What a week!

This was Ben on Wednesday night!!

And here's Kristen!!

This week has been busy, busy, busy so far!!! Monday night Ben and I had a double training session at LA Fitness with Montez (he has officially been my trainer for a year now!). Ben let me pick between arms, legs, and abs...so I picked arms.

Let's just say, here it is Wednesday night and I'm still hurting!!!

Tuesday night Ben and I headed to Decatur to meet up with a couple that moved to ATL after the UNC MBA Experience. Believe it or not there are a lot of us!!! We met Dave and Stephanie at the Brick Store. Such a cool bar!

http://www.thebrickstorepub.com/

We had a lot of fun! The beer and food were excellent. We def will be going back there!!!

And...drum roll please....Tonight was our first Cardio Tennis lesson!!! Ben and I are wiped out!!! It was so much fun and I'm so happy that Ben signed us up!!!

It's basically a lot of drills and obstacle courses that involve tennis. It's an hour long and you DEF get an intense work out. Ben and I can't wait for next Wednesday!

Oh and just in case you were wondering...my blue tennis skirt was a hit!

Weekend with the Rents!

Ben, Mom and Dad at the Vortex

Ben, Kristen, Mom and Dad with the Whale Shark at the Aquarium!

Stone Mountain...before the rain storm

Our picnic was put on hold...

This weekend Ben and I stayed in Atlanta and welcomed my parents into town! We had a blast with them!

Mom and Dad arrived right around 5pm on Friday and after catching up for a bit, we headed downtown to the Vortex in the Little Five Points area. The Vortex is known for it's amazing burgers, and since Ben and I had yet to try them... we thought that taking my parents would be the perfect start to the weekend.

I have to say that the burgers are amazing and the onion rings are SO YUM!!!!

http://www.thevortexbarandgrill.com/

After dinner, we headed over to the GA Aquarium. Every Friday evening during the summer they do a "Jazz at the Aquarium" event. It was great. They serve drinks and play music as you walk around the aquarium. It's the same price as a regular admission ticket but since we were at the aquarium from 8pm - 10pm we didn't have to deal with all the screaming kids and tourists with body odor...so it was great! We had a good time. (See pics above)

Saturday morning we woke up and headed to Marietta for lunch.

Ben and I are big fans of the show Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives, and there was a restaurant in Marietta called the Marietta Diner that was featured on the show.

http://www.mariettadiner.net/

We went there for lunch and had a great meal. We all ended up getting Gyros!!!

Then we headed to Dave and Busters for an afternoon of gaming!!

After our run at Dave and Busters, we stopped back by the Marietta Diner to pick up some slices of cake for dinner....they looked SO amazing we decided to sacrifice dinner in lieu of some dessert!

We came back to our house...packed up the picnic dinner of crackers, cheese, cake, and wine, and headed to Stone Mountain for the laser show.

Our picnic was nice but we got SOAKED during a rain shower! We decided to make the most of it, so when the rain cleared Ben and I headed to the gift shop for some towels.

The laser show started at 9:30pm but due to the humidity the clarity of the laser show wasn't very good. But the fireworks were great!

Mom and Dad left on Sunday morning after a breakfast of Belgain waffles!

We had a great weekend!!!

July Bdays!!!

Kristen, Erin and Christina

Christine, Kristen and Sara

Yes...it's official...I'm a horrible friend.

I forgot one of my BFF's bdays this week!

Sorry I didn't call Erin....but HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY!

I'll make it up to you this weekend in Nashville...I Promise!!!

And I would be remiss if I didn't also wish one of my great friends Sara a happy bday as well! She turned 29 on July 16th! Happy BDAY Sara!!!

I heart you both!

Travel...Travel...and more Travel!

So...after getting home from DC late on Sunday night...I had just one day to get some good QT with the hubby before I had to hop on a plane for NC on Tuesday morning. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in NC with work. It was great catching up with all the coworkers! It was also SO much fun to meet up with Sylvia and Chesare after work at the Carolina Ale House!!! Holler for their Nachos and Spinach Dip!!!

Wednesday night my flight was DELAYED BOOO...so I ended up missing my friend Amanda's happy hour.

