First Annual Christmas Party:

This year Nicole and I decided to have a Christmas party. We wanted to be able to see several friends in the Atlanta area that we had yet to see since our big move 4 months ago. So Nicole went into planning mode for this 2 months ago with decorations, menu planning, activities, the perfect music, etc. All night Friday night we were cooking, and then it took all day Saturday to get it together - and it was well worth it! We had a blast and we think that our guest had a great time as well. After the party was over, we tumbled into bed after 1 AM and both said - we cannot wait to do this again next year. Atlanta is feeling a little more like home everyday. Here are some images from the party! Merry Christmas!

Christmas in our home:

Nicole and I thought that we would post a few pictures of our home during Christmas. We were so excited to actually be able to decorate our new home for the holidays. Last year in London we bought a small white tree from Tesco and called it a day. It is nice to be near home for the holidays. I have also posted some other images of our home. People have asked Nicole for more images - so here you go. Happy Christmas!!

Savannah At Christmas:

This past weekend Nicole, mom, dad, and I went to Savannah, Georgia to see what it was like for Christmas. We left Friday afternoon and came back on Sunday. We had a great time! Savannah is beautiful at Christmas. Everyone decorates with real greenery, fruit, etc. It is very colonial and right up all of our alleys! We also went to Paula Dean's restaurant and ate so much that we all thought that we were going to die. I had fried lobster and it was amazing!! We were shocked with how many amazing little boutiques Savannah had. One shop was called Paris Market and it was like we were in the middle of the Marias in Paris shopping, and another design shop from LA was was great!! Also, you must go to ShopScad and the Gryphon Tea Room on Bull Street. The Gryphon tea Room has an amazing lunch and the tea is fantastic. Shopscad is from the Savannah College of Art and Design and has the coolest design pieces. We were pleasantly surprised by what Savannah had to offer. Not only is it a historic city, but the new phase of Art and Design have made it a truly unique place to visit. We will be there again soon for sure!

Pictures in order of appearance:

1. Nicole and I by the Forsythe Park Fountain
2. Savannah Mansion Decorated for Christmas
3. Tiffany ceiling and chandelier at the Gryphon Tea Room
4. The Gryphon Tea Room
5. All of us at Paul Deans
6. Nicole and I

Thanksgiving in North Carolina:

This Thanksgiving we went to North Carolina to spend time with Nicole's family. We always have a great time in North Carolina and the time is always packed with visiting relatives, friends, and eating. Nicole and I both think that we gain a ton of weight everytime that we are there - but alas! Our sister in law, Shannon, is one of the best cooks around. She made an amazing Thanksgiving Meal and then kept cooking all weekend! She made Nicole's favorite which is called Chicken Pastry. It is an Eastern North Carolina thing that is similar to Chicken Dumplins, but better! We got to spend a great deal of time with the kids which are growing up too fast. We love spending time in North Carolina and are thankful that we can see them more now that we are back in the country!

Bleeker Wakes Up...

Most parents have pictures of their children when they wake up with crazy hair. We do not have children yet, but this is what Bleeker looks like when he gets up from a nap. We love him dearly!

A night out on the town...

Last night we met up with David and Mary Ellen Wright. Mary Ellen was a roomate of Nicole's at Lee and she and her husband David have recently moved from the Los Angeles area to Atlanta. We are so excited that we live in the same city and will finally get to spend time with dear friends. Last night we went to see their new home which is beautiful, and then we went out to Historic Buford and had an amazing meal at Sperato on the old town square. Nicole and I were talking on the way home about how much we have missed out dear old friends. We have loved the people that we have met over the last year, but there is something about friends who really know you. We had a great time and cannot wait to see them again.

Homecoming 06:

Nicole and I decided to go to Homecoming at Lee this past weekend. Niether of us had been since we graduated 8 years ago, so we thought that we should go. Also, Nicole's sorority was having their 10 year reunion, so she really wanted to see some of her old friends. We had a great time and got to see some really great friends. We got to spend a good part of Saturday with Dave and Autumn Scisciani who we love and are so glad that we have reconnected with them! We will be going down to Orlando soon to visit them. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Home Sweet Home:

Here are a few images from our new condo. We closed on this place about 6 weeks ago, but our stuff did not arrive from London until 2 weeks ago. We are thrilled to have more room and feel completly blessed to have this place. It is a perfect transition from the 1 bedroom apartments for the last 8 years, and we own it!! We live in the Buckhead area of Atlanta and only have to commute about 5 minutes to work each day. Across the street from our complex is a huge old neighborhood that we like to walk through with multi-million dollar houses. We love to walk through and dream.

