Ride em Cowboy!

Kristen, Ben and Andy

Kristen, Steph S, and Steph M

Ben saddling up!

Kristen riding the bull...woohoo

Amanda, Kristen, and Melissa

Last night Ben and I went to meet a bunch of friends at Twisted Taco in Roswell. We had a great time!!! Around 9pm the mechanical bull came out! Both Ben and I gave it a go! Unfortunately I was only able to hang on for about 3 seconds!!!

Better luck next time!

East and West Coast Trips!

Garlic Ice Cream at the Stinking Rose

Garlic Appetizer at the Stinking Rose

Last week Ben and I both had busy weeks...on completely opposite sides of the country!

Ben went to San Francisco to meet his new boss and get his feet wet in his new role with Bank of America!

He had a great time but I was SUPER jealous when I found out that he went to the Stinking Rose for dinner on Thursday night! I went to San Francisco for a work trip back in 2002 and ever since then I've wanted to go to back just to try the Stinking Rose!

http://www.thestinkingrose.com/

This restaurant makes everything on the menu with garlic. Ben had a very good meal and said he can't wait to go back to San Fran with me some day and take me there! However, he said that if we do go back we will NOT get the garlic ice cream! Apparently, it is disgusting! You would think that if they had something on the menu like Garlic Ice cream they would try to make it their specialty!!! But I guess it tastes just as bad as it sounds!

In his brief trip he got to see Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate bridge! We'll both have to go back someday and spend some quality time there! Maybe a trip to Napa too! It will definitely be on the "Ben & Kristen Trip Calendar" in the next few years!

While Ben was getting his fill of fun in San Fran, I flew to Raleigh for work.

They had some snow that week that made it a little difficult to get around. Snow and Southern states just don't mix very well.

I wish I had been there longer so that I could have hung with my bff Johanna but unfortunately I was in on Wed and out on Thursday.

After work on Wednesday night I went to the Carolina Ale House to meet my fave coworkers Chesare and Sylvia for dinner! After dinner, we headed back to Sylvia's house. It ended up being a slumber party at Sylvia's that night and it was a great time!!!! We spent a lot of time just goofing around while watching American Idol and the Tarheel basketball game!

Sylvia and Chesare particularly liked my rendition of C+C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat" (Everybody Dance Now). Want more details? You'll have to ask them!

Thursday evening I headed back to Atlanta and went to book club where we discussed Friday Night Knitting Club. Our February book is A Thousand Splendid Suns. I've already finished that book as well. Both are MUST reads!

Friday it was off to Minneapolis for the Sullivan Family Reunion...see my post below!!! It was a great time!

The Sullivans take on the Twin Cities!

Joel, Ben and Cory...the Sullivan Cousins!

Joel, Kristen and Cory...apparently I fit right in!

Me making funny faces at the bar with Tommy, David, and Joey!

Uncle Dale, Cousin Joey, Ben, and Uncle Danny!

Ben and I in front of Mall of America! Ben is not happy in the cold!

Ella and her Aunt Jan!

The Sullivans!

The Amusement Park inside the Mall of America!!! Crazy!!!

This weekend Ben and I headed to Minneapolis, MN for the Sullivan Family Reunion weekend!

It was a blast and Ben's family is so awesome, but the -20 degree weather is well... COLD!

However, there are a lot of things that happen in -20 degree weather that those of us from the south (aka..me) would never know.

For instance:

1. If you are outside for longer than 10 min and sniff, your nostrils stick together (this is based on experience)

2. If you blow bubbles outside they freeze in midair and land safely on the ground without popping. They get rock hard and bounce down the street (Thanks to Ben's 4 year old cousin Ella for letting us borrow a bottle of bubbles to test this theory)

3. If you are a dog and you go outside to do your business...it steams for approximately 5 minutes. (Again, thanks to Joel and Mindi's dog Gabe for the demonstration)

4. Everyone in Minneapolis goes to Mall of America on the weekend...and I mean EVERYONE!

So here's the recap of our weekend!

Ben was in San Francisco last week for work, and I was in Raleigh...so Ben and I actually met in Minneapolis. We were like one of those long distance couples greeting each other in the airport! (Minus tongue in mouth by the baggage claim of course! You know you've all seen those couples!)

From the airport we went straight to Joel and Mindi's house! Joel is Ben's first cousin.

There we met up with Ben's Parents, a bunch of his cousins, and 5 of Ben's 8 uncles & aunts! We ate pizza and drank a lot of beer and had a great time catching up!

I also got to spend some time bonding with cousins Ella, Olivia, Joey, Tommy, and David! They were all just too cute for words!

Saturday we were up and out the door and back over to Joel and Mindi's for a quick lunch. Then the group headed to Mall of America! I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

Not only is it the biggest mall EVER but it's got an amusement park and a Lego Land inside!

