Weekend Shenanigans

 

We had a full weekend: Eric came up Friday night, mom came up Saturday, and Sarah and Drew came up Sunday.  Eric, Clay, and I took Lily to the Towaliga River right up the road on Saturday.  It was her first time at the river.  The weather was warm but the water was still cold but she hopped right in after sticks.  She seemed to have a great time!  Eric and I both ended up in the mud.  There was some slippery mud hiding under leaves and he slipped and landed on his butt and I slipped and landed chest first ( which is why my white zip up in brown).  Clay and Lily laughed at us.

 

On Saturday night we went to Hampton and Clay and Eric went to the Jailhouse Brewery.  Mom and I looked around the town and took a few pictures.  We stopped in the bookstore there and had a nice chat with the owner.  When Clay and Eric were done left there and went to Morrow to VN Pho for some food and avocado milkshakes while being serenaded in the car by Clay.  

When we got home we made a fire and literally chilled out around the fire.  I made a sore attempt at making pretzels, I will have to redo them some other time to redeem myself.  They may or may not have been called salt-dough ornaments.

 
Mom and I got up Sunday and went to work-out with Joey.  We did a tough ab workout and I took Lily for a 2 mile run when we got home.  Clay made some delicious food for a late lunch and he and Eric watched the Falcons.  Sarah and Drew got here later (she is staying here for photography classes in Atlanta).  It was GREAT to see her and Drew.  I got up this morning with them and had breakfast and coffee before they headed out.  It is just 0730 and I have already been up 3 hours, I am alone with the dogs now just chilling with my coffee and the fireplace since Georgia decided to give us a little wintry weather for a day or two.

Date Night (Dinner and a Concert)

 
We started out the night at the Porter Beer Bar just up the road from the Variety Playhouse (behind it we snagged some super great parking for $2).  We found this place on Yelp, it had excellent reviews and we were not disappointed.  There was a Giant, I mean GIANT beer selection which Clay looked through and decided on a white Thai beer that was recommended per Yelpers.  I saw that they make their own Bloody Mary mix and infuse their own vodka (4 pepper vodka) so I had to try a Bloody Mary which was very good, you could really taste the peppers but it wasn't so hot that I didn't enjoy it.  They come in pint or quart options.  Before the meal I had already decided on dessert.  For starters we had foie gras for Clay and goat cheese fritters with honey.  I loved the bacon jam that came with the foie gras!  The goat cheese fritters were very tasty, the little bit of sweetness from the honey was just right and we even took a little of the stone ground mustard from Clay's plate and had it with bites of the goat cheese and honey....amazing!

 
For our entrees we had the black bean and quinoa burger with house pickled onions and Belgian fries, and beer brats and house made sauerkraut.  Out of these 2 dishes, the fries were what to write home about.  Perfectly crispy and fantastic flavor!  The burger was good but texture was a little mealy for my liking and to me the beer brats were a little sweeter than I would have liked, not bad, just a personal preference.

 
Then to desert....I was surprised, the one desert I had been pining over since we arrived was the PBJM, a peanut butter custard with apple cider jelly, shortbread, and burnt marshmallow.  However this was a disappointment, the whole dessert lacked significant flavor.  I was expecting something with a little more zing on my tastebuds.   That being said, the other 2 were fantastic!  The cranberry bread pudding and brownie with beer ice cream and salted caramel were super duper!  The atmosphere of this place is really nice and cozy, decor is interesting, the ceiling in the back is really high so although it is cozy it doesn't feel stuffy.  We also have good service, prompt and helpful.  This is a definite repeat for us!

 

This was my first time at Variety Playhouse, and it was a great experience.  Parking was really easy, and convenient.  It was a general admission show and we got there about 30 minutes early and got nice seats.  The front few rows and side rows were plastic chairs the middle section was good old concert hall style chairs.  We went to see Guster who is touring with 2 string players at this time.  They put on a fantastic show!  The music was superb but they were also entertaining.  The lead singer made jokes and kept things light.  They engaged the audience, even agreeing twice to play Chinese fire drill where they switched instruments several ending up with instruments they didn't know how to play and the drummer singing quite hysterically out of tune.  Clay and I both very much enjoyed our experience and next time Guster is playing within travel range we will be there.

Guster

Gray Hiking Day

 

Lily was a crazy vizsla last night, so today we went on a longer hike 4.5miles.  We trekked up the road here and went down one of the logging roads and into the woods a little.  She really enjoyed this.  There is this beautiful area there that mom and I found last year where there are all these giant rocks covered in moss.  We sat there for a while and Lily ran around on the long leash.  She even played Frisbee for the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

Lily had a good time today.  When we got home we played a little more Frisbee in the back yard and when we came inside she went right into her house.  She is still knocked out now 4 hours later.  

Tired Lily = well behaved Lily.

The awesome church pew my husband surprised me with along with my surprise Christmas decorations.  I got up for work the other night and noticed the dining area had been rearranged, then I noticed this really beautiful old pew.  We had been discussing different seating options for a while and he saw this one on Craig's list.  

About a week before Christmas I had not put any decorations out and I LOVE Christmas decorations, things had just been hectic and I hadn't taken the time to do it.  I was also bummed about not having them up.  I got home from work one morning and to my surprise Clay had put up my favorite decorations.  How sweet!