Sweet Sunday

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I just LOVE Sundays. For Pete, Sundays are a great re-charger for an upcoming week of tests and studying. For me, Sundays are a special treat because I get to spend so much of the day with (a relatively stress-free) husband. Knowing that Sunday will come really helps me during the busy weeks, where it seems like time with Pete is minimal. Even Emery appreciates Sundays, where she usually gets out of taking one of her naps and gets lots of daddy time at church and at home. Basically, Sundays are all around good for the Hoyt household.

Yesterday was a particularly nice Sunday. Emery did well at church, and even slept for one of the hours. We really enjoyed the lessons and talks given (and I remembered to pack church snacks...which we all know makes church waaaaay better). After church, we had a visit from our awesome home teacher---always a good experience. Then, Emery and I had naps and we went on a little family walk at Stone Mountain Park. After coming home and putting Emery to sleep, we called our families back at home. I caught the Jensen kids and parents just as they were starting to carve pumpkins and got to talk to almost everyone for a little bit. Talking to my family always makes me homesick, but is a great way to end the day.

I'm surprised at how simple things can enrich life so much...

 ...like brownies from a neighbor,

or beautiful fall leaves.

Sweet family moments,

beautiful, hazy skies,

Or quiet, relaxing, sweet Sundays.

Atlanta Underground Market

Our neighbors recently told us about the Atlanta Underground Market. Their description sounded intriguing, so last month, Pete and I decided to try it out. We had so much fun! Here is the website's description of what it is:

While living in San Francisco I had so much fun going to the San Francisco and Oakland Underground Markets and sampling all the delicious foods prepared by people in their private kitchens, that I felt I had no choice but to start one in Atlanta 

There are a lot of home cooks and food artisans in Atlanta,  who have awesome dishes to share, but who don't have the platform to do so outside of their circle of friends. And we're not talking your average fried chicken or hot dogs, but real gourmet slow food, that you may not be able to get anywhere else, whether meat centric dishes, vegetarian or vegan food. 

This being a private club gives the vendors the opportunity to share their dishes, and it gives members the chance to taste concoctions that they may otherwise never have had the opportunity to do. It's an incubator for new food talent.

In order to go, you have to sign up on the website and sign a waiver saying you know that the food may have been prepared in a place not inspected by the health department (Pete was a bit nervous about that...luckily, we're still alive to tell our tale!). The market is held once a month in a location which is made known by e-mail the night before the event. Last month it was in a parking lot at Atlantic Station. 

If you're super bored, up at obscene hours with a baby, or otherwise need free entertainment, you can play "Where's Waldo" with this YouTube video---see if you can spot me and/or Pete :)

The cost to get in was $3, and then each food item was priced $1-$5. Sounds cheap, right? We quickly found that the portion sizes were tiny and it was easy to spend tons of money, because there's so much stuff and we wanted to try everything. Even as I watch the video, I see food that I didn't even come across while we were there. Next time, we will pace ourselves---maybe even eat a light dinner before we go so that we're just sampling things and not spending a ton. 

I was feeling adventurous, so we tried the alligator gyro! As I took my first bite, I thought "hmm, this tastes like chicken." Then I continued to chew, and thought "hmm...now I'm getting an almost seafood flavor." Then "Eeew, I'm eating alligator!" And Pete ate the rest :) At least I tried it, right?

These people were so nice---they made one of my favorites, "Ethiopian Masala," and let me take their picture.

View of the city from where we were

Pete and Emery waiting in line for a Venezuelan Arepa (kind of like a Pita with yummy sauce and roasted butternut squash, eggplant, and other yummy veggies).

All in all, we had a great experience and will definitely be going back next month. It was so fun to get our tastebuds out of their comfort zone and experience new foods in a fun atmosphere. If any friends want to come with us in November, sign up and let us know! We learned some important lessons that we can pass on (like the later it gets, the more crowded it is. And don't wait to try the cake pops---the best flavors will be gone).

