As I mentioned in my last post, I headed to sunny Florida last week for our annual planning meetings. I flew in the day before to stay with Aunt Frances and see my old manager, Michelle. When I arrived at Frances' condo, I opened the door and there was dog. I totally forgot that Frances and Tom decided to adopt an 8 year old pup named Cooper, so that was kind of a shock.

Obviously, we immediately took a selfie.

I met Michelle for a quick drink at Red Bar before we headed to dinner at OTC in Mary Brickell Village. The food was really good, but the playlist was even better (think old school Jay-Z and Eminem). Gosh, I really miss Miami.

On Wednesday morning, I headed up to Sole on the Ocean in Sunny Isles to meet up with the rest of my team. Um, talk about amazing. It's off-season, so it felt like we were the only ones in the hotel.

We were welcomed with these goodies on our kitchen counter (yes, I had a kitchen in my room).

Living room...

...and my bedroom. I was able to wake up and look out over the balcony from my bed. Can we move here?

The first day we spent presenting Business Reviews over our territories. Being on the job for only three months, I was a little worried about how I was going to put together enough material for a 30 minute presentation. But I managed and my manager told me I did "freaking awesome". Yay!

We celebrated with dinner at the hotel's restaurant, Alba. The restaurant was actually closed (because it's off-season), but we have a great relationship with the chef, Ralph Pagano, so he opened it up and made us an Indian feast. I had never had Indian food before, but it was yum. Anything spicy is a-ok with me!

The team! (Boo for being blurry.)

Look at the fun decor along the wall!

On Thursday, we finished our planning a little early so we went ahead and covered Friday morning's material. Obviously, we decided to take advantage of "no work Friday" and had a great time on Thursday night.  We headed off to a delicious dinner at Sea Grill and then all headed down to the beach to drink some more wine. I tapped out at 1:30am and there was still a big group down there. Crazy, kids!

Me introducing some of the team to Uber!

On Saturday (back in the ATL), Natalie headed into town to prep for the GARTH BROOKS concert on Sunday!!

After attending Jill and Tyler's baby shower on Sunday, it was time to get ready for one of the best concerts, ever!

Every seat for his concert at Philips Arena cost the same - it was basically first come first serve. I logged in the second tickets went on sale and was able to grab 5 seats... on the floor! Fun Fact: My mom was able to get two tickets to Friday night's show and when she had no luck selling them, Ticketmaster let her swap them out for better tickets on Sunday - no charge! Great to note for future reference. That meant that her and Kathy sat together, and Adam got to join our group.

Totally didn't even notice Ruthie and Hank are in this - ha!

We ran into a college friend, Michael Chapin, in the food court!

Oh, don't mind us and our AWESOME seats!

I mean, seriously? This is with no zoom!

I didn't take any pictures during the concert because I was way too busy singing along, but he was an amazing performer! And so was Trisha! Ah, so much fun! Most definitely worth staying up late on a Sunday.

Sorry, no recipes this time! I can tell you that I had Lobster Linguine at Sea Grill that was amazing. Does that count?

keeping busy until we're an aunt and uncle

Still. No. Nephew.  I leave for a business trip tomorrow and won't be back until Friday, so obviously I'm sure he'll make his debut during that window of time. In the meantime, we've managed to keep ourselves busy!

On Wednesday, I joined Allison for Glow Dry's 1st Anniversary Party. In addition to some fun mojitos and a DJ, you could also get a quick hairstyle or makeup fix. I went for the hairstyle, and I looked ridiculous. No offense to my lovely hair lady! Just not my style. (Think Heidi.)

Ruthie and Hank are always fighting over this bone, but they're typically moving too fast for me to get a picture. But BINGO, I got one. They make us laugh.

On Friday, we headed to 57th Fighter Group to celebrate Linda's promotion! Her daughter, Lindsay, and I have been best friends since high school and Linda and Johnny are basically a second set of parents to me. We'll miss them, but excited for their new adventure in DC!

Obviously, our parents are pretty close. After all, they had to deal with two crazy teenagers! :)

Right after the going away party, my parents and I headed to the James Beard: Taste America dinner in Atlanta. Allison had extra tickets and invited us as her dates!

