A Visit To SCAD Atlanta

 

You all probably remember that Briana attended a SCAD workshop/camp in Savannah last summer - which she loved. She is going again for a week this summer.

 SCAD offers open house days at both the Savannah and Atlanta campuses. Doug, Bri and I decided to check out the Atlanta location in January to see if Briana would like that campus as well...

The camp at Savannah SCAD was a well-oiled machine. This campus/open house was no different. The school did a wonderful job showing off the campus to the students.

A dining area at SCAD (Honey at the Hive)...

We first talked with an admissions person and Briana filled out an online application...

Then we started to explore the campus...

It was surreal watching Briana walk through the hallways.

We started in the main SCAD Atlanta building and talked first with a professor in the Illustration department...

He was so knowledgeable and explained how high the job rates are for SCAD grads - very reassuring.

Then we stopped in the Sequential Arts department and spoke with a professor there as well (he was also very knowledgeable)...

Then we moved on to graphic design...

Art foundations (drawing, painting, etc)...

Fashion floor (school of fashion)...

We took a shuttle to the Digital Media Center...

Gaming Design...

 

Animation...

We then headed over to the dorms in golf carts.

This is the dorm Bri would live in freshman year if she chooses to go to SCAD Atlanta...

 

Getting a tour from the resident advisor...

Freshman sample dorm room...

Upper classman dorm room...

Cafe in the dorm...

Cool view...

 DJ in the lobby of the dorm...

Free ice cream/popsicles on a very cold day - very good!

Then we stopped in the bookstore for some souvenirs and then we headed home.

SCAD from the expressway...

So, Doug and I asked Briana her thoughts. Atlanta SCAD is a much smaller - a more tight knit - experience than the Savannah campus. She likes both campuses, but she really gravitated toward the Atlanta campus. I'm on board with that because she'd be much closer to home! 

We will visit a few other schools, but I know SCAD has her heart. This is just where I "see" her. I'm still not ready at all for her to go to college, but I have to accept it. How is my girl going to be a senior next year? I'm still in a bit of denial.

All Sort Of Celebrations

The months of January and February were filled with celebrations and holidays for our family.

First, we celebrated Doug's 50th birthday. Doug and I started dating toward the end of our senior year of high school - he was 18 and I was 17. It's hard to believe we both turn 50 this year. It just doesn't seem possible.

On Doug's actual birthday, Briana and I baked Doug a cake and gave him gifts and then we took him out to a dinner at one of his favorite local restaurants. We decorated the house up for him...

Our dinner was so good ~ lobster bisque, steak, risotto, charcuterie, fritters...

The next night, we had our friends, the C family, join us for dinner to celebrate Doug some more! We went to another one of our local favorite restaurants...

The following Sunday, we celebrated Doug one more time with my parents. It was also my parents' 53rd wedding anniversary and the first day of the Chinese New Year, so it was a joint celebration. We went to another delicious restaurant...

Dessert celebration time (including baked Alaska)...

Since it was the first night of Chinese New Year, Briana wore her new qipao top to our joint celebration...

I decorated the house for CNY...

During CNY, Briana and I met up with friends Amy, Mary and Imerie for a delicious Chinese food meal...

Amy and I coaxed the girls to do a re-creation of a picture they took back in 2011..

We had a lot of laughs trying to get this shot. It is crazy how grown up the girls are now.

Lastly, it was time to celebrate Valentine's Day. I put out a few decorations for the occasion...

Then Doug, Bri and I went out to dinner at one of my favorite local Italian restaurants...

Everything was so very good!

Whew! It was two busy months of celebrating! Then we decided to also throw in a week long trip to Walt Disney World at the end of February for winter break. Dang we are exhausted!

Coming Back Soon

My poor neglected blog. I managed to get caught up through New Year's Day and then life got super busy again. In January/February...our family celebrated Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day, Doug turned 50, we visited the Atlanta campus of SCAD, we saw Jim Gaffigan perform, we watched both Wakanda Forever and Quantumania movies, and we vacationed for an entire week in Disney World for winter break (which required A LOT of studying before we tackled the trip).

In the midst of all that, I got my Covid booster that made me feel puny for a couple days, had a physical, caught a head cold a week before our Disney vacation, and spoke with a pulmonologist who is now having me to take a home sleep test in the next few days because I am tired all the time.

 Briana is taking the SAT again in a couple weeks, has some big school projects due in the next couple of weeks, needs to look for a junior prom dress, will be getting her braces off soon and will eventually need to get her wisdom teeth extracted.

So...life is crazy.  

I'll try to catch up on here as soon as I can.

Be back soon...

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day

 

I've written about how busy we were around the holidays but have yet to write about the actual holidays themselves.

Christmas Eve is always our family's quiet day. The day where it is just the three of us and we like to stay home and be together.

I got up really early on Christmas Eve morning (I couldn't sleep) and it was super cold outside. I turned on the fireplace, grabbed a blanket and sat on the couch - enjoying the quiet with Mei Mei...

Doug, Bri and I watched some Christmas shows that day and relaxed. Doug drank eggnog out of his Wally World moose glass and we ate our Honey Baked Ham with all the fixins for dinner...

We put the presents under the tree and in the stockings and went to bed...

Then came Christmas morning.

 This is the first year that I barely took any photos of Christmas morning. I have a teenager now and honestly, I just wanted to enjoy the morning and not really document it. Shocking! I know.

 The presents waiting under the tree...

Briana opening gifts...

Doug receiving his mug...

My drawing/present (which was framed) from Briana...

Mei absolutely loved her gift. I stuck it in front of the fireplace and she went right to sleep...

Briana's big gift - a gaming chair. We hid it in the kitchen and told her to go in there when she was done opening her other gifts. She put her chair in her hangout room (I used to call the room she hangs out in her playroom but she's too old for that term now. I guess I'll call it her hangout/homework room)...

Once we got done opening presents, I made a little breakfast for us and then we all got dressed and headed to my parent's house... 

Once my sister and her family arrived, it was time to open gifts...

Briana's digitally drew all the pictures below for my family (and I helped her frame them)...

Malificent was for my sister, Westley and Buttercup (Princess Bride) for my BIL, Roxie Hart (Chicago) for my dad and I Love Lucy for my mom. They were a HUGE hit!

**********************

The last night of Hanukkah landed on Christmas Day, so at sundown, we were able to light candles at my parent's house...

 Evening time...

It was a really great, family-filled day (including Chinese food delivery for dinner) and it was finally time to head home.

**********************

Then New Year's Eve came around.

 Being the big time homebodies that we are, we were very happy just staying home new year's evening...

Doug grilled filet mignons for dinner and then we watched Deadpool in our theater. Then, we watched the ball drop on TV...

I can't think of anyone else I would want to ring in the new year with!

**********************

New Year's Day - we rested. December was a lot of hustle and bustle with a little sickness thrown in - and we needed rest. Let me correct myself - Bri and I rested. Doug decided to bake and cook that entire day. 

First, he made cinnamon rolls with icing from scratch for breakfast...

Then he baked lobster roll buns, also from scratch, and put together lobster rolls for our New Year's Day dinner. He made both Maine style and Connecticut style fillings. I loved both, but Maine style was my favorite...

Everything was DELISH! He spoiled us so badly that day. What a great way to start the year 2023!

**********************

So that is IT!!!  I finished blogging about our Christmas season. Whew! And it's still January! Yay me!

We are now back in the regular groove again for the month of January...school, work, etc...

 Except - we did have a big occasion in January we had to celebrate. Doug turned 50! Woo Hoo! 

More on that soon...