Roses are Red, Violets are Blue

A Valentine's Day Poem:

Roses are Red. Violets are Blue. My boyfriend is the best. And you should be jealous.

I know it doesn't rhyme, but I wasn't really going for that. If you have a weak stomach, stop reading because shit's about to get nauseatingly romantic and sweet.

Here begins my February 14th, as I cross Number 71 off my list. I wake up to the nicest text, filled with emoji hearts and kissing smiley faces. Well played, sir. You have set the tone for the rest of the day.

Next came the beautiful flowers I received while I was out at my eye doctor appointment (getting some new contacts...finally, I can see again). I was just about to send a text to him complaining about the hundo's I just dropped at my appointment, when I got to my desk and froze. These beauties were staring me right in the face. Please feel free to read the note and swoon.

I mean, how gorgeous are those? Seriously....

So I call him, and thank him, and immediately start online shopping to get him more goodies because I'm already way impressed and know it can only get better.

Fast forward 7 long hours. He picks me up, opens the door, and we start to drive to the surprise destination. He made resi's a month ago but since I ruin every surprise, he swore this would remain a secret. He did let me know that it would be one of two places. For the last month, the suspense nearly killed me. Being the sleuth I am, I told him I'd be able to figure out where we were going based on the route we took, since the 2 options he gave me were in different parts of the city. We got to the turnoff point, and as we were stopped a the red light, I said, "Well I guess we're going to Sotto Sotto since if we were going to Ecco you would have turned right on red.". Light turns green. He turns right. Sneaky little devil.

We get to Ecco (which for those of you who have seen The Change Up will recognize it...it's the restaurant where Ryan Reynolds and Olivia Wilde go on their fancy date) and it is gorgeous! We get a cocktail at the bar and wait for our table - which is BY FAR the best seat in the entire place. A corner booth overlooking the main dining room and open kitchen.

We dined on Fried Goat Cheese Balls, while my wood-fired pizza and his homemade pasta cooked. We ended the evening with Champagne Truffles and Olive Oil and Sea Salt ice cream. And I should mention, no fancy dinner would be complete without a nice bottle of wine...so that was happening too.

 At this point, I'm all like..."This has been the best Valentine's Day of my entire life," and "I had to kiss a ton of frogs to end up with this Prince Charming," and "Can someone please pinch me because I have to be dreaming...how did I get so lucky?".

Then come the presents. He got his last two "14 Days of Valentines" gifts. An apple because "he's the apple of my eye" and a bottle of champagne (yes, more for me than him) because "he makes my heart bubble over". He did his actual gifts first...a pair of shoes he's wanted and has been wearing since Gasparilla. I caved and let him have them early. Then he got a shiny, new wallet. WOW. Oh, he also got one hand-written love letter, by yours truly. FYI...Everyone should receive one at least once in their life. It's a good way to let someone know how special they are.

My turn.

I got a nice little box of chocolates and.....wait for it......eeeeeeeeeeek. These babies.

Needless to say....HE DID AMAZING. And spoiled the shit out of me. I would have been good with some new socks and a box of wine, but he went above and beyond. So again, let me say:

Roses are Red. Violets are Blue. My boyfriend is the best. And you should be jealous.

Until next time,

L

Surviving Nemo

Someone once said, "Spontaneity is the quality of being able to do something just because you feel like it at the moment, of trusting your instincts, of taking yourself by surprise and snatching from the clutches of your well organized routine, a bit of unscheduled plea".

So that's what I did this weekend. Totally spontaneous move stemming from the unpredictable winter weather the Northeast sometimes faces, allowing me to cross Number 79 - Spontaneous Vacation Decision off my list.

Seven days ago, I checked the weather for my upcoming weekend getaway to The Big Apple. Much to my surprise snow flurries were in the picture and I got excited at the possibility of checking some bad-boys off my list. Later that day, I discovered it was in fact not only snow flurries...but a nor'easter storm grazing through the City right when my flight was scheduled to land.

Oh, the horror.