Thursday morning, I woke up bright and early for a day trip to Montgomery, AL. I was back just in time to attend a UNC Alumni Happy Hour on the rooftop of Fado's in Buckhead.
http://www.fadoirishpub.com/atlanta/
If you haven't been there, you must. This Irish pub has the best roof top...and amazing beer and food!
From there Ben and I ventured over to our kball bar Charlie Mopps (we lost to the League Champs by 3 points) where we got a chance to hang with friends and catch up!

It was an insane week but tons of fun!

The game of "Monogamy"

Kristen and Caryn!
Do you think the future Mrs. Banchek is having fun????

Caryn and Brett at the Rooftop Party!

Erin, Christina and Tina at the Rooftop party!

Erin and Kristen at the ER...Erin doesn't look too thrilled!!!
The bparty crew!!!

So....I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted. SO much has been going on these past couple of weeks!

On Saturday July 18th, I caught a flight to DC (I believe this was my 7th trip this year) for my friend Caryn's bachelorette party PART 1 and shower!

And what a fun weekend it was!!!

I arrived Friday and was picked up by Erin, we headed straight to her office (her company BIO was also my first company/job in DC...how ironic right?) where we strategized all the final details of Caryn's Saturday night festivities!

Then we headed over to our good friend Tina and Jeff's apartment for a rooftop party! It was a great night (see pics above)!

Saturday morning was a crazy Errand running morning before we met up with most of Caryn's bridesmaids and good friends for brunch at Whitlows in Arlington! I love Whitlow's whether it be for their buffet at noon, or their beer late night!

From Whitlow's everyone was supposed to go see Mama Mia.

Caryn, Tina and Christina ended up catching the flick while myself and Jacqueline took a quick detour to the emergency room with Erin who suffered from some serious dehydration...what a scare she gave us...but she was alright!

Quick Note: Don't make jokes and scream "she coded" in the emergency room! Doctors don't think that it's funny...

Saturday night, while Erin was getting some much deserved rest...the rest of the crew went to an AWESOME restaurant called Marrakesh http://www.marrakesh.us/ ! Caryn even gave belly dancing a try!

Then the theme of the night was revealed to Caryn....a monopoly type game called Monogamy where Caryn was quizzed on various parts of her life and the answers led her to different bars!

As you can tell by the pics...she had the time of her life!

Sunday morning (after sleeping for about...oh...4 hours...in a bed with 3 other girls) we got up and got dressed and headed over to Blair's house (one of the MOH's) for a beautiful shower!

I have to give props to everyone that helped decorate a station!

(especially the San Fran station...hahaha GO ME!!!)

Caryn had a blast and got some awesome gifts!

Oh and she loved the games that Jamie and I came up with. My "Caryn and Brett Travel Trivia" was a hit!

So....yes it was an AMAZING weekend!

Noche!

Yesterday I had to take a day trip to Huntsville, AL for a work presentation. I was on the plane by 8am and home by 6pm....I was exhausted and def ready for a drink.

Last night I met my good friends Andy and Anastasia at Noche in downtown Atlanta.
http://www.heretoserverestaurants.com/
Such a fun restaurant!!! They have AMAZING Tapas!!!

Good times all around!! Thanks for hanging out Anastasia and Andy!

Ben has been doing some traveling in SC/NC this week with work. He gets home this afternoon! Can't wait to see my hubby!

For She's a Jolly Good Fellow....

Kera, Erin, and Kristen

This weekend my friends in DC had a goodbye party for one of my dear friends.

Kera is moving to Denver this weekend and she will be sorely missed by everyone on the east coast!

Ben and I wish her nothing but the best as she moves on to greener pastures...(and I mean that literally....)

Good luck Kera!!! We will be out for a skiing weekend very soon!

Wine Lovers!

Steph, Amanda, Kristen and Kristen
The gang at the wine tasting
Kristen and Ben at dinner

This weekend the Sullivans stayed home in good ole ATL!!!

Friday night Ben and I headed to a Vietnamese place in Dunwoody near Perimeter Mall.
It was called Com Dunwoody (don't laugh...you perverts!) and it was very good.


Afterwards we headed next door to a wine store and bar called D'Vine. We had a glass of wine outside and then headed home to catch a movie!
http://www.atlantawinebar.com/



PS -If you haven't seen the movie Untraceable....it is VERY good, but way SCARY!!!



