Day 23: SweetWater Brewery Tour

Tonight, we went to the SweetWater Brewing Company to take the tour and sample the beer.  SweetWater is an awesome local beer company.  In fact, this is the only location where they make and bottle the beer, which is very impressive considering how many locations you can find it in the Southeast.  They're not big on over-expansion since they really do care about the quality of the beer.  

It's free to take the tour and to get a small cup, which gets you 6 tastes of beer.  Or for a small amount, you get a keepsake glass and 3 refills.  We opted for the freebie, which was still plenty and totally delicious!  My favorite is the SweetWater Blue (with a mild blueberry flavor) and Adam likes their IPA.  The tasting room is kind of fratty, but we'd still highly recommend it, especially for an after work happy hour date!

 They used to let locals help bottle the beer and pay them with as much beer as they could carry home for their services, but the IRS has stepped in and won't let them do it anymore!

Dank Tank is for new samples they try out at the brewery.  The most recent one was called "Donkey Punch".  They get pretty silly with their names!

They won't notice if I just borrow one of these boxes, right???

Day 22: Dave & Busters

Dave & Busters is like an arcade for grown-ups.  They have a restaurant, a bar, pool tables, and tons of arcade games.  They offer an eat and play combo that we like to buy sometimes.  For $15.99, you get dinner and a $10 game card.  Adam also had a coupon for an extra game card, so we got to spend a long time there tonight.  Our favorite games are Skee-ball, Chip-Away, and the ones where you try to drop the coins to get lots of tickets.  We've got over 1,000 tickets now, but those are still only good for crappy stuffed animals and toys.  One of these days you will be mine, crappy food chopper that I could buy myself for a tenth of the money we've spent on the game cards anyway!  Oh, yes.  You will be mine!

Day 21: Gwinnett County Fair

Fall is my favorite time of year for many reasons, but I love, love, love county fairs!  Tonight we went to the Gwinnett County Fair and it did not disappoint.  Corndogs, Carnies, and Cows, Oh my...  I think I could ride the spinning rides all night long until I puke!  We had so much fun and I really wish the fair went on for a month instead of just a few weeks.

 Like Best in Show for cows!

 Side shows aren't exploitive right?

 The sign said "educational" at the bottom, so I guess that's how they get away with it...

 It's a fact that foods on sticks just taste better.

 Seriously.  Roasted corn is the best food ever!

 I love all the country crafts and farming contests!

 On one of the spinning rides

 Fair Fail:  They're chipmunks, not hamsters.

 Such an awesome night!

Day 20: Bond. James Bond.

We've been on a Bond kick lately and were curious about On Her Majesty's Secret Service, since it's often referred to as the best Bond film and it's the only one featuring George Lazenby.

It was really good, and you should check it out (if for no other reason than to ogle Diana Rigg's cleavage)!  Lazenby is supposed to be closer to Ian Fleming's Bond than any of the other actors, which means he lacks the overly suave attitude of Sean Connery, but keeps his cool in any situation.  Also, this is the only Bond film in which James gets married and there is a really tragic twist; possibly the reason that James never settles again...

Day 19: Heading home...

We really wished we could've stayed in Cali a few more days but it wasn't possible.  We had a great time and got to depart out of the airport with 3 names: Orange County, Santa Ana, and John Wayne, pilgrim!

Day 18: Exploring Hollywood and Weinfurter Nuptials

Since the wedding wasn't until the evening, we decided to check out some of the famous tourist spots in Hollywood.  Seriously, the weather alone might make me leave Atlanta.  It was gorgeous!  Although, everything you ever read about the L.A. smog is true.  It's so strange to look off into the blue sky knowing there are mountains there but not be able to see them!

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is very touristy and crowded.  My inner-mind images of glamorous movie stars and shiny names in stars was quickly erased by passers-by with fanny packs and celebrity look-alikes who want your money in order to take your picture with them.  Still, it was so much fun to take in all that history and find all the different names and signatures!