 This is when I wish my parents had signed me up for cotillion - where do I start?

I was lucky enough to meet someone who scored me two tickets to the PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta on Saturday! I figured Adam would come with me, but he had to work. Then I thought I'd take my dad, but he was leaving for Dubai the next day and wanted to hang out at home. So I went to my go-to adventure friend, Madi! We had no idea what we were getting into - we had to google what we were supposed to wear.

They offered free parking at Turner Field, then a shuttle took you to East Lake Golf Club. I was super impressed by how easy everything was. I also hate waiting, so it was nice that they had so many shuttles to and from the golf course that we would just walk right on and go.

We had to ask the PGA-worker-lady who was who. (In my defense, I did pick out Rory McIlroy!) I'm holding Adam Scott, since he has the same name as my hubs I thought it was appropriate.

 Rory! One of very few golfers I know. (And by "know", I mean I know his name.)

After a fun day in the sun, I came home to take a nap while Adam finished the UGA game. Then it was off to date night! We decided on ONE Midtown Kitchen because they're a great client of mine and it was Restaurant Week!

Adam started off with this super cool drink! It was a Jack Daniels and Coke, but the Jack Daniels was infused with peanuts. Then it's poured into this old-timey Coke bottle and topped with peanuts. (I stuck with the ever-boring vodka tonic.)

After dinner, we decided to stop for a quick drink at Meehan's on the way home. And here's the only picture I got of us on our fun date night. FAIL.

Sunday we planned to take it easy and watch the Falcons game, but then Jeff came in town for a couple hours before he had to head up to Pennsylvania. As always, we met him at Taco Mac for a quick lunch before he headed out again. (This was especially crucial because Katie and Kalyn had just sent me a picture of them together in Dallas - so I was experiencing serious FOMO.)

And because I'm now Suzy Homemaker/Career Woman, I'm going to end my posts with recipes I'VE MADE. This is huge. And also may not last long. So listen closely.

Salsa from last week

Ok, this isn't a joke. This salsa is SO good. I may or may not have eaten all of my sweet potato chips in two days because I couldn't stop. And now it's just sitting in my fridge staring at me because I have nothing to dip it in. Except a fork... That may have happened. Don't judge.

Paleo(ish) Slow Cooker Pot Roast

-1 hunk of meat (See how good I am at measurements and such? I used a Cabernet Beef Pot Roast from Trader Joe's - my newfound Mecca)

-1.5 cups of small, raw carrots

-3 celery stalks, diced or chopped or whatever (Is a stalk one piece of the celery bunch? If so, I used that word right. And I don't know the term for how I cut them. Small-ish?)

-1/2 yellow onion cut up (Again with the cutting techniques.)

-1 cup chicken stock (I was probably supposed to use beef stock, wasn't I?)

1. Brown the roast over the stove for 5 min on each side, Med-High heat

2. Pour chicken stock into slow cooker

3. Add the roast

4. Place carrots around the roast

5. Place onion and celery on top of the roast

6. Cook on High for 5.5 hours (The Roast's packaging said 5-6, so I just decided the middle would work.)

If you leave it there (without reading all of the seasonings that go into the Cabernet Beef Pot Roast) - you've got a paleo meal! Since we had company over, I also cooked wild rice (that I didn't eat, thankyouverymuch). And I probably should have done some sort of bread/roll for them. Regardless, everyone loved it! Definitely keeping this made-up recipe around for chilly/lazy nights.

Pecan Crusted Chicken

While I was at the dinner on Friday, Adam made this bad boy. He said it was delicious - I had some leftovers and have to agree!

office - check!

Let's see... since my last rambling on Paleo I haven't weighed myself, so who knows how that's going. I do feel much better! (Reminder, I'm only sticking to it during the week. Which means the Lay's and French Onion Dip I devoured during football on Saturday totally doesn't count.)

Speaking of this past weekend... we decided to keep it low key on Friday night and were planning to just sit in front of the TV. However, my parents called and wanted their date night to continue. My dad had never been to Mulligan's, so that was the obvious choice.

Darts for everyone!