Bleeker:

Many have asked how our dog Bleeker is adjusting to Atlanta. As you can see by these pictures, he loves it. Our condo community is full of dogs and they all meet every day around 5:30 in the dog park where they all can run around and have a great time. Nicole and I also take Bleeker on walks across the street and around Brookhaven Country Club. His new favorite thing is to chase squirrels. I guess that is a step up from the rats that he used to chase in NYC and London.

Brad

Fall Festival in Dahlonega, GA:

Since Nicole and I missed out on the fall foliage last year, we decided to head up into the North Georgia mountains on Sunday to take part in a Gold Rush Festival in Dahlonega. It was an hour drive from Atlanta and straight up 400. We looked at all of the arts and crafts, which was everything from air brushed t-shirts to homemade jams and butters. It was a mix between a Church Bake Sale and a NYC Street Fair. It did bring back good memories from our childhoods and made us slow down a little bit - which was worth going for sure!! For once we felt like a normal couple looking around and shopping. The last 4 months has been the stress of the anticipated move, to moving, to unpacking, and also adjusting to our new jobs. It was great not having a to-do list with 100 things on it. I liked Dahlonega, but I honestly think that Nicole I liked the escape more than anything. We also loved the outlet mall that was on the way that had everything from Pottery Barn to Saks fifth Avenue. If you know us well, you know that we purchased and had a great time doing so. The month to come brings escapes to us as well and we look forward to that. I think that we were on the go so much in London, that the thought of staying home more than two weekends a month frightens us a bit. Anyway... Fall is great in Georgia and I look forward to Winter. Is there really a winter in the South??

Brad

You do What?

Over the last 9 years, when someone has asked me what I do for a living and I say I work in Advertising, most people say "You do What?" I then have to explain that I am not the one behind the camera shooting a commercial, or the one that yells "Cut" when the film has stopped rolling, or in the ads themselves. My own family has a hard time understanding and after talking to most people in my line of business - nobody gets it unless you live and breath it daily. I think what I love most about my job is that I wear many different hats during my day. Sometimes I am styling a shoot, helping layout billboards, working with finance to make sure my projects are on budget, doing model scouting, searching for locations, and presenting a national newspaper media plan all in the same day. While on a location scouting venture last week for an upcoming photo shoot, my art director snapped these images of me working. You will see that I am a stand in model, checking angle details or shots, and scouting out the right location to shoot in this $700,000 home that is in the framing stage. Just thought that some of you would want to see.

Brad

We are alive and well / Actually Really Well!:

"I know, they said they would write about their new adventures, but they haven't!" I am sure that this thought has come across most of your minds over the last 6 weeks. I admit that we have been slack with the blog updates, but we have also been trying to recover from our international move. Nicole and I promise to get better now that we are both in a routine of jobs, etc.

A great deal has happened in the last six weeks and I will be posting pictures of some of the events soon. Our digital camera software was moved with our stuff and we will not have it until early next week. So we are relying on other people's images! Nicole is now in her second week at her new job where she is a Project Coordinator for Mosaica Schools which is an international Private School company. She is figuring out her job day by day as this is a new position and she is doing a great job at it! She is going to New Orleans next week with our friend Anna to help a school get organized in the Garden District. I tried to convince both of them that Anna's husband Jeff and I needed to go with them - but they seemed to not here that - ha! We have closed on our condo and hopefully will move in this weekend. It is a two bedroom place in Buckhead that we love. We both feel very blessed to be in this place as we have been in much smaller dwellings while in NYC and London. I love my job. It is such a breath of fresh air from my Microsoft days. I am actually having fun again which is worth the move for me! Bleeker has adjusted just fine. I think he could be anywhere and be fine as he has been more places than most, but he loves visits from his mamaw and papaw (my mom and dad)! He gets so excited to see them and they love him as well. Can you tell that we might need a child soon?