Thursday morning, I called AirTran at 8:30am to see what could be done about my Friday night flight. They told me it wasn't serious enough to prompt waived changed fees or flight cancellations, but to keep checking back. So that's what I did. Every 20 minutes. Check, check, check, monitor, monitor, monitor. Finally at 11:30 I updated my AirTran.com flight page to see that LGA was finally under a weather alert. I called them immediately to see what could be done.

"Well ma'am (in her sweet old woman southern drawl), I don't know if any flights will make it to New York on Friday. Nemo's - a - comin'. But I do have one seat left on the 8:50 flight tonight. Do you want it or do you want to call back? No guarantee's it'll still be here though...". I took it without hesitation. I'm glad I did, because at 11:36am an email went out to all AirTran customers encouraging them to call and reschedule. Ha, I beat the rush and got a flight out before the snow started. Then I felt an awful pang of guilt and anxiety wash over me.

I didn't request PTO 2 weeks in advance...crap. My supervisor isn't here, he's in London...what if he freaks out? How can I spin this to make a weekend trip to visit your besties sound more like an emergency? What if I get fired? These thoughts (and others) ran through my head all morning. And all afternoon. And right up until 6pm, when I got a response back from my boss saying it was okay. Phew. Now I can enjoy my Business Class flight to NYC (thanks to an amazing boyfriend who upgraded me using points).

Let me tell you, the flight into the City at night is unbelievable. I felt like I was filming a scene straight from Gossip Girl. Then I remembered, Chuck, Blair, and Serena have private jets - they don't do commercial. Oh, and they are fictional characters.


So I arrived. It was cold but not snowing...that didn't happen until roughly around noon on Friday. Then it didn't stop. A continuous wall of snow fell all day and all night long.




It allowed me to cross a couple other things off my list. I caught a snowflake on my tongue...and in my eye...and all over myself. Number 58 - Done. I also built the saddest little snowman EVER. Who knew that was so hard? We made her super fancy by giving her my headband, a pearl earring nose, and candy for eyeballs. But she was still pretty pathetic. I turned around and saw a MUCH better snowman. I'll just claim that one instead. Number 87 - Done. I'm also going to add "Make a Snow Angel" as Number 87.5. I can also cross that off my list. Check out my form...it's the best 3am, post bar Snow Angel I've ever seen. Even if I did get soaked from the snow and almost froze to death. Number 87.75 was also accomplished - Throw Snowballs in Central Park. Okay fine, these last two did not belong on my list, I was just really excited to be in the snow.

This trip to NYC was by far the BEST TRIP EVER. Not only did I get to see snow fall, but I got to see  two of my very best friends: Lauren and Loren. We dubbed this trip, "L, L, & L Weekend 2K13". It was one for the books. Not only can I not wait to get back up to the Big Apple, but I can't wait for more snowy adventures....This Florida girl, now a Georgia Peach absolutely loves that fluffy, powdery, white, cold stuff that falls from the sky.  I'm so happy I made the spontaneous decision to fly up, not knowing if I could and would survive a blizzard, and if I'd be able to make it home. Sometimes you have to take a blind leap of faith and hope it works out. For me, it did...I survived Nemo.

L

Short...but oh so sweet.

This post won't take up much of your time. In fact, it's not so much of a post as it is a celebration.

Of what?

Of this.

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I'm working on an actual post, but until then, just stare at the picture to your right a bit more and send me congratulatory thoughts, cards, and/or presents (since I cannot and will not be buying myself presents anymore as much).

L

What did I get myself into?

As I'm looking over my list, I must say...I'm way in over my head. At the same time, I'm also like "Dang - you've done SO much for only starting this thing on November 1st". Give myself a quick pat on the back, then return to staring at the lengthy and complicated things that await me.

