oh boy i know that you like what you see

Okay, I know this blog has never been used for celebrity gossip, but that's not what this is...

In case you didn't recognize her bling and her bump, this is Beyonce (the goddess of our house) pregnant. At last.

At the Hampton house, Beyonce is our dance party inspiration, our distraction during exams, our studying soundtrack, our music video motivator - we even named our puppy Sasha fierce. We love her! (and might be a little bit obsessed?) Needless to say, squeals of delight resounded from our living room when she announced little B at the VMA's.

can we take a breather?

This was the lazy Athens weekend I've been longing for. Homecomings, first days of school and birthday celebrations are wonderful, but I was ready for a slow, sunny Saturday and no obligations.

On Friday evening Brit and I went to Terrapin with a bunch of friends, and I got in free! for having a birthday this week. I know, I said the birthday celebrations were over, but this was the final little perk.

Then we ate dinner with Sadie, Zelda and Magali at White Tiger and sat and talked for hours. I had a seared tofu salad (above). At the wee hour of 9 p.m. Brit and I drove home, exhausted, and fell asleep watching Father of the Bride. (Actually we fell asleep during the opening credits, but would we sound a little cooler if we stayed up for a whole movie?)

I slept past 10 on Saturday (the latest I've slept since May!), ate breakfast with Jonathan at Big City, read, ran, relaxed and had dinner with Brit, Tatum and Anna. We made sangria with the ingredients my mama brought, and it was wonderful! It would have been even better if we'd let it sit over night, but we'll plan better next time... at least it looked pretty ;)

I started my Sunday with church and Five Star Day brunch, squeezed some studying in the middle and finished it off on a nighttime drive with Jonathan. I hope your weekend was relaxing and filled with friends too!

the birthday that never ends

As if I haven't had enough birthday celebrations already...

my parents came in town with another little present (the Grit cookbook!) and coconut cupcakes from my Grandma.

We went to the Oak house where Tyler made us pre-dinner martinis in Mason jars.

(That’s the townie Athens way to drink them, in case you were wondering… or the way to drink them when you can’t afford martini glasses).

My dad especially enjoyed them, because he and Tyler share a love for gin and lemon zest.

Afterwards we met Matt and Carol at Le Dolce Vita for dinner. We ordered red wine, bruschetta, caprese salad and a platter of olives, meats and cheese. By the time my main course came I was already stuffed, but I still managed to down a large helping of pasta ;)

I love my family so much, and I can't even explain how thankful I am for them. Saying goodbye was sad, but hopefully I’ll go home and visit soon... I better after getting so many birthday surprises delivered to my door!

3 a.m. yoga

Last night I woke up at 3 in the morning in excruciating pain. Okay, maybe excruciating is a little strong, but I'm a baby about stubbing my toe so it felt like that to me. My stomach hurt so badly that I crawled, bleary-eyed into Brit's room and curled up in fetal position on her floor. She woke up Kaiti who pulled her car around in case we needed to go to the emergency room.

Minus the gory details, I had a really bad case of food poisoning, and while it was far from funny lying face down on the hardwood floor - we were dying laughing about it today.

Brit has a terrible fear of 3:33 a.m. (the witching hour in scary movies), and her first thought was that I was possessed.

Kaiti was trying to teach me “child’s pose” – a more effective yoga move for pain relief.

All I could mumble the whole time was that I wanted running shorts… I guess I didn’t want to wear pj’s to the ER??

The moral of this story is that they are WONDERFUL friends, and there's a reason they're going to nursing and PA school. They jumped out of bed, stayed totally calm and gave me Ginger ale to make everything better ;)

This is not my bed, but doesn't it look so comfy to crawl back into?

finally twenty one

I woke up Saturday to a mocha chocolate cake on my doorstep. My sweet mom had ordered it from a bakery in Athens.

She showed up a few hours later with a pitcher, a set of 8 beautiful glasses, and ample ingredients to make sangria (including a lemon or orange in every glass). She is the most thoughtful gift-giver ever! I’ve learned never to ask for anything, because her presents are always better than what I come up with.

My roomies and I spent the day baking and getting ready for our party. We ate Earthfare takeout for dinner and made blackberry mint mojitos. The sugary mint mixture wasn’t fun to clean, but the drinks were so pretty that out Mason jar presentation was worth it.

