No Place Like Home

As I previously mentioned, I am home in Atlanta visiting with my family this week! S.O. much FUN! Time has passed wayyyy too fast though. I seriously cannot believe that it is already Saturday! HOW is it already Saturday?!? 

One of the great things about this week was how much time I got to spend with my Gramma! I got to see her three out the six days I've spent here! She is so classy and beautiful. I would be seriously happy if I could have 1/3 of her taste! 

My mom, Gramma, and I enjoyed a fun day of shopping at Nordstrom on Monday. Then to top it all off we went "shopping" for accessories in my Gramma's closet! Her things are amazing and beauitful and even more fun because they have a history to them. She can tell you the story of each item including where she got it years ago. 

Gramma, from back in the day, looking like a movie star

On top of being stunningly beautiful and put together, even at age 89, my Gramma is incredibly generous and thoughtful. She knows the way to my heart and made me deviled eggs as a special treat and surprise. If you know me at all, you should know that I gobble up deviled eggs like nobody's business. Holiday meals aren't complete without deviled eggs, preferably ones made by my Granmma, and if you are lucky enough to be at those meals, you know you have to put some eggs on your plate fast before they quickly disappear into my belly! 

I'm so blessed to have such a loving Gramma and I loved being able to spend so much time with her while I've been home!

Tuesday afternoon my parents and I went to the Farmers Market in Historic Norcross. Downtown Norcross is really cute and charming. There was live music, interesting people watching and practically every food-selling vendor had multiple taste samples. 

We thoroughly enjoyed snacking our way through the market. I was also pleasantly surprised with the amount of gluten-free options, a factor that allowed my mom to partake in all the food tasting fun as well!

We made out with loads of goodies, including soft, gluten-free bread, a trio of fruit flavored goat cheese, gluten-free pasta, gluten-free cookies, and some mango salsa. Miguel was thought of even though he couldn't be there (thanks for working hard in Savannah while I got to play!), so my dad bought Miguel a really yummy balsamic vinegar with peppercorn, jelly to marinade and grill with! My absolute favorite thing I got at the market, however, was a chocolate, lavender, sea salt popsicle! I'm not a huge ice cream fan, but holy cow, this was amazing. It was so good that I would make a trip every Tuesday to this market just to get it again. 

After the market, we decided we had a little room in our stomachs left for dinner. So we went to a Cuban restaurant in Downtown Norcross, Mojitos. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was great. I just wish I wasn't so full. Next time I'll go with an empty stomach and big appetite!

I had a yummy black bean soup and some veggie empanadas!

I may have stolen eaten one of my dad's plantains ;)

I've also been catching up on my cuddles with these two cuties this week:

I love my family puppies! No one listened, comforted, or loved as well as these two! They were always there and loved me through my awkward, hard teen moments. They totally sympathized when my parents were being "unfair" and "way harsh".  ;)

Much like my parents' dog, Bailey, food and I get along way too well. I'm pretty sure I should list "Eating Out" as one of my favorite hobbies. If you think that is sad, then I say you need to learn to love food more. Okay, maybe I should re-phrase that to, you need to learn how to love food that other people make for you and clean up for you more! ;) 

Anyways, I guess it should come as no surprise, then, that going out to dinner another night this week, was a highlight for me! Thursday night my parents took me to 52 Bistro in Downtown Alpharetta. 

What a fun restaurant! It's in an old house and just oozes comfortable, Southern charm with some wear and tear around the edges... if that even makes sense? A musician played fun music while we ate on the closed in porch. It was hard picking out what we wanted from their menu. Everything sounded delicious and I'm pretty sure we would have been pleased with anything they have to offer. 

Our server was an adorable French lady who suggested we try a French Rosé. Both my mom and I got a glass. I should have written down the name of that wine because I really enjoyed it. By no means do I understand anything about wine so I know I won't do it justice by attempting to describe it here, but it was dry with some fruity flavors that came out more as an aftertaste. Generally, I prefer a richer wine over a sweet wine and probably never would have picked this wine out on my own, so it was an unexpected pleasure. 

This is sort of an awkward photo, but it was the only one of the two of us were we both had open eyes and were looking at the camera at the same time. It's dad's fault for making us laugh too much while he was taking it!

The food was sooo yummy! I had a mushroom, goat cheese, flat bread, mom had pork chops, and dad ordered beef tenderloin. Thanks, Dad, for sharing your potatoes with me! Potatoes may be my favorite food group ;) I could probably go on like Bubba from Forest Gump, substituting potatoes for shrimp, about all the different ways one could prepare a potato... I would eat them all. 

