Foodie Weekend in Atlanta

The amount of food I've eaten in the past two days is ridiculous. It's beyond ridiculous actually. Let's start with Friday night, shall we? And warning, if you're hungry while reading this, I hate to tell you, but you'll be hungrier.

Let's go.

Friday night Alison and I headed into Atlanta for a night out with Jennifer and Ashley. Jennifer is moving to the Dominican Republic until August to work in an orphanage. She wanted sushi and dancing before she left. So for dinner we hit up Twist. Two things you should know about me before we talk about the food. First of all, I'm not a sushi fan. I love seafood. I flove it. But sushi? It's just never been for me. Secondly, I want to like Thai food. So badly. But the one time I ever ate it was in Pasadena and I hated it. So I've been hesitant to try it again. Friday night, I ate sushi and Thai. Whaaat? First of all, we started off dinner with their calamari. I've never come across calamari that I didn't love. Ever. And Twist, well they just put calamari on a whole new level. Drizzled over the top was a lemon aioli. Delicious explosion in my mouth! Calamari will NEVER be the same. Now onto dinner. I debated for a while but decided to order the Thai curry with shrimp and chicken. Holy, spicy goodness!! It was so amazing! Needless to say, I want to try everything Thai now!

Delicious.

And onto the sushi. No, I didn't order it myself. I'm not there yet. But I tried some of Ashley's. And while it was just the basic California roll, it was good. I liked it. I need to expand. I want to expand. Someone please tell me what to expand to next!

In honor of Josie, I had the white sangria. So good.

So all around, Twist was a good time. The food was great, the drinks were great, the company was great. It's a really cool environment. Loud, lots of young people enjoying food and drinks after a day at work. Cool place. I'd go back. But luckily we got there at the right time because the line was out of control when we left.

After Twist we headed over to East Andrews. In this area there are actually several bars that you can hop around to and from. We started at East Andrews. The people there were too fratastic for me. Too tight polo shirts, popped collars, and way too much try. After a bit we headed up to 8 Traxx. A 70's and 80's disco? Yes, please! I've actually been to this place twice. But as Andrews Upstairs.

The first time it looked like this:

Bobby Long, Take 1.

The second time it looked like this:

Bobby Long, Take 2.

Friday night, it looked like this:

Yes, that is a cage.

So we walk into 8 Traxx and they are playing the best music ever! There are black lights and a disco ball. And the above cage. And NO ONE was dancing! What??? How can you not dance to Michael Jackson? Or Whitney Houston?! So we hung out on the dance floor for a bit, not really dancing because, well...we were basically on display for all to see since no one else was on the floor, but after a while a few people came down. And then. AND THEN, this girl came in dancing her little heart out. And it was the funniest dance moves I have ever seen in my entire life. She bounced. Everywhere. With every move she did, she bounced. I'm kicking myself now for not getting the camera out and recording it because it was priceless. We were laughing so hard.

Alison, me, Jennifer.

Once the dancing girl left, there wasn't much for entertainment so we made our way home.

Saturday morning Alison and I got up and went for a walk. A short one because well, it's Atlanta and it's hot. And humid. And it's worse in the city. Then we hopped in the car and head to....wait for it....PINKBERRY!!!

Welcome to Atlanta where the playas play.

You heard me right, folks. Pinkberry has made the leap across the country and graced Atlanta with its presence, buying me a few more months (years?) until I must move there. My first Pinkberry experience was probably the best experience I've ever had in a...would you call this a restaurant? Anyway, we walked in and were greeted with "Welcome to Pinkberry!" from every employee there. We walked up to the counter and the guy asked us if it was our first time. We said yes and he said, "Well, want to try every flavor?" And who's going to say no to that?! So the tasting began. The coconut was surprisingly good. I like coconut flavored things. Not so much coconut itself; It's the texture. But I was kind of hesitant about coconut frozen yogurt and shockingly, it was really good. He gave us the original and said it was the tangiest. I disagreed. It was good, but why get original when you can get a flavor? Like chocolate. Oh my God the chocolate was out of this world. So creamy. So sweet. So good. Then there was the pomegranate. It too was really good. Then came my favorite. Mango. It was a HOT day in Atlanta Saturday and this mango froyo was the perfect refresher. And then there was their seasonal watermelon flavor. Again, on such a hot day it was rather refreshing. And then I had to decide. What to do?? In the end I went with the watermelon because it's only going to be around for six more weeks.

