Halloween "photo shoot" at the office

The talented and easily amused David N. took a few photos of our festive crowd today (both group and individual shots).

I introduce to you the Devil, Stepford Wife, Wicked Witch of the East, Go-Go Girl and 1989 American Gladiator.

2008 Costume Unveiled

2008 Halloween costume is... a late 80's American Gladiator. I'm still bouncing back and forth between Lace and Diamond, both admirable gladiators in their own rights.

I took a blue swimsuit and sewed silver, shiny fabric onto it then applied some felt stars with fabric glue. My jousting pole (not pictured) was fashioned from PVC pipe, pillow batting, grey duct tape and red duct tape. It's ideal for knocking the "contenders" off their pedestals during my favorite round of American Gladiation—the joust.  

I'll be wearing my suntan-colored nylons and clunky tennis shoes tonight and also plan to crimp my hair if I have time. This morning was not the time to be crimping hair.

(Forgive the photo, as I took it using Photobooth on my work Mac since I don't have a camera. I will post additional photos following the party tonight.)

Celebrity Run-ins

I was telling a coworker recently that when I was visiting Charleston, South Carolina several years ago, I recognized the good looking guy who held the door open for me and my group as we exited a downtown shopping mall. It was James Marsden, who I later found out was in the area filming the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook.

Over lunch yesterday, we started talking about some of the awful reality shows so many of us are addicted to—on MTV, Bravo, the CW, etc. I told the girls at my table that I have randomly run into three different Real World cast members in my life. I met Julie ("the Mormon") from the New Orleans season after I got off a roller coaster at King's Island about eight years ago. I was standing next to Ace from the Paris season at a Georgia versus Georgia Tech football game about five years ago. My girlfriends and I spotted Mike "the Miz" from Back to New York at a now defunct nightclub here in Atlanta called Vision. 

... Actually though, when I do the math, my encounters aren't all that impressive. (Approximately 20 season of the show with seven to eight cast members per show means that about 150 people have been on a season of The Real World, so I guess we all have a good chance of running into cast members).

I saw Larry King at a book signing in New York (inside FAO Schwarz) and Ethan Hawk when I saw in the television audience of The View (different trip to NYC), though I don't really feel either of those count. 

I digress. These conversations got me thinking about what famous people my blogger and non-blogger friends have met or seen on the street over the years. 

Do tell!

UPDATE! My sister Anna just reminded me that I met yet another MTV personality when I was still in college. I heard a rumor that Bam Margera was in town for a skateboarding gig. I happened to see him and bought him a jager shot. And I guess my sister remembers more of my memories than I do. She also reminded me that Maria, Dan and I saw Andre 3000 in Publix near our house—buying three different types of trash bags, of all things!

That reminds me, too, that I left off another story. Megan hunted down Charles Barkley the night of Maria's bachelorette party. There are pictures to prove that run in.

Dave Ramsey's "Presidential" Commentary

One of my favorite talk radio hosts and personal finance experts wrote a great-yet-simple perspective on the upcoming election and how the new President will affect our every day lives. I'm going to try and stay apolotical in my blog; but I think the following is rather neutral and worth reading. 

This is from Dave's October eNewsletter, responding to a listener question.

Dave, which bozo should I vote for in this election? Who’s going to fix the economy? Who’s going to give me the most money?

Well, I’m here to remind you that you’re going to fix the economy because your personal economy is up to you. It's not Washington's job to fix what's going on with you. If you are waiting on Washington to change something, you've got a long wait!

You’re going to give yourself money as a result of your hard work and persistence. Waiting for money to be taken from others and given to you is a spirit of envy, and it's wrong.

I’m not here to tell you who to vote for. But I am here to tell you that the government doesn’t have the capacity to fix your problems. Washington is full of bozos, and I am doing my part to send a lot of them home!

This economic mess is a reality, but we can each only control one thing—our reactions. Does this stuff define you? Only if you let it. The weird thing about the economy is that YOU are the economy! I learned this the hard way. I got my real estate license when I was 18 years old. By the time I was 21, interest rates had risen to 17% fixed-rate … and I still sold houses. How? Because I worked hard.

As bad as USA Today meant a recent article to be about what we think of the suffering economy and upcoming election, I think it’s rather encouraging that no one thinks that President Bush or Barack Obama or John McCain can fix the economy!

This may be the beginning of the biggest level of prosperity this nation has ever known if we don’t look to a candidate to fix our lives. How about we say, "I’m going to vote for the candidate who’s going to fix the nation. I’m going to fix my life, so leave me alone and let me do my own thing."

Don't react based on fear or panic. Don’t look to Washington to fix your problems. Why would you do that? At what point did Bill Clinton fix any of your problems? At what point did he cause you to prosper? At what point did George Bush end your career or cause you to prosper? When did Ronald Reagan fix your problems? Guess what? I liked Reagan the most, and while he was in office, I hit rock bottom and filed bankruptcy—but it wasn’t Reagan’s fault. It was mine.

So when you go to the polls in a few days to cast your vote, don’t get caught up in following a political party or candidate without knowing the issues they support. Do your research so you can make educated decisions.

Get Your Coca-Cola Taste On

So, I heard a few months back about this compact, yet highly functional, drink machine that's being tested by Coca-Cola North America. (See press release here). The machine takes up less restaurant real estate than your standard Sprite, Mr. Pibb, Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Hi C, etc. machine but has the ability to make something like 100 different beverages. That's pretty crazy.

The most exciting aspect of this is that a machine is being tested right here in Atlanta. It may or may not have all the flavors loaded, as it's still in round one of testing, but it sounds cool to me. 

