Atlanta Botanical Gardens

Today my mom and I went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.  I had never been and she took the week off of work to get things done so we decided to spend a few days doing fun things around Atlanta.  Tony and I have been getting more and more into photography and trying to learn how to take pictures so I thought this would be a great time to practice.  I'm really pleased with how the photos turned out (although it's almost impossible to take a bad photo in the orchid center).  You can also really see a difference between the photos I took today and the ones I shared from the park about a month ago.

Also-we did just return from Greece and it was awesome; stay tuned for that entry!!!!

New Camera

Wow!  I haven't blogged in a while.  I'll either blog more this summer because I won't have anything better to do or I'll blog less for the same reason.  

Tony and I recently bought a new camera, a Canon Rebel, in preparation of our trip to Greece in 2 weeks.  We've had a good time learning how to use it thanks in part to our "free" classes at Wolf Camera and a little bit of practice.  I hope you enjoy our day at Settles Bridge park in Gwinnett County.

Biloxi

Last weekend I went to Biloxi for my friend Casey's bachelorette party.  She is getting married in April in New Orleans and unfortunately I won't be able to go but luckily I was able to party with her for the weekend.  There were 4 of us; Casey, Danielle, Lacy, and me.  The four of us had been on a road trip together before; 3 years ago we went to New Orleans together for Jazz Fest and had a great time.  

We arrived in Biloxi late Thursday night and we had a free room waiting at the Isle of Capri.  This hotel actually has nice rooms; they are spacious and all of the bathrooms are newly renovated and that makes a huge difference.  The decor is pretty hilarious though; it reminds me of Grandma and Grandpa in Miami.  We stayed at the bar until 4 am "gambling" which for us consists of sticking a dollar in the video poker games often enough to get free drinks.  Casey did win big money though; she walked away with $2.50.  

The next day we checked out and moved to the Beau Rivage which is a beautiful, Vegas-style hotel and casino.  It was a beautiful day so we put on our swimsuits for the first time this year and set out to get sun burned.  Lacy's burn showed up first so even though we were all bright red we only laughed at Lacy and her "white tank top".  That night we ate sushi and went out dancing.  We had goofy scratch off cards with bachelorette party dares of things like dance like your drunk or ask a guy for a condom.  We danced our butts off until about 2 am.

Day 2 we ate at Mary Mahoney's which is historic for it's food and colonial architecture; I had the crab cakes.  That night we went to the movies and saw "He's just not that in to you" and I ate a whole movie size box of Milk Duds.  It was a great weekend.  Enjoy the pix.

Lately

I thought I would take a minute to give an update on my resolutions.  One of my resolutions was to send birthday cards to friends and family and so far I have been doing very well at that goal.  It's only been 2 months but I think I can make it the whole year.  My second resolution was to lose a few pounds and I am still actively working on that one.  I've had to really learn a lot about lowering my caloric intake because I have always eaten very healthfully but I am now learning that it takes a little bit more than that to drop pounds.  I am working out a lot though.  My third resolution was to get a new hobby with Tony and we did invest in a Canon Rebel SLR and we have a few photography classes on the schedule.  We still have to download the software for the new camera but stay tuned for some awesome pix!  

Breckenridge

Yes, I know.  It's been a month since we went to Breckenridge and I haven't posted any of the pictures yet.  Well, it was an awesome trip.  Tony and I went with my sister, Hilary, and her boyfriend, Corry.  We all went skiing together last year in Snowshoe, WV and it was a great trip so we decided to head out to Colorado this year.  I have to admit that I was a little bit nervous.  I had skied 2 years in a row in WV but east coast slopes and elevations are pretty different from those out west.  I'm a pretty good skier but still learning and I am definitely not a dare devil so I was a little bit anxious to see how my abilities would transfer from east coast to west.

It actually wasn't as hard as I'd expected (either that or I'm just a bad-ass).  

Breck (as the locals call it) is a great town.  We stayed at the River Mountain Lodge which is ideally located just 2 blocks from Main Street and a short walk or shuttle ride to the gondola.  I will definitely go back to Breck in the future.

New Year's Resolutions

Whether you believe in them or not New Year's Resolutions are all over the place.  I usually don't make them but this year I did and I'm putting it out there for all to see.

