Who Say's Atlanta Is Nothing But Concrete??

Before I moved to this fine city someone once told me that Atlanta is nothing but concrete.  

Can you believe it?? These pictures were taken on random walks from three of the hundreds of different parks Atlanta has to offer.  Where are these?? Piedmont Park, Lenox Park, and the Duck Pond.

Its Definately Fall!!

This is what it looks like from my balcony.  Beautiful!!

Fusion

I'm in a Fusion group this Fall with Buckhead Church.  What is Fusion?? Well, it's a smaller group (50-100) singles in my area of town and in my age group that get together outside of church either on Sunday for the group or other days of the week for socials and have a lot of fun.  A great way to get to meet new people and shrink the size of the church. Here are some pictures from our first fusion gathering...

With Dominick (who is going to Cambodia with Me)

and Valarie (one of our fearless leaders)

Christina, Dominick, Erin, Pho and ??

I had a great time as a volunteer for F1 (or Fusion #1).  I got to greet people as they came thru the door and hand them a paper to play human bingo.  Everyone was so talkative and social... how much fun! And it was great to see existing friends and new ones.

And then on Wednesday we met again for our first social at Fellini's Pizza.  I, of course, had a slice of cheeseless pizza and great conversation with the people who sat around me.  

 The Group

More of the Group

 Those making it until the end...

Ladies!!!

Zenith

Last Friday Jennie and I went to our favorite midtown art gallery, Kai Lin, for their latest art showing and we had a blast, as always.  I heart Yu-Kai!!!  And Jennie and I had a blast there.  Here are some of the pictures that were taken...

Me & Jennie in front of my favorite piece!

How cool is this painting!!

The Gallery

Jennie & Me again

Braves Game!!

I went to my first Braves game of the year.  I know, I know... their season is almost over.  So at least I got to go once :)  The Braves lost badly to the Nationals, however I had a blast hanging out with some new friends. 

Angel, Ryan, John and Me

Post-Skydiving Range Shooting

What better way to cap off a great Saturday of skydiving than to go to the range!  Haha!!! Bennett joined my parents, Zach and me for a fun hour shooting guns...

In this picture Zach is showing me how to shoot a rifle... in my sparkly dress!!

What else did my parents and I do this weekend???  Well, we went to Fat Matt's Thursday night and then just hung out at the apartment.  Jennie and Jeff stopped by for a few cocktails on the roof.

Rise-N-Dine was for brunch on Friday and ran into Marcus on his lunch break.  We all really liked Rise-N-Dine!! It was yummy!! Then we spent the day shopping and finished out the night with dinner at Via with Jennie.  Via was horrible... save yourself and don't go!! 

Saturday was skydiving, shooting, and the dinner at Fox Brother's BBQ.  I am so excited about shooting... my Dad bought me a Smith & Wesson .22 revolver so I was practicing with that.  Dad and I were also able to shoot Zach's 9mm and rifle and Bennett's 45.  We had a blast shooting all the different guns. Dinner was with Bennett, Marcus, Marthalynn and Julia.  I hadn't been to Fox however I've heard only good things about it.  In my opinion, it doesn't beat Fat Matt's for ribs however it did for the sides!

Sunday after church my parents and I went to Panahar for their first Bangladeshi experience.  And they really liked it!! Of course I did too... but it wasn't my first experience!  Haha!! We ran some errands during the day and then hung out on the roof before a major storm blew in and we went to Pizzeria Venti with Jennie for dinner.

It was another fun weekend with the parents!! Preston was very happy they were in town too... they do a great job at spoiling him!!!  Hahah!!

My First Skydive!!!

Sooooo... I've got all the pictures uploaded and have the video ready to go...

Check me out!! Haha!! I had a blast jumping with my friend Zach and my tandem partner Liam.  If you are in the ATL area and want to go skydiving go to Skydive Monroe.  I had a blast!!!  And what made it even better... my parents were able to watch!!

Before going my mom was terrified however once she saw the facility, the plane, how they pack the shoot, spoke to the skydivers, etc she was fine.  When we first got to Monroe there were a bunch of clouds, which pushed back every one's jumps a few hours but we were then able to watch 2 other groups of people go before we went.  That was fun to see!!! Around 1pm we were finally able to jump and man was it fun!! I was shocked at how not nervous I was.  I couldn't believe it.  But, I guess that's a good thing.

