Happy New Year!!!

After the game we rang in 2011 at Taco Mac near the Lindbergh MARTA. It was a quiet ringing in, but wonderful because I was with Glenn and Ben. We had our last meal of 2010 and first meal of 2011 all at the same time. (Ben had grilled cheese, Glenn had "hot" chicken wings and I had "medium" boneless chicken wings.)

On Saturday morning we got up, packed up the car and started our journey back home. We did stop in Madison, GA --- a very cute little town --- for lunch at the Madison Chophouse. It was a terrific, traditional (grilled pork chop, collards and the best black eyed peas I've ever eated) New Year's Day meal.

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends. We hope 2011 is your best year ever!

New Year's Eve at the Chick Fil A Bowl

New Year's Eve was spend leading up to the Chick Fil A Bowl. We started our day with lunch (and watching the Clemson game) at Dantanna's. Then we stopped at this place across from our hotel called The Dump. It is far from being a dump, though. Great furniture (especially the massaging recliners) and greater prices.

After a short rest we took MARTA to the Georgia Dome where we walked around watching the people and hoopla. We headed into our seats early. Mine was in the 140 section and the boys were up in the Mezzanine. I had a great view of the field, but about midway through the first quarter I went up to an empty seat with the guys.

Unfortunately, the Gamecocks lost, but it was a good time anyway.

Riding MARTA to the game and then I got to hold a live Gamecock!

Chick Fil A Bowl 2010...Ben's first bowl game

each person got one of the cows

he dropped even more cows

Having a great time even though the Gamecocks lost!

a touchdown...FINALLY

Bowl Bound and Doing Some Shopping

On Wednesday afternoon we left for Atlanta again to shop, go the Chick fil A Bowl and ring in the new year. First stop was Spartanburg to pick Ben up from his grandparent's house where he spent a few days after Christmas. And, then, we met Clay and Sarah (his girlfriend) at Pizza Inn. One of those places I really miss since we don't have them in Columbia. When we got to ATL we checked into our hotel and watched some TV.

Thursday we slept in, ate breakfast and then went back to sleep for a little while longer. When we got up we headed out to Lenox to start our shopping day. Lunch at Prime was very good and gave us the energy we needed for some power shopping. From Lenox it was on to Phipps where Ben and Glenn loved seeing the cars (Maseraties, Lotus, etc.) on display. And, we did more shopping. Stops at Filene's Basement, Nordstrom Rack and DSW filled the trunk of the SUV!

We dropped off our packages and went in search of a Spanish restaurant I found in the hotel listing. It was exactly what I wanted.....delicious chicken, shrimp, sausage and calamari paella. So good! (I forgot to take a picture before we started, but you can see not much was left!) Itwas the perfect way to end a shopping marathon day!

By the way if you are wondering what we got, here is a little breakdown. Glenn -- a scarf, hat, shoes, belt. Me -- rainboots, sunglasses, 3 pairs of flip flops, 1 pair of Betsey Johnson's, 1 pair of Badgley Mischka's, a bracelet, a ring. Ben -- Puma sweatshirt, Puma shirt, Guess shirt, 2 pair of Polo jeans, Puma shoes, Puma hat, a second hat and slippers.

Our "First Honeymoon"

We were back from Las Vegas for 4 1/2 days when we packed up and headed off to the ATL for the SEC Championship. Although we lost to Auburn, we had a great time on our "first" honeymoon!

We left on Friday afternoon and arrived in time to attend a "President's Pigskin Preview" party at the Piedmont Driving Club hosted by President Pastides. The PDC was beautiful and although we didn't stay long (we wanted to go to Bluefin for dinner) I'm glad we stopped by.