1.  Send birthday cards to close friends and family members.

2.  Get below 120 (I'm about 123 right now) and stay there through the end of the summer.

3.  Get a new hobby to do with Tony possibly dance lessons or photography classes.

My good friend Casey mentioned to me that one of her resolutions is to get more "green" so if that is one of yours or you just feel the need to be more environmentally friendly anyways here are a few tips that can be easily incorporated into your daily routine.

1.  Drive Eco-

I'm not telling you to go buy a new car but if a new car purchase is in the cards for this year try to get one with high mpg's.  If the car you really, really want is not "green" make sure you do ALL of the following things to make up for it.

2.  Recycle-

Come on; if you still aren't recycling you're living in the stone age, just plain lazy, or both.  All you have to do is call your garbage company and they will drop off a bin and you set it out with your trash each week.

3.  Bring your own bag-

To the grocery store, Target, wherever.  You can get a bag (mine are from Publix) for about $1 at most places and 2 should do it for your average grocery trip.  If you forget to bring them one day don't worry about it too much.  I reuse grocery bags as trash bags in the bathroom or for cleaning the kitty box; you can also recycle them (see #2).

4.  Buy organic-

Foods are the most popular organic items but you can also easily find organic soaps, shower gels, sheets, and all kinds of stuff and the prices are very comparable to non-organic items.  Here are a few reasons to make the switch:

-They are healthier for your body because they do not contain pesticides or toxins.

-Most organic farms use environmentally friendly systems such as wind energy and recycled packaging.

-Less pesticides used on foods means less toxins in the environment.

5.  Use natural cleaners or make your own-

I previously published a post on natural cleaners so you can refer to that in the archives.  I would also like to point out that John Travolta's son died a few days ago and from what I heard he had a history of seizures caused by a condition called Kawasaki syndrome.  They think that he contracted this disease as a toddler crawling around on carpet that contained harmful chemicals either from the products they use to manufacture it or toxic carpet cleaning materials (or both).  If that isn't enough reason for you to cut out the chemicals in your life I don't know what is.

Being more "green" isn't supposed to stress you out or make you feel guilty.  It is about awareness.  Take what works into your life and know that it does add up and make a difference.

Holiday-filled Weekend

This weekend was definitely filled with the holiday spirit.  For the first time I decided to sponsor a child for Christmas.  I went through a non-profit in Cumming called "The Place" and they do all kinds of charity work from running a thrift store to meals on wheels and obviously putting needy families in touch with resources.  I sponsored a 14 year old girl named Anita and that's really all I know about her but going shopping on Friday night with my mom (who co-sponsored) was so much fun.  We bought gifts like socks, a new purse, and Old Navy gift cards so I hope she likes them and has a Merry Christmas.  Next year I plan to sponsor a whole family.

Saturday night was the 3rd annual progressive dinner that wasn't really progressive.  The point of a progressive dinner is that it typically takes place with neighbors and each household prepares one course of the meal; everyone then walks from house to house to enjoy each course.  Ours has never really been that easy because our participating friend group does not all live in the same neighborhood but at least we all live within a 10 mile radius.  This year we all gathered at Derek and Kelly's house with appetizers and it was actually not easier because it's kind of a bitch to pack up all that food and drink and haul it around; at least I didn't have to clean.  I made a delicious ham and cheese in puff pastry recipe by Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) which Kennen, who didn't actually prepare anything, referred to as Hot Pockets.  What a dick!  The night consisted of Guitar Hero (which I suck at; I got booed off stage twice but I'm pretty sure the guitar was broken) and the usual lighting farts on fire.  

Sunday the festivities continued with Andrea's first, hopefully annual, cookie exchange.  The premise of a cookie exchange is that friends gather and all bring 3-4 dozen of their favorite cookie recipe.  They then taste and choose a tasty winner and a pretty winner and leave with a variety of cookies.  I made a no-bake chocolate rum ball by Alex G.  I'm not going to attempt spelling her last name and I don't feel like looking it up but she's new on Food Network.  I did something wrong and I don't think they turned out as good as hers but I'm bringing it next year so look out bitches.  Who said you can't win tastiest AND prettiest?

Today was the Spanish final exam at school so now I'm done for the semester.  Movie time!!!