Maybe I'll get to go again!  Now if I can only talk my parents into going with me...

Kai Lin Pictures!!

I have added the pictures from the Kai Lin Art Gallery opening for Monsters.  I think I may have a few more pics on my camera that need to be uploaded.  I really should get on that...

Click here to view (or in the side bar).


Also, Jennie had taken a picture of her and I at a pool party at our friend Hersh's house.  I think we look good :)

It was a white party... I was a rebel!!  LOL!!

Starfish, Fox, and a Symphony

Friday night was ladies night for my friends Heather, Christina, Amy and me!! We had a blast!!

Our night started with dinner at Starfish, a sushi restaurant down the street from my house. We got a few different kinds of rolls and split them between everyone. It was a fun way to chat, eat, and taste different options. To fun!
After dinner we made our way over to the Fox Theater to watch Jersey Boys!!




We actually arrive late so we didn't have to wait in any line. However, missing the first bit wasn't great. I had no clue that it was the story of the Four Seasons (I don't know why I didn't know) however Amy clued me in before we got there. Good thing or I would have been royally confused!!! LOL!!!! I loved the musical!! We had a blast watching it!! I would recommend it to anyone.

Of course any ladies night wouldn't be complete without a good cocktail so we walked to Bazzaar for a quick drink and conversation. We had a blast people watching and updating each other on the latest in our lives.

Saturday was a really, really fun day!! I spent the morning at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market. I have always wanted to go to the market but had been trying to clean out my pantry. I finally have it fairly well cleaned down so I figured why not. I love the idea of locally grown organic foods!! I was able to purchase a squash, some green beans, and a few different heads of dark greens. I made up some dinner yesterday from what I got... and yummy!!! I'm going to try to do this more often on Saturdays. There wasn't as many vendors as I would have liked however it was a close walk. I have another option of trying the Morningside Market however I would have to drive there. If I do make it there I'll let you know what I think.

In the afternoon I hung out with VJ and John at John's pool. Always fun to hang out by the pool! On my way home I stopped by Erinleigh's house to pick up her dog Darcy. I am watching Darcy until tomorrow A.M. She is fun however she is a night walker and the tags on her collar jingle when she does. So, I was woken up abruptly a few times last night. Tonight I am going to have to take her collar off before going to bed!! Otherwise I really enjoy watching my friends dogs!! Always a fun time!! :)

Then at night VJ and I went to the opening night of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. It was beautiful music, amazing choir, beautiful location. It was also outside in 90+degree extremely humid environment!! Even I was a bit miserable because of the heat, and if you know me you know that is *almost* impossible!! However we did have a blast and it was worth sitting in the heat to hear.

I Totally Won!!!

I had a great weekend... and a great week too! Since I haven't updated in a while, here was my past week in review.

Monday:

I watched He's Just Not That Into You with a really fun bunch of ladies that I know from Buckhead Church. We had a blast hanging out and I really enjoyed the movie. I had read the book years ago and absolutely love it. I am now reading Sex, Lies & Lasting Relationships, which I am loving and I think is the Christian version of He's Just Not That Into you. Read it. Seriously.

Tuesday:

Mentorship Group night!! Sue (our amazing leader) made us dinner and we had an amazing conversation. I love how God is putting so many amazing females into my life for me to learn what real community looks like.

Wednesday:

I dropped my iPhone... and its now broken. Very sad, the face place is all cracked up. But it still works so I have added a cover to it and will continue to use it. Not in a place where I can justify purchasing a new phone.

Community Group - meeting #2!!! We are reading SL&LR (see Monday) and we are holding each other accountable. I love my group! Its small but powerful. Watch out world... here we come!

Thursday:

TV night!!! Went to Erinleigh's house and watched our shows!! Abby, another wonderful North Point employee and friend of Erinleigh came over and made chili, it was amazing! It was a lot of fun chatting a little more with Abby outside of work and I always love hanging out with Erinleigh!

Friday:

Lots o' doctors... I had my yearly physical in the AM with my regular doctor. During the physical, I chatted a ton with my doctor, who is really into herbal medication, and she directed me to a place called Health Unlimited. I went and they were very knowledgeable. I am trying some new things to deal with all of my health issues. I'll let you know what I think later...

Did I forget to mention that Friday was in the 70's (degree, that is) and super sunny! I needed to take advantage of such a great day so I spent the afternoon at Piedmont Park. What do you think...