Oh. Em. Gee.

Watermelon froyo with fresh watermelon, cucumber, kiwi, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and mango, topped with a watermelon puree?? Heaven. Absolute Heaven. And let me just say, these fruits they added were by far the freshest, sweetest, most delicious fruits I've ever put in my mouth. And I eat a TON of fruit. It was so delicious. And we left wanting more.

After Pinkberry we headed back to my sister's and spent the day at the pool. And it was stifling. It was so hot that sweat was pouring off of me in a matter if minutes. I worked on more paintings for Reese's nursery and because of that, the tops of my knees and my back were a little burnt.

I always seem to end up painting by the pool...

After a while it was impossible to be outside for longer than 10 minutes without being in the pool. And then the water wasn't even that cool. Oh well, that's Atlanta in the summer for you.

Finished product. They'll hang above her crib.

When we finally couldn't take the heat anymore, we headed back inside to get ready for another night out on the town! And is it just me or does anyone else love the way their makeup looks with sun kissed cheeks? I might be weird, but I just love the way makeup looks with a little sun. Anyway, we got ready and after a stop at Sephora were off to Atlantic Station for Girl's Night out with Brittney, Cassie, and Payton! We met for dinner at Rosa Mexicano.

They don't tell you they bring you a whole pitcher when you order a single Sangria....oops.

The best part about this place is the guacamole. It's fresh. They make it there. Like right in front of you at your table. And it is the best guacamole I've ever tasted. So yummy.

So cool.

That was only supposed to serve 2-3. Yeah right!! So much guacamole!

So funny story. The part of the restaurant we sat it overlooks the grassy area in the center of Atlantic Station. When we got there I remembered that they were showing Twilight and New Moon there Saturday night as part of the 12-city Eclipse night or whatever. So when we sat down, the stage was directly behind us.

Exhibit A.

When we first sat down, there was a Paramore cover band playing. They were pretty good! Then we started wondering what actor/actress was going to show up. Enter Daniel Cudmore.

All six foot, six inches of him.

The movies do him no justice because he is seriously attractive!!

It was exciting. People were screaming. We watched as he answered questions. But from the comfort of an air conditioned restaurant without the screaming girls. So after that excitement, it was time to eat.

Chicken tacos!! Yum-o! (and notice the phone on the table! classy!)

Me and Payton wrapping up dinner.

After dinner we walked over to Kilwins for round one of dessert.

I had no idea what Kilwins was until recently when Iris and Josie were always raving over it. I finally checked into it to see what it was and low and behold, there was one in Atlantic Station. Of course, I had to make a visit while we were there!

And we walked in to this.

And this.

And I felt like this was appropriate since we'd just seen Daniel Cudmore.

Cassie and me with our purchases.

Chocolate covered marshmallows, rice krispie, ritz crackers, and a pb cup. And no, I did not eat all of this at once! Kill me.

We gathered up our purchases and then found a table outside to eat and chat. And take pictures, of course!

Typical.

The real deal.

Brittney O.

And as if we hadn't eaten enough at this point, we decided to drive twenty minutes to the Cumberland Mall area to introduce the B, C and P to the greatness that is Pinkberry and round two of dessert.

One day. Two trips. Because can you ever have too much Pinkberry?

Group shot!

The designer in me LOVES this.

Remember how I said the service was incredible earlier in the day? Well, they didn't disappoint late at night either. They were all smiles and ready to serve. And the place was packed out! And there may have been some Michael Jackson playing and there may have been some dancing from the employees. So awesome.

Pinkberry x5

This time I went with the mango. With all the same toppings. Except for the watermelon puree and kiwi. I forgot about them. Sad.

I'm happy! (again with the phone!!)

