You know you're grown up when you become Costco members.

Happy Monday!

This weekend was a perfect mix of productive and relaxing.

On Saturday, I got my hair and eyebrows done, we explored Whole Foods, then had lunch with friends at Souper Jenny. We also got our first carwashes since moving (yes, we have lived here for 8 months), and paid an interesting visit to Cactus Carwash in Buckhead.

Buckhead is one of the wealthier areas of the city, and lets just say there were literally NO cars like ours (a 97' Camry and an 02' Sentra) in the vicinity. I can honestly tell you that I've never seen so many BMWs, Mercedes, Lexuses (Lexi?) or Audis as we saw this weekend, and I did feel a little embarrassed when the carwash guys popped my trunk only to find the mini-Christmas tree and snowman ladder I've had in there for over a month now:]

 These sunflowers from Whole Foods were so pretty. I resisted buying them, but not by much.

My lunch at Souper Jenny. I had My Dad's Turkey Chili, and the California Love sandwich (avocado, goat cheese, sprouts, tomato and spinach on a french baguette). 

 Thomas had the Creamy Cauliflower soup and a turkey sandwich with swiss and arugula. So good.

Sunday was a day of giftcard spending! We went to Bed Bath & Beyond (I spend my giftcard on a new coffee mug), Ulta (I spent my giftcard on the polish below), and Costco.

Becoming Costco members made us feel like such grownups. I've been stubborn about getting a membership, even dragging Addy to order contacts with me so that I could get a discount. This weekend we broke down, and decided to just join already.

We did set some strict spending boundaries (based on the time we used our Sam's membership to buy a lifetime supply of Toaster Strudel), and on our first trip we bought only some essentials. Also, hotdogs...

Left: Alpine Snow (a pure white used for nail design) and Did It On Em' (a bright green from the Nicki Minaj collection). 

A 'restaurant' after my own heart--two Costco dogs and two drinks for $3.

I hope everyone had a great weekend, and that you start off the week well!

Kinsey

We eat a lot.

Hey there!

I do apologize for my absence during the later part of last week--things have been busy around here, as usual. This week we went out several times, and have lots of food pictures to show for it!

Thursday we had a work dinner at Maggiano's and even got to close up shop early.

Dinner was served family style, and unfortunately I was too hungry to pause for pictures. Luckily, by the time dessert came around, I was stuffed enough to wait.

Then, on Saturday, we went to dinner with friends at Flip Burger. We've been to Flip several times, and this time I decided to try a new [to me] entree, the turkey burger. I did stick with my usual side, onion rings, and I wasn't disappointed.

Thomas, ever the adventurous one, had the banh mi burger and fries.

Then, on Sunday, we used a Groupon (thanks to my brother's excellent Christmas gifting skills) and headed to Little Azio for dinner.

The meal included a caesar salad,

Two entrees: (I chose fettucini alfredo, Thomas chose a Napoletana pizza).

 And beverages. Look at this adorable mini carafe!

Overall, the weekend was full of relaxation, food, and friends. What else is a weekend supposed to be?

-Kinsey

Chester the Garm-ester

Last week was quite the long and stressful one. I'm so glad it's behind me, and I have to say, 2012 can only get better.

Thomas finished up his internship this Friday, and will now be looking for full-time work. He has been searching, but finding a job in his industry in this economy is tough. Fortunately we have amazing connections, and I know he'll find something soon. He is going to do some freelance work for the studio where he's been interning, and he's super excited to be doing 'real audio guy stuff.'

One exciting development this week was the delivery of my new Garmin Nüvi. I always thought the idea of having a GPS was kind of pointless (I mean, I have an iPhone, duh) but having moved to Atlanta and gotten lost while trying to get on the highway/look at a tiny iPhone screen one too many times, I decided that--for the safety of myself and the city at large--I would much rather have a device that yells directions at me.

So, Chester the Garmin was born. I searched for him over the holiday while Thomas' dad was here (we have the same passion for bargain hunting, but he has more experience) and found a great deal on Amazon. I decided on the Nüvi 1350LMT, which comes with lifetime maps and traffic updates (hence the LMT at the end--that one took me a while to figure out). The 1350LMT model is regularly priced at $209, but I got it for a mere $118! BONUS.

I have to say, even though it's been less than a week, I already know that my favorite feature on this particular model is the lane-assist capability. I think one of the hardest things about driving in an unfamiliar place is figuring out after making a left turn what you'll be doing next, and changing lanes accordingly. With Chester, it's easy! He's like "turn left here, then turn right" and I'm all "Got it. THANKS CHESTER!"

I've used Chester to find my way around all weekend, and I'm proud to say that I haven't gotten lost once! One important thing to mention is that I'm actually using the "Jill" aka female voice to yell directions, but Chester seemed like a fitting name anyway. Here we are on our first ride together:

Here are a few other fun pictures from this week:

Charlotte's typical morning antics. She's a dirty beggar.

