Turkey Earned!

The Atlanta Half Marathon and Thanksgiving 5K kicked off on a slightly muggy, yet mild Thanksgiving morning. It took us what seemed like FOREVER to get to the parking lot since the highway full of runners was a total parking lot. Mike and I and some of our friends were all racing and then meeting up to take pictures and gab about the course/times and maybe even drink a beer :)

While they were all running the Half Marathon, I stuck to the 5K. My goal, though I haven't been training, was to finish in under 40 minutes. Needless to say, I made that happen. Coming in at a solid (barely under) 39 minutes. I was content yet not too pleased as I wished I had done better ... say 30-36 minutes. I've deduced since the race that I need to work on my cadence and speed work to get faster. While I was able to run much further and longer during this race than ever before, I hope to be running a 10K full steam by February and a half marathon by end of March.

Maria, Courtney and I post race and facing RIGHT into the sun

our crew post race

Needless to say, we all earned our turkey this Thanksgiving. Congrats to everyone who raced and earned theirs too!

Meet Kona, Princess of the Morris house!

Mike and I live in a highrise. High above the Atlanta streets of Buckhead...9 floors up to be exact. We don't have room for much more than ourselves and our stuff...heck half of my stuff is still at my parents! But what we do have room for is this.

Meet Kona! 

Kona is the newest addition to the Morris house! Kona is a 2.4lb chocolate poodle. She'll be in between a toy and mini poodle when full grown ... about 6-8lbs. She's only been home since Saturday afternoon. 2 days down, a lifetime to go! I'll be sure to update more about our new princess!

Slideshow Music!

Finally! Our playlist for the wedding slideshow is COMPLETE! 

After hitting up a concert on Saturday with some of my girlfriends, I came home to Mike, sitting at the computer, wearing his Ironman sweatpants and a reindeer headband he found on the computer desk. He told me it was his thinking cap. Lord only knows how many beers he drank that night, but I could care less. It was hysterical and the slideshow music is complete!

Here are the selections:

For Melissa's Music

AND

For Mike's Music

AND

For Pictures with Friends Music

AND

For Melissa and Mike together Music

AND

**All songs/videos taken from YouTube

A little of this, A little of that

This past week and a half has been a total whirlwind. From Mexico to Tuscaloosa, Cirque du Soleil to concerts and Harry Potter 7. Needless to say I'm Thankful for all that I'm able to do in my life. Here are some photo recaps of my past few days. I still owe you the ones from Mexico, don't think I've forgotten :)

On Thursday, Kerri, Mike and I headed to Tuscaloosa for the Alabama vs. Georgia State massacre, I mean game. Unfortunately, Lauren was too under the weather to go and though we all wanted her to and I know she was so upset, she decided to be responsible and stay. We missed you, L!

The Communications School at UA, where I (and Lauren) spent most of our time

My childhood BFF and fiance acting like fools in Tuscaloosa.

Denny Chimes, my favorite thing on campus

So happy we finally made it to a game!

Love her!

all snuggled up to watch the Tide

with Alison, one of my good college buddies!

all is complete, now that he's been to a game, we can get married :)

ROLL TIDE!

I love that my friends also love my kinda music...COUNTRY! Kerri, Tricia and I (missed you, Cassie!) hit up the Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan Concert. Needless to say a few Miller Lites later and lots of singing...the concert ended with a bang and a cover of Kid Rock! Not a bad way to spend a Saturday night! 

Kerri and I

at the concert!

our camera friend told us to do something crazy...this was all we had :)

Luke Bryan!

what a cutie and homegrown Georgia boy to boot!

what an entrance, Jason Aldean

good ole Georgia boy, Jason Aldean

Tricia and I

They even played together!

even Bobby Cox was there!!

Still working on my Mexico re-cap...promise it'll be up this week!

Really excited about what the following week holds. Thanksgiving is a great time to hang with friends and family and I'm happy to say my bff Brit is in town and I can't WAIT to see her! Also on tap, Happy Hour at the St. Regis hotel with some of the girls and the Iron Bowl!

What do you have planned for the upcoming holiday week!?

