The Best News of My Life

One of my favorite bands of all time, Journey, is playing two shows at Chastain Amphitheater this summer! Sweet Jesus. I did not stop believing. Here it is, my most favorite song of all time. Check out the feathered hairdo. And the super high-waisted uber tight legwear.

Music Association

We all have a song that somehow stamped our lives, takes us to another place in time. Everytime I hear that song, I go back....

The other day, we were discussing music association on a message board I frequent. The query: "Complete this sentence. Every time I hear the song "xxxxx", I am reminded of ____________________. Here are my answers. Whenever I hear "Mo Money Mo Problems" I am reminded of frat parties my freshman year at Mizzou. Whenever I hear "Little Moments" by Brad Paisley I am reminded of how much I love my husband. (Note - this is not the actual video, but it's the only one I could embed from YouTube.) Whenever I hear "Wind Beneath My Wings" I am reminded of my best friend from grade school to high school. I think we watched Beaches a thousand times. Whenever I hear "Babydaddy" by B Rock and the Bizz I am reminded of mornings in the sorority house with Heidi and Sarah. Whenever I hear "Take Your Mama" by the Scissor Sisters, I am reminded of my two MOHs and all the time we have spent shaking our booties to that song. Whenever I hear "Jump" by Van Halen I am reminded of doing Saturday morning errands with my dad when I was a kid. He always let me turn it up real loud. Whenever I hear "Tiny Dancer" by Elton I am reminded of all of our friends back home and hanging out at Gilhouly's by KU Med. Whenever I hear "I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly I am reminded of my senior year in high school, as I was getting ready to graduate and leave for college. This was also the time when my parents started their divorce proceedings. My mom always said this was her song to me. It makes me cry every time. What are YOUR songs?

Bonnano Sale

Although I'm sure this is all over by now, I thought it was worth posting anyway -- from our friend Vivian. Hello, Hello! You might want to share with your readers:Our annual Sunfest Sale is next week. May 1 - 4 $20.00 OFF every pair of Bonanno's 4 ways to order: On-Line: www.sbsandals.com Toll Free: 866-313 FEET (3338) Come into the Stuart Boutique @ 3 SW Osceola St. Downtown Stuart Pre-Order to beat the crush(all orders will go in the first day of the sale) Happy Spring. Vivian

Atlanta Botanical Garden and South City Kitchen

My aunt from Chicago was on her way down to a wedding in Florida last week. She purposefully took a long layover in Atlanta to come see me! It was a beautiful day, so I decided to drive her around some of Atlanta's finer neighborhoods and then make a stop at the Botanical Garden. I figured it would be just beautiful at this time of year and I was correct-a-mundo. Here are some pics of what's in bloom. The ATL Botanical Garden is a spring day bargain at the $12 ticket price. Gorgeous white tulips, falling over one another: Close Up: Thought this was hydrangea, but it is actually viburnum.... the largest one I've ever seen at that! I like this closeup and the colors of the leaves in the background. Friendly freaky fellow in the Japanese Garden. Fun modern reflective sculpture: I love these, I think they look like paper. Obviously what I'm saying here is very important because it is underlined. (No really, Blogger is just being a PITA and I'm not too great with HTML.) We ended our day by having a homey dinner at South City Kitchen. This is a fantastic place to bring out of town guests, especially if they're looking for a nibble of Southern food. It's not my favorite Southern in town, ::cough cough Mary Mac's cough cough:: but it certainly has a cozy atmosphere suitable for a classy dinner with visitors. I had the sauteed shrimp & scallops on cheese grits, and my Aunt had the trout with mashed potatoes and green beans. Both were delicious and comforting. I will also add that the service was top notch, some of the best I've had in awhile.

Hey Y'alls

So sorry I haven't been around much lately... I have been busy gathering material! Some good updates to come this week, I promise. xoxo

Richard Blais comes back to his roots

From Meredith Ford at Access Atlanta: You can go Home to chef Richard Blais on April 21 New restaurant will feature farm-to-table concept There was a time when chocolate and salt would have never been paired; red wine with fish considered completely out of the question. And in the world of restaurant couplings, it's hard to imagine Atlanta chef Richard Blais (currently knocking up the ratings on Bravo's "Top Chef" series) and mega-plex restaurateur Tom Catherall pairing up.

