Do you really miss me...and this?

Ok so for those of you who miss me in Bham, here's an opportunity to see my face and hear my pretty voice! haha! Let it take you back to the days when you all used to live it up with me at band parties, Innisfree or whatever city we were conquering for the weekend...back in the day. This is me...still doing that! haha! (once I'm 30 maybe I'll go into hibernation and maybe realize I'm too old for this)

One of the bands at the St. Paddy's party was a band who played music from the 70s. At first I thought they weren't that fun but then they played this song...MY SONG! (just with a I instead of a Y) Hope you all sing loudly in your car today! (no one's looking just do it!) Please forgive me for the high notes and note when a girl walks past and I look at her like she's crazy for being so rude! LOL!

St. Patty's times 2!

As many of you know i love any excuse to dress up in fun colors, especially on a day that celebrates short folks like myself! haha! Well last weekend they had a Shamrock festival and this week was the Luckyfest at Park Tavern. Yes, we hit up both of them both weekends, haha! love it! Last weekend Haley, Mireille (it's french you say it like me-ray) and Valerie started the green party at 2. (Miereille is a friend of Megan, my college rommate, who moved last year away from ATL when she got married.) It was sunny and great for day time activity such as this. It was packed place! Then a few hours later I get a phone call from 2 guys I worked with this summer at the Pink Palace in Greece. One is Australian and traveling around the US, the other is a guy from Charlotte. They decided to come through Atlanta earlier than planned on their way to New Orleans. So I told them just to drive straight to Park Tavern. They didn't get there til about 9, which at that point in my day felt like midnight! ha! But I can't tell you how happy I was to see them. I mean I knew I missed my PP friends but seeing them just made it all come flooding back, especially Adrian with an amazing Australian accent! We dance to a great cover band and closed down the festival and then hit up one more bar before heading home. Of course everyone wanted to buy Adrian drinks b/c he was Australian, it was great! We left the boys car overnight b/c obviously we'd all be drinking.

So the next morning I take the boys to their car and as I'm about to drive off I see shock on both of their faces...their car was broken into! :( So so sad! We left it in a major, major intersection area and not a bad part of town. I think someone just walked by and saw all their bags and stuff in the backseat and broke the window. They found Adrian's computer immediately and then found Max's! So horrible! Needless to say the boys were devasated! Both their computers gone..Adrians with all his pictures from his 10 months of travel gone and Max's senior thesis paper/research gone! Not to mention they took Adrians bag with his tolietries, clothes, shoes,etc...the boy guy only had one pair of flipflops to wear. I felt so horrible since i had let them leave their car there but how was i to know. It was just an overall bad situation that of course put a damper on everything. They changed their New Orleans plans with Max driving home and Adrian re-routing his trip. After all the anger and cursing I did get to take Adrian to Wal-mart! He'd never been before & it was something he wanted to do while here in USA. It was funny showing him how big it is and all the many things you can find at Walmart! ha! I definitely miss them and all my PP friends! They're all so amazing!

This weekend the Luckyfest was dampered by the rain but we stayed strong and went and had blast! Even met some new people...yes that includes cute boys! :) And just had an overall great night in green! I"m slowly but surely getting used to this ATL world and I've only seen a smidgen of it. My friend Cooper just moved to ATL and i"m hoping to go out with him this week so that'll be fun too. Hopefully, soon I'll know hundrends of folks like the good ole Bham!

Bham b'days

itty bitty baby Averitt!!!

So weekend before last, I made a quick little trip back home, for 2 fabulous reason...one my mom's b'day and two baby Averitt was born. My parents did go to AU for a basketball game but that allowed me to spend time with my precious nephew (see last post!) and to see baby Averitt. I have been friends with Jeanne since we were in 6th grade or so. We did have brief "not talking" period due to a boy...haha!! (always think it's funny to add that in there!) She's been one constant in my life that I know will be there no matter what. She can read me like a book, probably due to the amount of gazillion phone conversations we've had in our lifetime (mostly while she's driving back home to chelsea and me to my other side of the town). Luckily her precious baby boy, got her maiden name, Averitt! Poor Jeanne has wanted to be a momma since I can remember meeting her and finally she was preggo but I must say she's had one of the worst pregnancies I've known of (believe me I've known of a lot in my short 28 years). So we were all so happy to have Averitt 3 weeks early in this world with us.

