tailgate celebrations

Do you know that new song by Carrie Underwood "Mama's Song"?? Well it makes me cry everytime I hear it on the radio. It's so beautiful and so true. I'm not one for living my life through music but this one just hits me.

This is the time in my life I've dreamed and prayed about for years. The time has come.

And now it's time to CELEBRATE!

So I threw on my orange party dress {page, don't kill me, I'm engaged :) !!} and we hit the town! On Saturday we had the best day toasting and celebrating with friends and family. Mr. Mica was sweet enough to share his birthday tailgate with us. David and I both had friends coming by the tailgate but I had no clue how meaningful their visits were going to be until he popped the question!

And I can't believe it's already Wednesday - and it's been 5 whole days. I must say things are moving quickly and we're both exhausted but all in the name of matrimony bliss!

with my fiance and our sleepy eyes - we were up way too early!

festive libations...david debuted some of his home brew beer

john came "dressed like david"

the birthday king and his daughters plus soon-to-be daughter-in-law!

seeing mom for the first time :)

kristen and jason fresh off the trail...

dad brought us this delicious cake from betty cakes in ocala

mr. mica offering a toast to the newly engaged couple

cheers!

I love this picture...jody in the foreground

soon-to-be mr. and mrs. david mica, jr.

kristen, I can't believe it's finally you. oh, how I've missed you!

with the new MOB

future sister-in-law julianne checking out the bling

happy decimus!! 10.10.10

gator from cuba

backwards & conan

the micas and moi

alli, mc, david, julianne

micas/radcliffes

micas/van hise/radcliffes

blooper #1

blooper #2

on sunday morning, ross and abby came to visit and celebrate!!

cheers!

We were supposed to being leaving Tallahassee for Ocala by 5:30 last Friday, after our scheduled tour of course, to meet Dad at Latinos for dinner {mom was in Orlando for a conference :( }....

But instead, David proposed {!!} and he whisked me off to his parents house for a delicious Italian dinner, family, and bubbly of course! Thank you to my sweet soon to be in-laws for this surprise celebration!

After tons of phone calls, texts, and bursts of squealing from me we finally made it to Ocala close to midnight. Needless to say Dad was ok we couldn't meet him at Latinos!

Thank you to our families and friends who have made the last few days so blissful and fabulous!!

on cloud 9

prosecco from my fiance...my favorite!

sally kate with her new "uncle" david

sister and sk came to celebrate too! the engagement was a complete surprise to her too as david had planned. this was the best we could do on a family pic as sally kate began her meltdown.

with the mica family and grandpa

down on bended knee

We're ENGAGED!!!!

I've often dreamt about how this post would go down - and any hopes of a catchy saying, alliteration or picture tease has flown out the window! Yesterday, the love of my life got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!!! It was so surreal. And I even asked him minutes later after the hug and kiss fest, "Did I even say yes?!".

David is a dream, and I'm so thrilled to be the future Mrs. Mica.

I was totally surprised as he planned for a private tour of The Grove late Friday afternoon. You must already know that I just adore The Grove. He proposed right in front of the beautiful mansion amongst the magnolias and live oaks on a picturesque day. Oh, and the ring is gorgeous!

More details to follow - I need to soak it all in. Apparently, we're celebrating more than just birthdays, football, and baby showers today in Gainesville!

cheers!

p.s. thank you to Ross for the title of this post.

friday flowers

I know that post title is so generic, and I know I'm probably guilty of using it before, however today it's only fitting for obvious reasons. Here are my Friday flowers. The two arrangements shown above are for a Tallahassee baby shower this weekend. I delivered them this morning as we're headed to Gainesville again this weekend. But alas, more flowers are in tow for another baby shower in Gainesville on Sunday. Besides football we've got birthdays and baby showers to celebrate on this monumental 10.10.10 weekend.

