Here's to hoping this is my last blog post before the babe! I'll make it short and sweet.

Adam and I celebrated our final pre-baby date night at JCT Kitchen on August 13. We ate just about everything on the menu, and it was so nice to get all fancy and go out. This pregnancy has brought us closer than ever, and my heart could just burst when I think about how much I love him! He has gone above and beyond to make this experience so amazing (for all of us!), and I can't wait to see him as a Daddy. Now I'm going to go cry.

Since we don't know how long this sweets phase will last, we tried out Ray's Donuts on Saturday morning. The line was out the door!

My company sponsored the annual Give Me Five event on Sunday, and I gave away all my sponsor tickets because I figured I'd either have a baby or would not want to deal with people so close to my due date! Allison had extra seats available and asked if I wanted to attend at the last minute, and I figured I might as well keep myself busy. Adam had a tennis match, so Mom came with me! (And I totally look massively pregnant in this pic. Oh, well.)

And now we wait! Every time I start feeling anxious, I repeat my mantra…. "Father, give me the strength and patience to know that Your timing is perfect. She WILL show up. Eventually." 

ATL-DFW-ATL

Back when I first started my new job, I was told we would have our Annual Roadshow Conference in Dallas in mid-August. Of course, I booked my ticket to arrive the weekend before to stay with Jeff and Katie. This was before I realized how exhausted I would be from my back-to-back-to-back trips. Regardless, I'm so glad I did! 

I kick-started my trip with an 8 hour delay. I heard the tornado sirens going off on my drive to the airport, so I had a feeling the night would be interesting. After two cancelled flights, one loooong delay and a missing flight crew - we finally took off at 1:00am. I killed time by exploring the airport (F/International terminal is the best, of course) and my dad treated me to a little visit to the Delta Sky Club (cheers, dad!). Adam even dropped by for about an hour after work and we grabbed dinner at the Airport Marriott. 

After the shuttle bus trip from hell (at least he was fast!), I arrived at Jeff and Katie's at 2:30am - can you believe they didn't wait up for me? I'm so glad I didn't bail and decide to just fly out on Sunday night, because I would have missed all of the fun!

We spent Saturday on their friends boat in perfect boat weather - 100 scorching degrees! Had to stock up on booze first, of course.

Absinthe anyone? (Just kidding.)

Such an awesome day!

I wakeboarded for the first time - so fun!

After recuperating from our day at the lake, we headed out for some authentic mexican food! I can't remember the name of the place in the Stockyards, but it was awesome. After a quick stop at their dive bar, Showdown, for a couple terrible games of darts it was time for bed! We spent Sunday lounging around and then headed to another friend's house for dinner and drinks. All in all, an awesome weekend with two of my favorite people!

Monday morning it was off to the Hilton DFW Lakes for a week of conferences! It was my first time meeting the whole team, and they were awesome! In addition to some really long sales meetings, we also had a line dancing night, self defense class and the International Team (me!) was treated to an incredible meal by Chef Matt McCallister at FT33.

The self defense class really was awesome! I learned a lot.

Our yummy dinner at FT33...

...check out that menu! Everything was delish.

 Matt McCallister - he was recently named one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs. Decent.

I finally made it back home on Friday and spent the majority of the weekend getting some stuff around the house and trying to relax. Sunday was the 8th Annual Give Me Five at Cherokee Town and Country Club. Aka my first Share Our Strength event on the "other side"! To say I was excited to actually enjoy the event is an understatement!

My colleague, Ashley, had to bow out at the last minute so my mom and dad were able to join us (and buy a live auction item!).

Kelly and Jason were the best dates! We always have so much fun with them!

Post-event pic! (The flash was something serious.)

It was a jam-packed week, but I do feel really lucky to have the opportunity to stay so busy doing all of these fun things! I'm excited to be HOME for awhile - and not-so-patiently wait on that little nephew of mine to make his arrival!

Ramblings

Well, this is getting painful. At this point, without my camera I wouldn't even be able to tell you what we've been up to. However, my crazy event season is officially over (until the end of October, at least) - so maybe I'll get back in the swing of things. Probably not, though. I haven't done our finances (yes, I keep a very detailed budget spreadsheet) since Italy, and that's been pretty liberating...so I'm thinking I'm not going to go back to that for awhile. Hopefully that's not the same for this bad boy.

Adam and I have been on this "let's do STUFF!" roll since his new job (read: a little more income), and we've been having fun! You're only young once, right?

