I Put A Spell On You

Happy Halloween y'all!

Thanks to my husband, who loves making playlists for all occasions, we have been enjoying some classic Halloween songs for the last few days to help get us in the festive spirit. I wanted to share some of the spooky classic songs with you guys.

These songs are always perfect to have playing in the background for trick-or-treaters too! You can even dance along to some of these (i.e., Thriller, Monster Mash, and Time Warp)!

"Eat, drink, and be scary!"

xo

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Brrr!

Baby, it's cold outside! 

Even Townes just wants to be under the blankets and inside. I think I'll join him!

At least after a few of these windy days, we'll be back to some sunshine and warmer temperatures!

xo

One Love, One Heart

On December 1st, J + I have signed up for a local 5K that supports CdLS!

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) is a genetic disorder present from birth, but not always diagnosed at birth. It causes a range of physical, cognitive and medical challenges and affects both genders equally. CdLS does not discriminate—it’s seen in all races and ethnic backgrounds. The occurrence of CdLS is estimated to be 1 in 10,000 live births.

It feels good to be signed up for a running event that helps support an organization in need. I think it will be a great experience and I cannot wait to run with J...now I just have to start running again (after a short hiatus) to ensure that I can keep up with him!

What are your favorite local running events? I'd love to know!

♥

Howlers + Hurricanes

With Halloween right around the corner, we wanted to make sure we spent as much time as possible doing Halloween-themed stuff this past weekend. We were so excited to have my youngest niece come and spend the night so we could really do it up for the holiday!

The weather was incredible so we took long walks, played on the playground, and tried to determine which yard in our neighborhood had the best Halloween decorations. Natalie chose the yard with all of the blow up decorations below.

We had a great Mexican dinner (we all OD'd on cheese dip). We ended the night making Halloween funfetti cupcakes (and a small cake for my dad's birthday) while enjoying the chiminea on the back porch. 

On Saturday, we broke out our waffle maker that we've had for years and never used (I'm pretty sure I inherited it from my college roommates somehow when we moved away). The waffles were a huge success and per Natalie, she now wants them every time she sleeps over. We even had extra waffles that we froze and can enjoy for breakfast this week!

After a lazy morning, we headed to Stone Mountain and made a pit stop at the Village Corner German restaurant. They actually had some great vegetarian options and a wonderful outdoor patio. Next stop was the playground in Stone Mountain Park and a short hike.

 We had planned on going to the Stone Mountain Pumpkin Festival, but it was very expensive and we didn't have enough time to really take full advantage so we grabbed some pumpkins at the local grocery store and came home to carve them. We listened to J's Halloween mix and drank apple cider (with our new flea market find cups from our Madison anniversary trip) while we carved our howling wolves pumpkin!

The finished pumpkin! We'll have to get a better shot of this on the front porch. We made some awesome roasted pumpkin seeds with cayenne too!

We ended the weekend celebrating my dad's birthday with the whole family (minus my 2 older nieces). Happy birthday dad! We love you so much!

We enjoyed a nice dinner and some good laughs. The restaurant even brought out 4 desserts on the house so there was no room for the birthday cake once we got home, but hopefully dad enjoys it!

 Hope everyone had a nice weekend and stayed warm! 

We had to bundle up last night because our power went out, but it was a nice treat having a reason to cuddle up under tons of blankets and sit with the candlelight. 

For all those in Hurricane Sandy's path, be safe!

xo

Ghastly Dreadfuls

Last night I had a girls' night at the Center of Puppetry Arts to see the Ghastly Dreadfuls. This was my second time seeing them in the past 7 years and sadly, this is their last year performing (this week is actually their last). It's such a fun Halloween tradition and the talent of the Dreadfuls is amazing. Their puppetry skills, the variety of effects and stories, the storytelling, and musical talents are all so incredible. It's an adult-only puppet show with lots of laughs and classic Halloween songs. 

Hopefully you can still find tickets for this weekend! It's a show that is not-to-be-missed!

Along with The 11:59 and Le Petit Vampyr, the Girl in the New Dress story below is one of my all time favorites! Enjoy!

Happy weekend guys! 

We're keeping my niece this weekend and planning on doing lots of Halloween-themed fun: pumpkin patch, crafts, hot apple cider, carving pumpkins, etc. It's also my dad's birthday so I can't wait to celebrate!

 xo

One for the Books

This past weekend was the epitome of magical and restorative. Just a heads up, this post is very photo-heavy! Pictures or it didn't happen, right?

We headed down to the Farmhouse Inn on Friday afternoon and got checked in to the "American Homestead" room. We got super lucky because a very sweet couple switched rooms with us so we could have the only dog-friendly room (thanks Suzanne and Mark!). We dropped off our bags and immediately headed for the lake and hiking trails. 

 We got to the lake and I enjoyed the hammock while Townes enjoyed pulling J all over to smell everything (there's no doubting his Beagle genes). We even got Townes in a canoe for the first time! Other than his curiosity of the paddle hitting the water and him leaning over to look at the water, he did so well. I see more canoe trips in his future - possibly to his dismay.

 After a long walk, J + I headed into town to check out one of our favorite flea markets. We ended up with a few good finds and then headed back to catch sunset on the farm before dinner. We were greeted by this turkey when leaving the farm - he was so curious of us and the car and completely unafraid...too funny! We also made friends with the goats and cows (Townes did NOT make friends with them or the chickens).

 Before heading to dinner, we did a hike towards the fishing pond at sunset and the light was incredible (photos cannot do it justice of course).

 We headed downtown to the Chophouse Grille which is our favorite place in Madison to eat (they allow dogs on the patio too)! We had their veggie wrap (yummm!) which is worth the drive to Madison by itself. Everyone fawned over Townes and we enjoyed the weather and just being together. ♥

 The next morning, we had the nicest breakfast with everyone at the Farmhouse (including the wonderful owner, Ellis and his beautiful wife, Crystal). We all laughed and told stories and Crystal passed around our wedding book for everyone to see (for the record, we didn't bring it - they bought our book off of Blurb and they keep it in the barn for future engaged couples to look at...pretty cool, huh?). We decided to explore some more trails before heading back to Atlanta.

 

 We enjoyed Saturday night in by grilling out together and lighting up the new chiminea! Nothing makes J happier than fire (he must get it from his retired-firefighter father). Needless to say, the busy day wore me and Townes out early!

 

On Sunday, we headed up to Vogel with J's side of the family. It's a tradition that sadly the grandparents couldn't join us for (for the first time). I'm glad that I get to be a part of this tradition and that our family enjoys being outdoors!

 We hiked around the lake, walked down to the waterfall, let Townes enjoy the water, and then grilled out for dinner. 

 

 

 By the end of the day, we stayed warm by the grill and J even took one for the team and shared his shirt with Townes. Sucker!

Life is good.

 ♥

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy.” - Slyvia Plath, The Bell Jar