Collins' to be

Here are the pictures from Steve and Michelle's party. I was not in the mood for posed shots so here are the candid ones. I caught people with some funny expressions. The posed ones will be posted on Facebook I am sure!

The guys were outside most of the time around this fire pot - too funny. It was like they were at some tribal meeting. Ha!

I have been making this stuff for years. Mel made it from a cookbook that all of our sorority sisters put together in college. You take 6 cups of crispix and mix it with 2 cups of pretzels and 2 cups of peanut m&ms. Melt a one lb bag of white chocolate chips and pour it over the dry mixture, coating it evenly. Spread it all out on wax paper to dry. Break up and serve. My friends in Birmingham used to call it crack - DELISH!!!

Hectic

So, not only is the wedding 2.5 months away but Masters is 2.5 weeks away!! Yikes. It has started to get crazy. I was sick with the stomach flu a few weeks ago but managed to recover in enough time to show my face at a party we helped host for Steve and Michelle (pictures to follow). They are getting married May 1.

I have been working pretty hard at both my jobs - cottage director and wedding planner. We have about 70 rooms that will be full for the Masters and I handle all the logistics that go with that - transportation, housekeeping, etc. We also will coordinate all this for some of the private homes in the neighborhood that are being rented out. Not going to mention much here but suffice it to say we have some heavy hitter past golfers and corporate clients staying with us. I actually love the stress and busy-ness but on top of a quickly-approaching wedding, I may need some meds soon. : )

The wedding is coming along though. I feel like if I get one thing done a week, it will all be done on time. The next step is license and blood tests I think. Oh, and Brad's ring. And ceremony finalization and programs and linens and..... Who am I kidding? I still have tons to do! But, it will happen. Mom has been a huge help with invitiations, flowers, etc.

So, this weekend we are headed to Charleston. So excited!!! As you can see to the right of the blog, my weekends are just about all filled. Looking forward to the honeymoon already!!

Books

Here are some non-fluff books that I have read lately.

This book is not for the faint of heart. If you are easily depressed or disturbed, stay away! However, it was a very well-written, captivating book. I probably will not watch the movie but for a book about the end of life on Earth to keep my attention and interest, it has to be good. Set in a barren landscape, with hardly any dialogue and little action, the book was thoroughly entertaining.

Again, not for the faint of heart. This is a wonderful book about a boy, his family and a journey he embarks on with his dogs. I highly recommend this one but beware of a multi-Kleenex ending!

The Cranes and Bowling

We went to dinner with Mel and Eric last week for his birthday. Eric decided that he wanted to go bowling - so we did! It has been about a year since Brad and I had played but we were up to the challenge. I took bowling as my PE at UGA so I know how to do it but don't always bowl like I should. : )


However, I beat everyone the first game!!

I start strong and then fade because my arm gets tired. But, Brad picked up the slack in the second game and we won 50 cents. Ha.

Mel took bowling as her PE too. She has bowled over 200 before. But, we managed to take them down on Eric's birthday. He wasn't happy about that, let me tell ya!

Earlier that weekend, we had dinner with some old friends - the Cranes. Hank and Janna were at UGA with us. In fact, Hank was Brad's fraternity brother. Janna works at the museum here that hosts the bluegrass series we have attended several times in the last few months. So, we had dinner at The Rooster's Beak and then headed down to the Imperial for the last concert of the year.

Hank and Janna are from Moultrie, GA and so much fun. Can't wait to get together again!

Winter Wonderland

As most of you know, we got lots of snow this past weekend. So, we had a photo shoot on Friday night before over V day dinner at La Maison. Brad had the game sampler and I had the wild salmon en croute de pommes de terre. It was all yummy! And, we felt like we were on vacation will the snow pouring down outside. : )

Banjo jumping to catch a snowball Brad threw up in the air for her. We had about 6 inches.

Switzer house on Saturday.

Driving to Brad's house.


Banjo with a snowball. : )

Banj posing with Brad.

Switzer house Friday night.

Huge tree in Brad's backyard.

Snowy Westlake house.

Me with Banj. I really didn't think she would like this - she is a little prissy. But, I was WRONG!!

Corkboard

Here is the almost-finished product! I am taking down the champagne corks up top and will continue the pattern to fill that in a little more. So exciting!

I just happened to have this perfect little space in my house but you could do this on a flat wall or inside a frame as well.  I first cut some cardboard to fit the space as a backer.  I decided to use a herringbone pattern instead of just rows or columns of corks.  The real ones are all different sizes and this pattern was more forgiving than others.  I did a border to make it a little neater around the edges.  The corks are just glued on with hot glue!  I have had some come loose but they are a cinch to glue again.  The little triangles of empty space left at the top and bottom were filled in with half pieces.  

Note - you will need to go through your cork collection ahead of time and try to use the ones that most closely resemble each other in length.  For sure. 

Need a house?

If you know of anyone that needs a house in Augusta, here you go! Eric is putting the finishing touches on their house. It looks really good! It has had some strong bites and they are talking to another couple about a presell for their next house. Keep 'em coming!