Atlanta is great. I must admit that I had doubts about it in the past and that is putting it mildly - but I am growing to love it day by day. There are so many nooks that most do not know about that make it unique and fun. And there are plenty of restaurants and shopping districts which keep Nicole and I busy. We went to church on Sunday to the Buckhead Church and really liked it. It is more our style than a traditional church. We are going to look at a few more before we take the plunge of membership / getting involved / etc. The people here are so nice and we love that aspect of this city. We have been so hardened by NYC and London and it is refreshing for people to smile or say "how are ya'll doing?" In moments like that - we know that we have made the right decision. Our friend Anna came to visit 2 weeks ago and I think that she said it best. When we get older, it is not about the cool places that you go or where you live - it is about family. We have loved having mom and dad only 2 hours away and Nicole's family only 6 1/2 hours away. It is nice to be in photos again or experience special times and days.

So - more to come with pictures. I promise!!

We are in Atlanta:

We are so sorry that it has taken us so long to update the blog! The last three weeks have been a complete whirlwind. We promise to update this as time goes on so that you can see our life here in Atlanta. Below are a a few of the things that we have gone through or done to get you up to speed.

• We flew out from London on Tuesday, August 8th. We almost didn't get Bleeker on the plane. Their was a debate at the Delta Service Center on whether or not he was too big for his Delta approved carrier. (Please note that the weight limit for Bleeker and his carrier was 17 pounds per Delta.com, our dear Bleeker was at 18.1 pounds with his carrier.) Through a great deal of nerves and prayer, he made it on the flight. He even slept in Nicole's lap for about 4 hours of the flight.
• We landed safely and met mom and dad at the airport. We noticed that we were being herded around a bit differently than normal and that there was more security than we had ever seen, but we moved on as we were excited to be at our new home and to see mom and dad.
• Wednesday morning we picked up our new cars. They were delivered and we are so happy to have them. I now have a 2006 Black Jeep Liberty and Nicole has a 2006 Silver Pontiac Vibe. It is odd for us to have cars as we haven't had them in about 7 years, but we are so happy not to be riding subways or buses any longer!
• Thursday morning - the terror plot was uncovered. Now we know why security was so tight on Tuesday. We are so thankful that we got out when we did, because Bleeker would not have been allowed to come with us. Thank you Lord!
• Sunday we went to look for Condos to buy and found one! We have bought a 2 Bedroom Condo in Buckhead and we close on September 21, 2006. It is almost 1200 square feet and so much larger than anything that we have ever had. We are so thankful for this place! It is in a gated community with a 24 hour security officer, it has hardwood floors, old world charm, granite countertops in the Kitchen, a nice Balcony, Pool, Gym, and a dog run for Bleeker. As you can tell, we really love it!
• On Monday I started my job and now that I have been doing it for 2 weeks, I am so thrilled that I accepted this position! It great to be excited about work again - enough said!
• Last weekend we went to Cleveland to see the grandparents and to pick up Bleeker as mom and dad had been looking after him for us so that we could run errands, etc. And this weekend mom and dad came to ATL so that they could see the Condo. We also went to Ikea for some odds and ends and have enjoyed trying out all of the new restaurants.
• For Labor Day we are headed to Goldsboro to visit Nicole's family and to celebrate Ben's 5th birthday! We are looking forward to some Eastern North Carolina BBQ and to spend time with the family!
• Nicole has some big interviews this week for positions that she really wants, so we have our fingers crossed for that!
• After Labor Day we will get more settled in our area and try and find a church and meet new friends. We still feel like we are on a vacation as life has changed so fast for us. There are moments that I get sad because I miss the fact that we can't hop to Paris in 2 hours or look through markets that are over 1000 years old. But we had a great run in the UK, and I am happier to be where we are now as our priorities have changed.

Talk soon!

Brad

Bleeker Goes With Nicole To Work:

Last Tuesday, Nicole took Bleeker to work with her for the day. He had a great time indoors with his new friends. He had lunch out at the park with Nicole and her friends and even had a team picture. If you have ever met Bleeker before, you know that he loves anybody and anything. Nicole said that he was an absolute angel at work and by the afternoon he had curled up on her desk and gone to sleep.

That's my boy!

B