Home Sweet Home!

I have been in Knoxville now for a total of seven days. Which is the longest I have stayed here in a long time. I had some doctor’s appointments last week, and one this week so I have just been hanging out instead of driving back and forth to Atlanta. However, I have no complaints because I have had a blast! Last week I was actually in town and finally able to make the monthly girl’s night dinner, where we went to Pasta Trio in the Old City. They have really good food there, but of course, most of the dishes are pasta, so if you aren’t a pasta lover, there is not a whole lot of other things to choose from. It is funny that most of my outings have been involving dinner, but I guess its one way to sit and actually catch up with people. Thank goodness I am walking every day around Lakeshore with Lucy. Otherwise I might gain a whole bunch of weight while I am in town.

Friday night I went to my dear friend Leighann’s house. She and her husband had a great cookout, and I got to see a lot of people I haven’t seen or been able to catch up with in years. Of course, what would be a Friday night if you didn’t go out to a bar. So I headed on down to Toddy’s, one of my favorite little bars in Knoxville. I had a absolute blast, which I guess when you are having fun time flies, because I looked down at my clock at one point and it was 2 am. Oh my! I haven’t stayed out that late in a long long time. But hey, what the heck, it was fun.

Saturday night, I was very fortunate to be able to go to Karen and Andy’s new house for a dinner party with Courtney, Nick, Justin, Katy, and myself. After dinner we played Cranium, and Have you Seen It? I was terrible at both games, absolutely terrible. Good thing we had teams of four and not teams of two.

It is always fun coming in town, seeing old friends, old babysitters, old youth group leaders, people you really do think about and miss but sometimes there is not enough time in the day to catch up in the phone. There is something about home when you are able to run into people you know at the grocery store, or the hair salon. It is a real good feeling of comfort. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but at the same time, I really do love Atlanta! The good news is, they are only three hours apart, so if I feel like being in my comfort zone, I can drive home at any time. There is nothing like Home Sweet Home!

Here is a picture of my girlfriends at Leighann’s cookout.

I am in Love…

I have been in Atlanta now for a total 7 days, and so far I have loved every minute. Even when I am just driving around by myself seeing what I can find, I am very content. There is so much to do, so much to see, so many shops, and so many people. It is amazing how much this city has to offer. I am currently unemployed, and I have two weeks left until school starts. Each day that goes by I get more excited, but also a little bit more nervous. However, I have been very lucky and have had plenty of things to do to keep my mind off of any potential nervousness. I came to Atlanta on Tuesday, and here is what my schedule has been like so far.

Tuesday – Dinner with David and Kay at the house
Wednesday – Dinner with two of my best girlfriends, Jessica and Laura at P.F. Changs
Thursday – Dinner with Justin at The Cheesecake Factory
Friday – I picked up my godmother Bettye Jane at Camelstone nursing home and we spent the whole day at Lenox mall. She said she had not been to Lenox in about two years. So yes, it was quite an eventful day, lots of walking around, lots of looking, and lots of shopping. After about 4 hours at the mall, I had to head home to get ready for dinner with Jessica, her mom and sister at Agave, ( a great restaurant by the way). After dinner Jessica, Jamie, and I all headed to Taco Mac’s, Lola’s, One Pace Over, then McDuff’s, and then finally home. Let’s just say I had a great time seeing what the different bars have to offer in Atlanta.
Saturday – a really fun St. Patty’s Day crawfish boil

Despite the nasty weather and tornado’s my first weekend here, it has been a great introduction week to Atlanta so far. I have met some really incredibly nice people, and I am so very fortunate to have great friends and family here who are so helpful and fun. Can I please say how great it is to be back in the south! And oh, Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

If I Was Not Poor…

If I was not poor there are a few things I would buy, one of them being jewelry. If I could, I would go buy all the David Yurman pieces I fall in love with every time I go in a jewelry store. Realistically though, I just can’t do that. However, I have found two jewelry lines that are a little more in my budget, and I really like their designs. The first being K-Amato, a jewelry line designed by a very talented girl originated with a degree in Chemistry before going into the fashion business. Who Knew? Not only does she have a great eye for design, but she also understands a woman’s need for beautiful jewelry. She uses the tagline “every girl should have one,” which can come true with her reasonable prices ranging from $30 to $100. Today, her jewelry has appeared in over 90 retail stores worldwide, and has been recognized in some of the top magazines. These are a few of the pieces I would buy. Be sure to check out her stuff here.