After our exciting night out, we decided to top it off with dinner (around midnight or so) at the Marietta Diner. Like I said, just a casual Friday night. The best part was the next morning when I saw the leftovers in our fridge. Apparently my mom thought salisbury steak, alfredo sauce and asparagus sounded like the perfect meal. GROSS.

Saturday we lounged around for most of the day, then headed over to Chris and Alysa's to watch the Ole Miss game. (Adam's favorite, UGA, had a bye week - so we were able to hang out with our Hotty Toddy's).

Sunday was another busy and productive day. After church, we headed over to my parents' for brunch. Mamabear was joining us and it was the first time I'd seen her since she moved into her new Memory Care home. She was in great spirits! And seemed to realize she was supposed to know who I was. We finished just in time to watch the Falcons beat the (I'm sitting here pausing because I can't even remember who they played...let's try Google...ah!) Saints in OT. Then back home it was - Adam promised me he'd have the office finished by Sunday night, so he had some chores to attend to.

Finally...after 7 long months - technically almost two years... our office is FINISHED! (Famous last words, I'm sure I still have some changes to make.)

Before...

After!

Adam built me these shelves - aren't they awesome?! I may have him move them a little lower, though. (Sorry, honey!)

Bulletin board... finally!

Adam has so much baseball memorabilia, we had to incorporate it. (Believe me, there is a ton more in the attic.)

I even organized all of my samples for work in the closet so they no longer take up half the room.

Quite a difference from the ladybug wallpaper and shiny walls! Three cheers to Adam for doing this complete overhaul by himself! (And you too, Dave!) We love it!

Paleo 2.0

I've decided to jump back on the Paleo-ish bandwagon, once again. After my summer of yes (meaning "yes" to any and all foods in front of my face), I accidentally stepped on an old scale at the Antique Store with my mom on Monday. I looked down and thought "surely this is just super old", so I made my mom try. For some reason, the woman knows how much she weighs and the number on this antique was the same as her scale at home. Yikes!

Now, I know I could take this post into the whole "weight ain't nothing but a number" direction, BUT after over 10 years I've finally come to the conclusion that it matters to me. I would love to eat whatever I want with no guilt, and not freak out about every imperfection. Really, I would. I read a lot of older celebrities (ha! #reality) say they wish they hadn't cared so much about their body when they were younger. I try to repeat that mantra in my head "Don't waste time worrying about it if you're just going to regret something so stupid in 15-20 years." However, that whole thought process doesn't work for me.

I pick and pick and PICK at my body. I'm sure I could pay a therapist a good chunk of change to try to get me to think otherwise, but I've got better things to do with that money. Like spend it on materialist items.

MOVING right along. Moral of the story - I spend way too much time everyday stressing out over my tummy pooch, and paleo is the only solution that has really made me happy since we tried it out for Lent in 2013. (Minus this whole "summer of yes" hiatus.) I've done pretty well about eating paleo during the week/while I'm at home, and then not really watching what I eat (to an extent) on weekends and when I go out. This week I kicked it back into gear, and made some actual meals! Ok, so I made one actual meal. But still. Baby steps.

My inspiration came from this book Meagan and Nathan let us borrow (that I have since kept - sorry!) when we first started. The intro is like 10 pages long, and I just couldn't be bothered with actually reading it back then. Guess what? Still can't be bothered to read it. But I did make a couple recipes!

After a life changing trip to Trader Joe's (where has this gem been hiding my whole life?!), I made the below Chicken Paleo Piccata recipe along with some broccoli.

 Ta da - It was delicious!

And because I'm a total sucker for chips and salsa, I made this salsa to go along with my sweet potato chips. Another winner (that I have already completely finished - oops).

A quick rundown on why Paleo is the best option for me...

• No counting calories. As long as it's paleo, you can seriously eat as much of it as you want. (I'm sure there's some "within reason" clause, but I'm ignoring it.)
• You feel full, but not "I'm-thisclose-to-throwing-up full."
• I'm more of a snacker, so during the day is easy because I just make sure I keep snacks around.
• I can find options at restaurants. I'm not super strict about it, so I don't ask waiters what the foods' seasonings are made out of. This leaves me with plenty of options. Any type of meat with a side of veggies? Paleo. Fajitas without all of the fixings and tortillas? Paleo. BBQ without the sauce? Paleo. Burger without the bun and cheese? Paleo.

