Autumn Shenanigans and Other Stories Around the Southeast

Pumpkin Spice Latte

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” 
~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

It's sort of a white girl cliche' to look forward to your very first Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. These lattes are seasonal treats, and you know, once you have that first taste, Fall is in the air. We begin to look at the leaves a little closer, putting on our sunglasses to catch those warm hues, only to remove them and see the still-green leaves. We begin to dig in the back of our closets, hoping to pair that fantastic plum colored scarf with those new dark jeans and brown riding boots. However, if you live in the South, you know it will be a few more weeks until you are able to truly embrace the season.

Which is what I am doing. Embracing the season. By doing so, I have so many new goals and ideas, I am just bursting at the seams to get started on them all! Though I have not written in my blog for a while now, I have pulled together enough life experiences to have some decent content for a while. 

For one, I have been working fairly hard at the Cannonball House, the museum I run. We've added a lot of new programming, and I wanted to make sure that it goes well, so I am pushing those events into the community. I've also picked up quite a bit of freelance work! I wrote some articles I am very proud of in the latest issue of Macon Magazine, and the work I am doing in the 11th Hour is getting a little buzz - even on Georgia Public Broadcasting! Not bad for a former journalist- turned PR chick - turned Museum director/freelance writer. Not bad at all. 

Hanging out in City Market, a boutique and art gallery area of Savannah, Georgia

Earlier this season, SG (Sweet Guy) and I headed down to Savannah to celebrate the union of two of my dear friends, JJ & PC. What was so exciting about this trip was that it marked the first official gay wedding that I will attend in Georgia that was completely legal. That's right - #lovewins and now Gay Marriage is legal in Georgia. 

Relaxing on the Savannah River

Outside of the wedding festivities, SG and I got the opportunity to spend some quality time together. We sat outside by the Savannah River, with our touristy frozen drinks from Wet Willies, just soaking up the cool air and sunny skies. 

Hanging out at the Wedding on Tybee Island

Of course, being Georgia and all, my hair was not cooperating. Humidity was at an all time high and I have seen better days with the frizz. 

The Happy Couple

The wedding was absolutely adorable. There were so many little personal touches, that unless you knew the couple well, you might not pick up on them. I thought the vows were incredibly romantic.. and of course, the theme got right to the point: "Let's Do This."

Adorable Wedding Cake

Sad to say, I never got a slice of this delicious cake. 

Kevin Barry's Irish Pub, Savannah

That final night in Savannah, SG and I went to my favorite Irish Pub, Kevin Barry's on River Street, and enjoyed a pint and some great sing-along Irish tunes. This was a first time experience for SG and he loved it!

Guinness at Kevin Barry's

When in Rome... 

Bourbon Bar, Macon, GA

Speaking of good drinks, SG and I have frequented the Bourbon Bar in Macon. It is a new spot that is owned and operated by Adam and Becky Dennis. You can read more about the bar in my 11th Hour article HERE. 

Pumpkin Spice Martini

My friend, Ryan, is the Beverage Director of the Bourbon Bar and he created this fantastic Pumpkin Spice Martini. (Made with pureed pumpkin) The ingredients all come the Dirt Farmers (You can read more about them HERE - another article I wrote for the 11th Hour.)

Campfire at the Farm

You can't get into Fall without a good campfire. In late September, SG made one in the backyard at his farm. The girls got to roast marshmallows, tell ghost stories, and make good old fashioned S'mores. 

Kid's Kitchen at the Cannonball House

Kid's Kitchen

Speaking of kids making snacks, we have really done an impressive job with our educational programs at the museum. Our education coordinator taught a "Kids Kitchen" for kids in Kindergarten to 3rd grade. These adorable little ones got to make apple tarts from scratch! It went so well!

Raggedy Ann Cake by Erica

We even added story time to our program! In September, we celebrated Raggedy Ann's 100th birthday! I just LOVE LOVE LOVE children's literature (which, let's be honest, without those great stories I would not be interested in story telling..) We found a great way to celebrate an oldie but goody! My friend, Erica, made this amazing Raggedy Ann cake! It was the highlight of the entire event. Of course, we had to serve it on our finest silver. ;-)

The staff made a beautiful banner made of rags! 

Brenda read the story of Raggedy Ann!

And of course, there were crafts and games!

This weekend we will celebrate Alice in Wonderland's 150th Birthday! I can't wait to share with you those pics. If you are passing through or live in middle Georgia, it is only $1 to attend! 11am at the Cannonball House!

Picking muscadines on the farm!

Right before it got cold, I got to go muscadine picking for the final goodies with Karen-Ann. We got bowls full. (Which I am pretty sure I snacked on for a solid two weeks.) Delish! SG's farm is simply the best!

Turkish Food

I'm fairly lucky to know the people I know, and my friend Melissa, who happens to run the 567 For Renewal, spent a couple of years teaching in Turkey. Each year she celebrates with her friends in Macon with a Turkish feast! As you guys know, middle eastern food is near and dear to my heart, so of course I went. I had to miss it last year, but that was not the case in early October!