While I enjoyed the Mexico sun and fun, it's nice to be home where everyone speaks your language and you don't have to worry about getting sick off the food/water on a regular basis. I'll be sure to upload some photos from our trip in a bit so you can see what we got into while in Tulum, Mexico.

This year has FLOWN by! I can't believe next week we'll be bellying up to a table for Thanksgiving Dinner. But before that happens and before I blow a TON of money at the mall on Friday, I've got to get through the next few days! My bestie from LA will be here next week and I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HER!!!!!!

Tomorrow Lauren, Kerri, Mike and I head to Tuscaloosa for the Alabama vs. Georgia State football game. Yes, I realize this is going to be a massacre of a game, and while yes, I realize that it's silly for taking the day off to go...I'm going anyways! We got tickets through some other friends and I can't wait to get back to Tuscaloosa! I haven't been in a game in Bryant-Denny Stadium since 2005. I've been to other SEC games and even down to Jacksonville to watch the Tide play, but I'm ecstatic to be heading back to my old college stomping grounds and having a good time. Not to mention, this will be Mike's first trip to Tuscaloosa!

Friday night is surprise date night. Mike has had this planned for months! I have a sneaky suspicion of what it might be, but I guess I'll have to wait to fully find out. Here's what I know...it's an indoor/outdoor event and we've got to leave at 5:30pm. My guess, Cirque du Soleil's OVO show at Atlantic Station, but who knows, I could be wrong, but I sure hope I'm right! Check back to see how I did at the guessing game on Monday!

photo from google.com

Saturday is Friendsgiving. What's Friendsgiving you ask...well it's when 50 of our friends get together for a pot-luck style dinner. It typically turns into mayhem and craziness but none-the-less a good time. While my time at Friendsgiving will be cut short this year, I hope that everyone else has a blast and I'll be sure to link up to some photos after it happens. Also on tap, Jason Aldean/Luke Bryan concert on Saturday night (hence why I'll not be at Friendsgiving very long!) with Kerri and Tricia! Can't wait to party and see some of country musics hottest singers right now! Kerri's dad scored us some tickets to the show and if its anything like our last concert trip to the same arena when we saw Keith Urban...watch out! I'm also hoping to watch Harry Potter 7 this weekend. While I wont get to see it with Stephanie since she's in Egypt, I'll be sure to skype her and say Harry Potter in my famous English creepy voice!

I hope to be able to blog more in the coming days once all this mess gets out of the way and I have some free time on my hands while on Thanksgiving break!

All of this makes my head spin round just looking at what's going on for the next week or so. Then its on to Thanksgiving and December and Santa will be here before we know it. Wedding meets ramp up big time next month as well as a trip to Nashville to see Garth Brooks! Can't wait to see what the rest of 2010 holds and even more excited about 2011!!

weddings, weddings everywhere!

This past weekend I had the joy of attending two good friends, Erin and Andy's wedding right here in Atlanta! They tied the knot at Callenwolde Fine Arts Center. The ceremony was short and sweet and the Reverend was too funny! Vows, coupled with a unique poem and a kiss sealed the deal. The bridesmaids dresses were great and the nude pumps were adorable too...almost made me rethink my decision of black shoes for our girls. Here are some photos from the wedding...one of the best I've been to in a while!

Mr. and Mrs. FitzyBear

Lucky (Cold) Table 13

first dance

playing with the favors

champagne all around

and...POSE

gorgeous ladies

with the stunning bide

This past weekend I also go to go dress shopping with my friend, Carla. I blogged a bit about her engagement not long back. She and her fiancé, Harris, will be getting hitched in Mexico on April 17th, 2011. She said 'YES! To the Dress" at Bridals by Lori (yes, the same Bridals by Lori they feature on TLC's hit show "Say Yes to the Dress").  She was glowing when she put dress #1 on and didn't want to take it off! Her dress is STUNNING and she will be to when she walks down the aisle just a few short days before I do :)

Carla with Monte from Say Yes to the Dress...they were about to film an episode while we were there! 

