Category Archives: Life In Atlanta

2012: A Year in Review

3rd January 2013

OK, so I’m a little behind on the “how great 2012 was” posts, but in all of its cheesy goodness, 2012 was a pretty great year. From new friends, triumphs personally and professionally to a few fantastic adventures with loved ones, 2013 has some big shoes to fill. Month-by-month, here are just a few of its highlights:

January: I started the new year embarking on a new tradition with colleagues who also double as great friends (funny how that works). Our book club, morphed into craft club, which quickly became wine club and it’s still one of my favorite monthly traditions.
February: I made my first ever ski trip and it turned out not nearly as terrifying as I expected. Three days, a few blue-black runs later, I was hooked and found a new passion.
March: I ran my second half marathon with one of my dearest friends and despite the never ending hills, we beat our goal of 2:05, coming in at 2:03. I was psyched. Just a few months later, another friend dragged me across the finish line of my third half at a time of 1:49. It’s impossible to think I took 17 minutes off of my very first half marathon just over a year ago. Training pays off, and better yet, falling in love with a sport that revolves around free time with my favorite people.
April: P and I wound up with free entry into Atlanta’s Great Urban Race. Awesomeness and a lot of running ensued and landed us a trip to Vegas.
May: My baby brother graduated from UGA, marking the second of four Dennihy kids to do so. My ties from UGA are officially cut (for now, come on siblings three and four). This was a heartbreaker, for the first time in six years, Athens no longer offers a dedicated couch to sleep on.
June: I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago several times over the summer for work, talk about blessings for business trips at the most beautiful time of the year. Even the 5:30 am runs were worth it.
July: I took a full week vacation for the first time ever. It was amazing.
August: P and I went to our first UGA game in Alumni seats. Fancy. (This may have been in September, who knows, but the tickets were a birthday gift and that was in August, so it counts.)
September: I went rock climbing outdoors for the first time with my best friend. Another sport I am now hooked on. (Sensing a pattern here…wilderness, no technology…humm).
October: We took a family trip to New York for my Grandma’s 80th birthday. We also had a chance to visit a former mental hospital on Long Island that is now deserted. Yes, an odd tourist destination, but the history buffs in the family (myself included) were thrilled.
November: Vegas! We survived the national championships and are already scheming on how to make it to next year.
December: A week off of work meant lots of time with family and friends. We spent a large portion of it playing things like Words with Friends version 1.0. How primitive.

2012 could not have left me more blessed or with a bigger smile on my face and I cannot wait to see what challenges and adventures 2013 throws my way. What highlights did 2012 bring you?

I Left My Heart In Athens

24th October 2012

It’s been nearly two and a half years and I still feel like a piece of my heart is stuck in Athens, Ga. For my college roommate’s 25th birthday this month, I decided to get crafty and bring out our love of the Classic City.

Inspired by a few Pinterest projects and Esty finds, I decided to get to work on channeling our love for Athens and all things DIY with this string and nail artwork. After deciding on the design, I headed over to Home Depot for materials.

My dad is my go-to for anything involving a saw, but a limited timeline means I didn’t have the chance to drive home and have him help on this project. And as much as my little heart is set on owning a table saw, that’s not quite feasible in a city apartment. Home Depot to the rescue.

Did you know you can pick out any piece of lumber and a Home Depot team member will cut it for you? For free? Yup. Done. Total cost for the wood? A grand 51¢.

I picked out a piece of 2′ x 2′ plywood, a set of 5/8″ nails and opted to use twine I already had at home to create the design (though colored embroidery thread would have worked as well, especially if the surface area was smaller).

After sanding and painting the background, I sketched an outline of the state and decided to use this template taped to the wood and remove the nails once I was finished. I found this easiest as I could really pay attention to the finer lines and not leave any pencil marks behind.

My state of Georgia sketch. Not too shabby for my poor drawing skills.

Lots of nails and weaving twine later, I had the perfect birthday gift and a little reminder of the place we both called home for so long.

The finished product

Materials:

Plywood (I used a piece 2′ x 2′, this is a bit larger than I had seen, but it allowed the string to show much more clearly in my opinion)
Paint
Sandpaper
Nails (5/8″)
Twine

Unplugging and Recharging

15th October 2012

It comes as no surprise that as a digital marketer I fill my days surrounded by laptops, tablets and mobile devices.

A tech-advocate myself, I often find myself in need of quite the opposite, a non-digital lifestyle during my down time. This weekend, I trekked a few hours northwest of Atlanta to Sand Rock, Alabama to camp and climb with friends.

While a night under the stars might sound like the ultimate escape from the digital jungle, rest assured, even miles down a gravel road and a view like this one afford you four bars and 3G.

Tech connections aside, I’ve found activities like rock climbing not only allow me to spend some time beyond my screens, but to also exercise my brain in ways that will benefit me come Monday morning (even if my sore abs and knees wouldn’t agree).

Climbing is new to me, and it’s a challenge. It’s like a real life puzzle where I’m battling my size and reach to find the next hold. It’s not a matter of reaching the next ascent, but where to move left, right or push down to propel my body upward. The even better news? According to people much smarter than myself, I’m not the only one feeling the benefits of a little downtime.

A recent study of keyhole surgeons by Iowa State University found that gamers were 27% faster at surgery and made 37% fewer errors. See, worth it.

It’s the time “disconnecting” that will allow us to perform at our best tomorrow morning. And while I may have been able to Tweet and post to Facebook from the wilderness this weekend, the combination was the perfect distraction.

How do you disconnect away from work? And let’s be honest, “disconnect” doesn’t always mean the great outdoors. Pinterest is absolutely an acceptable answer.