And then when ours was all gone, they came and offered us samples. I took watermelon and chocolate. As if I hadn't eaten enough froyo that day!

Before we left, Alison and I HAD to demonstrate the dancing we had witnessed the night before. We call it, "the girl at 8 Traxx." It was hilarious.

And I love this picture.

Think I had a great weekend, or what? I probably gained 20 pounds but it was so worth it! It was great seeing and hanging out with all the girls. And we've decided that it will happen monthly. Dinner in Atlanta. And we'll always end with Pinkberry.

Always.

I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend. And here's to a great week ahead.

xoxo

Ohhh, baby!!

You can't see the bump, but trust. It's there!

Saturday we had the first of several baby showers for my sister. My sister!! Seriously, I know she's five years older than me, but how can she possibly be having a BABY?! Every time I see her, her belly has grown and it's becoming more real. Now we're having baby showers, the nursery is coming together, and there is a car seat in my mom's car!! Whaaaat?? Don't get me wrong, I am beyond excited! It's just so surreal. Weren't we just babies ourselves. Like yesterday?

The answer is yes. We were.

And if I feel this way, I can't imagine how my parents feel! And didn't she JUST get married??

This was FIVE years ago? Really?!

Legit. One of my favorite pictures of us. Ever.

But I'm ready. I'm ready to meet baby Reese and hold her and spoil her rotten! I'm ready to see who she looks like. What color her eyes are. Her hair. Whose nose she has. I'm ready to see every little thing about her. And guess what? I get her all to myself. As in, I'm her only aunt! I don't have to share her with anyway! Muahahaha!

For her first gift from me, I did three paintings for her nursery. The animals match the animals that are on the bedding. I'm happy with the way they turned out and Jessica and Joe liked them too.

Love the yellow and purple with the gray!

Sunday afternoon we drove up to Atlanta for Father's Day lunch at Muss & Turner's. So, so, so, yummy! Their sandwiches are divine! After, we went back to Jessica and Joe's for dessert. Joe and I hung up the paintings and then while we were all hanging out downstairs, Jess decided to lay on her side to see if she could get Reese to move. I placed my hand on her stomach and a minute or so later I swear Reese did a flip! It was definitely NOT a kick. It's hard to explain, but it was more like a continuous wave. It was the coolest/weirdest thing ever!

Reese is due August 16th. We're down to the last few weeks and I KNOW they are going to fly by.

Let the waiting begin!

It takes two, baby.

So Thursday night I went to the theatre and saw not one but two movies. Killers and Iron Man 2. Uh, why? Well you see, I had made plans earlier in the week to have dinner and go see Killers with Shannon because it's been too long since I've seen her! Well then Tuesday night S and I were going to go see Iron Man 2, but he was too busy so I looked at the times and told him that I'd be out of the first movie about 40 minutes before IM2 started if he wanted to meet me there. He said yes. Therefore I saw two movies Thursday night.

First up, Killers. Did you know this movie was filmed in Georgia? In Atlanta to be exact. And Douglasville. Guess where I work. Douglasville! There was actually an email sent out one day that was requesting extras for the block party scenes but I wasn't in town that weekend. Or something. I so would've gone!! Anyway, it's always weird to see movies that were filmed in Atlanta. To recognize buildings and streets. It's just weird.

Anyway, about the movie. It's called Killers. People get killed. But it was funny. Yeah, I said it. The whole thing was rather ridiculous actually. Let's talk about Ashton Kutcher. One word: Yum. Seriously. He is delicious in this movie. If you see it for any reason at all, just do it to see him with his shirt off! He won't disappoint. So yeah, I hope you don't think this is a scary movie because of the title. It is not. It's not a murder mystery. It's not a spy movie. Really, it's a comedy. In the hysterical sense or the hysterically ridiculous? I'm still debating. I'd have been okay just getting it from the RedBox though.

