cupcake experiment #1

I recently received the most incredible cookbook ever made - Martha Stewart's "Cupcake" cookbook! In the spirit of the spooky season, I decided to go candy shopping and attempt to re-create the monster cupcakes that Martha so creatively decorated in her book. I stocked up on marshmallows, tic tacs, m&ms, gum drops, chocolate chips, icing, and gel paste for coloring the icing. It took a lot longer to create these fun little guys than I thought it would, but it was fun! I'm hoping to make my way completely through her cookbook... but I imagine it will be a couple years before that happens!



tic tacs and marshmallows make great monster teeth

giant corn!

Craig is enjoying his second week in Des Moines, Iowa! He sent me this picture tonight... and he never wants to take pictures without me there to make him, so he must be having the time of his life! :)

fall has arrived in georgia!

Fall is finally here and it feels oh so good! Thursday night, some coworkers and I went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens for "Fest of Ale" and Scarecrows in the Gardens. We had a girls' night out that included a special guest - our friend Sara's little girl Miriam... who was dressed in her ballet outfit, complete with mini tutu!

Our friend David Stephens, who is also a guest artist puppeteer at the Center, has an awesome banjo band called "Banjolicious" and he is the entertainment at the Gardens every Thursday night. We had a great time dancing to his music in the midst of lots of beautiful scarecrows. The highlight of the evening was getting to witness Miriam's incredible dance moves! She was such a sight... I think all the little kids there secretly wanted to dance with her. When they left last night, she told Sara that it was "the best day ever!" How cute!

I have also started playing in a Bunko group one Thursday a month - and it's much more fun than I would ever have thought! For those who aren't familiar, Bunko is a dice game that is played in groups of 4 people and everyone switches tables for each round... it's totally a game of luck and I've discovered there's really no way to have any sort of skill at this. It's a really fun way to meet new people (all girls, of course!) and just have a fun night with friends. We've gotten into having themes each month, and obviously October was a great opportunity for our hostesses to pull out all of their spooky Halloween decorations, including two "dead" guests at one of the Bunko tables. We also got to celebrate our good buddy's 27th birthday. Happy bday, Karen!

And happy fall to you all!


i liked this white pumpkin...
he was surrounded by little white spiders


dragon!


a ballerina just like miriam


miriam was such a fun friend to bring along!


what fun pumpkin sculptures


our entertainment hard at work


this "scarecrow" was made of nothing but plastic bottles and caps!




we made friends with lots of the scarecrows... or scaresheep?


kathryn, me, hilary, elizabeth, miriam, and sara at the gardens


meet elvira, our creepy bunko guest!

slight change of plans...

Update: Craig is safely off to Des Moines, Iowa...but with a (slight) change of plans. We found out 2 weeks ago that he's now going to be gone till mid-February (thankfully just Monday-Friday). Instead of being stuck in Iowa for the duration of the "special" project, he's now going to Iowa for 2 weeks, Dallas for 7 weeks, and then back to Iowa for another 6 weeks. We weren't too thrilled with the sudden change, but I think it may end up being better than we thought!

I for one am much more inclined to visit Texas than Iowa (especially in the dead of winter). We also realized that Austin is just a 3-hour drive from where he'll be living, and we've been wanting to travel there for years. Sounds like the perfect opportunity to me!

So anyway, please keep Craig in your thoughts and prayers as he is flying high above us twice a week for the next 4 months!

kc + jamie get married in the mountains

On October 10, 2009, our cousin KC Smith married his fiance Jamie Kovach and it was one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever seen. The entire weekend was spent at the Brasstown Valley Resort in Young Harris, GA. The ceremony took place outside amidst the changing colors of fall and the sun peeked out just long enough to shine down on us as they said their vows. A fun band played music that was very fitting for the mountain wedding. The pastor even included trivia about KC, Jamie, and their parents, which had everyone laughing and was a fun touch to the ceremony.