Well, now that I've put it all out there I guess I have to stick with it. More recipes coming soon! (Assuming this isn't some 4 day recipe kick that I'm going to get tired of by Sunday.)

Dragon Con

Last year, a group of us decided to take others' advice and check out Dragon Con - Atlanta's version of Comic Con. We were immediately hooked and put the 2014 dates in our calendars as soon as they were released. 62,000 nerds dressed up as their favorite cartoon/movie/tv show character? It's the best people watching you could ever imagine. This year we recruited more people to join our adventure and, once again, it was amazing.

We kicked off our Friday night with a little pre-game action at Madi's. Say hi to Madi and Scarlett!

Adam wasn't able to join us last year because of work, so we were super stoked he was getting in on the action this year!

Sticking with tradition, we started the night at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, one of the hub hotels. Turns out you need credentials to even get in the hotel, but we were able to slip past security (high five!). We hung out in the same bar as last year - prime time because it's right in the middle of the lobby.

I give you.... some of our favorites.

Stormtroopers!

Madi had the most epic Edward Scissorhands costume for Halloween one year. Even better than this guy's.

The Riddler! 

Vann! (She dressed up as a Dragon Con fan.)

Yessssss.

Put me in, coach! (Funny enough, I told him to hike the ball like in the movie and he looked at his friend with this blank stare. Silly nerds.)

Adam knows my #1 celeb crush is Hugh Jackman (aka the best Wolverine, ever!). This was probably the closest I'll ever get to Wolverine, and I'm ok with it.

Adam took pictures with his favorite ones, but I'm not sure how to operate his space phone Blackberry to get them off. Moral of the story, we all had fun!

Since it was Labor Day weekend, we still had three glorious days in front of us! Saturday we did a whole lot of nothing. I'm really sitting here trying to think of what we did, and I've got nothing.

Sunday morning we woke up and went to church (it's only been a year since I last went - yikes), and then leashed up the dogs to head up to Art in the Park at the Square. I had to meet some friends for a bachelorette party planning sesh, and then met up with Adam and the pups for a beer at Hemingway's.

By the end of our time at Hemingway's, we could already tell the dogs were exhausted. They are super dramatic about the heat (even though it wasn't that hot out), and we knew the mile walk home would be interesting. We were right. Every piece of shade and/or grass we passed, they both flopped down. It took a good bit of coaxing to get them up each time, and when Ruthie noticed we were pretty close to the house she started running. Adam and I could not stop laughing as we were running to keep up with the dogs who were so close to being home. So dramatic!!

Sunday night the Bakers/Causeys/Reaves (and Papabear!) all congregated for our last family meal before Baby Causey arrives! We had a delicious meal (as always) and topped it off with a final girls pic before we get to meet our nephew in person. Can't wait!

On Labor Day, Adam went to the gun range with Kelsey and Dave and then put together the shelves for our office (woo hoo - we're almost done!). I went perusing through antique stores with my mom (a favorite past time of ours) before I had to head home and get ready for the Unauthorized Saved by the Bell party at Allison's house. [Spoiler alert: It was terrible] We all had to bring something to share, so I brought these yummy S'more Bars. If you have the items for s'mores in your pantry (which I always do), then you probably don't even need to make a trip to the store. 

Speaking of cooking, I made this Cilantro Limo Cauliflower "Rice" last night... and it was amazing, if I do say so myself. Of course, I was so proud of myself for making such a delicious and healthy dish, but then I tasted the chicken and it was bad. Like old/rotten/salmonella bad. Yikes. Our meal consisted of the cauliflower rice... and that's it. Oh, well!

And since Jeff and Katie don't even know this blog exists, I'll end with a picture of Jeff's birthday present that we finally finished (his birthday was August 19, oops). Cheers to Adam for building it and to Meagan for doing the writing - it would have looked like total amateur hour if I had tried. I got the idea from Pinterest (shocker), but more specifically here.

Alrighty then. Hopefully my next post will be about my nephew!! (Am I too obsessed?)