Advice From The Experts: Pond Hopper

Tomorrow's guest contributor and I go way back... ten years to be exact. I met Bennett Golder on the very first day of my freshman year at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia. It was kind of hard not to notice Bennett's snarky sense of humor and bubbly personality. If it wasn't for Bennett, I probably wouldn't have made it through Mrs. Frazer's Freshman English class without stabbing a pencil through my eye (yes, it was THAT fascinating). Bennett sat behind me and spent the entirety of the movie Romeo and Juliet cracking jokes into my ear and scrawling notes to me on his textbook - a textbook we later learned would be returned to the same Mrs. Frazer at the end of the year. Yikes. We didn't call her 'Frazer like a razor' for nothing.

A few years ago, Bennett crossed the big pond and made a life for himself in London. While I've taken up short-term residence in foreign countries before, I have always dreamed of jumping ship and actually doing it long-term! Tomorrow, Bennett is going to share what he's learned from his experiences in London and how living there has given him an outside perspective on his red, white and blue roots. It'll be a fun read for sure! Stay tuned for Bennett's article tomorrow!

Friends-giving: The Best Kind of Turkey Day!

I am currently in the great state of Indiana. Middle America. Cornfields and blue skies for days (well, in the summertime maybe). It's a great place to spend Thanksgiving because first of all, these people know how to cook. Second of all, I'm here to meet two new additions to Adam's family... his new twin nieces Kaia and Kierra. Now while I wasn't able to offer Amy and Ian a million dollars for the photo rights to their sweet babies, they played along anyway and let me snap some photos of the lovely ladies for all of you! Aren't they just the sweetest?

  

I have a confession to make... we haven't celebrated Thanksgiving yet. Shhhh, don't tell anyone. Yeah, I know it was yesterday, but the Rust family is so huge that logistically speaking they have to observe Thanksgiving on Friday night to accommodate everyone. That's fine by me because it gives me an extra day to anticipate the culinary delights of Thanksgiving dinner.

In lieu of pictures from my Thanksgiving celebration which has yet to happen, I thought I'd share pictures from last weekend's Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner Party at my apartment. While the party was really just a nice way to light a fire under my butt to finish decorating the apartment, the whole 'friend thing' wasn't bad either. Twenty people showed up, all bearing dishes to share... and well, the rest is history!

This year, I am thankful for friends like these! Friends that make the holiday season seem a bit more special!

Friends that show up bearing semi-nutritious concoctions (because they know me). And friends that succeed in NOT spilling any red wine on my new bedroom rug! Good job, friends!

Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Enjoy the pictures and I'll be back in blog-action on Monday!

Our makeshift bar, bitters and everything!

Sometimes you have to 'test' the cocktails the night before while prepping the food... just to make sure they're good.

Adam decided to go all out and roast a chicken (we figured we'd save turkey for the real celebration on Thursday)...

...and he made a pork loin, which was out of this world.

A party is the perfect excuse to (1) buy Christmas lights early (2) hang all your yet-to-be-hung pictures, and...

...(3) buy flowers for yourself!

Good parties call for good sunsets!

Basting that chicken so it's nice and tasty!

Seasoned the pork with his secret ingredients!

I wish my stove top looked like this every day!

'Big Apple' Stuffing made with apples and NY bagels... courtesy of Megan Ferrara!

Katrina's pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting! Nom nom nom.

Love these beautiful people!

Two Georgia Bulldogs representing!

The food was REALLY, REALLY, REALLY good. Right, Alex?

Ryan and Katrina...the cutest.

Caius must've been a bit stuffed.

Two lovely ladies, Katie and Ari.

A Flywheel reunion!

Ari was faced with WAY too many options....however did she choose?

I don't think Ty and I have EVER taken a serious picture.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Katrina was forced to write her name on her cup
after two drinks were stolen right out from under her! Thank God for Sharpies!

Ryan was clearly telling an awesome story.

And the best part about throwing a dinner party at your house? Leftovers for lunch the next day!

Oh... and all those leftover bottles of wine!

Friday Song O' The Day: Redneck Woman (Gretchen Wilson)

This Friday's song TOTALLY came out of left field. It popped into my head and I decided that (while I may not be a redneck), I AM from the South and every once in awhile I need to sneak away from the bright lights of the big city and head up into the hills. 

This weekend I'm going camping with eight of my closest friends and a cooler full of tasty food and beverages. Last time we went camping as a group, a friend (who shall not be named) split her head open on a tree and another friend twisted her ankle on the trail when we were still 1 hour away from the campsite. Let's hope for better luck this time!

Have a fantastic weekend and remember to relax! Over the river and through the woods I go!!!

Advice from the Experts: Opinionated Friends in Fitness!

I have a lot of friends in the health and fitness world. So many actually that I don't have enough phalanges to count them all on! I feel selfish keeping them to myself, so I thought it would be great to let them share input and advice on the page. 

Tomorrow, we are starting things off with our first contributor... the infamous, the one-of-a-kind, the breathtakingly handsome and bilingual (yes, ladies, he's bilingual) David Prado.

Prado was my first spin instructor over 5 years ago in Athens, Georgia, where we both attended the University of Georgia. He was also on the University of Georgia cycling team. In addition to cycling, Prado worked as an AFAA Certified Personal Trainer in Athens and Atlanta. These days, you can find Prado at Flywheel, a new boutique cycling studio in Atlanta. I lovingly called him the 'Sensai of Spin' in college... so clearly this is an attempt to live up to his title.

And live up to it, he does! His classes are hard AND he has been known to yell a time or two, but the results are a testament to his madness!   ...And the music's not too bad either.

Prado's version of 'Blue Steel'... as for me, who knows.

On top of everything else, Prado is one of the smartest people I know. He's finishing his last year of law school at Georgia State and has grand plans to take over the world! He also makes a mean mojito and can salsa dance like no other (he is Colombian after all).

Look for Prado's post tomorrow!

...And if you live in the Atlanta area, check out one of his classes at Flywheel by clicking on the link below:

http://atlanta.flywheelsports.com/instructors/david-prado