As winter presses on here in the A (current temp: 68 degrees, partly cloudy, no chances of snow in the immediate future) I cringe at the snow items on my list. Why oh why can't it snow around me? Seriously...I'm cursed. The last 2 Atlanta winters have been extremely mild with NO SNOW. The last time it seriously snowed, "Snowmageddon" as Atlantans affectionately refer to it, I visited that weekend and was one of the last flights out before God opened the skies and literally took a snow shitstorm on the city. Graphic, I know. So it looks like building a snowman and catching snowflakes on my tongue are out for now. 

I attempted to do the 30x30. But as you can see, I value my weekends...There's always next month.

 I did have some down time last night, in between my Jillian Michaels Kettlebell workout video and eating pizza, so I made this little gem. How cute, right? Who needs Etsy when you have an imagination, hot glue gun,  and tons of wine.

So the next thing I was contemplating checking off the ol' list was number nine: create a photo album to represent every word in the alphabet (A - take a picture of an Apple, B - a picture of a baby, and so on). Too boring. Then I decided to take an actual picture of a letter, as seen here. Too hard. So I compromised. Keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming post which includes my absolute favorite things, as told through the alphabet. Spoiler alert: C is for Champagne. M is for Mean Girls. V is for Vampires. I guess you'll just have to wait for the other letters and corresponding items.

Moving right along...with my list...anyone have a Magic Eight Ball I can use?

L

The Little Things

This post is dedicated to the little things on my list, that I so often forget to update y'all on.

For instance...new restaurants, random acts of kindness, and wearing my retainer (haha jk - that's between me and only me) Except this pic. Take a good long look. This will be the only time you'll see it. I hope you enjoy........

Yikes. I hope you don't get nightmares.

Note: I could play on PhotoBooth ALL DAY LONG. The bf was out of town and left his laptop. How could I not take a million silly pictures and leave them for him to discover on a later date? PS If you don't know what PhotoBooth is, please drive to your nearest Apple store and spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with this little technological treat.

Well that was off topic...This past Saturday was a bit of a "Fat Kid Day", as I like to call it. I woke up slightly hungover from a concert followed by Jack & Coke Slushies (Check out - Victory). I think the latter had more to do with the hangover than the beer at the concert. Just a thought. Not only were the slushies totally worth it, but Anthony Bourdain gives a shout out to them on his show The Layover: Atlanta. Which I watched on Saturday morning. Thank you Mr. B for making me fall in love with my city all over again. And for making me want to go see Blondie even more (Elderly stripper pictured below...The Clermont Lounge's most seductive and experienced Lady of the Night).


So as you can imagine, after watching an hour of the best dining establishments in the 404, I was STARVING. We got dressed and hit up a local "market"...The Irwin Street Market. It was so cute and had this awesome local vibe going for it. We ate at Picnic, which was a sandwich+soup place in the building. Everything is made fresh and if I had to guess, organic.

I ordered a ham and cheese. Sounds plain, but it was far from it. The fresh french bread was grilled and cheese melted, and there was some delicious pesto/mayo concoction on the top. Holy crap. The bf got a BLT. Of course, this wasn't a normal BLT. It was a Fried Green Tomato with pimento cheese and pear jam BLT. Also delicious. I had a cup of homemade French Onion Soup to boot.

Just when you think it's safe to stop eating and leave, our personal chef tells us about the homemade ice cream. To break it down for you, my boyfriend has a problem. He is an ice-cream-aholic. A serious disease. Plus I was meeting a friend for FroYo a few hours later (which I still did). Do you think that stopped us from getting a scoop (okay, 2 scoops) of homemade ice cream? Absolutely not. His scoop was "Breakfast in Bed": Cinnamon Ice Cream with pecans, Belgium Waffles, and bourbon syrup. My scoop was some chocolate explosion in my mouth. I can't describe it. It was perfection.

Fat Kid Meal #2 - My boss has talked about this little Mexican place near our houses, his 6 year old son's "absolute favorite" place to eat, Jalisco. So of course, I had to try it out. It was tiny, authentic, and every table was full. We squeezed into a little corner, by all the "Crazy for Queso" plaques, and did what any person would do in that situation...order the queso. Obviously, being the Queso Connoisseur that I am, I loved it. I also really enjoyed my enchiladas. And the fajitas looked amazing as well. Not the best Mexican I've had in my life, but it was pretty tasty.

