Life in the Big House: August 2014

One of my friend's kid just turned one this past week and today was his first birthday party. On the invitation she said 'no gifts'. So what did I do? I took a gift.

I didn't get him toys or clothes or other things that will be tossed into a pile of others just like it. Well, I hope I didn't anyways! I wanted a gift for mother and son, so I got creative. And by creative, I mean I scoured Pinterest for a mother who has no time doable gift type project.

I decided on a birth announcement/stats type print. I had seen few tutorials on how to print on burlap, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I created the announcement in Word and then closely followed the steps here: (http://www.pinkwhen.com/how-to-print-on-burlap/#_a5y_p=1219055 ).

I didn't have any freezer paper at home, so JD was gracious enough to buy some for me on his way home from work.

I cut my burlap and my freezer paper to about the size of standard printer paper (8 1/2 x 11).

freezer paper on the left, regular paper on the right

I ironed the freezer paper on shiny side to the burlap, using the no steam setting on my iron. It went pretty quick and I did not have to hold the iron on for much time like I have in the past using iron on transfers.

I then trimmed my burlap/freezer paper down to the exact size and emptied all the regular paper out of my printer.

I had to test my printer out to figure with side it printed on before I went all in with the burlap.

I slid the burlap paper into the cartridge and crossed my fingers as I hit the print button.

I have to say I got a little nervous when the printer made a chugging noise....thankfully it printed without any issues!

I was thrilled with the outcome.

In case anyone is wondering, I printed this using a Canon MG5400 with all black letters. I haven't printed anything else since then, but I'm hoping this didn't cause any issues.

Ah, Paris. City of lights. Eifel Tower. French Fries….haha ok, maybe not French fries, and maybe not Paris either, but a girl can dream, right?

Instead of the City of Lights, we opted for a small Bed and Breakfast near Chattanooga, TN. Neither one of us had ever spent any time there and with it only being about 2 hours from Atlanta, we thought it would be a good option.

Downtown Chattanooga

We headed out of town Thursday after work and arrived in Chattanooga close to dinner time. We stayed at an easily forgettable hotel that did not leave a good impression (won’t happen again). We had dinner on the road and dined for desert (it was actually DESSERT) once we arrived. We walked around the downtown area and took a few photos along the way.

JD's dessert

My dessert

Oklahoma roots in TN

Tennessee River Sunset

Friday morning we were ready to go. We ate breakfast at a little café near downtown that had great reviews. The Bluegrass Grill was a fun little joint that was a mom and pop run kind of place. The food was good, but I have to say not as good as some of our hometown Atlanta breakfast spots.

After breakfast, we headed to Cloudland Canyon State Park to get our hiking on. There were so many trails to choose from, but we eventually settled on the one that would take us to the waterfalls (my weakness, my weakness not named Josh). The hike was a pretty easy one, with the exception of all those darn steps (more than ~~1000~~ 1200) and the company was pretty amazing (I agree!).

view from the top

Cherokee Falls

Famished from our hike, we hit a local BBQ dig that was recommended by a co-worker. Sugar's Ribs was really good and had a pretty nice view too. They had this cute little pig weather vane that I fell in love with (and wanted to steal) (hubby – buy me one please!!!).

Isn't he cute???

After lunch we did a bit more sightseeing and checked out Ruby Falls at Lookout Mountain. The falls is located about ½ mile through a cave into the mountainside. After we ~~are~~ were already in the cave, JD tells me he is claustrophobic, um, don’t you think before the elevator ride deep into the mountain would have been a better time to mention that?? (I was trying NOT to think about it). The trek through the cave was pretty neat and the falls was a sight to see. The individual who discovered the falls crawled on his stomach for 7 hours through a 14”x4’ wide space (F THAT!!!). No way jose. Not even if someone told me that after crawling for 7 hours I would see an amazing waterfall. Nope. Would. Not. Have. Happened. Guess that explains why his wife looked so happy in the photos...NOT!

Does this make you nervous??

That's JD's nervous face

worth the walk?

Finally, it was time to check into our bed and breakfast. The Chanticleer Inn was located on Lookout Mountain as well as right next to Rock City. From the outside it was a cute little grouping of stone cottages. It was either Aubrey or Audrey (Aubrey) that checked us in and she was very nice and friendly. She showed us around the inn, the pool, the dining room, the living room and finally to our room.

the cottages

breakfast on the patio

living room

our room was on the left

Once we were settled, we treated ourselves to an afternoon snack/desert available in the living room. It was AMAZING. The best peach cobbler I have ever had. EVER. Along with homemade whipped cream and chocolate chip cookies. Did I mention it was AMAZING?? It was. AMAZING that is. It was pretty AMAZING.

the most delicious peach cobbler ever

and cookies

After our obligatory snack time, we took a quick nap to refresh ourselves from our hiking, or maybe it was the peach cobbler, we may have been in peach cobbler coma, maybe….

Dinner was at a Big River Brewing Company (another co-worker suggestion). We didn’t eat much dinner; I blame it on still being full from the peach cobbler, but what we did have was again really good.

The room at the inn was so comfortable. We had a queen size bed, a nook with a Keurig and coffee pods, a huge bathroom with a shower and a Jacuzzi tub, plus some super soft bath robes. The only complaint I have is not the inn’s fault but more my own, the vanity and mirror in the bathroom was a (you don't like the letter a, do you) wee bit high….or maybe I’m just short.

Breakfast was delicious, not as good as the peach cobbler, but still really delicious. There was a mini breakfast bar available in the dining room with homemade breads and peach jam, pecan pie muffins (yummy!), fresh fruit, yogurt with homemade granola (more deliciousness) and made to order pancakes (blueberry, pecan or plain) and bacon. EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING was amazing. I’m pretty sure I should be running right now due to the weight I gained while I was there. GO RUNNING!!!!