"Wine me up and watch me go!"

I saw that quote painted on a sign recently and although I didn't want to purchase the sign, it did make me chuckle! How true that is! :-) I thought it was a fitting title for this post because I am writing about two fun evenings I have had in the past week... one involving wining me up and one involving going (out with the girls)!

Last Friday night our new friends, Amanda and Patrick, went with us to Arrington Vineyards in Arrington, TN (just down the road between Murfreesboro and Franklin). We had so much fun! We had been planning our night for a while and weren't very excited when the day turned out to be RAINY!!!! However, we made the best of it! The guys took Amanda and I to bonefish! Mmmm... bang bang shrimp and pomegranate martini anyone? That is the only reason I ever go to Bonefish - those two menu items! I happened to also have the Lily's Chicken and Chris, Amanda, and Patrick all had steak. After dinner we headed to Arrington...

Above: Patrick and Amanda - they make the cutest couple! And you should see their new baby, John Beckett!! Below: All four of us at the tasting bar.

They let each guest have 6 pours so between the four of us and sharing a little here in there we all got to taste all the wines! My favorites included Red Fox Red which was a dry red with a long finish, comparable to a Pinot Noir. On the white side I liked their Chardonnay, although it had a very short finish. I also enjoyed their Viognier which was similar to a Sauvignon Blanc - and that was a perfect fit because Patrick's not a big wine drinker. We got a bottle ;enjoy while sitting on the coverend and enclosed deck with the hickory wood fire and jazz pianist playing! What fun! We also got a box of chocolate truffles and their Rasberry dessert wine! It was incredible (and I don't like dessert wine)! Perfect harmony between the wine and chocolate! I highly recommend this for a dessert course at your next dinner party! It'll sure have everyone talking!

Overall, even though the night was messy, the company and the place were great! We had fun and decided to try to do it more often! We want to go back on a pretty day and picnic on the grounds! It's a BEAUTIFUL place!

The other fun thing I did (and the "go" part of my post) was go out with the girls! :-) Me, Lauren, Megan, Lena, Betsy, and Courtney all met at Newks for dinner and then headed to the pottery place to paint and gab and laugh and catch up! It's funny... it took us 2 months (literally) to get together! We set the day weeks ago! I guess when you get 6 ladies with VERY busy schedules, throw in some husbands and kids, jobs, and other obligations it's HARD to find a free night that fits into everyone's schedule!

Here we all are! Because there were six of us we painted in the "party" area! It was fun to have that little area to ourselves! Let me tell you... these are some creative ladies!

I had to include this picture of Megan, Courtney, and Lena because I thought it was so cute! We really had the best time laughing and all catching up! We can't wait to get together again SOON! :-) Hopefully next time we won't be on a two-month waiting period!

Other Halloween Happenings....

This past Sunday we attended our church's Fall Festival complete with trunk-or-treating, blow up jumps and slides, games, and pumpkin painting! It was SO. MUCH. FUN! Lily had a blast and stuffed her little mouth with everything sweet she could find! :-)

Trunk-or-Treating was as new concept to me and it was a great idea! Each Sunday school class and some of the church couples brought cars, trucks, and even Harley's and parked them in rows with the trunks, beds, and saddle bags open and decorated! The kids then went from car to car trunk-or-treating! So cute!! Ann and Scott had a car there and we stopped in to see them...

...and of course Melody and Lily had to climb in and play for a while! They love seeing each other and I thought it was especially cute that they both had costumes with wings!

Scott and Ann were fun to see and visit as always! Scott is one of Chris' closest friends and we just love him to pieces! Getting to know his family better this year has been a joy!

Lily LOVES Scott! His last name is Kinney and so all his buds at work, us included, have nick named him "Skinny" which Lily thinks is funny, so now she calls him Skinny too! It's so funny and cute hearing her little voice call his name!!

Their other daughter Robin was there too! Can you guess who she is??? That's right, it's Little Red "Robin" hood! :-)

We spent the most time at the bouncy play things! Lily went down the slides and in the bouncy things over and over and over again! It was so well organized and spread out that there was very little waiting and lots and lots of playing! It was wonderful!

And, being Thumbelina (because it was pink and had wings) she twirled and spun and shrieked and played! She ran across the field saying, "Look Daddy, I can fly!" at the perfect time of day when the sun was streaming down! It was so precious!

Here are the three of us! She is being silly, and it's no wonder after that sugar!

I'll just call this one, "Sugar High!" She was a SILLY LILY for the rest of the afternoon!!!! But, she was the prettiest Thumbelina ever in the whole wide world!

Yesterday we decided to carve pumpkins! It was so much fun! I love the fall and carving pumpkins is just part of it! This made Halloween week official for me...

Nothing like ooey gooey hand full of pumpkin guts to ring in the Halloween holiday! :-)

Daddy takes his pumpkin carving seriously!!!!! He worked much harder and longer than Lily and I! He gets all the credit for the beautiful pumpkins...

I thought they turned out great!! While carving, Chris commented that he had never had toasted pumpkin seeds! I have as a kid and wasn't a fan, but I figured I'd attempt to toast some and we could all try! I washed and dried two batches and baked them up... some with sugar and cinnamon and some simply salted!

