. We celebrate you today and the wonderful person you've become. Can't wait to see you tomorrow; Happy Birthday!

I will arrive bearing gifts, to celebrate in style (which, these days, basically means maybe enjoying a brewski while chasing kids around, changing diapers, and going to bed by 9pm...):

North Georgia

Georgia has proven to be quite a beautiful place in the Fall. I don't know why, but for some reason, I never thought of Georgia as hilly or to have leaves that change colors, but boy was I wrong and pleasantly surprised.

This past weekend Pete and I decided to take a random drive up North toward the Great Smokey Mountains. We went a few hours up and a few hours back just to explore and had the best time chatting and admiring all the fall colors. There were also tons of Mom & Pop antique shops along the way that we will definitely be re-visiting once we have a little more home space to put things in :)

I also was quite proud of myself for crossing the bridge in the photo above. I'm not fond of unstable bridges at high heights where the person limit is 4 and every time some moves the entire bridge shakes. But I made it! And gave myself a nice pat on the back.

And Then We Went to Florida

The reason for my auntie first in this post is because we had been planning all year to visit our good friends and old neighbors, Matt and Jenn, in their new home in Sarasota, Florida! Jenn was turning 30 a few weeks ago so it was definitely reason to celebrate!

We're spoiled to have friends that live in such vacation-esque places. And spoiled to have such great friends. Our whole little group from West Chester was able to make it to FL for a fun little reunion weekend. Four days of friends, beach, sun and cocktails is always welcome in my book.

The boys went snorkeling, the girls had some much-needed girly time, Jenn threw one heck of a party (as always), we visited the aquraium and saw the biggest giant squid I've ever seen, got attacked by fish in the ocean, and laughed all weekend long.

We had so much fun, I'll leave the rest to the pictures (although they don't do the trip justice)...

The girls catching up while the boys are away

Coming in from a long day of snorkeling!
Guess who has burnt feet from walking on hot pavement...

How cute is he!!

Meliss!

I love how colorful this picture is!

The boys might have been forced into this one, but it turned out so good!

This took 6 tries, but turned out beautious!

And then there was a boat with speakers louder than my car. I kind of felt like we were partying with Jay-Z; except Jay-Z wasn't there...

They all left me to the man-eating fish!! I wish I was kidding, the fish in Florida I'm pretty sure are on crack; they jump out of the water at you and bite at your legs...It's so weird!

The girls ending the last day on a great note.

 

Adios, Florida!

Wedding Plans, or Lack There of...

We don't have many wedding plans yet. Actually, we don't have any wedding plans yet. Well, we know we're getting married.

I had high hopes for a Spring wedding in 2013, but then a new job happened, and house-hunting happened, and wedding planning time went out the door. Like way way waaaaay out the door.

There is one thing, though, that is for sure and needed no planning. There was no question in my head or doubt in my mind about this one thing...who I wanted by my side leading up to and on my wedding day (besides Pete, of course, that's a no-brainer!)...

My beautiful sister has agreed to be my Matron of Honor! (and I still cry when I think about it...) She's the best. An intelligent business woman, a loving mother, a sweet wife and a wonderful sister. So proud to have her as my MOH and having this one detail set makes the whole wedding thing feel a little more real. Eeeeeeee!!! I can't wait!

An Auntie First

Two weeks ago I had a personal Auntie First...I missed my first niece/nephew 1st Birthday Party!

It was a sad sad day in Kara history.

I contemplated how I could be in two places at once, but no luck coming up with any kind of solution.

My sweet little niece, Lauren, was turning one and I was missing it! (Not to mention, she's already walking and I haven't even seen that yet either!...I think a trip to NoVa is in store soon) But two things made the day better...a text from my sister and the pictures of these cuties:

Ryan and Mackenzie more excited to open Lauren's presents than Lauren is :)



I think she loves her TinyTOMS I sent her...at least they pass the taste test!

Fall in Atlanta

It's Fall; my most favorite time of the year. The crispness in the air, the amount of friendly people outside all taking advantage of the weather, opening the windows to air out the house from the long summer, eating myself sick from candy corn, and of course, all things pumpkin. I love everything about this time of year.

 

Especially watching Chubbs come alive now that it's not 610 degrees outside. He's a different dog in cold weather and it's pretty cute to watch. I think we were asked about 14 times if he was a puppy this weekend :) I wish! So needless to say, we've been spending most of our weekends lately at dog parks and outdoor restaurants (so Chubbs can come of course!) to watch football and sip on some fall Brewskies.

 

Some of my favorite pictures as of late:

This bag might have been gone in one week...I have problems when it comes to candy corn.

Football Sunday

My favorite Octoberfest

Piedmont Park - Atlanta, GA

Do you see what I have to put up with? ;)

The Mom's Chili...nothing like it.

No caption necessary...

Date Night!