Memorial Day Locked Up

After a long week (and weekend) of work, Aimee and I hosted our final batch of Atlanta visitors for the Memorial Day Weekend.  Sara and Adam generously planned their holiday weekend to be with us in Atlanta and we loved it.

We started out with a quick trip to Kilwin’s Ice Cream and Fudge in Atlantic Station.  Usually I’m pretty impressed there but one thing in particular was most disconcerting:  I asked if they could make chocolate ice cream soda and was told that they don’t use club soda, but rather Sprite.  This is just not okay but the Mackinac Island Fudge made up for it.

On Saturday we checked another item off of our bucket list.  The Chattahoochee river is well-suited for various type of tubing and rafting excursions, affectionately know as “shooting the hooch”.   With our various beverage literally in tow, we partook.  It was a most relaxing way to spend a few hours in the sun.

We arrived home in just enough to change and head out to the Braves game.  We enjoyed this one just as much as the last one, though it was a bit longer as it took 12 innings to put the game away.  At least the Braves came out on top this time.  Below are a few pictures from that afternoon.

Sara had few requirements for their trip. One was a Braves game; the other was Southern Fried Chicken.  I’m most confident when I say that the Colonnade restaurant on Cheshire Bridge did not disappoint.  It is the quintessential, part-diner, part-fine dining establishment that has existed for years in the hearts and somewhat feeble minds of its most frequent patrons.  The dated décor and chain-smoking wait staff aside, I’ve never had better chicken.

The Emory University campus is simply beautiful in the spring, benefiting from the staggered waves of flowering trees and other blossoms that mark a typical Atlanta spring time.  While Aimee and I rehearsed for mass on Sunday afternoon, Sara and Adam took the car for a self-guided tour of campus and the area near the eye clinic. 

We closed out the weekend on a high note at Murphy’s in Virginia Highlands for brunch.  We are most appreciative for Sara and Adam making the journey down to be with us and share in the warmth – as we are with all of the visitors we’ve had here in Atlanta.  As our time here dwindles, the work situation for me has accelerated fairly dramatically.  Before the big conversion weekend however, I was able to participate in a salon-style piano recital at my teacher’s home.  I played Chopin’s Etude in A-flat, Op. 25, No. 1; followed by Excursions I by Samuel Barber – both memorized, which is a good feat for me!

April Showers Bring May Visitors

Crowley had one of the best weekends she’s had in a long time.  Ours wasn’t too bad either.  Kristen came down from Chicago to spend the weekend with us.  We had a really nice time with her and Crowley especially did (after all, she knew Kristen even before Aimee!).  It was busy though:  We had some delicious southern food, took in a little evening fun, visited with friends, and made another video of Crowley.

We started off right by going straight from ATL to CFA (Chik-fil-a) for some chicken nuggets.  That night we crossed another item off the list and went to watch the Braves attempt to compete with the Phillies.  We were all really impressed with Turner Field:  clean, fun, nice people, and great food -- Kristen managed to tell of her Savannah Shrimp Po’ Boy to her entire family, several friends, and a few strangers.  The picture below is from our seats.

Also, I learned that the proper lyrics of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” do not pluralize “Cracker Jack”.  Anyway, despite our cheering, the home team didn’t win, and while you might call it a comedy of errors, we saw a true comedy the next night at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern.  I had to see it to believe it:  the audience sits at tables and there is a cafeteria in the back of the theatre where you get dinner before / while watching the show.  We saw Shakespeare’s comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.  To be honest, they aren’t Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, but where else can you have a pasty and a beer while taking in some local culture?

Crowley also got groomed this weekend. See her below with her bows (“please take these out now”) and with Aunt Kristen.

  

On Sunday, we took Kristen to IHM mass in the morning and then crossed another restaurant off our list by finally getting to Ria’s Bluebird down in Grant Park.  I was very impressed.  “World’s Best Pancakes” (according to the N.Y. Times) is a tough claim to support but they sure were delicious.  After Kristen left, we double dipped on mass and then had dinner with some friends and had an opportunity to talk music with Paul Tate.

Last and simply not least:  we recorded another video of Crowley in an attempt to catalogue her tricks.  She’s been practicing a lot lately so a little You Tube-ing was well deserved:

Crowley Tricks

We have a red pin

In the leasing office here at Gables Midtown, there’s a poster board map of the property with yellow pins in the occupied units and red pins in the apartments that are vacant or pending vacancy.  We have a red pin.  It’s just one of the realizations of our impending move back to Chicago.  But before that, we’ve had some visitors.  Last weekend Mark and Scott joined us for a couple days.

We started with a trip to Murphy’s for dinner to offer a traditional dinner with some southern flair.  As usual, it did not disappoint.  OpenTable.com says it well:  “Tom Murphy’s acclaimed restaurant brings in the crowds with the perfect combination of upscale comfort food, unpretentious service, a cozy, high-energy setting and excellent value.”

What followed was a frustratingly abbreviated journey to the Piedmont Park Dog Park, so described because my first and only heave of Crowley’s ball went across the park and, with one hop, went over the fence and was never to be recovered.  Crowley was not pleased.

Summon the bucket list!  We set off to tick the box on another item: the Georgia Aquarium.  A nicely designed space with really well done exhibits – I’m told it’s heads above Shedd.  The dolphin show was spectacularly executed.  As you might expect, I’ve started training Crowley to let me “air ski” on her back.  There are some pictures below.  For more, including an albino alligator, visit our Picasa Album!

Another ill-timed event:  Aimee was paged just as our visit finished but Mark and Scott pressed on to the World of Coke and we picked them up in time to wait for a table at Fox Brothers BBQ, by several accounts, both anecdotal and official, the best BBQ in Atlanta.  I concur.

Evening came and morning mass at IHM followed.  Thanks to Mark and Scott for taking time out of their schedules to be with us down south.  Lots still to come!  We have Kristen coming next weekend and Sara and Adam for Memorial Day.   We have, as my mom would call it, a “live go” date now of May 23rd which means my work life is about to get a lot busier.

Austin for Work, Birthday, and Wedding

Aimee and I traveled to Austin for most of last week and the weekend for a fortuitously planned wedding, with proximity to my birthday (not planned) and my client location (sort of planned).  Our picasa album for Rich and Alex’s wedding has the complete set of photos.  All in all it was a great trip!

Our trip began as all extended travel does these days:  with baggage fees.  After making her contribution to Delta, Aimee joined me in Austin for a couple days.  We visited some of my favorite food spots downtown including 219 West, Walton’s, and How Do You Roll; as well as the Lakefront trail and Capitol building.  Aimee is pictured below after our make-your-own-sushi experience:
 

Birthday
Wednesday the 27th was the birth day.  Thirty years old.  It’s hard to believe (though really I’m just trying to keep up with all my close friends).  I was immensely fortunate to have my parents, aunt and uncle, and cousins join us downtown for dinner at La Traviata. 

Wedding

Rich and Alex celebrated the commencement of their marriage to each other on April 30th at Villa Antonia, a Tuscan-style home in the Texas hill country.  We were well-rehearsed thanks to the run through and dinner near Lake Travis at the Paterson home.  Aimee did a little rehearsing of her own as she was asked to sing Con Te Partiro a cappella during the ceremony – which was outside.  A photo of this appearance has not surfaced yet but I will post when it does.

Below are a few pictures from that day:  my niece and nephew Megan and Justin, Aimee and me, and my parents with Jami.

 

Lastly (there’s always a ‘lastly’), new iMacs were introduced on Tuesday!  Might one, shiny 27” Sandy Bridge i7 be in our future?  Probably not soon.