Halloween with Uncle Tim

Pete's younger brother, Tim, just got home from serving a mission in the San Fernando, California Mission. We were so happy to have him come visit us for just a few days this past weekend! Our ward Fall Festival fell on the same weekend and included a chili cook-off, games, and trunk-or-treat. I was kind of stressed getting costumes ready, as I've never been a big fan of Halloween in general. I ended up figuring out something for me and Emery, and I gave Tim the assignment of coming up with Halloween costumes for Pete and himself.

I was impressed with how well Tim followed through on his assignment. In fact, this is what happens when you put Tim in charge of Halloween costumes:

1) He'll send you the picture below and say "here's an option." You'll laugh, thinking he's joking, and then forget all about it.

Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee
(from Alice in Wonderland...in case there's anyone else out there who, like me, didn't know who these fine characters are)

2) You'll ask him what he decided on and he'll answer your curious inquiries with "it's a surprise."

3) The next thing you know, you'll find yourself looking like this:

(Tim dubbed Pete "dum" and himself "dee")

My favorite reaction to Tim and Pete's costumes was a friend's from church, who asked "So...do these costumes have anything to do with the way you guys are perceived at home?" My laugh was his answer. Pete and Tim have a special bond as brothers and provide lots of laughs together (as well as awkward, questioning looks) in the family setting. Having Tim here has been so fun, as he brings out a unique side of Pete...or maybe I should say he amplifies Pete's natural personality. Either way, that Pete consented to dressing up as Tweedle-dum is concrete evidence of the effect Tim has :)

For Emery's costume, I have to give a big thanks to my mom, who made the hat, picked up the tights, and helped with the onesie that all combined to turn Emery into an adorable little owl. She is very much into flapping her arms around these days, so an owl was a pretty good fit for her. I managed to finish a thrown together, hot glue gun mess of a momma owl costume for myself, so we could match :). I think it turned out pretty good, considering the fact that the main constituents are a pillow case and fleece with absolutely no sewing involved.

 Naturally, I took about a-million-and-one pictures of my first baby on her first Halloween. Here's several:

flapping and flying

Thanks to Tim and our ward party, I enjoyed celebrating Halloween more than ever before. Tim's convinced that Emery isn't his biggest fan, but judging by the picture below, I'd say she's a pretty happy girl to have an uncle like him!

...or maybe she just likes Tweedle-Dee :)

When Grandma Came to Atlanta---Part III

Saturday may have been my favorite day of my mom's visit. We drove north through rolling hills and beautiful green trees to Amicalola Falls State Park. We hiked to the top of the waterfall (more like stair-stepped to the top of the waterfall---600 stairs total) and were rewarded with a gorgeous view of the Appalachian mountains. I bet this view would be even more breathtaking in a couple weeks when the trees are showing their Fall colors.

at the base of the falls

The beginning of the trek back down

smiling at Grandma

After the hike, we continued driving to Ellijay to the Georgia Apple Festival. The festival itself is held at the fairgrounds and is basically galoads of vendors sell crafty things, fried things, and all things apple (caramel apples, apple cider and apple cider donuts, apple dumplings and fritters, etc.). There were also numerous local orchards open for U-pick, selling their apples and apple goodies and providing all kinds of fun events like hayrides and pig races.

Our Ellijay stay wasn't very long, because Pete had something to do at home. We quickly stopped at Hillcrest Orchard and got some apples. We decided to save the hayrides, etc. for next year, when Emery is older and will have more fun. Then we went to the festival itself at the fairgrounds. We definitely hadn't anticipated the traffic/parking situation there. People were parking miles away and being bussed to the fairgrounds---it was pretty crazy. We almost decided to just go home, because our time was running out, but then we miraculously found a parking spot only a short distance from the fairgrounds. By the time we got into the fairgrounds, we only had about 10 minutes before we needed to head for home. We didn't get to see much, but the three of us (my mom, Pete, and I) really wanted to try some of the food, so we decided to divide and conquer and then meet back up to share our southern goodies.

picking up a few apples in the craziness at Hillcrest Orchards

All in all, by the end of out trip to the orchard and festival, we had tasted delicious apple cider, fresh apple cider donuts, caramel apple, and fried green tomatoes (oh, and a corn dog, because out of all the variety  of southern food at the festival, Pete chose to buy a corn dog. This makes me laugh).