A big ol' couch full of girls. Here we are posing before heading out to celebrate Julie's birthday. 

Addy, Julie, and I at the Koo Koo Room in Midtown. [See if you can spot B-Spears in the background.]

The brunch of champions--Thomas and I shared the chili cheese slaw dog at Home Grown and met up with some friends visiting from Lubbock.

I hope that you all have an excellent week and that the new year isn't getting the best of you just yet.

-T, K, J, & C

New Years Eve in Pictures - Part 2

Continuing yesterday's post about New Years Eve Day (which sounds weird but makes sense if you think about it), today I'm going to finish up with pictures from New Years Eve Eve.

After our adventures at Oakland Cemetery, we ventured into Little Five Points to walk the dogs and sit down for coffee. The afternoon was a pretty tiring one, and once we were all back home we busted out out all our Apple products to relax.

After taking a couple of hours to recover from the day's activities, we moved the party over to Mari and Holly's (where there's more than one bathroom). Below is my version of Charleston Cheese.

Other food items included [from left]: poppy seed sandwiches, cinnamon pita chips and strawberry cream cheese, cheese-n-crackers, caramel corn, cookies, chocolate/cinnamon bugles, a bunch of desserts, a cheese platter, 3 onion dip, wasabi peas, cream cheese and jalapeño jelly, and cocktail wieners. We also feasted on pizza pockets like a group of 8th grade boys.

Before midnight struck, we played several games of reverse charades and watched goofy TV shows (i.e. 1980s Fame). Once the peach dropped, we headed outside to watch fireworks and light up some sparklers.

I don't participate in the sparkling myself, so I took pictures instead.

Thomas, however, LOVES a good sparkle.

And I pretended to be holding one for the purpose of this picture.

Andrea did a sparkly routine...

And Tom multi-tasked by drinking champagne while twirling about.

Here's the first 'family photo' from the new year (minus Charlotte since cats hate to party).

After a much needed night's sleep, we headed out to Piedmont Park on New Years Day. We decided to stop at the nearby Hobnob for a snack--we got these amazing fried green tomatoes. They were definitely the best FGTs we've had in Atlanta so far, and aren't they pretty?

After some obligatory eating, we headed to Piedmont for some fresh air. Does this picture look familiar? My family posed in the exact same place last week.

The park was really busy--probably because of the perfect weather--and while at the dog park, we saw several horse drawn carriages winding through the trees. It was pretty magical.

Our New Years was full of family, fun, and celebrating, and we couldn't be happier with 2012 so far. Tomorrow I'll be wrapping up with some assorted pictures from the Mahan visit. Enjoy your work-week!

-Kinsey

New Years Eve in Pictures - Part 1

Happy New Year everyone!

Thomas' parents left this morning, and we've been spending the day lounging and recovering from the last busy (but so fun!) two weeks. I thought I'd put together a quick post about New Years Eve but I decided to split it into two parts so that it won't be too terribly long.

This New Years was extra fun because we got to spend it with Mari and Holly as well. The day started off with an amazing brunch at Parish, an adorable restaurant in the Inman Park/Old Fourth Ward area. The atmosphere is great--it has tons of natural light, interesting textures, and a rustic feel.

The meal started off with a round of complimentary beignets.

Then, we shared three things as a table: first, an order of brioche french toast with fruit compote.

Next, lemon and buttermilk pancakes. They were so light and fluffy--my favorite dish for sure. I'm also in love with the gorgeous plate they were served on.

And last, a plate of belgian waffles with brown sugar butter.

We could have stopped there, but did we? Nah. Here's Thomas' entree, fried chicken doghead benedict (a buttermilk biscuit, fried chicken breast, poached eggs, andouille sawmill gravy) and hashbrowns.

And my entree, a fried green tomato BLT with hashbrowns on the side.

After lunch we took a few photos to show off the cool building.

Since we had just eaten a huge heavy meal, it worked out perfectly that Mari had planned a walking tour of Oakland Cemetery for the group. Oakland has been around since the 1850s, and is just a short drive from Mari and Holly's place. It's kind of an unusual cemetery in lots of ways, the most notable being that weddings and other celebrations are often held there. It really is a beautiful place, and the tour was very fun and educational (nevermind the walking-off-our-brunch aspect).

Here's a shadowy picture of the group, excluding Tom and Gladys.

There's Gladys!

Here's our excellent tour guide, Sally, in front of the Richards tomb.

A view of the cemetery/sky line.

These tombstones all belong to Confederate soldiers who died during the Civil War.

 I was especially impressed by the mausoleums--many of them were so ornate and beautiful (especially since they were decorated with Christmas wreaths and bows).

That's all for today--tomorrow I'll finish the New Years Eve recap with pictures from that night's celebration!

Kinsey