The "Dog" Days of Summer

Darcy and Bella
From Left...Kim, Darcy, Steph, Bella, and Pat
Kristen, Darcy and Kim
Even our adopted Kitty got along with Darcy!

Summer's Officially here and I'm so excited!!!

What are some of the Sullivans' favorite summer time activities you ask?

Answer: Hanging out by the pool, drinking wine outdoors, and BBQ'ing almost everyday!

Last night Ben and I had some friends over for food, drinks and fun!!!

It was a great night, and the rain held off... so we were able to spend most of the night outdoors.

This was especially helpful to the furry friends that we had as guests.

Check out Bella (Pat and Steph's Darling Shih Tsu) and Darcy (Kim and Will's Adorable new born Westie) in the above pics!

While the Wife's Away....

So what does a hubby do while his wife is out of town?

Two words pretty much some up Ben's Memorial Weekend....

Sports and Video Games...a man's paradise!

Ben spent alot of time playing his new Grand Theft Auto (apparently getting pretty far in the game). He was even able to catch a Braves game with our neighbors on Sunday! Check out his view from the front row seats!

Memorial Madness Weekend

Kristen and the Bride to Be
The Troy St. Gang
The bachelorette night!!! We wore Tarheel Blue shirts designed especially for the bride!
Sunday at the Starboard (aka...the best bar on earth!)

Ben and I both got back from our work trips on Thursday night.

After a dinner of Won Ton Soup, Steamed Dumplings and quality time vegging on the couch, I got my bags together again and woke up Friday morning to head back to DC for a bachelorette party.

Jacqueline (or Jackie D) is one of my best buds and roomies from my DC days.
We lived together for 4 years before I moved to North Carolina.
Jacqueline is getting married to Todd on June 14th and I'm so excited to be a part of the wedding.

I landed in DC on Friday around 12pm and was picked up by Caryn and Erin. Then we headed to Dewey Beach, DE for a weekend of CRAZINESS!!! I've posted a few pics...I seriously laughed for 3 days straight!!!

Whenever I think of the lovely state of Deleware I normally think of that Wayne's World Clip where Wayne and Garth stand in front of the state of Deleware sign and say "Hi...I'm in Deleware". But let me promise you...for all you nay sayers...Dewey Beach is one of my favorite places on earth!! It's where the twenty something crowds of DC escape every weekend during the summer!

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...don't know when I'll be back again...LITERALLY!

At the Bar with some of my coworkers during American Idol

Kristen's first mechanical Bull experience

This past week has been just a huge whirl wind of traveling for the Sullivan household!

After returning from Kate's Graduation weekend on Sunday May 18th, Ben and I both left bright and early on Monday morning (May 19th) for work functions. Ben headed to Sunny CA with Bank of America, and I headed to Charlotte, NC for a National Meeting with my company Talecris Plasma Resources.


We both had a really great time!

Although Ben wasn't able to take any pictures of his trip, I've posted a couple of memorable moments from my trip to Charlotte

New Gamecock in the Family

A BIG congrats to one of my best friends in the world! Rienna became a mommy this week and her son could not be more beautiful.

Congrats Rienna and Aaron!

Catina Marina!

Saturday night Ben and I spent the evening hanging out with our friends at an awesome restaurant called Cantina Marina!

It's located on the SW Waterfront in DC.

http://www.cantinamarina.com/

Good food, Good friends...life can't get much better than that!

Here are the pics! Thanks to everyone that came out! We had a blast!

Kera, Erin, Christine, and Christina

Todd, Jacqueline, Poot, Kristen and Ben

The girls..Jill, Karen, Jacqueline, Erin, Kera, Emily, Kristen and Christina

The Boys...Poot, Ben, Todd, and Chris

Erin and Kristen

Kristen and Ben

Dr. Kate...Medicine Woman!

This weekend sent Ben and I back to DC for Kate's graduation from Medical School.

I'm so proud of my sis in law...we officially have a doctor in the family.

