When you have nothing nice to say....

Come sit by me! - Olympia Dukakis, Steel Magnolias

While that is one of my favorite quotes, today has been a bit of struggle. I was all geared up to write a fun post about my great weekend trip to the North Georgia Wine Country, the beautiful vineyards, the six wineries we stopped at, and (oh, yes) the six wine *tastings* that almost stopped us.

But alas, today is one of those days that require me to go home and drink some of that nice wine because I have stumbled across a person, er situation that routinely has a not-nice attitude. To this I say: Rawr.

As much as I hate letting people ruin a perfectly good day, I hate even more dwelling on it.

I look forward to being out of the office and sipping some of my sweetness from this weekend, I leave you with this little bit of nice found last night at Phipps:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas :)

Muted Monday

It's been too long since my last post, and lots of fun happenings have happened that I promise to blog about soon, but in the mean time, here is one of my favorite things in the world:

The view from my office window. It gets me through any rough Monday, meeting, deadline, or just about anything in the fall. 

Here's to hoping everyone's having just as wonderful a harvest season!

The next couple days...

Will start off here...

For some of these and this...

Then I'll head here....

For some of these and this...

 





Tomorrow will be a hodge podge of this and this and that and then some...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN & HOMECOMING!

....and GO JACKETS!

Fa la la la Fall! :)

  

To some people, summer is the best. Hot days, short shorts, sitting in the sun by pool.

Others love Spring- the gorgeous blossoms, earth reawakening from it's winter slumber, festivals galore.

But, I, like a lot of people I know, this this is the most...wonderful..time...of the year :)

Between Football, Falling Leaves, Oktoberfest, Pumpkins (and pumpkin spice...and pumpkin beer...) and the upcoming holidays I can't help but smile a little wider when I feel that chill in the air! 

This week in particular is sort of a culmination of my fall season: my annual chili cook off, Georgia Tech Homecoming, and Halloween are all happening in the next seven days! I may take a bit of a break from blogging to do all the cooking, carving, and celebrating, but I hope everyone's having a wonderful season!

Pin It!

Part of my internet addiction , er, interest, includes my daily reader of blogs, tweets, and news. Lately, though I've added something new: Pins.        

Through browsing blogs, I stumbled upon Pinterest, a cute little site that lets you browse pictures for style ideas, design inspiration, or just to look at things that make you happy. Initially I had no real interest in getting involved. Much like football, it was a spectator sport. One that I loved, but fully for watching and pleasure purposes. 

Then my boyfriend bought a house. 

Suddenly, there are home improvement projects. Curtains that need to be hung, pictures picked, paint colors chosen. And Pinterest had a Purpose. By using group boards, I've been able to "Pin" all sorts of design ideas and view what certain colors would look like with certain design elements. Even better, I can add notes, and invite certain people to view and comment on my "Pins" aka, ideas.

I can't help but wonder what other great uses people have used for Pinterest! Outfit of the day planning? Posting pictures of your own residence for others inspiration or even event planning? (I've seen some great wedding pictures!)

Happy Pinning!

Friday Fun

Funniest video I've seen in a long time. Here's to a great weekend! 

War Eagle, Go Jackets, and happy early Halloween! 

Betty Crocker meets Working Wendy

One of my favorite things to do is host friends for Wine and Cheese. Combing all of my favorite things: friends, fun, good food, (and wine!) always gives me a great joy and brings out the inner Martha Stuart in me. I love coming up with creative and unique dishes to serve guests, and the best compliments are the ones that end with "Can I get that recipe?"

Unfortunately, though, busy schedules, traffic, and tons of other commitments put me at crunch time when it comes to creating the setting and foods for a fun night in. I've had girlfriends that will literally go to a nearby restaurant, order all the appetizers on the menu to go, take them home and set them in dishes for presentation. Other friends (and I do this all the time), hit the grocery for some pre-made dips or pastry puffs, or better yet that ready-to-open-and-eat veggie or fruit trays.

But when the event is special, and there is time to plan, I like to include at least a few hot and tasty items to really satisfy guests. So whats a working gal to do?

Enter, the slow cooker.

Ms. Betty Crocker has finally come to 2011 and switched out her giants books for a giant website, chock full of recipes and ideas, and, thankfully, a whole section on slow cooker recipes. One such item, perfect for hosting a get together, is the ever popular Spinach Artichoke Dip. 

While I have a hard time picturing this coming out of my crock pot, I'll be trying this one out this evening for a girls night. One particular guest has a penchant for eating this dip as a meal, so I'm hoping I meet her seal of approval!

There are all sorts of dips, chilis, soups and stews on Ms. Crocker's page, so I will definitely be trying out some more and posting my thoughts!