Turns out... we don't like them! lol. Now we know! They tasted mostly like pop-corn, but not nearly as fun to eat! :-) Hope you're having as much fall fun as we are!!!!

Parade Picture Post...

This weekend was FULL of Fun! One of the many things we did was go to the MTSU homecoming parade!!! Megan asked me to bring my camera and take "some good pictures" so of course I went wild! I don't know about the "good" part, but I took a BUNCH of pictures and there are so many I love that I decided to post A LOT of them! With subjects this cute, the pictures have to be great! So, I'll let the pictures tell the story of our parade adventure!

Lily and Vance claiming our spot to watch the parade!

Lily smiling for the camera... waiting for the parade to start!

Vance cheesing for the camera... waiting for the parade to start!

It's fall, so of course we had to take a picture with a tree trunk! It just fits!

Gotta love this grin!

Vance can seriously work the camera when he stops long enough for the camera to catch him!

Vance = 100% boy! "Look Lily!"

Web and Vance going to see the band warm up before the parade!

Lily running to watch the band warm up!

Megan and Jack at his frist MTSU homecoming parade!

He was a trooper!!!!

Chris and Lily Mac... these two are ALWAYS crackin' each other up!

Me and Chris... Mmmmmm! :-)

Doesn't get better than this!

Web, Megan, Vance, and Jack getting ready for the parade!

Got their bags and waitin for some CANDY!

Check out this look.... hard to say no, huh?! lol

Here they come!!!!!

Anticipation.

Candy.

GO, Go, go! CANDY!!!!


See? Candy!

Vance and Web waving at the FIRE TRUCK!

Baby Jack taking it all in!

He's a natural at this parade stuff!

Lightning came by to give Lily a high five!

Vance taking it in!

Me and Lily Mac!

What a precious, precious girl she is!

Parade over.

"Vance, come with me to my daddy's gym!

I'll show you the way!"

Fun on the Farm...

I never got back to tell about the rest of my weekend, so here it goes!

Saturday after Mom and I had lunch and shopping, I headed to the farm (Megan and Web's) to see my two best galz and their boys! We had SO. MUCH. FUN. Lauren brought chocolate chip muffins and Sonic drinks (um, none of us can pass up a Sonic Happy Hour Cherry Coke)! :-) I brought sausage cream cheese casserole for dinner. We all three went super comfy in yoga pants and had the best time hanging out and having fall fun with the boys!


Baby Jack is growing like a weed! Well... like a little butter ball anyway! He is one chunky monkey and full and overflowing with bright baby smiles! I had a great time cuddling and snuggling! As Leigh Ann would say, "holding him makes my uterus hurt!" LOL!!!!!

Megan was a wonderful hostess! Her home is always unbelievably clean and tidy yet cozy and inviting! It's a wonderful place to hang out and I just want to give her props because I don't know how in the world she keeps things so clean and organized AND works AND is a great wife AND is an all-star mommy, but somehow she does!


And another all-star mommy, house-wife, working woman.... La! (Dang I have some awesome friends!) La was, of course, beautiful and crackin us up! This is one chick I can count on to make me smile! Usually around La I end up in pain because my mouth hurts from smiling and my abs hurt from laughing! :-)

As wonderful as my two beautiful best friend's are, it was the little men in our presence that made us laugh and smile the most! They were TOO. CUTE!

"ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" This is Vance's "roar" face and he did it over and over and over! We were laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes! It was especially funny because he was doing this to Dawson back and forth in response to....

...Dawson's "I'm scaring you" face! They were SOOOOO funny making their funny faces and I was excited to actually catch them on camera! These two have the best time playing together!

Although it was meant to be a relaxing, lazy, hang out kind of afternoon, we are all three big planners! We are also all three big play-with-your-kidders! SO... we had a few projects planned as well! Moo provided the art projects:

Dawson and Vance colored Candy Corn pages and then we got the paint out and let them finger paint trees! They had so much fun putting leaves on the trees with their fingers! Vance got so excited he even used his whole hand! It's funny... just like Moo, Vance wasn't afraid to get down and dirty with it! Dawson, on the other hand, like HIS Mama, was very careful and precise and wanted his hands cleaned off immediately! It was so cute! Here are their finished products...

Dawson's is on the left and Vance's is on the right! I thought this was a wonderful idea, Megan!!!

After the art, the playing, and the dinner, it was bath time for the boys! Megan bathed Jack first so he could take a bottle and settle in for the night....

(Like our carefully placed bubbles? Nice, huh? LOL!!!!) Look at his big beautiful blue eyes!!! They're huge and adorable! And... he really is a little Weblet!

After Jack was taken care of it was time for the "big" boys to head to the tub! It was SO funny! They both played and bathed and laughed and laughed! At one point they were laughing so hard, Dawson was literally doubled over with his hands on his little knees! It was SOOOOO funny!

Overall the night couldn't have been more fun! Just good, relaxing fun with some of my favorite people! Thank you La and Moo for such a great night! I love you both and I love your boys so much!!!!

Bell Buckle and more....