After dinner we threw a birthday/ everybody’s back party, and it was perfect! Really though, it was everything I ever wanted for my 21^st birthday. Everyone I missed this summer was there, and my brother even came from Atlanta.

In true Hampton House fashion, my roommates made me a HUGE sign to wear around my neck with 21 things I had to do by the end of the night. (I did all but 2... and ended up with a few bonuses) At midnight we went downtown, talked on the deck at Bluesky , attempted to steal pool balls from Magnolia's, danced at 9d’s Bar and finished the night at a hot dog stand.

My favorite part of the weekend though was Mama's Boy on Sunday morning. We sat on the back porch and ordered champagne strawberry lemonades. I'm so happy to be back with my roommates and back in the land of cheese grits, butter, biscuits and $4 meals!

They are the best friends ever and did so much to make my birthday special. They even cleaned the whole house afterwards (and accidentally stole a lot of balloons from Kroger).

my almost birthday

Yesterday Jonathan picked me up from class and made me an early birthday present...

First we stopped at Lowes for a metal pot. Then we picked out plants at Thyme After Thyme . Finally we settled ourselves on his front porch where I ate a sandwich and he planted me a lovely little herb garden!

We included cilantro, oregano, 3 kinds of basil, mint and a few flowers to make it pretty. Now my front stoop looks so cheery and smells amazing.

To make your own...

1. Hammer holes in the bottom of a metal pot

2. Crush aluminum cans and put them in the bottom for a water filter system

3. Cover with a paper towel

4. Add your herbs

5. Keep in full sun and water regularly

In addition to an herb pot, Jonathan's present gave me a perfect midday break from all my work (I had to read a book, and a play and write a news story already). Also, we're going to use the mint for blackberry mint mojitos at my birthday party!

back where i belong

It's hard to believe a week ago I was sitting at my desk in New York. Now I'm snuggled on the couch with my roommates, and I couldn't be happier.

Last Wednesday Jonathan and I reunited after my last day of work. I left early, because I couldn't concentrate any longer once I knew he was in town. I rushed to the subway, impatiently fidgeted til my train arrived and hurried up the steps when I reached my stop. We talked on the phone, trying to find each other amidst crowds of people and finally - I saw him on the other side of the street.

I know I'm making this sound cheesy and suspenseful, but it was! I ran across (disregarding a green light and cars), hugged him tight and felt like my You've Got Mail simulation was complete.

After a wonderful day in New York (that included lots of non-Italian food and seeing Obama), we flew back down South. My mom greeted us at the airport with flowers for me and a tupperware of chocolate chip cookies for Jonathan... she knows us so well. Even though it was her birthday, she'd spent the whole day baking and preparing this welcome home spread for us!

Kate was almost as excited to see Jonathan as I was, and she shed tears guarding dozens more cookies from our brothers.

On Saturday night we ate dinner with our parents at Rathbun's and... saw Alison Krauss at the Fox from the 4th row! She was angelic. She plays and sings so effortlessly - I could have closed my eyes and listened to her forever.

With folk tunes in my head, I drove to Athens the next morning and I've been giddy ever since. I know I sound like the girl in this video, but I love my house, my roommates, my classes, my Athens, and my real life. I'm so happy to be home!

the end of the movie

Guess who's coming in town today!

Actually, this isn't his car. I saw a look-a-like in Brooklyn a few days ago, and I kind of wish we could road trip home in it : )

ready for a long post?

This weekend started out on a slightly sad note, because I had to say goodbye to Kylie. We both came to New York ready to make professional connections and focus on internships, but neither of us expected to find such a close friend. Even though she’s about to move to France for a year (I know, so fun!), I'm sure we’ll keep in touch. And since she goes to Georgetown, I’ll get to see here when I visit Matt.

We had our farewell over a slice of pizza in Columbus Circle. Then we walked to Grom for real Italian gelato – I mean the good stuff, with an Italian menu and employees with accents.

After we said goodbye, Kaiti and SB showed up on my doorstep! Actually they showed up down the street, and we literally ran a block to hug each other – I was barefoot, suitcases were flying, people were staring and I was too giddy to care.

That night we wandered through the West Village and talked non-stop over frozen yogurt and red wine. We got up early the next day to pack in as much as we could – and that’s exactly what we did.