There was a lot to do at Mall of America and it was just too overwhelming. We spent some time just walking and browsing around with Ben's Uncle David but I ended up spending the majority of my time at the American Girl store with Ella. Now I understand why little girls are fascinated with the American Girl phenomenon. I bought Little Ella a volleyball outfit for her American Girl! I couldn't resist!

After the American Girl store and a trip to Lego Land, I left Ella with her mom Mindi and headed upstairs to meet the men at the bar. Ben had been hanging with his uncle Danny and Cousin Cory at the bar for the past couple of hours so I realized I had some catching up to do! A couple of jager bombs later and we left Mall of America and headed to the Chicago Bar near the hotel.

That's when the Sullivan Party kicked into full gear!

The night ended with dinner at Dave's BBQ and a party in the Hotel Lobby!

Sunday it was to the airport and then we came home and crashed!!!

It was definitely a fun weekend and I am so happy I got the chance to meet so much of Ben's family!

Thanks for the hospitality Joel and Mindi!!!

Congratulations!!!

Ben and I getting ready to toast to Pat and Steph!

Pat, Steph, and her flashy new rock!!!

Rusty, Kristin, and Connor

A big congratulations to our friends Pat and Steph that got engaged last weekend! We were there on Sunday night to celebrate with a champagne toast! We couldn't be happier for you guys!!!

And another big congrats to Rusty and Kristin who had baby Connor Telfair Hodgson on Monday, January 19th at 11:53am. He was 5 lbs, 14 oz. and 19 inches. I'm convinced it was my trip to Charlotte that made little Connor want to enter the world 3 weeks early!

Our Weekend in Charlotte...Jim & Julie, where were you?

Matt Shotgunning a beer!

The girls at the party!

Our preggers friends...Kristin, Christy, and Suzie

Ben, Matt, Rusty and Uli!

Kristen and Uli...love that dog!

This weekend the Sullivans headed to Charlotte, NC to visit our very pregnant friends and have an MBA reunion weekend part 2 (again...Jim and Julie you were missed)!! Ben and I wanted to a chance to catch up with everyone before the "baby craziness" ensues and the holiday weekend was as good a time as any!!!

I flew into Charlotte from Columbus, OH where Ben, Matt and Suzie picked me up from the airport. Ben drove to Charlotte from Atlanta earlier that morning and had a meeting with one of his bosses from BOA.

We went straight to dinner at Big Daddy's Burger Bar! Matt and Suzie assured me that this restaurant was blog worthy for the "best burger EVER" award, and I am happy to report that they were they right. I had the "Frenchie" burger. It was a turkey burger with Brie, smoked bacon and apple on it. OH MY WORD did it melt in your mouth!!!!

We also tried the fried pickle appetizer which was great!

After dinner we went back to Matt and Suzie's where we watched Step-Brother (hilarious) and hit the sack!

On Saturday we spent most of the morning hanging out at Matt and Suzie's with their cute puppy Uli!

That afternoon Ben and I decided to stock up on winter gear (for this weekend's trip to Minneapolis) at Concord Mills Outlets. Living in South Carolina for 20+ years, I had never made it to Concord Mills for a shopping trip so it was fun!

After about 2 hours Ben was ready to pull his hair out so we ventured back to Matt and Suzie's where we helped them get ready for their party.

That night about 12 people came over for poker, Tarheel basketball, and Cranium.

Good times were had all around.

Sunday, Ben and I hit the road early and stopped in Spartanburg to have lunch with my parents, my sister and brother in law! It was a good time and we got a chance to show off Big Red, the Lexus!!!

Ben and I got home to Atlanta around 5pm and went straight over to Steph and Pat's!! We received the news over the weekend that they had some exciting news to share, so we went over to celebrate!

O-H-I-O

I spent Thursday and Friday of last week in Columbus, OH for work.

I managed to touch down in Columbus while the first winter storm of '09 was passing through! I really wish that the circumstances had been different because my opinion of Ohio (this was my first trip to the Buckeye state) was not very high.

I went from airport, to ice covered freeway, to hotel, to work, to hotel, to work, to airport.

Considering it was -11 degrees outside....the farthest I was willing to go to retrieve food was the gas station or the drive thru window!

Maybe I'll have better luck next time!

My apologies to all you Ohio lovers out there...you know who you are..ha ha!

One Midtown Kitchen

Last night big group of us went to One Midtown Kitchen in (obviously) Midtown Atlanta!

Very cool restaurant that I would highly recommend! A little on the pricey side but worth it.

Now on a side note, I've been told by several people (including my husband) that I am very unbiased when it comes to blogging about restaurants. I am told that I use the phrase "The best meal EVER" a little too often. To all those people I have one thing to say...bite me!

I can't help it that I'm a jovial person with a partiality to...well...all food!