Though the proportion sizes were probably an appropriately, healthy size and satisfactorily filled us up, we couldn't resist the temptation of desert! Don't judge! Take a look below...

I love how they wrote 52 with the sauce!

Yep, that's what I thought. You wouldn't have been able to say no either! Homemade pecan pie, creme brulee, peanut buttercup cheesecake... num num num =)

I didn't just shop and eat out this week! I also go to catch up with some friends! Though, now that I think about it, I either ate out or shopped with them... haha! Oh well! At least I know what I like! It was good to see them! We're in that time of life where most of our childhood friends and college buddies have moved and spread out all over the place, so it's always a rare and special treat when it works out to see each other! 

Miguel and my puppies arrived home Friday afternoon! Yay! I missed those three!! The first night I was home I had trouble sleeping. I had the whole bed to myself and with no snoring "breathing-hard" hubby and no itching-at-their-jingly-collars dogs, it was way too quiet!

My dad headed to Chicago for a business trip so my mom and Miguel humored me by going to see the new Disney Pixar movie, Brave. I was so looking forward to this movie! I'm sad to say, however, that it was a disappointment. It felt shallow in terms of the story line. Almost like it didn't feel complete. Which, to be honest, surprises me. I have high expectations for Pixar. There were some funny moments, but it was pretty subpar. The highlight, for me, was comparing the heroine, Merida's, hair to my expectation for my niece's future hair. We joke a lot about how unruly it will likely be due to the fact that both her parents have loads of hard-to-tame, curly hair. 

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My week felt way more jammed packed than this post leads you to believe. I can't believe how fast it has gone! Pout. Tonight we have a wedding and tomorrow we go home. That makes me so sad to think that my 'vacation' is already coming to an end. But it's always good to be home in your own home and I miss going to work. Guess I'm pretty lucky that I have a job that I actually miss when I'm not there. Miguel and I are also lucky that we get to see family as much as we do! We have a family vacay coming up at the end of July with the whole family so I'll just have to start counting down to that! I've loved being home and I'm sure I'm leaving parts out, but if I think of anything more I'll put in the post about the wedding =) 

I love wedding season....!

Park? Yes Please!

Look at that tongue!

Chaos Has Arrived!

Always looking for someone to play with!

Emma, Jack, and I have arrived at my parents house for a week long visit! My parents have two dogs, Bailey, 11, and Luke, 5. Adding two "puppies" into the mix with Jack, 9 months, and Emma, 16 months, we seem to have created quite the chaotic storm in the house!

Emma and Jack have bundles of energy and are constantly ready to play. Bailey isn't very interested at all. She has already snipped and yipped at Emma and Jack and told them what was up. They got the message. Luke enjoys playing but seems much more confused and concerned that his toys are being played with and that his people are showing attention to other dogs. He also seems stressed out by all the pandemonium. He has started hiding under the beds. Jack and Emma think this is great fun.

Where'd Luke go?

Jack says, "I found you!"

Haha. It's going to be a long week for my parents, their dogs, and especially the cat! Thanks for letting us come "play", Mom and Dad! We'll be gone soon, but don't worry, I'm sure we will have left a long trail of disaster and dog hair to remember us by!

Mom Visits!

My mom came to visit for a few days this week! I was so excited to spend time with her! It was so much fun to have girl time and we did a lot of things that I've been wanting to do in Savannah ever since we moved here over a year ago.

She arrived Monday afternoon and after introducing her dogs, Bailey and Luke, to my dogs, Emma and Jack, we scooted off to grab some lunch. It was really nice to eat and talk and just catch up. After lunch I drove her around where we live and she got to see a more extensive look of Savannah and the new area we moved to. Monday night she was such a good sport and came to our soccer game. We won the game, but I played poorly. I think I was nervous because my mom was there, ha!

Tuesday my mom and I started our day off early. We headed straight down town and ate breakfast at Caraway Cafe & Market. Their food is delicious and the atmosphere was comfortable. I had the salmon and goat cheese omelet. YUM! The breakfast came with a homemade biscuit that tasted like my Great Aunt Pat's biscuits which really topped it all off!

