SO I just had to try this recipe when I saw it... Spicy Honey Chicken (click here for recipe on our best bites blog). I LOVE chicken dipped in honey, so I knew it would be good! You just rub a ton of spices on the chicken, grill it, then put the honey mixture on top. I even ate this without ketchup which as most of you know says A LOT.
While I was getting all the spices ready for rubbing on the chicken, Kyle prepared some potato slices for us! After putting olive oil on them he put the Bojangles seasoning on them along with salt and pepper! You bake at 400 for about 30 minutes, then broil for 10 (until they are crispy). Delicious!!
This past weekend was awesome, with beautiful weather and nothing pressing to do! Saturday morning we woke up and headed to REI for their Scratch & Dent sale. REI is one of Kyle's favorite stores, I promise you he goes there at least 2 times a week to look around. So I went with him and unbelievably the one thing we bought was for me!
Look at my cute new shoes... the most comfortable things ever (YES even better than crocks). They are privo's that normally sell for $85 but we got them for $20!
Our next 'big activity' of the weekend was Kyle putting up a new fan! We're testing it out since it's a new product, but man it's awesome with a built in speaker system! You can hook up the wireless transmitter to your iphone or even tv, and voila music everywhere in your living room :) It is great, we truly love it!
And lastly on Sunday night we had Kathleen and Chris over, as well as our new friends Amy and Matt. Amy & Matt moved here from Charlotte, NC about 2 months ago and just joined our newly wed class. We all instantly hit it off-- with Amy & Kathleen being nurses, Kyle and Matt both working at the same company, Amy & I living in the same apartment complex in NC, and lots more. We had a great night with lasagna, bread and salad followed by chocolate chip & sugar cookies! YUM!
One thing that we do LOVE about living in Atlanta is that every artist comes here for concerts... no matter if they are huge stars or little just-starting-out artists. Have you guys heard of Joshua Radin? None of his songs are really on the radio, but Kyle and I love love love his music. We first found him with our iphone app "Shazam" (you know the one that you can hold up to a speaker when a song is playing and it'll tell you the artist of the song and the song title). We were watching an episode of 'Bones' and the song came on at the end of the show... and that's how we met Joshua Radin :) We also did that when watching an episode of 'House' and it was Joshua Radin again... at least we are consistent! When I heard that he was coming into town, I just had to buy the tickets and surprise Kyle for our date night :)
Anyways our night started by going to FIGO, an Italian Restaurant in Midtown. It was our first time going, but definitely not our last! The meals are only $5 each, and soooo fresh. YUM!
We then headed over to Center Stage, a venue in Midtown as well. We had never been to this one before but I really liked the way it was set up, with lots of seating. (YES we are the old married couple that really enjoy sitting down while listening to music-- especially chill music like his).
When we walked in around 7:40 (concert didn't start until 8:00) there was already an artist performing. Her name was JESSICA STAVELEY TAYLOR. She's actually the backup singer for Joshua Radin, and she is amazing!! We bought her cd after, you guys should check her out! Unfortunately we missed almost her whole performance-- shoot!
The next act was THE KIN, a band of two brothers from Australia. They played the guitar and keyboard... and desperately needed drums. But they were both very talented and it was neat that they were brothers.
The next act (yes there were 3 opening acts and I was starting to get sleepy) was THE WATSON TWINS... terrrribbbleeee. Yup you got it they were sisters, twins in fact and liked to remind us of that through their entire performance. They also had a guitar and keyboard... but their keyboard sounded like Napoleon Dynamite. Needless to say no one really liked them, and we felt like we were watching a family talent show by this point.
THEN CAME JOSHUA RADIN! He was exactly what we were hoping for and more. His style is called "whisper rock", very chill music that's perfect to listen to while at work or to have on in the background when doing stuff around your house. He played a couple songs from his new album that he's going to record in January, and it's very different but cool. He said "So I'm a little tired of whispering, we're going to rock out now" and that's what he did! There were numerous times when they would unplug their guitars, and not use the microphones... it was very very neat. Here is a shot at the end of the concert when he brought out all of his opening acts and they all sang a song together. We loved it, what a great date night!