Onto move #2. I texted S right before the movie was over to see if we were still on. And we were. He asked where I was and I told him I'd just wait in the parking lot. Really, where did I have time to go in 40 minutes? So Shannon hangs out with me while I wait for him and then leaves when he pulls up. The first 5 minutes of him being there were hysterical, but I won't go into that here. Just trust me. So here's the deal with Iron Man. I just saw the first one like two months ago. And I didn't love it. Granted, I didn't pay that much attention to it so I thought that was the issue. I hate to say that it wasn't. I again didn't love it. There were literally parts where I thought I was going to fall asleep. And then S would laugh at something and I'd wake up. Ha! I will say that if Robert Downey Jr. would've been in every single scene, it would've won me over. He's great on screen, no? I love him. He's very charming. Definitely steals the screen.

And that, my friends, was my Thursday night.

"And you KNOW what oven he's talking about!"

Panama City Beach, Florida.

Party town, USA.

Or as my sister likes to call it, The Redneck Riviera.

College kids from all over flock to the white sandy beaches every year for spring break. Front Beach Drive becomes a parking lot with kids cruising up and down, piled in the back of trucks, hanging out of cars, yelling, blasting their music and honking their horns. It’s a sight to be seen. Or not.

True Story: I went to PCB for spring break one year and was sitting in the said parking lot that is FBD, trying to get back to my condo with five other people in the car before the ice cream we had just purchased melted (we were such good kids!). As we sat there, a kid was walking down the street by himself when suddenly, a guy in the truck in front of him decided to throw an empty beer can at him for no apparent reason. The kid on the receiving end of the beer can flipped him off, naturally! So what did the guy in the truck do? He jumped out and proceeded to plow towards the kid until he reached him and started throwing punches. Seriously. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. It also happened to be the same trip that my car window was busted out. Shocking, huh?

Nothing like oily/sweaty beach skin and beach hair!

We clean up nicely, huh?

That is Panama City. Its beaches may be beautiful, but it is crowded. There are people everywhere and usually they are of the obnoxious, country, UGA loving skill. This is why it’s not my favorite place to vacation.

Besties.

My parents however love it. If you know my parents at all, you probably find this as shocking as I do. My parents don’t party. They don’t drink. They don’t deviate from what they know (maybe that’s why they won’t try someplace new?). They are the most conservative people on the planet. I am convinced of this. And this is why I find it so shocking that they’ve been vacationing in PC every summer since I was in high school. Back in those days, I chose not to go with them. They always went with their couple friends and at that point my sister was away at college and I didn’t want to be the only kid. Plus, the thought of being seen at the beach with my parents in high school *shudders* Haha, only kidding. But really, I never went with them, choosing to do my own thing with my friends. Meaning, I had to pay my own way to whatever I did. This was especially true when I got into college. And then a light bulb went off! If I went to the beach with them, they’d pay for everything! Like, duh!!! So for the past four years, I’ve gone on a week long beach vacation with the family.

This is last year.

Curly beach hair twins!

Again with the cleaning my nicely.

It’s become routine that we head down for Memorial Day weekend. Seriously, could they pick a busier time? My parents actually left Thursday before MD and I had every intention of riding down with them to give me two extra days on the beach, but my plans changed and I ended up riding down with Alison and Cassie instead Saturday. Really, it was better this way. So the three of us arrived around dinner time Saturday night and as soon as we got unpacked and ate dinner, we pretty much went to bed immediately. The next morning we were up bright and early, like always, to hit the beach. And that’s what we did the entire week; up early in the morning, breakfast, beach, lunch, beach, nap on the beach, shower, dinner, sleep. Repeat. For six days. It was glorious. The weather could not have been better. The beaches couldn’t have been more beautiful. And the company could not have been more entertaining. And I brought back with me a nice bronze tan. You can’t beat that! Everything is better at the beach. You sleep better. The food tastes better. And there is nothing better than a nice hot shower after being on the beach all day. Nothing in this world.

What's better than three 24-year-olds hanging out on one full size bed together?

Three 24-year-old girls laying on a full size bed like this and Facebook-ing. Love it.

And the highlight of this year’s trip? Lt. Dan.

Mmmm-hmmm!!