But that's exactly what's happened. The ink is barely dry on the deal, but Catherall and Blais confirmed Thursday plans to reinvent Catherall's tony Buckhead spot, Posh, into a farm-to-table concept serving modern home-style dishes with Blais at the kitchen's helm.

"I've been to JCT Kitchen a lot," said Catherall, who decided to make the change just two weeks ago, and contacted Blais. "I love the food there. I think in this time of recession, people are looking for homier, comforting dishes."

Dishes like pork short ribs and collard greens in a coffee barbecue sauce with poached peaches? Hopefully, since that's one of the offerings on the menu. The new name? Home.

Catherall owns and operates a plethora of local restaurants through his culinary concept Here to Serve Restaurants; Blais has been in and out of the local culinary scene in Atlanta after opening his critically acclaimed restaurant, Blais, which closed in six months. His modern take on molecular gastronomy has earned him a rep with critics, and earlier this year he announced plans to open a new upscale burger concept on the West Side called Flip. Plus, there's the whole "Top Chef" gig.

"I'm still involved with Flip on a consulting basis," Blais said.

Catherall is changing some of the decor of the former Seeger's location — wood floors, new artwork and a homier feel to the ambience will accent the Southern-inspired menu. Home is scheduled to open on April 21.

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1. I am totally psyched about this. I love Richard and he is my favorite competitor on Top Chef.

2. I went ahead and made a reservation at Home for my birthday in May. Swweeeeet!

Bottoms Up

Hubs and I have been wanting a bar cabinet for some time, and we finally got one! It was just delivered today from the good folks at Crate & Barrel. I lurrrrve it. It makes me want to have a cocktail every night when I get home from work. Maybe I'll do just that.

Fully opened, nicely stocked:



The top folded up and the doors closed:


Side View with wine glass, in-door and wine storage:


The left side, with room for taller or fatter bottles:



My artsy shot:


Who wants a cocktail?

Pulling the wool over the chef's eyes

This is an avocado slicer, otherwise known as a uni-tasker. Do not spend your hard earned money on this, people. Invest in a good knife and a spoon instead, and produce the same results.

At least I may profit off of this

The Kansas Jayhawks are on their way to the National Championship! Rock Chalk! Congrats to KU and all of their loyal fans. Although I graduated from KU's arch nemesis of the Big 12, hubs and I have an agreement that we root for each other's teams... unless they're playing each other. It keeps us out of counseling. The Final Four game was a good one, but I'm just not sure how they lost that 20 point lead... probably because I was too busy making friends with Ketel One and ginger ale. I picked KU and Memphis for the big game, so as it stands I am winning my office pool.

Jigga Do

Beyowulf and Jigga tied the knot on Friday in NYC at Jay's Tribeca loft. Perez even went as far as posting the address of the extravaganza, love him.