Sunset Boulevard was so exciting!  The 1960's-1980's were very exciting decades to have been on the Sunset Strip with bands like The Doors, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, and Guns n' Roses. Seeing those famous rock venues kind of gave me butterflies thinking about the musicians that have passed through the doors.  Adam would say, "Look there's the Whiskey!" "Hey, there's the Roxy!" and I would just squeal with excitement.  I think I may have been channeling Pamela Des Barres while we were there...

 Sigh...  Taking it all in.

Alas...  The wedding!  Paul and Lisa were married in Pomona, which is sort of a hilly desert area and absolutely breathtaking!  The ceremony and reception were both held at the Kellogg Mansion (as in the cereal family) and the evening could not have been more perfect.  There was foos ball, a mint chocolate wedding cake, and dancing all night.  We had a fantastic time and send many happy wishes to the newlyweds!

Filipino fans from Lisa's family

 Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Weinfurter!

 The gorgeous Kellogg Mansion

 Beautiful succulents and orchids bouquets

 Enjoying ourselves!

 Everyone surprising Paul and Lisa with a flash mob

 Happy Newlyweds!

Day 17: Dinner with the Weinfurter Clan and Downtown Disney

Tonight we were able to meet up with the soon to be wed couple, Paul and Lisa, and Paul's family for dinner at a restaurant called Islands.  We had a great time and the weather was actually kind of chilly compared to Atlanta, which has still been really humid lately!  Paul's family recommended that we head over to Downtown Disney afterwards.  It's beside DisneyLand and sort of like an outdoor mall.  Parking is free and you can also see the fireworks at DisneyLand.  It was so much fun and turned me into a little kid all over again!

 Disney had all their Halloween decorations out already!

 Our goody bag from the bride and groom.

Day 16: Packing for a California Wedding

One of my best high school friends, Paul, is getting married in Southern California this weekend so we spent tonight packing.  Can't wait!

Day 15: Dinner and Xbox Trivial Pursuit with Maleea and Pete

One of my best friends, Maleea and her boyfriend Pete cooked an awesome meal for us tonight!  Afterwards, we played Xbox Trivial Pursuit and had a great time.  It took forever to get all the pieces, but I actually won!  Thanks guys!

Our delicious meal!

 Here we go...

 It gets pretty intense, dude.

 Our awesome hosts!

Day 14: Splatter Cinema at The Plaza Theatre

The Plaza Theatre is just amazing!  It's the only independently owned and operated movie theatre in Atlanta and they always have really cool events.  Every Friday night, they show the Rocky Horror Picture Show.  They also have monthly themed events: Spook Show, which features classic monster films and sketch comedy beforehand, and Splatter Cinema, for the fan of more modern bloody horror films.  Splatter Cinema always has a really fun photo-op also.  They showed the remake of The Blob tonight and we had a blast!

I love how they used all the movie posters as wall paper!

Adam got attacked by The Blob!

Day 13: Birthday dinner at Dante's Down the Hatch

Today was an awesome birthday!  I got a bottle of bubbly from one of my co-workers, and some flowers from Adam.  Then he surprised me with a fondue dinner at Dante's Down the Hatch.  If you've never tried Dante's, it's a truly unique experience.  It's TOTALLY dated now, having its heyday in the 70's...  There is still tons of dark wood, dark lighting, and orange and green stained-glass.  However, the theme of the restaurant is a giant pirate ship and dock, so the design still goes pretty well with the old pirate theme.  Also, there is a nightly jazz trio performance and crocodiles, all while serving all the necessary ingredients for a fantastic fondue dinner.  Yeah, it's that awesome.

After dinner, I opened all my presents.  Adam really outdid himself this year!  He's really good at picking out cool gifts.  I got a cupcake carrier, a cherry-covered apron, several other goodies, and a PBR snow hat and mitten set.  I'm a lucky girl and 30 is looking pretty great so far!

Mmmm...  Cheese!

Crocodile

Yo Ho Yo Ho!  A pirate's life for me!

It's going to be a PBR kind of winter!