Our First Backyard Party

Happy Sunday friends!

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We just finished this delicious breakfast, complete with maple bacon and our favorite healthy”ish” buttermilk waffle recipe!  Since we were going non-stop yesterday, our goal for today is to relax after we catch up on some work. For me, that means spending a few hours working and blogging before lying down on the couch with a book.

After a six mile run, Bo and I spent the rest of the day working in our backyard. After six weekends of hard work, our porch, patio and yard are finally complete! We celebrated the occasion last night with a backyard barbecue.

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We picked up a bar cart, throw pillows and an accent pillow from World Market to complete our sun room. Meanwhile in our backyard we have planted flowers, shrubs, trees, herbs and grass that have transformed the yard. Russell and Bo built the patio using leftover bricks and pavers that we found in the yard when we moved in and the small patio set was on clearance at Home Depot over Memorial Day weekend! A few strands of white lights and citronella candles made the yard a perfect spot for a party, especially on a nice, cool Summer evening like last night.

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Since our goal is to host regular backyard barbecues we experimented with a potluck style party. Having this type of party helped minimize the costs and effort required while also allowing friends to share their favorite drinks, appetizers, side dishes or desserts. The only thing Bo and I provided was the backyard, burgers, sausages and pasta salad!

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It was a wonderful evening and hopefully the first of many parties this Summer.

Hope you guys have a wonderful and relaxing Sunday.

What did you do this weekend? 

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Barbecue Three Ways

Yesterday my brother hosted my parents, Bo, and his sister for the big University of Georgia versus Georgia Tech football game. 011

My brother is still finding his way through owning his first home and has really done miracles with the 60s ranch home he bought in Savannah.

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I spent most of the time in the kitchen helping my brother with the food. He had quite the barbecue feast planned for us centered around the idea of barbecue three ways: baby back ribs, bratwurst, and a slow cooked Boston Butt! Bo and I rarely eat barbecue up in New York so it was a true treat to enjoy home cooked barbecue yesterday!

013 014Other than the kitchen and his comfortable living room sofas, the pool room was the next most important room yesterday! We spent a few hours playing pool as a group, enjoying the great space and some delicious beverages including our favorite Georgia beer, Sweetwater 420.

016 018My brother has a knack for finding amazing antiques. The mini bar he has in the pool room is an original piece from 1837! 

048The barbecue lunch and dinner were a mix of Thanksgiving leftovers, fresh sides, and mouth watering meat!

My brother put his new meat cleaver and cutting board to the test yesterday, during which time we both quickly learned that when chopping meat a heavy duty cutting board is a better fit. My favorite dish of the day were definitely the ribs, they were seasoned perfectly and the meat literally fell of the bone! Bo’s favorite was the barbecue butt, seasoned and slow cooked to a level of tenderness that was perfectly conducive to barbecue sandwiches when soaked in sweet Johnny Harris barbecue sauce.

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010  035After a late lunch and an easier than expected Georgia Dawg win, we headed out to the movie theatre for The Muppets Movie!

030 We all loved the movie even more than we expected! My parents were laughing the entire time while I was caught singing more than once! I highly recommend it for a fun evening out after a long day or a pick me up after a bad day. You can’t look at a Muppet and frown!

After the movie we enjoyed a few more rounds of pool and a fire in his huge fireplace, even though it was 60 degrees in Savannah!

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It is so nice to have a fun place to hang out in Savannah complete with a fire place, big screen tv, fire pit, and pool table. I can tell that we’ll be hanging out at my brother’s more and more each trip home!

Question: During the holidays. how does your family most enjoy spending time together? Board games? Pool? Movies?

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