Pouring Turkish Chai

We enjoyed a delicious assortment of goodies, and at the end, Melissa served Turkish Tea - or Chai. 

Turkish Coffee

And of course, the piece de resistance - Turkish Coffee. MY FAVORITE THING EVER. 

Speaking of teas and coffees.. I started throwing some tea parties, and they are going really well!! 

October Themed Tea Party

This last one was a little smaller than the first. I only had 6 people, but it IS Football season and we are in the SEC. (It is like a religion down here.) 

Tea Party foods prepared by Telisa

My friend, Telisa, prepared all of the lovely foods I served. We had Lemon Cucumber tea sandwiches, rose meringues, pimento cheese tea sandwiches, & pumpkin spice cones. 

Parties have always been my thing... 
I recently attended a party that had the most BEAUTIFUL floral arrangement. (If you are into that kind of thing... which... I am!)

Home in Shirley Hills where the party was thrown

The party was held in an older neighborhood in Macon called Shirley Hills. Denny & Sambo had a few of the patrons from my museum over to celebrate our year of great success. 
Their home is VERY much a typical Southern home - complete with columns and amazing outdoor entertaining space. 

Beautiful screened in porch

See what I mean about the screened in porch. We Southerners love our porch parties. 

That floral arrangement!

Back to the beautiful flowers - see them? Wowza! It was a great night. 

Historic Andersonville

A few weeks ago, I took SG's girls to Historic Andersonville (in SW Georgia.) We watched a little Civil War reenactment, ate hot dogs, and keeping with the Autum-esque theme, ordered pumpkin spice gelato!

Quilter at Historic Andersonville

I always enjoy chatting it up with craftsmen, and I took a few minutes to chat with this quilter. I asked her so many questions, especially since my Grandma Thurston was a quilter. I never got to really talk to her about her quilts before she died, but I do love them!

Did I mention Alabama whipped Georgia's behind in football?

No big surprise there. lol

Grand baby time!

No doubt, SG sneaks in as much time as he can with baby Cotton. 

Mercer Strings 

I had a wonderful experience at Rotary recently! We got a special treat from Amy Schwartz Moretti and her strings students!

Peanuts are a major crop in Georgia

Lucky me, I get to travel to SW Georgia most weekends and indulge in their best crop/product - and that's fresh hot boiled peanuts! Very Fall! (Check that one off of my list.) I consider myself to be a boiled peanut connoisseur! 

Hay Ride!

You can't welcome in Fall without a decent Hay Ride! We headed down to Mark's Melon Patch and enjoyed a ride around his farm!

Sunflower Fields in South Georgia

Another excellent Fall crop are the Sunflowers! I visited my first Sunflower field!! I was blown away by these beauties!

Zinnias

And the Zinnias... oh my word. I have a new found appreciation for this basic flower! They are beautiful!

Me picking a pumpkin

We did take some time and pick pumpkins last weekend. A necessary step in a perfect October!

Our pumpkins on the pier at the cabin

Our Pumpkins at night 

Needless to say, October has been fantastic!

I've got a few more doozies to knock off before I wrap this month up, but all is going well!

Tell me about some of your Autumn traditions? What's new in your world?

Coffee Talk

Care to chat?

I'm busy ordering items for upcoming events at work. We have a tea party coming up, and I have decided to invest in a scone pan. Since we plan to offer these tea parties almost monthly, we thought it would be best to invest. (I like how that rhymes.) I've only made scones once (Egg Nog Flavored ones from World Market,) so this is going to be a whole new venture for me. I have faith I can make it work.

Then comes the tea. I've never been a big tea drinker, I tend to lean more toward to coffee or carbonated beverages. However, in recent years I've given it a-go. Not too bad. I've ordered a wide variety for our participants to try, and I'm looking forward to revealing our flavors each month!

BIG news. Well.. for me anyway. (Let's see if I can stick to it..) Yes.. it involved my health. I am going on a Fall Journey with Valor Wellness. (Funny how this little side note is going to tie back into tea.) Sooo.. my friend, Frances, is a Yoga instructor (by night,) and an attorney by day (and former Communications Director, like myself!) She's originally from Miami and just a joy to chat with. (I always seem to gravitate toward folks from Miami... you guys are something special!) Anyway, I met Frances at... wait for it.. wait for it... a tea party! Yes, our friend Stephanie throws these fantastic tea parties, and she knew Frances through her sister. (Long story, but Frances is fairly new to Macon.) Well... Frances started a side project/company called Valor Wellness. She is offering a Fall Journey to Wellness program. Sounds like the perfect step for me! For one, I'm back and forth on the healthy eating. Weight Watchers tires me out with the documenting everything you eat. And let's face it, my stress level tends to rise and fall with the tides. I'm committing to 12 weeks of wellness. Anyone can do anything for 12 weeks... right? 
Here is the description of the class:

As the days grow shorter and the schedule gets busier, start your week with a yoga class, inspirational scripture, and nutrition accountability group at Tatnall Square Park on Monday evenings. We will meet by the pavilion from 7-8pm for 12 weeks, from August 3 (when the kiddos go back to school) through October 19 (as Daylight Savings Time winds down). Yoga classes are by donation, just like on Saturdays. The nutrition program we will be using is Beachbody's 21 Day Fix (which is all about clean eating and portion control). Group members are welcome to join us on the Fix, but that is entirely optional. You pick the nutrition plan that works for you, we support you in your journey to wellness!