The second jewelry line I would buy from is Turq Jewelry. I have had their site bookmarked for years, and I can always find a new beautiful necklace or pair of earrings on their site. Two girls, one from NC, and the other from VA, met while working at a e-business consulting firm where they focused on branding and website design. Determined to start up their own web design business together, they branched off on their own. At the time, they were also making necklaces on the side for friends as gifts, and it wasn’t long before they had enough requests to form their own jewelry line, Turq Jewelry. Their designs have been featured on the Today Show, and have been worn by top celebrities. Not to mention, who knew they are based out of Atlanta Georgia? Maybe I will be lucky enough to run into them.

Their designs are beautiful, innovative, and one of a kind. I personally have never seen a jewelry line where every piece is so unique and fun. They are a little more out of my budget, but so worth it. Here are some of my favorite pieces.

Be sure to check out all their jewelry here.

Army Guys!

Years ago I would job search by looking through Print Magazine’s Annual Design, and if I would see a design I really liked, I would look up the website and write the name of the company down. I did this for a whole year when I was job searching, but of course most of the studios I fell in love with were too far away, or not hiring. Who knew I would end up in Annapolis 40 miles away from on of my favorite design firms, Design Army. I never got the chance to go tour the studio, or even say hi, which I am kicking myself for now, but I absolutely love their designs. Not to mention their own branding. On their site they talk about doing things differently and doing things better. They strive in understanding the client’s needs yet stretching creative potential. How many times do you get to actually do what you want, but yet still satisfy the client? Somehow, they manage to do this very well. With only five people working there, they seem to work really well together because the list of their awards is amazing. They must have at least 75 different awards they have won. Located in the Nation’s Capital, this design firm is forever bookmarked on my computer! Here are a few of my favorites from Design Army!

An annual report for the University of Virginia Library

Ballet Royale Brochures

Design Army Branding

I hope you love their designs as much as I do. Check out their stuff here.

The Joys of Moving!

Well I did it, I actually moved. It was this constant cinder block over my shoulder for weeks, constantly pounding my head on things I need to do, things I want to do before I leave, things I should do before I leave, ahh, talk about stress. My last day at Cyphers was the 28th, and everyone at work surprised me with a cake. It was really sweet. After work, I headed home to meet my dad who had driven all the way from Tennessee to help me move. Well, I had an idea this would happen. I knew my dad would get to my apartment and see all my stuff, and say, “I just don’t know how all this stuff is going to fit in the truck.” And he did! We played around with the measuring tape for a few minutes trying to figure out how we were going to load everything and fit all my furniture into the truck on Friday. However, the stress was getting to me, and I needed to leave for The Green Turtle to meet all my fellow coworkers for one last hurrah before moving. What a fun night! It was such a great get together before moving. I am really going to miss everyone I worked with. Each person was so different, and as a whole, we really made up a fun and energetic agency to work at. Here is a picture of my yummy cake from Maggie Moo’s, and the whole gang at The Green Turtle.

From left to right, myself, Garret, Danielle, Jason, Melissa, Jessica, Anna, and Luke
Garret used to work with us The Cyphers Agency. Garret was there for about 5 years, but I only got the opportunity to work with him for about 6 months or so. He now works at Orange Element in Baltimore.

Now back to the moving part. It went a lot better than I expected, and thank goodness Ben was gone the weekend I moved, because I had stuff everywhere. Thats the thing about moving, you keep finding all these little things you forgot to pack. It’s like, oh geez, I forgot to pack up food, oops, I forgot to pack the towels, it is just never ending. Things worked out pretty well. No car problems, which is almost unheard of with the Isaac family, no speeding tickets driving home, no pulled muscles, nothing got broken, so I could day things were in my favor with this move. I was really expecting something to happen, at least one thing. It’s quite a relief to get home safe and sound with no problems. Ben recommended two haulers his company uses to help me load furniture, and even though I didn’t want to pay someone to help, we really needed the help lifting. Ray and Bubba were their names, and man were they characters. Bubba was short and stumpy as Ray called him, so anytime Bubba looked like he might be having difficulties lifting something, Ray would say, “come on stumpy, quit being lazy, you can do it, you just chubby and need to loose a few pounds.” Ray was a little bit older, so anytime he lifted anything heavy, he would need a break for a few minutes. It was absolutely hilarious watching them. Here is a picture of my room when I started packing, and a picture of my room with just a few odds and ends left.

Overall, things went very smoothly! I made it to Atlanta, unloaded everything, and I am getting moved into my new place. Atlanta, I think we are going to have a great time together!