Ladies Night!! Odessa, Teesha and I joined about 15 other amazing women at Bone Garden Cantina. Amazing food. Amazing company.

Teesha, Me, Odessa

(Most of) The Group

The 'catch' of the night was everyone was wearing pink. I pulled out my glitter pink shoes (high heel) out of retirement for the night and was glad I did. They hurt to walk in but it felt amazing to wear some heels again!

Saturday:

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I "Won A Date" with my friend Jerry and we had a blast. Let me back up... Jerry blogged a contest on his site to Medieval Times while back that you know I had to apply for. Jerry sits by me at Buckhead Church, works in facilities, and we chat all the time inside of work. But had never really hung out outside of work. Afer a long and gruling (not really) application process where I was as sarcastic as possible (no, not me...) I came out the winner!!

Jerry made an excellent post here about the 'date'. The official night was supposed to be just Medieval Times, however a few days before we were chatting and neither had anything else going on during the day so we decided to start early. He had a few different ideas, that fell thru, so he told me he would come over and we would figure something out. Unbenonsed to me he had an idea and showed up at my house with a painting kit that contains everything you need for oil/acrylic/chalk/sketching/watercolor paintings. The box also serves as an easel. It’s incredibly awesome and he let me keep it. Fabulous!!

I welcomed him to my house and he started the night with a pink rose.


For the rest of the afternoon, we hung out at my place and we painted while we watched part of Down With Love and Top Gun and chatted about stuff. We worked together on the our painting... one person chosing the colors and the other person painting. We have agreed not to discuss what Jerry painted, however I looked at the painting again last night and thought it was great.

Then Jared and Meredith came and picked us up and we went to Medieval Times for dinner and JOUSTING!!!! Oh Yeah!!

If you are not familiar with Medieval Times, it is a dinner theater in which you eat dinner with your hands while actors re-enact a story of a princess and her prince, a tournament, and an evil knight trying to take over a kingdom. Pretty basic storyline, but really well done! I walked away from this experience absolutely amazed! I highly recommend it to anyone. We thought it was going to be a joke and we would just be people watching all night, but we actually got into it and had an incredible time!

Sunday:

Work and church in which Jeff Henderson did an amazing sermon on our church, reflecting over the past year and looking forward into this year. Then I went to Lenox mall to get a cover for my iPhone. I also check out a few shops and landed in Restoration Hardware where I picked up these amazing pillow covers for $5 each!! I have been looking for a while for a nice cover for the pillows, and even contemplated making some, however was just to cheap. I can totally do $5 for beautiful and comfortable pillows!! (I have tried to add them here however I have reached my upload quota... not sure what that means , but sorry, I'll have to figure something out)

At night I went to PassionCityChurch and it was another amazing experience. I went with Teesha, Odessa, and Jackie. We had a great time and loved the service. Right now they are meeting once a month and I think it will be another fun place to praise God. How blessed am I!!

What is this??? And I see it in GA!

Ewwh... this can't be possible!

First Falcons Game!!

Last night VJ and I went to my first ever regular season NFL football game!! It was a lot of fun however I didn't take any pictures of us at the game... how crazy right! I did use my iPhone to take a few pictures of the field though...



VJ is from Carolina so he was rooting for the Panthers. But, in the end the Falcons did win!

On a separate note... as I was walking from my seat to the restroom I had a lot of ladies commenting to the people next to them that they loved my hair and wanted the same color! Sometimes accidents turn out right!

Sweet!

Ru Sans - Restaurant Review

I already knew I loved Ru Sans... a chain of Japanese sushi restaurant with quite a few all over Atlanta. So when Angela suggested going when she got into town last Tuesday I was excited!!


If you go at lunch they have an amazing lunch buffet (that I always eat to much at) but for dinner or when I am on a tight budget I love to go with a friend and order a few dollar roles. They have an extensive dollar sushi menu and for $3 (1 maki roll = 3 pieces of sushi) I always eat just enough to feel full.

Just know, if you are going to go by yourself they have a $5 limit per table and if you are going to pay with credit card it jumps to $10. The $5 limit is why I like to go with a friend cause $5 worth of dollar rolls are just too many for me!!

Lola - Restaurant Review

I thought I would start with the best review first... and it has to be Lola!!! On Friday night the following ladies joined up to party with Angela.

(can't remember her name -- sorry), Angela, Heather, Christina, and Me

Heather, Me, Angela

All the ladies again!!