You see, each year we rent chairs. The ones with the cushions and the umbrellas. And each year there is someone different working the beach while we’re there. And each year, we (mainly my dad) assign him a nickname. Last year it was Split Lip Will. This year it was Lt. Dan. And boy was he yummy. He walked up and down that beach and I swear between my, Cassie and Alison’s heads, you’d think we were watching a tennis match.

All day. Everyday.

He’d come up and talk to my dad (b/c my dad, he can make friends with anyone) and as soon as he walked away, we’d giggle like little high school girls. And every night when we went to bed, we’d fight over who got him. He was our little beach fling, if you will. On the second to last day there, he had some money stolen from his little hut. Cassie and I had seen three girls hanging out in/around it so he asked of we’d give a statement to the police on his behalf. Of, course we will, Danny Boy! He thanked us and we went on with our day. Then the last day there as we were walking back down to the beach after lunch, I hear my name being called. I look over and Dan and Hatch (his sidekick) were looking in our direction but I thought nothing of it and we kept walking. Then I heard my name again so I looked over at them and pointed at myself and they motioned, “yeah…come here!” Of course we were all, “Oh. Em. Gee. Whatever could they want?!” We walked over and proceeded to talk to them for about 45 minutes about random stuff. That's when I took that super sly picture of him on the phone. Then Hatch said, “Hey, wanna have your picture taken?” We were like, “ummm…no?” And he said, “Yeah, yeah! Do it. It helps us out too!” Um, alright? So they called one of the beach photographers over and he was like, “Ok, ladies, come with me! Let’s go down to the water!” At this point we were already a little apprehensive, but we followed him. And then what we thought would be one snap of us standing by the water turned into a freaking photo shoot. He was positioning us, telling us what to do with our hips and our hands and our heads. Then he made us lay in the sand as he rolled around in the sand himself getting different angles. At one point I said, “Is this real life??” and he said, “Yeah! Absolutely.”

And this isn't the most offensive of them.

Then came the last pose. He wanted us to lie on top of each other…..Um, no! Cassie jumped up off the ground and said, “Absolutely not!!” He tried to get us to change our minds but he weren’t having any of it. Most surreal moment of my life.

He did get a few good ones though.

So after we got out of the sand, and jumped in the ocean to rinse all of the sand off, we headed back to the hut and told Dan and Hatch we’d see them around. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Thank God. We did stay on the beach until they kicked us out of our chairs and took our umbrellas and then the three of us got ready for dinner. And that was an experience in and of itself!

We decided to go to Boatyard for dinner. But really for their dessert. I'll get to that shortly. But somehow we ended up in the wrong place. Like literally in a boatyard. Where they work on boats. Not serve food. And bonus, it was in the middle of a crazy storm. Great.

This is where we were supposed to be.

So when we finally arrive at the real Boatyard, we were starving. And in desperate need of drinks. Of course there was a wait so we decided to sit down at one of the three bars and order drinks. Good choice. After we'd be there for a few minutes and one of the chefs working at the bar had given us some free edamame (so good!) they told us we could just eat there instead of waiting on a table. Sold!! The two chefs were incredibly friendly and talked to us the whole time we were there and Jason pretty much told us his whole life story. Turns out he came down for a Coolio concert in '95 and never left. Ha! Anyway, I warned him of Cassie's disgust of seafood and in return he put on a little show for us. Hilarious!!

Biggest. Crab. Legs. Ever.

Leroy!!!

And the real reason we went to Boatyard in the first place. The dessert. Have you ever been to Key West? If so, have you ever been to Blond Giraffe and had their key lime pie on a stick? Frozen key lime pie, on a stick, dipped in chocolate, and frozen. They best idea ever. And so delicious. Well, Boatyard, they have their own take on this. And that's why we went.

Oh yeah.

Was it better than the Blond Giraffe's? Um, I don't think so. The pie could've been a little more tart. Just my opinion. But it was still heavenly. And so worth how disgusting I felt after eating it.

After we were stuffed to the max, we headed back to the condo where we packed up and watched the episode of Friday Night Lights we had recorded before we crashed. The next morning it was up bright and early to head back home.

Panama City, it was real. I had such a great time and it was awesome to just get away for a week and do nothing but be a complete beach bum. See you again next year.