Jones Fam Lake Oconee Weekend

Each summer the Jones clan plans a big vacation for all 20(ish) of us to spend time together. This summer, everyone's schedules were just so packed, that we settled for a long weekend at the lake. It was SUCH a good time and absolutely loved seeing that family of mine. 

We got in around 7pm on Friday night and called it a pretty early night. Luckily we did, because this girl was up at the crack of dawn asking "Is it swimming time!?" (And she clearly didn't need that last sip of my coffee...)

We boated, swam, tubed, fished.. we did ALL the things. 

This girl was in the water from sun up to sun down. She is a FISH and has zero fear. 

Our cousins from Arizona were there and all my aunts and uncles. (front row: step dad Chip, Mom, Grandma, Granddan. back row: mom's brother Clint, Aunt Denise, Aunt Shannon, and mom's other brother Andy)

I didn't dry my hair or put on make up all weekend and it was absolute perfection! Saturday night Tyler treated us ladies to a little booze cruise. SO lucky to have these two in my life. GEMS.

Maddie Jane caught her first fish! A crappie! And AJ made her kiss it, ha!

While we were outside, Maddie Jane put Grandaddy in charge of taking care of Ping. I think they got along just fine :) 

AJ fished just about as much as Maddie Jane swam. They were both in heaven!

We had the BEST weekend. Our family is staying until Wednesday, and we so wish we could have too! But we are LA bound tomorrow, so we had to get back to work. HUGE shout out to my sweet grandma for renting this gorgeous house on Lake Oconee and making family time such a priority. Love that bunch of mine!! 

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Atlanta Food & Wine Festival

Last Saturday Beverly and I went to the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival. We were absolutely GIDDY the days leading up to this event. We had won these VIP tickets at Brookhaven Sip and Stroll and we were counting down the minutes till the event. We literally did all things food and wine all.day.long.

We started the day in the Connoisseur's Lounge with breakfast and breakfast cocktails. It was an all things Arkansas breakfast buffet.. all the fancy poached eggs, and grit cakes, and potatoes you could imagine.



With our VIP pass, we were able to pick three learning experiences for the day. We received the tickets pretty close to the event, so unfortunately a lot of the good ones were already gone.



Our first one was another Arkansas inspired class called the "Arkansas Ham".. The butcher discussed the special breed of pig he had designed for the rugged area of the Ozarks. This particular ham had cured TWO YEARS and we were the first to try it!!

They also talked about pairings with different types of charcuterie. You normally think red wine, right?? Well the sommelier was actually noting that champagne is the best for a meat/cheese plate, because you have so many complex flavors. Never though of it like that, but totally makes sense!





The butcher also brought his bar manager with him. They discussed how they literally waste NOTHING. At Thanksgiving they will take the turkey bones and boil them down to broth, and then take those bones and infuse vodka and make a Thanksgiving cocktail, and then after that, they will use the bones as fire starter. Such a cool concept right??

In this demo, he infused the rum with leftover pineapple parts and made quite the stiff cocktail.



In between each learning experience, we had a 45 minute break. Thankfully we got to get comfy with champagne in the Connoisseur's Lounge on their plush couches and gorgeous views.



Next up on the list was Women Who Wine.. three leading ladies in the food and beverage industry talking about all things wine. One writes about wine for Forbes and owns a wine analytics company. I was totally texting AJ about it the whole time, ha! He would've loved her.



Anddd after a nice little rest and some pedialyte slushies (YES they had pedialyte slushy machines!!) .. we were off to the tasting tents! It rained cats and dogs the day before, but the thought did not even cross our mind that it would still be wet/muddy....

SO my Tory Burch sandals are pretty ruined, and my photography definitely slowed.. but here we go! HA! Just going to do a big dump of what I did capture :) 

I need a guy with an oyster shucking bucket belt at my next party...

I had the best time with this friend of mine! It wasn't exxxxactly how we had imagined the day, BUT we had so much fun together! By 9pm our bellies were stuffed and we were sooo ready for our bed (and a loonnggg hot shower)!!

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Friday Favorites!

1. THIS GIRL

You guys... we have turned the corner on the terrible twos and we see the light at the end of the tunnel. She is not perfect by any means... but we have less crying, and tantrums, and lashing out. I think it's the development of more words to tells us how she feels. We have had some of the sweetest moments lately and I am so so thankful! 

2. BEST FRIEND TIME

Kell and I have a rule to never go more than two weeks without seeing each other. And with all her work travel and personal travel (she jetted off to Italy for two weeks - poor girl, right!?) and then I was in Chicago..We went like a month!!! But last night we downed a bottle of wine and made homemade pizza and it was the BEST.

3. UPGRADED BREAKFAST

I started adding radishes to my avocado toast and holy YUM. That little crunch is just so dang good. Crazy how starting your day with such an amazing breakfast can really set the bar for a solid day.

4. BACKYARD RENO

Backyard reno phase two is done!!! This picture is from minutes after they got done and there is still dust everywhere, but we are so in love!!! Extending the patio and adding the walkway has improved it so insanely much. I can't even imagine how pleased we will be once we get the patio roof!! Bring on all the summer nights out there! 

5. I PASSED!!!!!!

I saved the best for last. After months and months of studying, I took the SHRM certification test today and passed!!!! It was so insanely hard and exhausting, but I am so dang proud!! Going to add those little initials to my LinkedIn profile right now!! 

I hope you guys have an amazing weekend! I am gearing up my belly and liver for 12 hours of food and drink at ATL Food and Wine Festival with Bev!!!!! 

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