I know all that throwing up and massive swelling Jeanne went through is totally worth it b/c he is a precious lil doll!! Pretty much slept the whole time I was there but I can tell he's gonna love his Auntie Brandi a lot! :) I can't wait to see this boy grow up into an amazing man b/c of his awesome parents!

We also had a great b'day lunch for momma at Brio after church. Due to my sister having a lot going on, parents at bball game and me in ATL, it wasn't the normal b'day celebration but I think we were all just happy to be together! And dang, I forgot how delcious Brio is for brunch! It was totally weird not having a "place" to go home to besides my parents house. I went by my old house and hung out on the couch for old times sake. Definitely miss the comforts of Bham a lot!!! But then again if I got too comfortable there I'd never make changes that were well overdue!

Wishful Wednesday

He loves to pull out anything from my purse this was one of those days!

Haven't done one of these in a while... and after this weekend in Bham and seeing my precious nephew Sawyer and how much he's changed in just 3 weeks, this seemed appropriate! Sawyer started walk in December but he'd rather crawl most the time so finally when I went home this time he came walking towards me! I mean he just melts my heart when I see that dimplely smile! He tries to say my name but he misses the beginning and kinda just goes with Ndi...haha! His newest "trick" is you say Sawyer how does the wind sound and he sucks his breath in. ha! So my wishful Wednesady is that Sawyer could come hang out in ATL with Auntie Brandi more! Love him!!!!! Got some of him on video so maybe later i'll be "blogger mom-like" and post that! :)

Snow welcome...

Me with our cute lil snowwoman! Haley & I at Oysterfest with Midtown in the background! :)

Yep, so my first weekend in ATL consisted of the lovely snowfall that we in the South actually got. So Friday the snow fell hard as I drove home from work a lil early. But I couldn't be snowed in without some of my favorite girls, what fun would that be? So I went over to Haley & Ali's. Haley and I then opened a bottle of wine and headed out to frolick in the snow. If y'all know me at all you know that cold weather doesn't bother me too much and i LOVE LOVE LOVE snow!!! It makes me so happy, I think mainly b/c it reminds me of snowskiing with my family which i love doing! So Haley & I had snowball fights, scared a few neighbors, made a snowman and of course I had to make a snowangel!!! Holla!! :)

So I made it safely home that night. But then attempted to venture out to the bank Saturday morning. The roads seemed fine and there were tons of people on the road, didn't think that much of it. But was keepin' it simple and short when I went out. Well...I was coming up to a red light and braked, as one usually does for that color. And eeekk!!! NO BRAKES! Hit a lovely icy patch! and there was nothing i could do but hit the guy who was already stopped at the light. (shed your tears here for me!!! ) Not only that but on my hurry out the door I left my phone on the kitchen table. So here I am first weekend in new city, wreck I couldn't prevent, no cell and of course I don't have anyone's phone number memorized! Needless to say I had a bit of a small breakdown but luckily I hit a really nice man who was from South Carolina. He calmed me down and helpe me realized that's why we have insurance. The police was anything but nice and said he had too many wrecks to write reports for and gave us papers to fill out for insurance and then left us in his slushy dust. Boo ATL police! Just both damaged bumpers both drivable, mine got the lesser end of the deal so that's nice! Just annoying insurance stuff to deal with now.

So I came home down in the dumps and annoyed wanting to sulk in my bed. But Haley called and reminded me of the Oysterfest I needed to get showered for! Decided to not let the icy patch win and got ready. Haley, me and 2 other girls went to this huge Oysterfest that was an all day thing. It was so packed but so much fun! So many new faces and kinda exciting that I didn't know any of them...kinda scary at the same time though! ha! But many cute boys for sure, always comforting! :) We pretty much closed 'fest down that night. Great dancing and met a few new friends. All in all exciting first officially outting as an Atlantian!

What a weekend! Emotions galore but know these things happen and I'll roll with the punches...good ones and bad ones!

Overdue...in ATL

My cake that said "Don't Go" on it! haha! Loved it!
Well needless to say since my last blog my life has been a whirlwind! Not only did I have to find a place to live but also had to throw 2 showers for my best friends, pack up my life in Bham and begin a whole new chapter in Atlanta! I don't even know what angle to begin this at....