Also on tap as far as weddings... Mike and I are headed down south...to MEXICO on Thursday to be a part of his friend, Kevin's wedding. Can't wait to get to warmer weather!! Stay tuned to a blog post about it and recap when we're home!

30 Day Blog Challenge : Day 27-30

Day 27 : Pets

I wish I could say I had a pet at home....well I do...but he lives at my parents. His name is Bailey and he is ADORABLE! He's getting to be pretty old these days, he'll be 9 in December. I wish I had a photo of him on my computer, but I don't. Here's one I stole off Google so you can see exactly HOW CUTE a little daschund is! Ours is black and tan with long hair and a personality the size of Texas!

When Mike and I do get a pet, we're looking into some of these breeds

Airedale

Mini Schnauzer

Scottish Terrier

Day 28: Something That Stresses You Out

What doesn't stress me out! Current stresses include the following:

-Packing for our trip
-The next 2 weeks
-Christmas shopping
-The Wedding
-What I'll wear on NYE (yes, I'm serious)
-My hair
-WORK!

Day 29: 3 Wishes

I like playing genie.....

Wish 1: That everyone in my life could be happy! Not that I don't have happy friends and family, but it seems that when one is up, another is down. I wish there was a happy medium that encompassed everyone and everything!

Wish 2: That my dad could come back and work at home. It's so hard on my mom to run the house, family and the family business! I know it's been good for my dad to travel and experience "real job life" again but it's getting tiring on everyone involved!

Wish 3: My closest friends lived....CLOSER! One in Egypt, LA, and even tough Kerri is in GA, she's still a solid 30-40 min away! Maybe one day we'll all be living in a radius of 10 miles :) A girl can dream, right?!

Day 30: A Picture

Here's an awesome photo of some of my girlfriends from a wedding this past weekend! 

30 Day Blog Challenge : Day 24, 25 and 26

Playing catch-up here!

Day 24 : Something You've Learned

I've learned that life isn't always what you want it to be. There are many things in my life that I wish would have happened sooner, later, never at all, etc. I always had a plan in my head of the life I wanted and learned over time that well, none of it will happen how or when I want! I've learned to sit back and enjoy the ride. While I can get overwhelmed, frustrated and annoyed when things aren't just right, I try to tell myself everyday that everything happens for a reason and it'll all be revealed to me one day or another!

Day 25 : iPod Shuffle

I don't have my iPod with me....GASP. But what I can tell you is that it'd be a mix of 80's rock music, 90's boy bands and crazy hair music, A LOT of country, some alternative, lots of rap to run to and overall a HUGE mix!!

Day 26 : Picture of your family

My family at the wedding of my friends, Stephanie and Rob

Hungry Hungry Bitches Unite!

Our group of friends is pretty large and has lots of awesome chicks in it! One of the girls in the group (and also the photographer for our great engagement pics) thought it would be fun to start at monthly supper club! This turned into a brilliant idea that we were all so excited about! I present to you... the Hungry Hungry Bitches club (HHBC)! 

We meet the first Wednesday of each month at a different hostess house. Each host prepares a meal plan and the main dish. The hostess with the mostest for that month then shoots an email out with the details and what other dishes, sides and of course, lots of wine are needed and we all sign up for what to bring. We've had two meetings of the HHBC so far this year, with our second meeting last night held at Marzanne's house! Last night was a smaller gathering of the HHBC but fun none-the-less. Our menu last night was BBQ Chicken, Spoon Cornbread, Salad with feta dressing, Broccoli salad, yummy cheese puffs and of course...bottles of wine!

Not only do we have this killer logo (thanks, Hungry Bitch Katie!), we also have a nice mantra we say before the meal (thanks, Hungry Bitch Almost Tesnar!) that goes a little something like this!

Hungry Bitch Katie also set up a blogsite for us to keep track of photos, recipes and stories. Check it out, you never know when you need something yummy to cook for dinner! While I can't admit to the fact that all the food that we have is *healthy*, it sure as heck is delicious! 

I hope you do something like this with your friends, if not...start! It's a great way to catch up on life and have some serious girl time! We've already got ours booked up through March!