We started our day with brunch at Bubby’s . Then we walked through Soho in search of Bethany Frankel or the Kardashians. No celebrity sightings to report, but we did see lots of expensive price tags so we headed to Brooklyn stores that were more up our alley.

Of course I took them to 10 ft Single , but after this weekend I have a new favorite store - Made . If you sifted through all the other vintage stores, found only the best items and arranged them in a little boutique you would have Made. Reusable canvas shopping bags made it all the more charming.

We were starving after walking and shopping, so we stopped by the Brooklyn Farmer's Market for a snack. I've always gone in the morning, but late afternoon is definitely the way to go. Some booths were closed, but we got free tastings, discounted prices and a spot at a picnic table to eat our hot and spicy Mexican tacos.

(Yep, those are oysters above – this is a farmer’s market like no other – with frozen bananas dipped in chocolate, bloody mary’s with an okra garnish, homemade mustard and so much more)

That night we ate half-off dinner on Bleeker Street , thanks to Kaiti’s i-Phone, stopped by Grom for dessert and went out to The Jane Hotel . We seriously (I mean seriously to the point of lifting the lid off a cookie jar and reaching my hand in) considered Magnolia Bakery post-Grom, but ran out before the cupcakes got us.

On Sunday we had BBC’s with B and J, wandered through Central Park, walked the Highline (below) and squeezed in Magnolia right before Kaiti and SB left for their flight.

I love SB and Kaiti more than I can say, and it made my week to give them tight hugs again and get excited for our senior year. (We already have our whole first week planned.)

All of our friends have been so scattered this summer. We’ve learned a lot from our various countries, jobs and camps, but we all three missed each other more than we ever expected to. We are so blessed to have the most wonderful friends and life in Athens, and I’m excited to get back to it very soon!

i might be a messy eater, but i know how to clean

Although anyone who knows me, or has ridden in my car (or seen my room or closet) might not believe this, yesterday I impressed everybody with my organizational skills...

I know you didn’t think I had them, but I do! For one of our final intern tasks Kylie and I organized the craft closet, and its so beautiful now. The writing utensils are organized by category, the wrapping paper by season, the glitter has its own Lazy Susan – I could go on and on.

I’m not sure if I’m becoming an organized person or if I just like organizing other people’s stuff more than my own. I’m guessing it’s the latter, but we’ll just have to wait and see! Now that I know I have it in me, maybe my car will stay trash free and I’ll stop leaving dishes in my room.

The other interns are all homeward bound tomorrow morning, and after a weekend with SB and Kaiti, three more days of work, and a visit from Jonathan (thanks to Bob and Lisa!) I’ll be home too. I’m sad to leave people I’ve grown to love this summer, but I feel like I’ve gotten more than I hoped for out of my time in New York and I’m ready to head back down South.

I miss Athens and my family and my roommates and Chick-fil-a and sweet tea!

a slice of home

Guess which of these people just called to say they're coming to visit on Friday...

the ones to my right and my left!

New York has been wonderful, but I miss my friends and family and I'm ready to be back in Athens. Since I couldn't get there fast enough, Kaiti and SB are bringing a little taste of the South to me!

And they'll wipe that homesick look off my face faster than you can say ba-jangles.

georgia on my mind

Can you feel a hint of fall in the air? Have you wrapped up in a sweater or bought your first chai latte of the season?

Okay, neither have I, and I know it’s August 1^st, but I caught my first whiff of fall today because…. Georgia football tickets went on sale!! My stomach did a little glory-to-ole-georgia dance when I opened my ticket registration email and look at the fall schedule. I sat up straighter, grinned and looked around.

This was not the scene that met my eyes.

Amidst focused faces and furious typing, I realized no one in the office cares that tickets are on sale. I wanted to yell, “How ‘bout them dawgs!,” but I thought that might not bode well for me when I need references. And barking or humming “Glory, glory to ole Georgia” wouldn’t have been much better.

So I settled back down in my seat and went back to reading mom blogs. I’ve been bursting with excitement all day though. At least I can let a little bit of it out here.

woof woof!

*Note, this post originally said "glory, glory to all georgia" and Kaiti kindly changed my life and informed me that it's "ole"... I've been cheering it wrong all this time.