Since the last update... I've been home and not completely drowning in work, so I was finally able to make a trip to the grocery store (good and bad news - nothing has changed), clean the house (exciting stuff, huh?) and make time to see my mysterious family and friends who may or may not have thought I was abducted by Scientology.

I'm kind of obsessed with Footloose (actually, I'm kind of obsessed with the song Footloose), and the local theater in the Marietta Square, The Strand, was putting on the musical. Adam, being the creative spontaneous kid that he is, decided to take me to see it on Saturday, August 17. We hadn't done much of anything the whole day, so we headed up to the square around 5pm and had a glass of wine at our favorite wine shop before dinner at La Famiglia. The food was meh, as can be expected. There's a new farm-to-table restaurant in the square that we haven't yet tried - but our past eating experiences overall in the Square have been meh. They need some bad ass dining options in there, and it would have so much more potential.

I captioned this picture something like "the arguments that ensue post-photo are epic" - and I didn't really think it through that it sounded pretty bad! Basically, I just meant that we always get in these stupid tiffs (that we're laughing through) because Adam says I take the worst pictures and cut him out.

So then he decided to take one, and I couldn't even keep it together.

Anyway, we saw Footloose and it was so much fun! Unfortunately, the acoustics in that theater are terrible and everyone sounded muffled when they spoke (Charlie Brown teacher style). Lucky for me, I know the plot of the movie, but Adam turned to me during Intermission and said, "So.... what's the story line here?" What a trooper!

Give Me Five, my last event of the season, was the next day, and I was so excited my parents and in-laws were able to attend!

After working lots of days in a row, I got Wednesday and Thursday of last week off. Adam also had Wednesday morning off, so we hiked up Kennesaw Mountain with our number one girl. Just what I needed!

My idea for a relaxing weekend at home was, of course, thrown out the window when we had some opportunities come up.

Conveniently, I was able to participate in my first Summer Hours of the season last Friday (during the summer months, our office closes at 1pm every other Friday. Since it's my event season, I never get to take advantage of it). And extra conveniently, Barbara was coming in town (by BUS) and we were able to grab a boozy lunch at Tin Lizzy's, followed by a beer run and Menchie's.

Needless to say, the owner of Menchie's wasn't exactly thrilled we brought beer in. I believe his exact words were, "Ladies, don't drop that beer on my store floor." Listen, guy - we would have been more mad than you if we wasted this beer on your floor.

We sadly parted ways, and then I headed home to get ready for the Concert in the Square. Such a fun time with some of my most favorite people!

On Saturday, a friend of mine who I know through work invited us to see her husband's band play in the Battle of the Bands at the Masquerade. Their band, Clap for Daylight, didn't win - but it was so fun! We had never been to the Masquerade before, and we felt super hip.

On Sunday the weather was too beautiful to sit inside, so we headed to Downtown Roswell for a late lunch at Party Chic. I wanted to try a new place, and they had an upstairs balcony and bottomless mimosas for $10 - sold! The food was ok, but the service was terrible. Even those $10 bottomless mimosas won't get me back in there. I had pretty cute company, though.

 The weekend ended with Adam meeting up with the guys for their Fantasy Football draft, and me having a wine and pizza night with Dominica. Perfect, relaxing way to end an awesome weekend!

whoops

I don't even know where I left off on my exciting life, but it's been awhile. I've had three events in less than one month (whaaat?), with the final one being this Sunday. Have to be honest, working 10 days in row really hasn't been bad because my job is so fun! However, I spent all day Wednesday thinking it was Thursday, so I think my brain needs a break.

Ok, some quick updates...

I went to Charlotte the weekend of August 2 to celebrate my birthday North Carolina style. Per usual, it was so much fun and I could have cried when I had to leave my little Nat. Friday night was bro time.... aka eat a lot of food and watch Katy Perry and Spring Breakers. (If anyone every tries to talk you into watching Spring Breakers, JUST SAY NO.) Katy Perry on the other hand, is our favorite movie. We may or may not have watched it three times in two days, and I may or may not know the choreography to Teenage Dream.

Saturday, Natalie forced me to be active in the morning and take a walk to a cute little breakfast place called Amelie's. I guess it was worth it - it made me feel a little less disgusting for chowing down on who knows how many pieces of pizza the night before. Then we headed over to Melvin's for some pool time (again, I guess that walk was a good idea).