Briefly, have to say that Haley & Christos finally headed back to their island home but before they got off we had a lovely wine and cheese party for them. It was at her parents house which only seems approriate for the Hogan family. Plus I know most of the guest have always felt at home there! :) Sara, her BFF from college, did an amazing job with mine and other girls assistance, setting up of all the cheese and wine. I mean top-notch quality shower for sure! We had a great time visiting with old friends and talking about what else...Greece! I CAN'T wait for the wedding!!! Then my Jeanne is having a baby, gosh I always wondered what day I'd actually say those words b/c if you know Jeanne you know she's always loved and wanted kiddos! We had a great guy/girl shower at Laura's! Perfect amout of folks, if we'd had any more we might not have fit! So exciting to celebrate something so big in someone's life you've known for so many years and been through so much with!! I love you Jeanne Celeste and I can't wait for Averitt to get here!

Now...to life changes....so luckily Vol knew of a girl who had a potential place so I came over 1 day to ATL to see her place and another friend of a friends place. Luckily they were both great in every aspect but in the end I went with Vol's friend. I forgot just how annoying and tedious packing can be and how much crap I have! Finally get mostly packed and plan to move Saturday. Well, rewind 2 days before....had a lil going away dinner with some friends at Pablo's. Well low and behold on Friday my stomach felt horrible...details spared this equalled stomach bug!!!! Not pretty at all people! Deathly horrible! Come to find out 4 others from that night got it the same day! Therefore, my body was in no condition to move on Saturday...Sunday it was.

Mom, Dad and Matthew (BIL) moved me (brooke stayed w/ Sawyer) to ATL. The move went well for the most part. I did little except point where to put things, since I still felt yuck. I really didn't ever get too sad, I think I was more excited about what was all about to happen! I'm sure it'll hit me one day! ha! The new job so far is good...I mean there is A LOT to learn and remember and it's extremely overwhelming at some moments but i know once I do these things over weeks time, it'll get better. But the days fly by I'm so busy, which is more than I can say for the Eye Bank. No facebook or gmail checking time at all, which is fine and probably good for my brain! haha! It's a small company but everyone there is really sweet. It's fairly close (ATL standards) to my house so that's nice. So for now, it's good, overwhelming but good! The roomies are great, both super sweet and clean! God has provided in many ways for this move to occur so I can only hope I stay on a good path for many good things to continue!

My first weekend here update to follow...of course some drama but also some fun, stay tuned...it's definitely bed time!!

J-O-B!!!

Well in case you haven't all heard by now I finally got a job!!! YAY! However, it is in Atlanta! I know, kinda sad that I'm leaving Birmingham but also very excited about a new city with new opportunities. And obviously, if things don't work out or if I decide I don't like it for whatever reason at least it's close enough to come back! But let's hope it works out for my sanity sake! haha! The job is as a marketing assistant for one of my college friends company she used to work at, therefore, she's able to put in a good word for me and give me the scoop on the office. I think they totally trust her so hopefully she didn't build me up too much and they don't have too high of expectations! ha! I hope I even remember how to work! To be honest after working at the laid back Eye Bank and being off for almost year it's gonna be a big shock. So please pray that I grasp all the new things I have to learn, I'm kinda freaked out about that.

I start Feb. 8th, so I'm still hunting down a place to live and hope to get settled in before the first day job stress! Not to mention getting around in ATL will be a big learning curve of it's own. I was thinking yesterday how many short-cuts I know in Bham and how many roads I could drive with my eyes closed and how I won't know a thing in ATL. But then again that's part of the adventure I guess...maybe that's why God gave us GPS devices...i'll have to check into that for sure! But once I get settled in the door will always be open to friends for trips & weekend excursions to Atlanta. And they have tons of family friendly things to do there, so I expect you all to come at least once if anything for the shopping at IKEA!!! :)

Thanks for all the prayers, thoughts, job suggestions and love over the past year! Without my friends I wouldn't have made it that's for sure! I still will be making very little money but as you all know I'm good at living off nothing, so hopefully I'll survive the jungle of ATL! Please keep me in your prayers as I give this a whirl. I know God allowed this opportunity for reason and I just hope I can make the most of it through a good new job, meeting new people, discovering a new city and not missing the comforts of my very routine life in Bham! Gosh, now that I'm moving I realize what a routine I'm in! I hope I can do this!! :) Will miss you all lots!!!!!!!