Ben and I arrived Thursday night and had a great night grilling out and drinking wine with Mom and Dad Sullivan.

Friday morning we were up bright and early for Med School graduation at 8am.

After the graduation, we went to lunch at a great Restaurant called Reggie's in the Federal Hill area of Baltimore.

Friday night Kate had a graduation party. Thanks in part to my "Happy Punch" Recipe, I think a good time was had by all!!!

Saturday morning Ben and I got up and had lunch at the Inner Harbor. After a nice walk we headed down to DC to spend time with friends.

DC...our second home!

Washington, DC has always been like home to Ben and I. Although I LOVE the South (born and raised in South Carolina and PROUD of it), I'll always have a special place in my heart for DC.
My best friends Erin, Kera, and Christina finally talked me into crossing the Mason Dixon Line 6 years ago, and it's a decision I have never regretted!

I lived there for 4 fabulous years after college and it was truly some of the best years of my life!

DC is where Ben and I met and it's where Ben's family lives (Laurel, MD).

Needless to say, I met some amazing people in DC who I'm truly honored to call friends.

Fortunately, at the rate that all of our friends are hopping on the Marriage wagon, it doesn't really give Ben and I too much time to be home sick for the DC Gang! ha ha

By the end of this year Ben and I will have traveled to DC 9 times for various Weddings, graduations, Bachelorette Parties, and Showers!

Yes...9 times!

Our latest trips to DC have been back to back weekends in May.

May 10th was the wedding of Ben's Virginia Tech friend Becky!!

They had a beautiful Ceremony and reception in Arlington, VA and Ben and I had a blast hanging with our friends. Check out the pics below

The gang at the reception...Kristen, Ben, Ryan, Kate, and Kayte

The bride and groom...Becky and Stan

Even Ardy...the ultimate Wedding Crasher made and appearance

Sunday May 11th, we spent Mother's Day with Ben's parents in Laurel. They took us to Brighton Dam to see the Azaleas

Landscaping!

Ahhhh, the trials and tribulations of Home Ownership!

After moving to Atlanta last June, Ben and I quickly found out that home ownership was a lot more expensive than we could ever imagine! However, we consider ourselves lucky. At this point we've only had a few problems...mostly in the Plumbing, AC, and Heating departments.

But our latest investment has turned out really nice.

We recently used an independent contractor to do some landscaping for us.

Ben and I are really happy with the results. I don't know if you can see too much from these pictures but the front looks great and we were finally able to put up our hammock in the back! YAY!

Now if I could only get the STUPID squirrels to stop digging for nuts in our brand new mulch!

Happy Mother's Day

Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day!

Ben and I definitely are happy to have such wonderful moms!

I also want to give a shout out to my friend Leah who is celebrating her first mother's day.

Also, to my friend Rienna who will be delivering her first son any day now!

Love to ALL the Mom's out there

Birthday Shout Outs!!

Happy Birthday to Kim who celebrated her 25th birthday this weekend!

Flipcup!!!

What is it about this crazy drinking game that has the world so entranced??? I certainly don't have an answer.... Lord knows I consider myself the FLIP CUP CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!!! What is flipcup you ask? Well, my question back is...did you grow up in a cave?

According to Wikipedia:

Flip cup is a team-based drinking game. Effectively a drinking relay race, it is the North American equivalent of boat race. Alternate Names include Tip Cup, Flippy Cup, Tippy Cup and Canoe, which was the original name for the game as developed in bars and parties the South Side of Chicago, named as such because of the way a canoe tips with people rocking back and forth. The two teams stand on both sides of a table, facing one another (the person in front of a player is his/her opponent). In front of each teammate is a cup filled with an arbitrary amount of any kind of liquid (often beer). A player and his opponent both have the same amount of liquid. At the start of the race, the first member of each team drinks his or her beverage. When finished, the cup is placed right-side up at the edge of the table, and the person who drank it tries to flip it upside down onto the table. If he or she is not successful on the first try, the cup must be reset and re-flipped. Only after the first teammate is done flipping the cup successfully, can the next person proceed. Whichever team finishes drinking and flipping all its cups first is the winner.