And currently I'm eating fresh pomegranate seeds, which I've never had before. They look like ruby red corn kernels. Apparently, these antioxidant fruit trees grow around these parts. I love all the little edible jewels the farmland of Gadsden County produces.

Happy Friday!

until next time...

Why do the weekends only last for two days?? It is never long enough.

We had a late arrival in Birmingham Friday night, but not late enough to meet Heather & Paul and Eric & Page at La Paz for dinner and drinks! I love this Mexican restaurant in Mountain Brook and there was no chance I was going to leave without going...even if we were in town for less than 24 hours!

On Saturday morning we headed to Tuscaloosa. As a first timer at Bama's campus and the Quad I was quite impressed with their tailgating. We ran into lots of friends and had a wonderful time celebrating college football and seeing the sights. That is until it was time to actually play college football. You know how that story ends.

After a long day and long drive with bumper to bumper traffic back to Birmingham Sunday morning came too soon. But we all had one last hurrah at breakfast the next morning before we had to say our goodbyes.

It was so wonderful to see dear friends and take another weekend trip out of Florida. It looks like the cooler weather followed us as well which always makes for a happy ending.

late night rendezvous at la paz~
thanks again eric and page for being our birmingham hosts!

I wouldn't mind living at the university president's mansion

these cookies were made by one of heather lane's sorority sisters. I ate several...and they were beyond good! perhaps you saw the ones she made for the uf/tenn game here.

on the quad

the tailgating here is out of this world. there are hundreds of private tents as well as plenty of "fair-like" food tents

pb {yes, in crimson!}, heather lane, and david

one of our better moments of the day :)

brent and david

we spent the majority of our afternoon at a rooftop establishment on the strip...
from our view I spotted this creative architectural element. I spy elephants, you?

bryant-denny stadium...it's huge!

I finally got to meet elissa!! she is one of heather's good friends from memphis and a bama grad. so great to finally meet you and matt!

alabama, sir.

We may be headed to Alabama for the Gator game this weekend but I still just absolutely adore Alabama, the state. It will be my first trip to Tuscaloosa and I'm looking forward to seeing the hot spots and highlights of the town. Also, looking forward to seeing all the fabulous black and white houndstooth accoutrements on those cute Alabama college kids.

If the weather cooperates, it looks like it will be a beautiful and brisk Fall day on Saturday!

Happy weekend and Go Gators!

boy stuff: football and tractors

We headed down to Ocala/Gainesville for another weekend of football. I couldn't believe that I hadn't been home since the first weekend in July! I do believe that's a record.

We had a wonderful time with family, friends, football and food - what more could you need?! It was so great to see friends Libby, Greg, Ross, and Adam who stopped by the tailgate. It was our first of the year and it was a success - and quite visually pleasing :)

On Sunday we traveled back to Tallahassee in the rain to celebrate Camp's 2nd birthday!! Lane planned a fabulous and fun tractor/farm themed party and did a great post here. Happy birthday to such a sweet little boy! But we missed walking next door to the party this year.

Hope everyone had a great first weekend of Fall. Now, if only the temperature would cool down...

new tailgate flag debut

festive flowers

lilly pulitzer alligator cockatil napkins - my tailgate contribution!

alli, miss karen, and mc...looking forward to seeing julianne for the lsu game!

camp's new digs

yummy cake shop cake, of course!

sk with hadley and carson...and little miss avery in the background

beth, lane, and mc...picture approved!

I loved all the cute details

pig and cow lollipops

pictures of cbg with beary from 1 week-2 years

beth is the reason david and I are dating :)
as friends at uf, she gave the first official approval on david before I let him have my phone number! thank you beth!!

this was the day sk chose a tractor over a baby doll

sally kate loves david - feelings are mutual

all the guys immediately flock outside

so sweet as we sing happy birthday

he wanted to dig in like at his first birthday party

marcus and sister

david eating hadley

last but not least...
a walking ad for the governor's daughter necklaces