RAOK January - Stemming from a near parking ticket incident (thanks to Mr. Meter Reader for deciding on that warning instead of another $40 parking ticket), I decided to hit up the local parking meters in front of a heavily trafficked building in Midtown. I popped in an extra 30 minutes for all the cars (4 out of 5 of them were on empty. The 5th car had 3 minutes left). They might never have known I was there...but I saved them from $40. You're welcome.

L

The Cleanse...Can I Go A Whole Day Without Food?

So as I start this post, it is 10:20, I am trying to take my mind off the fact I substituted a delicious breakfast for juice. Why? Because I took the plunge (fueled mostly by the 50% off Groupon - I just can't pass up a bargain) and purchased a 1 day organic juice cleanse from a local store in Decatur, Nectar.

Not only is completing a cleanse on my list, but it also has some pretty legit health benefits. Let me point out some of my boyfriends favorites: increases sex drive, helps improve PMS symptoms, and improves mood. So obvious. Now let me point out my favorites: weight loss, radiant skin, mental clarity. Men really are from another planet.

I'm about to drink juice 2/6. I now know what I'm up against (you can REALLY taste every fruit and veggie in the drink). There's no sugar, no sweetener, nothing but pure, organic, raw fruits and veggies. You're allowed to drink water with lemon, which helps the detox part, in addition to herbal teas. My version of "cheating" is putting half a packet of Splenda in my tea pretending I'm sipping on a SBUX venti skinny caramel macchiato.

Just popped opened drink number 2. This one has cucumbers in it, which is surprisingly much better than the first. I also just went to the bathroom, catching a quick glimpse of myself in the mirror. To my horror the magenta juice drink gave me a bit of a mustache, which gave off the impression of herpes on my upper lip. Not cool, cleanse. Not cool at all.  I shall be much more careful this time around.

Ok, so it's 12:30 and I'm on juice 3. I'm hungry, but as one of my friends reminded me, it's all "mind over matter". So I'm not hungry. In fact, I cannot wait to drink this carrot, apple, and celery blend. In all seriousness, I think this is my favorite. Gulp...Gulp...Gulp...3 down, 3 to go. Halfway there. I can do this. I can do this. I want a cookie. Shit.

***UPDATE: It's now 4pm. I opened juice 4 about 20 minutes ago. It's literally turning my stomach. Not like I'm a huge fan of beets, but I don't think I'll be able to eat them, EVER again. I'm going to chug the rest of the bottle and pray it stays down. Thank goodness I mixed up the juices because if I had to stomach this twice in a row, I'd quit.

Fast Forward to 8am Friday morning...I survived. And much to my surprise I actually stuck it out and didn't cheat. I drank half of juice 5 before hot yoga and the rest immediately after. I went home, showered, and settled on the couch for a documentary. I probably should have watched it before I started, but I felt I was going to need some encouragement at home since my fridge is stocked and there's a box of Cheez-It's that were staring at me from the pantry. I highly recommend watching "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" as it definitely served as motivation to get through the night without ingesting even the tiniest morsel of spinach.

After I finished up, the strangest thing happened to me. I got energized. Here it was, 10pm at night and I decided to clean my room, respond to 42 (yes...42) emails I had received in between 5pm - 10pm from overly eager Junior Leaguers, and pack my bags for Friday night's sleepover with the bf. Somehow I got in bed and fell asleep before 11pm. I don't know how that happened.

I woke up bright and early (eh, I only hit snooze once and kinda laid there), got ready and to work in record time. I was actually early to work, I can hardly believe it. The best part of my morning: I wasn't starving. One of my coworkers told me he predicted the hardest part would be not to binge the next day. So far, so good. In fact, I kind of think next time, I'll go for 2 days...then maybe 5...maybe 10...who knows?!? Yes, I said next time. My impulse buying + Amazon Prime is a deadly weapon. I bought a juicer of my own. Hooray!