Mom and I had a wonderful Friday night and Saturday morning together this weekend! She arrived Friday afternoon and we relaxed for a little while at home talking and catching up! Around dinner time we headed to one of our favorite restaurants to visit together, Macaroni Grill, and then went to shop around the avenue! We didn't have tons of time and we were quite worn out from our week of teaching so we only hit our favorites: Ann Taylor (for me) and Cold Water Creek (for mom), and the for both of us Barnes and Noble, Yankee Candle, and Hallmark! :-) I thought I would post some of our finds!

I found this ADORABLE Countdown to Christmas cookie sheet that is magnetic! I can't wait until December so I can put it on my refrigerator! Each cookie is a magnet... the cookie sheet is numbered 1-25 under each cookie! SO CUTE!

Mom got this SUPER CUTE ornament for me! You all know how much I love to cook! :-) I thought this was really adorable and right up my ally so mom treated me to an early Christmas gift! :-)

I also got a couple shirts at Ann Taylor... more practical that anything else... long sleeved, crew neck shirts that I can wear under sweaters and things this winter. Mom got a couple things as well and then we hit Kroger for some ice cream and headed home to chillax and enjoy a movie on TV!

Saturday we got up, got dressed, and headed to Bell Buckle, TN where there is the Webb School Craft Show every year! It is absolutely H-U-G-E and mom and I have been going together for several years now! It has become a tradition! We even have a traditional parking spot, ha! This year it was misty and FREEZING, but we put on our big girl panties (and our coats!) and dealt with it and boy were we glad! We found some really neat things and both got some things for ourselves and for those on our Christmas lists! I can't share everything I got today, because most of what I purchased fall in the gift category, but I will share one thing...

(I am SO getting in the Holiday Spirit with Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner!) I also purchased a beautiful piece of framed art that quotes John 15, but I will save that for another post after I have hung it up.

After Bell Buckle we came home and had a lunch! Mom made the most delicious apple salad and I had prepared homemade pimento cheese with olives and homemade egg and Gorgonzola salad with pancetta! It was a wonderful and light lunch! Then we recharged and headed to Hobby Lobby where we shopped some more! I could spend a fortune on all their decorating stuff, but I didn't! I just got stuff to make hair bows (my latest project, tee hee hee) and left it at that! Mom got these cute little boxes...

...to put Lily and Bentlee's Halloween treats in! She is so thoughtful and so together! I love it and I thought these were just perfect! I love all the random stuff you can always find at Hobby Lobby and chances are it'll be half off... and it was... the boxes AND my bow making stuff! Yay!

I hope your Saturday was as full of fall wonderfulness as mine! I have the rest of my Saturday to tell you about, but I have lots of pictures to go with it too, so I'll save it for another post! Just to give you a hint it has to do with my two best galz and their precious little boys!!! :-) In the mean time...

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

A girly start to a girly weekend...

I know it's only Thursday and therefore not officially the weekend yet, but I am already off to a great girly start to my weekend! I am setting myself up right to have a great weekend with some of my favorite ladies while my man is off with all of his favorite guys for the annual Pickwick Fall Golf Trip! :-)

This afternoon/evening started about the same as any other... I came home and straightened up, did some laundry, checked the mail. After the stuff that HAD to be done, however, the fun started! I headed to Olive Garden to meet my friend Rondda for dinner! I got a precious phone call from my niece with some very exciting news (more on this in a future post, I'm sure, but I'm keeping it a secret for now)! And I, of course, got a golf update from Pickwick and a few questions about how to bake/heat the dinner I prepared for the guys to enjoy tonight!

After I headed home I decided I was only doing girly girl things that are some of my favorite relax-y things to do! Like a bath and then...

...some lusting myself through the Williams Sonoma catalogue....

...and catching up on some of my favorite DVR'd shows like "Say Yes To The Dress" on which I saw a girl I know from Chattanooga, "Giada at Home" (you know I've got some major food network on my DVR at all times!), and "So You Think You Can Dance."

I also flipped through my new Food and Wine (my FAVORITE magazine!!) and thought about some new recipes and new wines to try!

And of course I am now catching up on some of my favorite blogs! This weekend is going to be all about girls and girly things!

Mama is coming tomorrow as soon as she is out of school! She'll be here about the time I get out and we are going to go shopping and go to dinner! We always have THE BEST time together! I am so glad that my mom is not just my mom, but truly a friend. Saturday we are getting up early, packing a lunch, hitting Starbucks, and heading to Bell Buckle bright and early for the annual Webb School Craft Fair! This is one of my favorite Fall traditions and I am so excited!

After mom goes home I am going to head to the Farm to hang with my two best galz and my favorite nephews! Jack, Vance, and Dawson are going to be having some fall fun....

... going on a nature walk, doing leaf rubs, and decorating pumpkins!

Overall I am planning on a weekend full of fall, fun, and my favorite women in all the world! I can't wait to blog all about it at the weekends end!

An end...

...to Fall Break. How sad!

Back to work I go. And I'm not thrilled! lol. I love my students and I love teaching, but this break, wisdom tooth pain and all, has been so nice!

Let the count down to Thanksgiving break begin!