Exploring Atlanta, Athens, and my new PIANO!

I'm a week behind on this post because we've been busy busy busy. Trey and I have been trying to explore Atlanta more since we had so much fun at Highlands Summerfest a few weeks ago and decided to hang out in midtown last Friday because we never do. There are so many fun places to eat and things to do in that area and we never explore it because I'm always so quick to leave midtown after work and never think about going back.

We had planned to meet up at Tin Lizzy's, which is conveniently located across the street from my office and then head to the Coca Cola Film Series at the Fox Theater for their screening of the movie True Grit. Traffic was horrible and kinda cut into our plans to make it to the movie on time so we didn't end up going, but we did have a great time at Tin Lizzy's with their live music and hope to make it out to midtown more often.

Last Saturday we headed back to good ole' Athens for a wedding of one of Trey's fraternity brothers, Todd Perzel. He got married at the chapel on North Campus and the reception was at the Foundry Park Inn. It was a cute wedding and we loved being back on campus and hanging out downtown.

Trey and Todd

Meghan (sorority sister) and me

It's crazy how quickly certain things change in Athens but then some things are just the same- like a new bar called 90s bar! Really? 90's bar?! That's crazy since it's only 2011! It was so much fun though. We had such a good time seeing old friends and being in Athens really made us miss the years we had there and how carefree everything was back in the day.

We also realized how old we'd gotten since we hardly party like rock stars anymore, but- we still had a little kick in us and ended our night, as most of our college nights downtown ended, at Boars Head- which ironically is where I met Trey for the first time and where he ended up asking me out for the first time- ah... memories.

Trey with his fraternity brothers, Hunter and Colin

The highlight of the night however, was our hysterical finale making a late night run at the McDonalds next door to the Hampton Inn off Broad and Hawthorne St. where we stayed that night. Apparently, it's McDonald's policy to not serve people who walk through the drive through. Who knew!? All we wanted was a cheeseburger and chicken snack wrap! Let's just say it was the funniest moment of the night and thankfully some college kids who were driving up behind us were kind enough to order for us so that we could get our fill of late night munchies.

And finally, today I got a Piano!!!! I have been telling Trey for the longest time that I wanted to get the piano that his family has stored in Whiteville but because of the drive and the trouble to get it, we never have. My cousin Ali, even offered to give us her piano for awhile because she was tired of the space it took up in their house- but she would've eventually wanted it back so we didn't want to go through the trouble. But- this time around the deal was too sweet to pass up because it was FREE and delivered to our house while we were at work, set up an everything without us lifting a finger!

How? you might ask. Someone at my church was moving and they didn't want to take their piano with them. They sent an email through a group my mom is involved in and she responded saying she thought I might want it. The owners were so generous and it's a great piano in good condition. All we had to do was pay for delivery- which they were even going to do, but we insisted on paying.

I can't wait to pick up this hobby again because I miss my days of playing piano and it's such a calming and peaceful hobby to have. I even started playing a few tunes tonight- which let me tell you, Trey just LOOOOOVEs ;)

Ahoy It's a Boy!

I know, I know... 2 posts in 1 day. Crazy for me. But, I had to do it. Today my friend Jen and I hosted a shower for my sister in law Carrie Beth who is about to welcome her third child and first boy, Hudson next month. We decided to make it a nautical themed shower in honor of Carrie Beth's baby room decor. It was such a cute idea and I had so much fun adding all the little touches to decorate our house for the party.

Carrie Beth got a lot of cute little boy clothes and accessories and we all had a great time. Can't wait for Little Hudson to get here!

Me, Carrie Beth, and Jen (funny how the hosts ended up with the same color scheme outfits ;)

Helen and Jen

Yummy cake from McEntyre's Bakery in Smyrna http://www.mcentyresbakery.com/

Virginia Highlands Summerfest

Another busy weekend for the Spiveys. Just living it up while we can I suppose. We had such a good time hanging out with our friends Jamie and Katie on Friday night at Atlantic Station. We all had movie passes we had bought through Living Social that were about to expire so we decided to meet up for dinner at Strip then watched the new Hangover movie. It was really good but a total knockoff of the first one.

Then Saturday Trey and I headed to Virginia Highlands for their annual Summerfest. I was hesitant to go because it was blazing hot outside but I'm glad Trey convinced me. We had such a good time walking through the streets they had blocked off and checking out what the vendors had to sell. We even bumped into actor, Chris Klein from American Pie- who we found out looking up on our blackberries out there, now lives in Atlanta. Small world.

It was such a fun event. They had all these little shops set up and bands playing music. We even got to treat ourselves to Popsicles from the famous King of Pops. We'll definitely be making a trip to see that again next year.

I found this cute little vase at one of the stands. Perfect for my little flowers I like to pick outside and put next to the sink.

Man was it HOT!

Memorial Day on Lake Lanier

This weekend Trey and I had a great time hanging out with our neighbors Jay and Laura on their house boat on Lake Lanier. The weather was great and we had a blast cruising around on their boat. There were so many people on the water and we anchored out at this area where everyone would gather called Sunset Cove. It felt like MTV Spring Break and was interesting to say the least. It was so much fun though and we didn't want the weekend to end.