Christina and Me

The the decor is very much what I would consider the Atlanta up-scale restaurant. The service from the employees, I thought, was exceptional... the greater/seater was very sweet and came back many times to check on us, the waiter was very knowledgeable about what they serve, and the cooks definitely know what they are doing. At one point I got up to go to the restroom and one of the waiters stopped what they were doing to escort me. I have never had that happen in a restaurant before but he says that is what they are supposed to do, nice touch.

Some of the ladies started out with an appetizer... however it was meat, cheese and olives so at the end I just stole one of the olives! My main course was their chef's special... a snapper dish with fingerling potatoes, mushrooms (not sure what kind), and a lobster sauce. Honestly, I have never tasted anything so good!! The snapper was cooked perfectly -- still has lots of moisture, the potatoes were amazing (I am going to have to buy some to cook with at home and see if I like them as much), the mushrooms were ridiculously amazing, and the lobster sauce finished it off perfectly.

It was so big I only ate half and had the other half Sunday for dinner... you know how sometimes a dish can be good the first go but not so good as a left over... well, if given the option I would have the left overs any day of the week. They blew me away a second time!!

For a drink I ordered a Bellini, and I have to say I wasn't a fan. But then, maybe I am not a fan of Bellini's and I just didn't know it. To me, it was too dry and too tart.

Earlier in the night, Angela and I had drinks on the roof with a few of her friends in the condo building and I had a blueberry martini made by one of her friends... now that was amazing!!! He used:

Blueberry Vodka
Crystal Light Lemonade
Splash of Pomegranate
Mint Sugar on the Rim

Not sure the quantities but if I could mix a drink like he does I would be drunk all the time! Haha... probably a good thing I can't, huh!

SweetWater

On Friday I joined up with Rachael (I work with at North Point), her husband Greg, and a bunch of their friends for Greg's birthday at SweetWater Brewing Company!! It was a blast.

SweetWater is a local brewing company. We went their brewery and for $8 they give you a glass cup (that you can keep) and give you 8 drink tickets. I only went thru 2 cause I am a super light weight, but my favorite was Blue... there are blueberries in the beer! How cool is that!

The guys and me

Rachael and Me

After SweetWater we headed to Mellow Mushroom for dinner. I had a blast meeting everyone (some of the people I had met at Rachael's birthday). I also got to meet Rachael's brother Matt, who goes to school at Northwood University in Midland, MI!! How cool!! For those who may not know... that is where I graduated from! I don't meet too many people down here to have gone/do go to the school!

Mellow Mushroom is a pizza place but they have vegetarian/vegan options... woo hoo! So I got a chef salad and substituted tempeh for the meat and cheese! Loved it! For those who haven't tried tempeh you totally should... its amazing!!!

Chocolate Pink Cafe AND Cafe Sunflower!!

Friday was a very busy, fun, and super exciting day!!! Even though it was a day off, it started at 6:30am... I got dressed and headed to Buckhead Church where a few of us met before heading to Woodson Elementary School. The church raised enough money and support to get shoes for every child at the school. There had been a few people in the church working hard for weeks getting everything together. On Thursday I helped arrange the shoes by classroom and label each child's shoes so we could easily get them on the students feet on Friday.

We drove over to Woodson, which was close to my old apartment in West Midtown, and got to sit thru one of their school assemblies. We had the most fun!! The students were so amazing and would do loud fun when appropriate and quite fun the rest of the time. There were introduction to the school rules, as well as a school mascot, a reading program, and school step/dance teams, drum lines, and cheerleaders!!

After the assembly we took the shoes to each classroom and put the shoes on each student to make sure they fit properly. I was in the first grade class and they were all so amazing!

After Woodson I headed to Edgewood to go to Flick to get my hair cut by only the best stylist, Abby!!


She is so super amazing and I always love the way my hair looks when she cuts it, and (more importantly) once I am home!! Even when I do my hair I still love it... and that is hard for me!! Only the best stylist can pull that off!

After Flick, I decided I would stop at Chocolate Pink Cafe and then make my way to the Midtown Red Cross to give blood.

I am on the mailing list for the Chocolate Pink Cafe so for my birthday they gave me a coupon for a free dessert!! I had a hard time deciding but I ended up picking their special of the day... that had peach in it!! It was amazing!!