Last night after kickball (when my team the Pickled Yaksman were defeated in the first round of playoffs) we headed to the bar to have a few drinks! Well, immediately a flip cup tournament ensued. It's just amazing to me how quickly you can get caught up in the game!

Good times were had all around!!!

Here are some pics

Our flip cup table at our sponsor bar Charlie Mopps

Ben and our friends Colin and Will...I think they are trying to "thug it out" in this pic!

New Kitty on the Block!

So here is some pics of our new kitty! Well, let me correct myself here, she's not "our kitty" but more of an "adopted kitty". She belongs to the neighbors across the street but she comes over to our house every night to get treats. Then she comes inside and hangs out with Ben and I when we are cooking dinner, watching American Idol, or just chilling. She's so sweet and I love her like she was my own. Good news for Ben and I though...we don't have vet bills or have to pay for someone to take care of her when we are out of town. So it's the best of both worlds!

Oh and I haven't named her yet...as I'm sure she already has a name. But back when I thought she was a boy I called her Davis. Now that I know she's a girl I'm thinking of calling her Lasquisha.

Black and Bleu Burgers and 2 Buck Chuck!

Thanks Steph and Pat for having us over for dinner last night.

The burgers and wine were SOOO Good! Um, and can we discuss how amazing the cake at the Peachtree Diner is...I'm officially obsessed!

Thanks for the Ride Home Officer Rigsby

This weekend my friends Kim, Amanda, and I went to Nashville, TN to compete in a 5K and try our hand at being cute country cowgirls (try saying that 5 times fast) for a couple of nights.

We stayed at the Courtyard Mariott off of Broadway for FREE..courtesy of my Marriott points and Amanda's Mom's Marriott points..thanks Mrs. Weaver!

Anyways, Friday night we went out to a really cool restaurant called Cabana where we ate tapas and drank martinis!!! Then we headed to Tootsie's on Broadway where we sang our hearts out to our fave country songs all night long. Can I get a Holla for some Dixie Land Delight???

Here's a pic taken by the valet boys at the Marriott before we headed out for the evening

The next day we went to a great brunch spot and then did some shopping. Around 3:45pm we headed off for the 5 K. Here we are leaving the hotel again (those valet boys sure did love taking our pictures haha) for the race.Poor Amanda couldn't run because she had just gotten over strep.

No worries though, we are already starting to think about doing a 10K in June!

After margaritas, Mexican Food, and a late night out at Legends and The Stage, we headed home early on Sunday so that I could meet my dad and Ben in Atlanta for dinner.

Dad was in town for a conference so we took him to Sugo Restaurant in Roswell right by our house.

It was YUMMY!!

http://www.sugorestaurant.com/

YES...We have joined the BLOGGER train!

Hello Everyone!!!
Well after much deliberation, I've decided to start a blog. I'm pretty much obsessed with blogs! I read my friends' blogs, my friends' friends' blogs, and of course Perez Hilton and Hollywood Rag!

So...without further ado...welcome to the Sullivan Blog! WOOHOO!!!

I've decided that since today is our (Ben and Kristen's) 5 month anniversary and I can still consider myself quite the newlywed... that I will have lots to share about LOVE, LIFE, and having FUN!

Okay, so who are the Sullivans?
Here we are:
This is Kristen and Ben

And this is Kristen and Ben when we aren't posing for engagement pictures

Just a brief history...in case people read this that don't know us...highly unlikely by the way...

Ben and I live in Atlanta, GA. We've been here for almost a year. We met in Washington, DC in October of 2003 after a kickball game. We love to travel, go out and socialize with all our friends, try new restaurants, be adventurous (well this is only "somewhat adventurous" for Kristen..you should have heard me screaming like a little girl when we went parasailing in the Bahamas), and exercising/being active.

It seems that's there is always something going on in our lives, so I thought that with a little blogger training I would be able to share everything with you all!

Hope you enjoy!!!