Laura and I at Sunset Cove

Ellie and Baxter... the sweetest dogs

Hanging out at Sunset Cove

Last day in St. Croix :(

We woke up Saturday to our last port of call, the U.S Virgin Island of St. Croix. We had been excited to see this island because one of good friends got married there and had so many great things to say about it. We were bummed that our cruise ended just like it started though- with a cloudy, overcast, at times rainy day. :( But like my daddy says, a bad day on the beach beats a good one at work. I couldn't agree more!

We were determined to make the most of our last day despite the clouds and headed from the port to the city of Christiansted, about 45 minutes away. We had signed up for another snorkeling adventure off the coast of Buck Island. We had a great time snorkeling but the water was so rough that it was downright exhausting. We loved the views of the beautiful fish and coral reefs below us but after about an hour we were so tired from fighting the rough water that we were ready to get back on the boat :)

We headed back to the shore, ate lunch at a cute little seafood cafe by the water, and then toured around Christiansted to do some shopping. I found a cute summer straw purse and then it was back to our port at Fredericksted for our last night on the ship :(

Trey loved the name of this boat

That night we decided to just go all out at dinner and basically between us ordered one of everything from the dessert menu (just so we could say we tried them ;) hahaha Don't worry- we didn't actually eat all of it. It was just fun to try and gosh were they good!

We went back to our room after dinner to rest for just a little bit because I told Trey it was our last night and we just HAD to go to some of the dancing parties all over the ship that night. Well... after reading all about our excursions and crazy schedule from the trip all week, wouldn't you know, we fell asleep... and didn't wake up until 2:30 am! We must have been tired. We actually tried to get up and see if anything was still going on but sadly we missed the boat. So we came back and finally got 8 hours of sleep our last night.

In the morning we woke up and had breakfast overlooking the shore of Old San Juan from the Windjammer Cafe. We couldn't believe our trip was almost over but it was a great end to a wonderful week.

We've already starting thinking of our next trip. Maybe Bora Bora, Greek Islands, Grand Canyon? ;) ha We'll see.

Our Favorite Island- St. Maarten!

Day 6 we woke up in St. Maarten. We had heard so many great things from friends who had been there before and couldn't wait to go shopping in downtown Phillipsburg on the Dutch side and catch some rays on one of the beaches on the French side.

But... the first thing I thought of when I woke up that morning was- Kate Middleton must already be a princess by now! haha. I couldn't get enough of the Royal Wedding coverage from the limited channels we had on the cruise ship and I had been watching some CNN coverage before I went to bed the night before. I was so excited to see her dress and all the crowds so I woke up and turned on the tv. The only thing showing anything was Fox News and I tuned in just in time to see the balcony kiss live. Trey thought I was nuts that I was so into the wedding but it was just so neat to think of a real life fairy tale coming true. I wasn't impressed with her dress or makeup but still thought everything about the wedding was so special and she was one lucky girl. I was glad to at least have seen a little part of history in the making (and no worries- I got my full royal wedding coverage at night when our cruise ship broadcast the entire wedding again with their BBC coverage that night- ha, what can I say, my Nana is British and she built it up for me. I had to watch!

Anyway, back to the island. We got off the ship a little later than usual (because of my wedding obsession) and headed to the water taxi stand for a ride to the downtown area for my favorite.... SHOPPING!!!!!

Waiting for the water taxi. The water was just beautiful! The bluest we saw all week. It was unreal.

Water Taxi

Shopping Shopping Shopping!!!!

Trey and I bought some Guavaberry liquor from this famous store. They decorate their bottles with pretty hand painted designs so we made sure to grab a few as a souvenirs.

After we got our shopping fix in we headed to the French side of the island to the north and camped out at Orient Beach to catch some rays before heading back to the ship. It was very windy but made it feel amazing because the sun was blazing down on us but it felt so breezy you didn't feel the heat.
Did I mention the French side is known for their nude beaches? We saw some topless people where we were laying out but for the most part everyone was in bathing suits. We decided to take a stroll and actually in this picture below we were about to cross the rocks behind us, unbeknownst to us into a major nudist colony part of the beach.

I think Trey was hoping to see find some beauties laying out on the beach but the joke was on him. It was old flabby and fat men and women... mostly men! hahahaha And I mean completely naked! He quickly was over the thrill and wanted back the normal side of the beach but I sure got a laugh out of it. And we both couldn't help but break our straight face when we overheard a man getting lathered up in sunscreen by his wife saying, "hey honey, not on my crack." I kid you not. hahahahaha Yep we saw enough old shriveled twig and berries to last us a lifetime. It was an experience for sure and we got a good laugh in us.
Sadly our time in St. Maarten came and went too quickly. We would have loved to see more of the island and experience the beaches a little longer but there was just so much to do and not enough time to do it. It was back to the port so we didn't get left behind. We would love to go back one day though.

We got back on the ship and hung out by the pool for the take off party. Every day when the cruise ship was leaving a port they'd have a party of some sort by the pool so our typical routine was to get back on board and head to the upper deck to relax in one of the many hot tubs and listen to the calypso band playing. It was a nice way to relax at the end of a crazy tour day.

Sunset leaving St. Maarten

View of the Royal Promenade below (basically an indoor shopping mall inside the ship)

That night our room attendant surprised us with yet another amazing towel design feat. When we got back to our room after dinner we saw he had wrapped our towels into a cute little monkey. He was pretty talented with his work all week but thought this one was pretty neat.
Next post- our last day :( in St. Croix