But I will say this. Midtown Kitchen has the BEST calamari in the WORLD! And even Ben will attest to this. It was soooo good. I could have had a plate of it as my entree!

The duck was also fabulous too!

The dessert and wine were just on my (gasp) "okay" list but still the calamari was worth the trip downtown alone!

Thanks to Kim and Will for organizing and for everyone else who was there! A fabulous time was had by all!

Baby it's cold outside!!!

A cold front came through Atlanta this weekend and the Sullivans tried to stay indoors as much as possible!

Friday after work, I was on top of my game and went to the gym. While I was burning up the elliptical machine, Ben headed to happy hour and met Pat for some beers.

He promised to be home in time for our date night at the Melting Pot. I was very excited to use the gift card that my coworkers gave me for my bday! However, as soon as Ben was dropped off at the house I realized he had just a few too many at the local Hooters. We headed to Melting Pot where Ben proceeded to have our waiter in hysterics because over his drunken antics. I have to admit watching my husband in rare form (trying to dip the cauliflower in the cheese fondue) when you are sober is quite hilarious!

After dinner, we headed to our kball bar Charlie Mopps to help celebrate Amanda's brother's bday. We stayed til around midnight and then I took Benny Boo home to get some Z's!

Saturday we did some shopping (that's right...Ben went shopping! Shocker I know!) and then we had Pat and Steph over for dinner. I made Beer Can chicken in the oven and it turned out to be a hit!!! The chicken literally fell off the bone! Good times were had all around!

Sunday our book club met for lunch at Taco Mac and then went to see Marley & Me at the theater. It was a very good movie but make sure to bring a box of Kleenex! While I was at the movies Ben played in his first ALTA Tennis Match of the season. He was partnered with our good friend Grace, but sadly they did not end up winning! Sunday night I caught up with some reading (almost done with New Moon) and watched the Golden Globes.

We dvr'ed 24 and will get to watch 4 solid hours of Jack Bauer tonight...YES!!!!

December bday shout outs

Totally forgot to do the December bday shout outs!

Happy bday to Andy, Christina, and Leah! Love you lots!

Jury Duty!

Yesterday was my first experience at Jury Duty!! And Man oh Man what an experience it was!

I arrived downtown at 8:20ish in the AM and was sent into this huge room with about 200 people in it. Then they started calling people into various courtrooms around 9:30. I was juror #5 of 50 and sent to a courtroom on the 4th floor. There I met the defendant and the attorneys who proceeded to interview us individually to pick the 12 that would sit on the jury. I'm not really allowed to discuss the case but let's just say that the guy wasn't "dealing" office furniture if you know what I mean! Anyways, we had a two hour break from lunch where I got to hang with some of the other jurors. We went to Underground Atlanta for lunch. You know it's a small world when the lady I ended up sitting next to during the selection process lived in Spartanburg for 8 years and went to the same church I did...crazy!!!!

Anyways, I ended up not being selected...PHEW...so my civil duty was done at 4:30pm! Now let's hope my name isn't drawn at random again for quite some time!

...with Liberty and Justice for All!!!

Vampires, Darts, and Tennis...oh my!

Ben and I had a fun first weekend of 2009! I spent the entire New Year's Day "recooperating" from our party with a lot of won ton soup!!! But I love vegging by the fireplace on cold winter days!!! At least I caught up on all my dvr!

Friday night Amanda and I went to see Twilight!!! I have quickly become obsessed with the Twilight series...I know it's teeny bopper but I can't help it. Bella and Edward's love transcends all!!! :)

Saturday was spent undecorating the house from Christmas and then going to the gym. That night, Ben and I had date night at an Indian place near our house and then went over to Steph and Pat's. We ended up at North River Tavern playing darts til 2am but it was such a great time!

Sunday morning Ben and I went to watch our team's first tennis match of the season. Neither of us was scheduled to play yet but we thought it would be fun to stop by and cheer the team on. I do have to say that I am a bit intimidated after watching a match. I don't think Tennis and I are meant to be....good thing it was only $20 to join the league. I might just have to be a cheerleader for the season!

After tennis, Ben wanted to give half marathon training a try. I'm very close to convincing him to do it! I ran 6 miles in the park and Ben ran 5!

All in all a very fun and relaxing weekend!

Happy NEW YEAR!!!

Ben and Yosh

Kim, Amanda, and Kristen

Will, Ben, Melissa, Chris, Amanda, and Aaron

Kristen and Steph

The Sullivans!!!

Happy New year to everyone!!! I hope 2009 is a great year for us all! Ben and I are both so grateful that we have so much love in our lives!

We celebrated New Years this year with a shin dig at our pad. We were both a little tired of the same old song and dance that involves long lines and outrageous cover charges at the bar. So we had about 15 of our good friends over for dinner and good times!

It was so much fun!!!

Should auld acquaintance be forgot.....