I checked out the Beach Body 21 Day fix, and I don't honestly see myself doing the daily videos. (These are the people that created P90X.) But I do have a gym membership, and I do enjoy yoga, and I love the idea of an inspirational component.. so why not?

I did do a little research on what I could incorporate as an eating plan, and I went with the Mediterranean Diet with The Zone. That program actually has a plan with the foods I really enjoy eating. I think this might be worth a look at. My weight gain is hormonal in nature (PCOS,) and The Zone is all about balancing out the hormones. This may help me out.

Speaking of health - mammogram was beautiful! Yay!

Moving on..

Got a big event to attend Saturday night. If you live in the middle Georgia area, consider coming out to the Terminal Station in downtown Macon for the Taste of the Arts - Havana Nights. (It's a Cuban theme.) My team will be one of the many chefs preparing yummy things. I'm going for picadillo, not just ANY picadillo, Tere's Magical picadillo. (Yes, a Cuban friend that lives in Miami.) See? It's a Cuban themed blog post. lol

I'll of course share pics and little stories along the way.

But for now.. I will head out for lunch.

Have a beautiful weekend, my friends!

Sitting In The Tower

Surrounded by hotel shuttle info, Southern Living, and website updates

 “You can be the most beautiful person in the world and everybody sees light and rainbows when they look at you, but if you yourself don't know it, all of that doesn't even matter. Every second that you spend on doubting your worth, every moment that you use to criticize yourself; is a second of your life wasted, is a moment of your life thrown away. It's not like you have forever, so don't waste any of your seconds, don't throw even one of your moments away.” 
― C. JoyBell C.

I have not wasted one single second.
2015 has shaped up to be a glorious year. If I set aside the financial struggles (which, if we are perfectly honest with ourselves, we all have them to some degree,) life has truly made up for the cosmic cluster f*ck it shoved down my throat in 2014. 

With that being said, I have been extremely busy. So busy that I can't think of a sufficient word to describe how slightly overwhelmed I have felt. 

Luckily, this past weekend I was able to pull it together and sort out my thoughts. When this happens, I am able to write... again.

I thought the best thing I could do today, is share with you some of what I have been up to. In the world of "me" - there is never a dull moment. ;-)

I suppose we could start with Easter weekend. I went down to spend it with my S.G. This is Preston United Methodist Church. This is the church he grew up in. 

We had a relaxed Easter lunch down at the cabin, The entire family (and extended family) came down for a Potluck dinner Fishing, Paddle Boats, and tons of laughs. 

That weekend,S. G. took me out to eat for a nice steak dinner at The Station in Americus. Quiet, relaxed, and the food was pretty good.

We also went antiquing in a little town called Sasser.

I found the quirkiest items in one shop called "Alice & Jay"

In my evenings - a little Skype time with my S.G. & his girls always makes my night

I even got some Auttie Blossom time. Don't you just love the 8 year old attitude?

Finally made some time for my "Mean Girls" lunch date. 

Got another story published - this feature was in the 11th Hour. 

Bonding time.,

Then there was this event I threw.
Oh yeah...
Please watch the video...
I'm quite proud.. really..

Then....

Of course... I just had to attend the Just Tap'd Craft Beer Festival in Macon. 

The turn out was spectacular. Even with the rain!

This past Saturday, I attended Betsy Campbell & Gary Ballard's wedding. What a surprise - for her reception (and first dance,) Otis Redding III performed for them! (Yes, that's the son of THE Otis Redding.)

Sneaking a pic with the bride. To the right is Josephine, a dear friend and Station Manager of Georgia Public Broadcasting, 

Finally, I'm always harping on about how cool little Macon is... or how much it drives me crazy. Just like family, when it does something to make me proud, I like to show her off. Well... we're in the May 2015 issue of Southern Living.
And yes.. the people selected are awesome. All very involved in our community and good people.


Well... that's been my past couple of weeks. 
Nothing profound to share.
Just living life.

I have a busy week ahead - conducting three interviews for some stories I've been asked to write, Otis Redding Music Camp for the 11th Hour and The Amerson Water Park reopening and a spotlight on Hot Plate Group's new chef for Macon Magazine. 

Good stuff!

I am also participating in Bibb County's Relay for Life on Friday night. I'm on the Bibb County Executive Leadership Board for the American Cancer Society. I am looking forward to a very successful fundraiser.

THEN - GUESS WHO TURNS 9 THIS WEEK?

Auttie Blossom!

And finally - I am headed to the American Alliance of Museum's Annual Conference in Atlanta for a week. 

Busy Busy Busy.

What are YOU up to?

PS - Sitting in the Tower refers to my office. We call it the tower. Our house is large and the view from my office over looks Mulberry Street.