If you're considering a juice cleanse, please keep the following things in mind:
1. Start small and work your way up. Do one meal. Then one day. Then 2 days. And so on....
2. Fruits taste much better than greens, so start with the majority with fruits then gradually increase your veggies. You will like it much better.
3. Beets are used as a sweetener. Don't be alarmed when your pee turns a nice rosy color. It's totally fine.
4. Even after one day, I noticed more energy, better skin, and yes...I lost a few pounds ("I really wanna lose 3 pounds". Excuse my Mean Girls reference. You know I try to throw them in where applicable). Your body will definitely thank you for making the effort.
5. Your mind is a powerful thing. If you think you can't do it, it's that simple...you won't. If you tell yourself you can...you will.

That's all folks...

L

We're Going to the Drive-In. And We're Going to get Shot At

Okay...well....not really.

But I did experience my first drive-in movie since Total Recall premiered in 1990. I think Arnold traumatized me enough I have absolutely no desire to see it ever again. Nor the recently released Total Recall with Colin Farrell *swoon*.


So here we have Atlanta's own drive-in movie theatre. Starlight Six, meet my blog readers. Readers, meet Starlight Six. Make no mistake by this jazzy, sparkling sign - it is in the hood.

The bf and I knowingly drive to East Atlanta, stop at a Sonic (because why stop with just the movies...we are having a "drive-in" kind of night), get a Cherry Limeade and head to the show. It's all in the name of "The List". Numero 23 can now officially be crossed off.

To start, it was the most economical movie experience I have ever been had...$7 a person to see a double feature. I know, the more I tell you the more it seems I've reverted back to the 1950's. What's next, you ask? A 15 cent root-beer float, while Al gives me his class ring and Letterman's jacket, asking me to go steady. Naturally.

Let me tell you what happened next. Drove into what can only be described as the darkest rape...I mean parking lot on earth. Seriously, there are no lights. And they want you to turn off your headlights as soon as you enter. Ummmm hello, dat ain't happening. It looked like Mr. Scary Texas Chainsaw Man was going to pop out of the nearby woods and guess what, you'd NEVER see him coming. So the lights stayed on.

We found a spot on a hill and prepared for Movie #1: Haunted House. Movie Review Time - it was okay. I'd probs give it 3 stars simply because I love the Wayans Brothers and also Terry from Reno 911. Nick Swardson really does have a thing for playing not-so-straight characters and I love him for it. So the movie was "Eh, so-so at best". Funny at parts, specifically minutes 20-60. Anything before or after was absolutely boring. In other words, I'd wait until you can rent it on Redbox. Better yet, wait until it comes out on Netflix.

Onto Movie #2: Django Unchained. Thank you Quentin for saving our evening. Leo...Jamie...Samuel L...all on one screen with a not-so-subtle mixture of violence and Old South racism. It was sensory overload for me.

I digress. Back to the whole "us potentially getting shot in the hood" thing. So several times throughout the movie, the sound would completely cut off. Unfortunately for us, it was typically at the beginning and end of the movie. But a few times it happened in the middle, during a really funny or really dramatic part, where sound was a must. If the sound were to totally cut off (I mean, this isn't a perfect world or anything), you would hope it would be in the first movie and maybe someone would think to get the kinks out in time for the second movie. The better movie. The higher grossing movie of the evening. Let me again say....you would hope. Not the case here, folks.

After the 3rd or 4th time during Django, people were getting quite how shall I put this....pissed. You heard horns incessantly honking, car lights flashing (to the point I thought I was at a club with ultra hip and stroke inducing strobe lights), people screaming, shouting, and cursing like sailors. At one point, I thought I heard a gun shot. But no worries. I have a very blonde, very pretty, very white friend who goes here all the time. She told me the only time she heard about anyone being shot here was a car-jacking gone wrong or something to that effect. But it's okay because the victim "knew the guy". Needless to say, I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon. Sorry Starlight [Starbright], but your sparkle has faded.

L