Christy's friend Brett Spangler had a birthday party a couple month's ago. He's a foodie kind-of-guy, makes his own vanilla, infuses his liquors, and doesn't need recipes. So what did he do for his birthday?

Well, he roasted a pig of course.

I've heard a lot about this roasting pig thing, but have never had a chance to partake in it myself. Needless to say, I was hyped about the experience.

Brett put his pig in a Caja China, with hot coals over top, and let that baby roast for a few hours. When the pig was done, it glowed with bright red flaky skin.

He sliced up some servings, and people were off with whole plates full of tender pork goodness. I got to do one of these.

We then finished it off with some dessert genius. Brownie + Chocolate Chip Cookie + Oreo = This...

It tasted just as good as it sounds. This has to get on my short-list of "What I've Got to Make" as well.

Is it just me or do birthday parties just get better with age?

After posting the Comic Con pictures, realized I hadn't yet posted pictures from Halloween.

Christy went along with my idea of doing an Iron Man theme together.
I dressed up like Tony Stark complete with Arc Reactor, and she was the Black Widow complete with Spandex!

Our friends John and Bri dressed as Scarface and Strawberry Shortcake, respectively. Mr. Blurrycam was on hand for photos.

We went to a cool house party in central Austin, jammed out to some DJ-spun beats, and were entertained by all the various other creative costumes out there. Especially you, Animal!

The Most Interesting Man Alive was also in attendance.

We had a lot of fun. But unfortunately, nobody played Party Anthem and nobody dressed like the $ robot from the video. Tear.

We heard a lot of good things about the place, so were excited to try it.

We tried a sampling of items from the burgers, sliders, white bean dip, charcuterie, sausage, cocktails, beer and dessert (of course!).

Everything is artisan-made; simple, fresh, homemade, delicious. The place is no frills, like the community-seating benches. Chill like some hanging string lights over a cool night sky. And as dominant as our awesome waitress who had some great recommendations. The place is kind of like Black-Star Coop meets 24 diner. Cash Money!

Check it out next time you're in the mood for some laid back cuisine. I know we'll be back.

The pics...

Pimm's Cup (some random guy thought it was called 'Pimp Cup')

This little guy really has a thing for music and performing, so his parent's made him a cool guitar cake.

We got him an inflatable guitar in his favorite color.

And he had one heck of a birthday party with a special performance by his grand-dad, Pedro. [Click the movie button below to see]

Happy 2nd Birthday Santiago, you're almost 5.

We started out visiting my friend since high school, Ryan Shams.  He and his wife, Alicia, just had their first child, Anjali.

She is now just about three months old, but she partied all day with us as we played some impromptu "smaller games".  If you've seen "Minute to win it" you're on the same page.  This is basically what my friends and I did at each other's houses on the weekends to pass the time.  We had a website of events, standings, and even medals.  Someone must have found that site and decided it'd make a great game show, because I swear some of the things on that show are dead on versions of the challenges we did.

After all the games we worked up quite an appetite and finished the day right by eating at a favorite shuck shack of the Shams' and playing trivia. First place secured.

We then spent the following day visiting Christy's old roommate, Jennie.  She and her husband, James, just got a new house in Atlanta (like just 2 months ago!) with a cool red door.

We spent the next couple days with them exploring areas of Atlanta like Midtown, Decatur, Buckhead and the international grocery store which was like a city by itself.  We even found a cool, hidden pie shop serving a mean homemade peach pie...

The next morning the girls woke up early to do a morning run (that Christy sticks to her half-marathon training).  And I took the opportunity to take a photo-run / walk.  We were in a great area so I saw a lot of neat things..

Later that night Jennie showed us her culinary skills preparing a delicious meal featuring chicken with blueberry compote, cornbread, and finishing with peach sorbet and sugar cookies.  Yum!

Oh, forgot to mention that Jennie also treated us to an excellent breakfast casserole (or was it a "Sasser'ole"?) in the morning as well.

With our friends going back to work, we finished the trip amongst ourselves checking out the tourist attractions like the Olympic Park, the Georgia Aquarium, and Federal Reserve Bank.

It was a great trip and here are the rest of the pics to prove it...

They arranged a get-together at the town's famous pizza joint, Jerry's Pizza.

Since Pete works at well renowned car restoration company, you knew there would be a cool car or two just chilling in the parking lot. No big deal.

Inside we snapped up some pics of the little birthday boy himself.

And now he braces as he takes a bite of his first cupcake.

Verdict: Not so much. Yet.

Afterwards, we went back to Danilee and Pete's place, and tested out all his new toys trying to find which one made the most noise. Every now and then I still get this Lightning Mcqueen song in my head from his toy car. Oh man, it just came back.