After finishing our breakfasts we headed off to do a trolley tour. I've wanted to do one of them for a long time. Not necessarily because of the trolley, but because I wanted to learn about the history of Savannah. The tour did not disappoint! A friend had told me the best trolley service to use was Old Savannah Tours because they are a local company (Old Town Trolley Tours are all over the nation) and locals get to go for free if you bring an out of town guest. We had a very friendly tour guide who reminded me a lot of the fairy godmother in Cinderella, in looks that is. We also did the 9 am tour and were very pleased that we never had to use the fans that the driver had supplied us with. The weather was actually really enjoyable! I completely forgot to take pictures... but that's okay, just shows how wrapped up I was in the history of the tour.

After the tour mom and I headed back home to let the dogs out. We decided to take the dogs to the park so they could burn off some energy. This was a bad idea. It was blazing hot by the time we got there. The heat was so intense that even the dogs didn't want to run around. Rather they just sniffed and Emma was smart enough to dig a hole in the shade and lay in it. Needless to say, we didn't stay there very long! But on a dog note, I'm also happy to report that my mom's dog, Bailey, who isn't ever going to win any Miss Congeniality awards, did very well with Jackson! We didn't have to put her muzzle on the entire visit! Yay! Go Bailey!

"Yawn... this heat is making me sleepy!"

We went back home and put the dogs up, got our nails done, and then headed out for lunch. My friend had recommended we try out the Gryphon Tea Room. I am sooo glad we went there! It is in an old building that decorated with Tiffany lamps, a wallpapered ceiling, walls lined with bookshelves filled with old books, leopard print carpet, a couple of old arm chairs and sofas upholstered in rich velvets, a baby grand piano, and music from the 1940's. The food was delicious too! I got a summer salad with poached salmon, mango, strawberries and nuts. Very refreshing and tasty! 

After lunch we were stuffed and went home to relax and chill a bit before heading back out to dinner with Miguel at one of our favorite restaurants, Cha Bella. We all really enjoyed our food! Mom and Miguel got a grouper and I got beef. After dinner we enjoyed the city at night and got some cocktails from a favorite local martini bar of mine. 

The cozy dining room at Cha Bella. Photography by Tim A. Rutherford

Wednesday morning mom and I headed to Wormsloe Plantation. This is literally right down the street from where we live and I have been wanting to visit there for a while. I am so glad I finally got there and am very happy that I went with my mom. We both share a love of history and I enjoy sharing these experiences with her! The lands are breathtaking and we both learned a lot about Georgia history! The main road to the old house and museum is lined with over 400 Live Oak trees! The pictures just don't do it justice!

The entrance to Wormsloe

Click on me to enlarge!

The owner of this property was a man named Noble Jones. He was one of the first families to settle here with Oglethorpe. I learned a lot about the history of Georgia from Jones' story. Did you know that alcohol, slavery, catholics, and lawyers were banned from Georgia? And Georgia wasn't a Royal Colony until they tore up their laws against slavery? Also, poor Noble Jones, who was a surveyor by trade, was commissioned to do such a plethora of jobs that I don't know when the man slept.

Just of few of the jobs that Jones had...

The park ranger spent his time casting pewter spoons and then filing them down

The house that Noble Jones built back in the 1700's no longer stands. Only the ruins remain. However, an interesting fact, his descendants still live on the property in a private house. I'm glad someone still gets to enjoy the fruits of Jones' hard work!

The plantation ruins

After leaving Wormsloe we went to go see Midnight in Paris. I generally don't like Owen Wilson, but he did really well in this role. The movie was sort of a period film and the characters were a lot of famous artists and authors, which really appealed to me. Again, I was thankful to go see the movie with my mom, as we both agreed afterwards that the guys would have been bored. 

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After the movie we went to lunch at a local favorite, Sweet Potatoes. They serve southern homemade cooking. We got jerk chicken and pork over sweet potato mash with black eyed peas. Very tasty! 

The rest of the day we spent doing girly things that we miss doing with each other, like going shopping and getting our makeup done. 

Once Miguel got home the three of us started making dinner, though Miguel was the master chef! He grilled us some really delicious lamb. I generally am not a huge fan of lamb but this meal was very tasty and changed my mind on lamb all together! We had a lovely evening at home eating a wonderful meal and watched a movie. It was so nice to me to just relax and spend time with family!

Thanks for grilling, babe!

I loved having my mom down for a visit! I miss her a lot! However, it is really nice to have the house nice and quiet without four dogs! All the dogs together was just overwhelming! Especially when each dog wanted to be the center of attention!

My mom is under there somewhere!

Finding dogs in all sorts of places... :)

Again, it was so much fun to spend a couple of days hanging out with my mom! Now I'm counting down till we have our family trip in a few weeks! And then I get to see the whole family! Yay!