Fine Dining

Before we saw Frank Caliendo last week, we stopped into River Room and had a few cocktails and snacks. This restaurant is located on Northside Drive, right where Buckhead and Vinings come together. The restaurant is set amongst a few office and apartment buildings, but faces a cute courtyard that is always well landscaped. The patio is quiet and nice. We had the calamari and the blue cheese chips. The calamari was below average, and they cheaped out by mixing in diced red peppers as opposed to the more traditional and tasty cherry peppers. The blue cheese chips were good... homemade potato chips topped with tomatoes, scallions, and a blue cheese sauce. Conceptually, this is one of my favorite dishes and the River Room's version did not disappoint. I only wish the sauce would have been a tad warmer, it was more of a blue cheese dressing than a sauce. For the big dinner afterwards, we chose Pano's and Paul's. This restaurant came highly recommended as a good choice for a special occasion, and has been in Atlanta for 29 years. The online menu looked fab. (We also considered Rathbun's, which I still can't wait to try, and is definitely on our short list.) The dining room is quite beautiful, complete with plush round velvet booths. And I must say, the service is truly five star. However, that's what I've come to expect from restaurants like this. When you order 3 or 4 courses, plus wine and maybe champagne, who wouldn't want the best of the best when it comes to service? Speaking of champagne, we had to properly celebrate the occasion by popping a half bottle of Veuve Clicquot to start off. Yummy. (Diners Tip: All champagne, including the really good stuff, is half price on Friday nights.) The restaurant has a truly addictive spread that they serve with their bread... a velvety concoction of cream cheese, blue cheese, port wine and scallions. Oh......mah......Gawd. If I had a regular supply of that in my house I would need to have a work from home job just so I could have hourly access to it. For my first course, I had the spinach & watercress salad with warm bacon dressing and candied button shitake mushrooms. It was meh, nothing spectacular. The warm dressing was prepared tableside though, and I always love that. Along with the first course, we ordered a bottle of the 2002 Croze Cabernet from Napa. This was probably the best bottle of wine I have had in the last few years. Or maybe ever, it was seriously that good. According to my little wine vintage cheat sheet, most '02 California Cabs scored a 95 or higher, making them truly exquisite... and this girl does not turn down exquisite (or non-exquisite, for that matter) wine. For my main course, I ordered their best seller of 29 years: the signature cold water lobster tail, prepared with a thin crispy batter and served with clarified butter and honey mustard sauce. 100% divine. I love lobster, and though I ordinarily get it steamed or broiled, this preparation was excellent. The tail was a very good size and the crispy batter gave it a lovely saltiness. The clarified butter was the perfect compliment as usual, though I did not care for the honey mustard; it was too overpowering and it masked the taste of the lobster. It was a great honey mustard for your basic chicken tenders, but it was too much for this preparation. Overall though, a fantastic dish and such a treat. Hubs had the 39-hour beef short rib... cooked a perfect medium rare, even after being slow cooked for so long. It was very tender and well flavored. For dessert, the restaurant was kind enough to bring us a very delectable chocolate mousse. Overall a great anniversary with lots of laughs and indulgences. Definitely a time to celebrate!

Restaurant Snippets

Got around to trying Atlanta Fish Market a couple of times in the last few weeks. Visit #1 was delish.... visit #2 not quite as good as I remembered. I had the blackened swordfish both times, because the first time it was so good, I had to have it again. I looooooove swordfish, the meaty texture is just so yummy and steakish. The second time, it was way too salty... I probably should have sent it back, but to be honest I just didn't feel like it. Their blue cheese Caesar salad is notable, as is the peel and eat shrimp. Theirs was probably the best peel & eat I have ever had... nice and cold, snappy, and fresh. If you're ever in town, it's hard to miss this place... there is a 3-story fish guarding the entrance. The Rice Box is a nice Midtown find. They offer fresh Chinese food sans grease. Fast and inexpensive, they don't mind cutting out all the nasty stuff in order to serve their customers quality. Lunch specials are a particularly good value at around $5-6 each. Bluefin continues to disappoint. A client requested that we go there for lunch, so I obliged her to give it one more shot. Mistake. I don't know why I continue to punish myself by going there, it must be because of it's close proximity to my office. Their kitchen timing is so off and it makes for a rather miserable dining experience. My two companions got their food, and ten minutes later I had to ask our server if mine was on it's way. (Even though I ordered the same thing as one of the people I was with, they apparently could not manage to get 2 of the same dish out at once.) Also, it seems that their servers have not graduated from the second grade. I'm over it. The food at Loca Luna was great, and the atmosphere was very lively but loud as all get out. I liked the fried plantains and the patatas bravas. Not recommended if you actually want to talk to your friends during dinner.

Let Them Eat Cake

You know like when you're a kid and your family is moving and you want to take your goldfish with you on the trek? Sadly, chances are lil' flipper ain't gonna make it. Such the tale happened to the Soup family when we made our move to Atlanta.... except the casualty was the top tier of our wedding cake that we were saving for anniversary #1. We took such good care of her for entire 800 mile ride down here, only to have some limoncello spill all over her as we pulled up to our new home. Although I had meant to contact a baker down here to make us a treat for the big day, I just didn't get around to it. Wednesday night, we came home from work only to find a package on our doorstep from my good friend Leslie in KC. She knew of our cake's tale of woe, and went out of her way to talk with our baker have a new cake made for us and shipped all the way down to Atlanta. Mason and I felt so blessed to have such a wonderful friend who would go out of her way for us like that. :) I think we'd all agree that lemon cake with raspberry filling is a completely well-rounded and acceptable breakfast. I mean, it is fruit and it has to be chock full o' vitamin C.