Saturday Ben and I met up with our friends Steph, Pat, Amanda, Jay, Rob and Kristen and went to a wine tasting in Alpharetta. We had a great time trying all the different wines and most of us ended up purchasing a few bottles!
http://www.tinderboxvino100atl.com/index.php



After the wine tasting we went to dinner at an amazing restaurant called Bistro VG.
http://www.knowwheretogogh.com/
It was really great food and the cocktails were fantastic!!!



After dinner everyone headed back to our place to play board games and hang out on the deck!
Props to Ben, Pat, and Steph for their truly amazing Scattegories skills!

Sunday, Ben and I went shopping for some new work out clothes. We are taking a Cardio Tennis class that begins in a couple of weeks and (of course) I had to have a tennis skirt!

I'll keep you all updated on how our class goes....I'm certainly no Andy Roddick (considering the last time I attempted tennis was in high school) but it should still be fun!

Seasons!

Last night Ben and I went out to dinner with some of our fellow "DC transplants". When we moved to Atlanta a year ago, our friends Todd and Jacqueline told us that we had to get together with their good friends Yosh and Siliva. Yosh and Silvia were new to Atlanta as well! Ben and I had met Yosh several times in DC (he was always at our infamous Troy St. parties...holla), but had never met his girlfriend Silvia.

We played a lot of phone tag once we moved, but with getting settled into our home and planning a wedding...we just were never able to meet up!

After Jacqueline and Todd's wedding last month we SWORE that we would get together...sooner rather than later.

Last night we met Yosh and Silvia at Season's 52, near Perimeter Mall in Atlanta. We had a GREAT time and stayed way late into the night catching up!

For those of you who live near a Seasons 52 restaurant, it's a MUST try.
http://www.seasons52.com/

Everything on the menu is super healthy, with each entree being under 475 calories.
I know what your thinking...how can this be good?
Trust me...it's delicious!

Thanks for hanging out Yosh and Siliva...we had a blast!

Getting some Hayden Love...

Sunday afternoon I headed over to my friend Leah's house to spend some time with her sweet baby girl Hayden!

Isn't she the cutest? Check out her little arm fat rolls...she is so adorable!!!

We had a great time catching up, rehashing the July 5th party details, and making Hayden laugh!

July 5th Party at the Sullivans!!

Ben and I headed home from Spartanburg early Saturday morning!
We invited all of our friends back to our house on Saturday night for a "full on" 5th of July Boozefest!
Man oh man...what a party! About 25 people showed up to send the July 4th weekend off with a bang!

Thanks to all of our friends who came out!!!

Highlights of the night included:
Flip cup in the garage
An Austrian Man passing out on our Massage chair
The fireworks display on our street (Thanks to Will for taking the lead on that)
Andy's two jumbo size chex mix bags....that boy can bake some chex mix!
Two overnight guests
Last people leaving at 5am!

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!

Mama Bobbie was very surprised!
Getting some love from her granddaughter!And her grandson in law!

This July 4th weekend was a lot of fun. The weekend started early on Thursday when Ben and I headed to my hometown of Spartanburg, SC for a surprise birthday party for my grandmother! Mama Bobbie turned 75 on July 4th and we had a blast celebrating with her and the family.

We arrived around 3pm on Thursday and spent the day lying by the pool and eating a yum dinner with my parents!

Friday involved a lot of decorating but we managed to get a little pool time in before we had to get ready for the party.

My dad drove to get Mama Bobbie just as the family started to arrive.

My grandmother certainly had the shock of her life when she turned the corner into our kitchen and saw all the family there, including the grandkids....my sister and I did a pretty good job of convincing her that we would not be there to celebrate!

There was bbq, ice cream cake and lots of fun.

Once the family left we hung by the pool until night fall and watched a fireworks display provided by the neighbors.

Memories...Misty Water Colored Memories!!

TROY ST. THEN (November 2003)

TROY ST. NOW (June 2008)

For the majority of my 4 years in DC I lived at the beloved "Troy St" House in Arlington, VA!

There were 5 crazy girls...that lived in one large and very crazy house!

My how times have changed...but we are all still the best of friends!

Our common bond? Love of acronyms and Lionel Ritchie

The good times at Troy St. would have never been the same without our honorary 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th roommates

Erin, Christina, Christine and Sara...

Or the men in our lives

Ben, Todd, Chris, Brett, and Jim

Sara sent the Troy St picture from Jacqueline's wedding to all of us today...so I did some digging and found one of the oldest pictures we have from those "oh so fun" days!

TROY STREET FOREVER!!!