After the ceremony, they had an outdoor reception at the sunset pavilion. It overlooked the golf course and the mountains and gave us a spectacular sunset that night. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking. Congratulations, KC + Jamie! Best wishes on a lifetime of love, happiness and many great blessings.


morning walk. what cuties.


the sims family


my wonderful husband poses for a million pictures with me


some of the sims cousins
andrew, courtney, stuart, alex, and me


the bride and groom


the back of the pavilion. such a great wedding venue!


lauren and drew at the reception


what a view


andrew and me with the groom


and they will live happily ever after!

war eagle!

When it comes to college football season, I guess we're a "house divided." Craig went to Auburn and worked for the football team, and I went to Georgia. But we're good at sharing, even though we usually end up in Athens for GA football games because we have more friends there. Last weekend was the one trip to Auburn for the 2009 season.

Wake up call on Saturday morning was 6:15..... not my favorite thing about the day, to say the least. We convinced our friend Hunter to join us since Georgia was playing in Arkansas and he wasn't making that road trip. (Did anyone?) The Auburn group tailgates in a great shady spot by the Amphitheater, which is right across from the stadium. One funny thing I saw that morning that would never fly in Athens -- people reserve parking spots all around campus... with lawn chairs! Are you kidding me? I was tempted to move them so we could have a decent parking spot just because I thought that was so ridiculous.

In between rainstorms, we had a great day of tailgating and watching football on the 2 tvs the boys brought. Once game time rolled around, Craig, Hunter and I headed downtown to watch both the Auburn and Georgia games on tv since we didn't have tickets. Best decision of the day! As soon as we got to the car to drive downtown, the Heavens opened up and let out every bit of rain there could possibly be. Within about 15 minutes, main roads downtown were being blocked off by cops and there was nothing to do but drive in circles until we could find a parking spot. I was just happy to be in a car and not crammed into the tunnels of the stadium -- the game was delayed over an hour because of the downpour!

Georgia beat Arkansas (and Cox threw 5 touchdowns, which was unbelievable) and Auburn beat West Virginia. It was fun to be back in Craig's old college town for a night. It was a fun day with fun friends and exciting football!


the amphitheater at auburn


craig and me at the auburn/wvu tailgate
he's modeling dad's vintage auburn hat


my dates for the day

Fall has finally arrived!

Last weekend was quite a whirlwind... first football game in Athens, the Center's annual fundraising gala, and Andrew's high school buddy's pro football game against the Falcons here in Atlanta. Needless to say, I'm still pretty exhausted. :)

Athens is one of my most favorite places, especially in the fall -- because that means football season! Georgia played South Carolina, and while I didn't get to stay in town for the actual game, it was a fun, quick trip back to my old stomping ground. We're fortunate to have a friend's sister who is still in school there, so we even have a wonderful, free home to stay in every time we head to Athens. Thanks, Jaime!

Saturday morning, we were up bright and early... but while everyone else was gearing up for the game, I headed back to Atlanta to help prepare for String Fling, the Center's annual fundraiser. The gala was held at the JW Marriott and despite the 11 hours spent working the event, it was a good night! "Reach for the Stars" was the theme and the evening was filled with silent and live auctions, a delicious filet and fish dinner, a mini-puppet show, and great company. We're still waiting to hear the final numbers, but I think it was a pretty successful event! (I'm just thankful it only happens once a year!)

Sunday was spent at the GA Dome watching the Falcons/Dolphins game. Andrew's high school friend, Chris Clemons, just got drafted to the Miami Dolphins, so dad generously gave us tickets to see one of his first games as a pro football player. We had great seats, but we never got to see him play! Unfortunately, he wasn't able to dress out for that particular game, so we had to settle for watching him watch the game from the sidelines. It was still a fun day with Drew and Lauren (even though it took almost an hour to find a parking spot). Thanks for the tickets, dad!


Family photo -- back in Athens


our wonderful hostess for the fall


out with some of my coworkers after String Fling
Elizabeth, me, Hilary and Kathryn


Tater tots! We felt like we deserved some fried goodness after a long day and night of String Fling


Drew and Lauren at the Falcons/Dolphins game


I was just a little out of place in Dolphins colors