**sorry for the picture quality-- it's coming from our little camera** oh and does anyone watch Oprah? Did you watch the episode about Ellen and Portia's wedding? He was the artist who performed during the reception... you can see a little glimpse of him at the end!
(photo by Nancy Ray)
We had such a relaxing weekend, it was exactly what we needed! Friday night was lazy as we all got in at different times, so we talked for a while then headed to bed! We woke up pretty early on Saturday and had some DELICIOUS quiche that Lauren and Matt had made. It was my first time having quiche, but with swiss cheese, bacon, eggs and pie crust... what is there not to love? We then got ready and headed to go walk around campus since Lauren had not seen any renovations that had gone on. (Side note: Lauren went to ASU for 2 years then transferred to UNC where she met Matt).
We took a couple pictures.. and yes we did call Lauren a "cheetah" the whole day:
Here's Kyle and I:
On our schedule next after walking around and eating lunch at Black Cat (our fav mexican restaurant there) was going to the ASU game vs. Chattanooga. None of us were real pumped about going, as Lauren had just had an allergic reaction to something at black cat and Kyle is still fighting off this cold/flu/bronchitus thing (clearly we have no idea what he has but he's really sick and going to the dr today hopefully). SO we decided to go back to the cabin, turn on Anchorman and all fall asleep on the couches and recliners.
On our way back to the cabin though we stopped at Howards Knob to show Lauren and Matt the view from up there. It's always fun to go up when there is a home game going on, as you can hear the announcers and the band perfectly clear.
Here are our men:
Lauren and Matt:
Lauren and I:
Kyle and I:
So like I said we all went back to the cabin, took naps, then woke up to make lasagna! We played a couple games of kemps (HILARIOUS... but next time I will choose Kyle as my partner-- sorry Matt) and rummy, until dinner was ready. After dinner we headed outside to sit around a fire and talk for a while!
We are all looking niccceee in these pictures:
We all slept in the next morning then headed our separate ways. Kyle and I got to spend some time with the beautiful Nancy Ray in the afternoon, but we'll get into that a little later!
We had such a great weekend with Lauren and Matt. It was so nice to stay at the cabin, cook some delicious meals, and enjoy each others company. Every time I hang out with my best friends I'm so thankful that they found such sweet husbands who are just absolutely perfect for them. We are all very very lucky girls :)
Our Halloween was pretty low key which was exactly what we were hoping for! We had about 10 trick-or-treaters, which was more than in the years past but still not a ton! Around 9:30 we transformed into Popeye and Olive Oyl (our costume from 2 years ago-- they are just so comfortable and warm we love them) and headed to Buckhead. My friend, Lacey, and her 3 roomates hosted a Halloween Soirée-- here is the cute invitation she sent out on facebook:
So here are all the roommates! Andrea was the Cheshire Cat, Lacey was the Queen of Hearts, Jen was Alice, and Abby was the Mad Hatter. So cute!
A couple work girls came and we all had a fun time hanging out as always:
Jen and her husband, David, as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf:
Kyle and I as Popeye and Olive Oyl:
Jen, Lacey, Andrea and I with David and Kyle: 
Prom picture anybody?
Hope you guys had a wonderful Halloween as well!
I love artsy photography and love documenting our lives with it. When I heard Nancy Ray was having a 'portrait party' again I jumped at the chance to be a part of it! (We have known each other almost our whole lives through sisters, dance, and church! What a beautiful woman she has grown up to be. She loves the Lord, her husband, and photography more than life and she is just such a blessing to be around.) Unfortunately we couldn't make it to her Raleigh session, so we asked her if she would mind doing it in Boone (where she currently lives, and where we visit all the time!). I was so surprised she was available with how much she travels, but we were so glad it worked out! It's unbelievable for only meeting for 30 minutes how many great shots we got. We just love them!! Thank you again so much Nancy!!!
And that's Part 1 :)