I left the cafe and got to the Red Cross to give blood but found out that they closed at 3pm and it was after 4pm!!! I was so upset! I have been meaning to stop by here to give blood for a while and thought they were open until 7pm. Oh well, I will have to stop back another day.

My original plan was to go straight from the Red Cross to dinner, however I now had about 2 hours to kill so I went home and I was so exhausted I took a nap!! Luckily I woke up just before 6pm, which gave me a few minutes to freshen up before heading out to meet my friend Susan for dinner at Cafe Sunflower! I haven't been there before but it's a vegetarian restaurant just down the street from my apartment. I have been wanting to go but I am really bad about going out to eat when its just me... I love to have an occasion to go out for dinner (mostly because I love to cook)!

Their menu looked amazing and both Susan and I loved what we got!! We shared a starter of edamame. for the entree I got orzo eggplant lasagna. The lasagna was amazing but I only ate half so I could also get dessert... they had a coconut cake that sounded amazing... and it was!! Susan and I shared the dessert and we both loved it!!

After dinner I came home, watched some television before heading to bed!! All in all it was a perfect Friday (minus not being able to give blood)!

I love these days!!

High

After work I decided to take MARTA to the High Art Museum. They were having an Art in the City event that I wanted to check out. I got there pretty early, around 5pm, and they were still setting up. So, I decided to check out the exhibits. Right now there is a Civil Rights display that is all pictures. It was amazing to look at some of the events that happened before I was born. Some of the events that changed life to be as it is today.

Then I went thru the Louvre exhibit. At this time they are doing The Ancient World and Houdson: Masterworks of the Enlightenment. I have seen all of the Louvre exhibits that they have had on display and although this one was amazing it wasn't my favorite. It was mostly busts of different people and much less of what I like in art. But, to each their own and I was still glad I made it to the exhibit.

After visiting the Louvre I decided to go back to the Art in the City. I walked down to where I thought it was and saw some food set up and a bar. I sat down at one of the tables (after walking thru two exhibits in heels my feet were tired) and a lady brought me a glass of wine. Cool, I thought, I really like Art in the City. A few people came around with hor d'oerves before letting me know that the buffet was open. Cool!! Free wine and dinner! Can't beat this. So far I have only had to pay for my MARTA ride as I am a member of the High Art Museum.

I sat by myself for a few more minutes and enjoyed people watching before a few people asked if they could sit with me. After introductions we started talking about my job at North Point Ministries. We chatted for a while, one of the ladies goes to Buckhead Church and the others were interested. Very nice... I was getting out and doing what I have wanted to since 7|22 on Tuesday.

Then I asked them about themselves... they are all architect. Interesting, then one girl said she liked how I just crashed the party. She was serious, not being sarcastic. So, I asked what she meant. I found out that this was a gathering of architect and the food and drinks were for their party!! Oops!! I was crashing a party... at 6:30pm. What a wild and crazy girl I am!! Hehe!

I enjoyed the food, enjoyed the company, and when their meetings began I made my way back home.

What fun!!

The Tabernacle

Before the Lisa Lampanelli comedy show started I took a quick picture of the stage.  I tried to take a picture of her on stage but it didn't turn out!  Oh well!!

We all laughed so hard at the show by the end I had to just stop laughing... my cheeks hurt to much!!  

What I need to do a better job of is taking pictures of the people I go places with!!  

Always something happening by my old apartment (M Street)

So, I was driving to Roy's condo for dinner and happened to drive by my old apartment.  I saw a police officer go up to this homeless man, they exchanged a few words, and before you know it the homeless man was trying to run... he was handcuffed and then another motorcycle cop, a prisoner transport, and 2 police cars pulled up! 

Since a couple of the police vehicles were blocking our road I sat and watched this scene play out thru a few lights.  I felt somewhat bad for the homeless man, not that he was taken into custody, especially if he did something to deserve it.  However, I was looking at his clothing and looking at him and the combination just pierced thru my heart.  What would it be like to live his life?  

Fox Yesterday!!

Yesterday night I went with Lynette, Monica, Lynn's Sister (sorry I don't remember her name), Victor, Bobby, Dallas, and Kristina to the Fox Theater to watch Sex and The City (see the pictures in the post below) and it was amazing!!  I loved watching it more here, even with the lady behind us giving her commentary the entire time, than I did the first time.  I loved that everyone in the building was so excited to watch the movie and how everyone was clapping and yelling and laughing so loud at everything!!