The rest of my mom's stay with us was a little more relaxing than the first several days. After church on Sunday, we did a little Emory campus tour and Pete and I took a 2 hour nap. (That small detail is blog-post worthy, because the last time I took a nap was, well...I don't remember. Months ago though). On Monday, my mom, Emery, and I went for a walk at Lullwater Park on campus, and spent time together doing other things I don't remember. What I do remember, and what I enjoyed the most about my mom's visit were the simple things: watching her and Emery play together, chatting and doing crafts together, laughing as we watch dumb shows on netflix, and doing lots of active stuff like walking and hiking. She helped so much with dishes, meals, Emery, etc. I threatened that if she didn't stop, I wasn't going to let her go home!

Nearly everyday since she left, either Pete or I make a comment on how fun it was to have my mom here and how much we miss her! We can't wait until December when we get to visit her and the rest of our families!

When Grandma Came To Atlanta---Part II

You know a day is going to be great when it begins with this:

my mom's pumpkin muffins, made by the husband! I've been craving these muffins for a while. Not only for the taste, but for the cinnamon and nutmeg aroma that fills the home when they're baking. After devouring these scrumptious little things and giving Emery a morning nap, we loaded into the car and headed to Stone Mountain. Once there, we drove around the huge park and then hiked up the mountain (which is really more like a huge stone). We had a great little hike and kind of fell in love with the area; lakes, nature trails, and good biking roads make it a place we are really excited to go back to soon.

look what we found, etched into Stone Mountain! 

After Stone Mountain, we came home and let Emery take a nap. Then we headed to Underground Atlanta. Aaaand...let's just say that's a place I won't likely be going back to. There just wasn't much there, and I spent the whole time feeling like I was going to get robbed. Oh well---at least we saw some of downtown Atlanta! After the Underground Market flop of a trip, we headed to Mellow Mushroom for my birthday dinner. We knew it would be sure to redeem our evening.

Mellow Mushroom is a pizza place that actually neighbors our apartment complex (dangerous. Very dangerous). We first tried their pizza shortly after moving in and although the restaurant itself doesn't look like much, we have been hooked on their delicious pizza ever since. They have fun pizzas like Chicken Caesar, BBQ Chicken, Potato Pie, Buffalo Chicken, and a yummy Gourmet White pizza that goes well in combination with anything. I could go on, but the main point is, I basically love this place and it was so nice of my mom to treat us to some Mellow for my birthday! We got a small pumpkin cheesecake to each try a few bites of and it didn't disappoint either.

Later that evening, we enjoyed some piping hot, homemade apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. Let me give you the full picture: homemade apple crisp, vanilla ice cream, and again, the characteristically Fall smell of cinnamon and nutmeg. Add a momma into that whole mixture and let me tell you, Atlanta was feeling downright homey to me :) 

Friday was deemed Pete's main homework day, so my mom, Emery, and I went to check out the Atlanta Botanical Garden. For my birthday, my mom bought me a year long pass and I am so excited to go back! The gardens were beautiful, they have fun events throughout the month, and it will be a great place to go on walks with Emery, relax, and enjoy this cooler weather that seems to have recently fallen upon sweltering Atlanta.

After coming home and giving Emery a nap, my mom and I headed out to do a little shopping. What I really mean by that, is, my mom held and entertained Emery so I could shop and try clothes on. So so so so nice. On the way home, we stopped at a tiny, random produce place that shall remain unnamed (because I can't remember the name) in order to get some fruit and try some boiled peanuts. The peaches were good, the peanuts so-so. But at least my mom had an authentic southern food to relate.

Well, the fun adventures shall resume in a later post in which I will continue to wordily drool over food and mom/grandma will continue to spoil kids/grandbaby. Here's some pictures to wet your appetite:

The Appalachian Mountains through pretty trees