Go visit the Willy's Mexicana Grill just north of Buckhead (address is 4377 Roswell Road NE, Atlanta) and get your taste on. 

Vendor Reviews 4 and 5

photos taken by Cariad Photography

It seems only fitting to review Wolf Mountain Vineyards and the City of Dahlonega together, as they both played backdrop for our wedding weekend.

When looking through an Atlanta bridal magazine with Maria just a week or two after becoming engaged, I saw some information about getting married in Dahlonega. I made some kind of silly remark about how funny it would be to get married "up there" in Dahlonega. It wasn't until maybe two or three days later that I realized Dahlonega actually would be a neat place to get married. My sister goes to college there and has always boasted about the nice weather, great views and unique small businesses. 

Here's my logic (and luckily, Dan agreed). The majority of our family (and many of our friends) would have to travel for our wedding no matter where we held it; after all, they're spread out from California to Massachusetts. If we invited friends and family to an Atlanta wedding, it would be fun but maybe not as quaint as we pictured. We decided that Dahlonega's laid-back feel (and mountain views), more affordable lodging and relatively quick drive from the Atlanta airport (maybe an hour and 20 minutes) made it a great spot to host a wedding weekend.

We looked at a few different locations in Dahlonega. Frogtown Cellars was stunningly beautiful but not quite as well set up to host a wedding. We decided on Wolf Mountain Vineyards because of its fabulous covered pavilion (great for beautiful or rough weather), well respected food, amazing views and already beautifully-decorated winery interior. I must also give Dan credit for our choice, as he insisted we check it out after hearing a great review from his colleague Heather, who wed her husband there earlier in the year. 

While we thought we made a good choice, we couldn't have been more pleased with the wedding weekend settings. Dahlonega offered cute little restaurants, a karaoke bar, unique lodging options (from bed and breakfasts to boutique hotels—all about $165 or less per couple, per night), shopping and outdoorsy activities like hiking. We very much enjoyed our rehearsal dinner at Caruso's, too, with its casual atmosphere, good food, incredibly hospitable staff and room big enough to accommodate our approximately 100 family members and wedding party.

Wolf Mountain not only looked amazing, but the staff there was professional and accommodating. Lindsey Smith, hospitality manager and our "day of" wedding coordinator, was always easy to reach and full of helpful information. Lindsey also came prepared to every meeting with document templates to fill out or spreadsheets to fill in. There were no hidden costs and we felt like we received everything we paid for and more. Lindsey and her mother, Linda, made sure the ceremony and reception went as planned, even paying attention to little details like putting my grandmother's cake toppers on the cake and corralling people for activities like the toasts, cake cutting, bouquet throw and garter toss.  Lindsey and team provided reliable/recommended vendors and treated us very personally despite having likely 52-plus events like ours throughout the year.

I feel like both Wolf Mountain's pavilion and winery speak for themselves, but I'll talk about them both some anyway. The covered pavilion was the perfect balance of an outdoor yet safe from inclement weather location. Already simple and airy, the only real decoration we used were some flowers on the arch and petals down the aisle (thank you again, Aunt Vera, for the flowers).  The inside of the winery is breathtaking. Some style between rustic and mountain cabin chic, the craftsman-style building is decorated well and appropriately. We were able to choose our linens from some already in the vineyard's collection (chocolate brown satin on the bottom and a champagne-colored metallic fabric with some slight ruching on the top) at no additional cost. Decks with great views on every side of the building didn't hurt its aesthetic appeal either.

The food and wine were both very enjoyable. I'll admit that I enjoyed the vineyard's white wine more than its red, which worked out well since I was wearing an ivory dress, but both were enjoyable. The food. Wow. The food. We tasted some of the vineyard's food before, but never exactly what we chose for our wedding menu. I've heard most couples don't eat, let alone remember, their wedding food. Well, I distinctly remember how delicious that tilapia with lemon caper butter sauce was and how tasty the lyonnaise potatoes were. The salad was great, too, as were the roast, chicken cordon bleu and sauteed vegetables. Mmm mmm mmmm. It took a Michael Jackson song being played outside to pry me away from the table. 

I could go on and on, so if you have question, feel free to e-mail me. But for the rest of you, I'll end my review here. I am obviously biased, but I think it's insane that getting married at a beautiful and charming place like this is less expensive then getting married at, say, a Marriott somewhere in Metro Atlanta. 

If our experience is/was the norm, I give both the city of Dahlonega and Wolf Mountain A+++ marks. They helped make our wedding weekend especially memorable. 

In a post a few months back, I talked about how I asked my bridesmaids to pick out a solid, chocolate brown, satin, floor length dress for our wedding (versus assigning them all the same dress). 

I asked Steffi and Laura to take photos of all us girls together. I love the different shapes, cuts and personalities of the dresses—and I even think the slight variance in shades from dress-to-dress played out nicely! 

Dora, who handled my dress alterations, also told me about a neat and new phenomenon in choosing bridesmaid dresses. Some brides are purchasing several yards of the same fabric for their maids then leaving it up to them to have a dress designed with that fabric. What fun that would be, though it wouldn't be quick or easy to find the right seamstress and go through the multiple fittings.

Thank you to my gals for hunting down their dresses, as I realize this was much more work than just writing a check for the dress of my choosing. Also, an even more special "thanks" to Moeko, who battled having her dress lost in the mail before finding a beautiful (but more expensive—sorry!) dress at a department store.

Dogs Love Halloween, too

Like my coworker Ashley often feels, I felt I couldn't resist posting this adorable photo. Jay J (or is it "J Jay?"), one of our office dogs, tried on a pair of googly eyes from my stepmother's Halloween candy/gift care package.