Saturday night we were up to our usual shenanigans, followed by even more shenanigans because it was Morgan's birthday (she was nice enough to let me help her blow out her birthday candles - what a gem).

By the end of the weekend, I was pretty much convinced I was moving in as the fourth roommate. But then Sunday morning came around and I had to make the trek back to Atlanta to attend a wedding at the Greystone for Mallory and Alex.

On Monday, Allison and I met up with Richard Blais at Flip Burger to talk food and stuff. He was nice enough to take a picture with us and with the No Kid Hungry sign. Thanks, dude!

Thursday, I headed over to the CBS Studios to be on hand while a couple of our chefs and sommeliers did a spot for the upcoming Give Me Five event. They were rock stars!

Friday, it was off to Orlando for the final Taste of the Nation of the season! The event was a huge success - raising $245,000 to help end childhood hunger in Florida and nationwide. Holler!

Who knew there were still Dippin Dots around? Ice cream of the future!

Never know what entertainers are going to show up at this event!

Sunday, I was able to spend the day with one of my absolute favorites who lives in Orlando - Barbara. We had a yummy brunch at Spice, then headed to the Farmer's Market for bottomless mimosas and very entertaining people watching. Later in the day, we wandered up to the bars and let me tell you - Orlando takes Sunday Funday to a whole new level. The bars were packed and they had DJs and such. Party time! Too bad I had to head to the airport to catch my flight back home, but not before some moonshine-soaked cherries!

I came home late Sunday night to a "surprise" from Adam. He bought a car while I was gone. I know you can't sense my anger through the computer, but let's just say that I'm ANGRY. A car isn't a big purchase or anything.... Oh, and my phone broke last night so I get to go buy a new one today. AWESOME.

Well, my last event until October is on Sunday and I'm really looking forward to taking a deep breath and just relaxing. There it is. My exciting life.

give me five

This past Sunday was our Give Me Five event at the beautiful Cherokee Town & Country Club in Buckhead. Different from the Taste of the Nation events, this is a 5-course dinner prepared by 5 different chefs and complemented by wines chosen by 5 different sommeliers. It was such a fun event and we raised 35% more than last year! Adam was forced to volunteered to help us out and I'm so glad he got to kind of see what it is I do.

The event also happened to fall on Jeffrey's 30th birthday! I was (obviously) beyond bummed I couldn't make it to Dallas for his birthday, but my parents flew in on Friday night and surprised him at a bar after dinner.

Dad had a really good time catching up with friends. Old frat habits die hard, I suppose. Speaking of frats, Mitchell accepted a bid to Theta Chi - which is my dad's fraternity! How cute is that?

While they were all having the time of their life on Friday, I got to witness this guy in Buckhead traffic. Yes, he is playing a saxophone while driving. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why they created cameras within cell phones.

Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up!

On Saturday, Katie planned a surprise party for Jeff! (Again, so bummed I couldn't make it to any of the festivities!) While they were partying, I made a delish dinner. Yep - I cooked again! Adam was at a softball tournament all day, so he wasn't there to bother help me.

I was planning to do grilled chicken, but I actually found two steaks for less than two chicken breasts (literally, only $4 for both). Say whaa? Is that normal? I just made up my own marinade, since I'm a pro and all. But really, I just threw in soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, tabasco sauce (I had to!), and some garlic.

Adam loves cheese, so I thought I'd try to make some homemade mac n cheese. It was a keeper!

Chuck's Favorite Mac N Cheese

1 (8 ounce) package elbow macaroni
1 (8 ounce) package shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 (12 ounce) container small curd cottage cheese
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil, add    pasta, and cook until done; drain.
-In 9x13 inch baking dish, stir together macaroni, shredded Cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix together bread crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle topping over macaroni mixture.
-Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until top is golden.

I also made this ridiculously easy and fast zucchini recipe.

Parmesan-Roasted Zucchini

2 zucchini
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper
1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

-Cut off ends of zucchini, cut into 4ths (length wise)
-Lay zucchini on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (I used foil)
-Brush olive oil on each and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder
-Top with cheese
-Bake for 15 minutes, or until zucchini is tender and cheese is browned

Ta da!! I'm a cook!

To cap off a great weekend/kick start a new week, I got home from work on Monday and found this waiting for me. Best husband, ever! Seriously. How cute is he? For those of you who live under a rock, this is the quote for The Hunger Games - which we're both obsessed with. We even went to the midnight premiere with Kelly and Jason (and a bunch of teeny boppers).