High Tea at the Ritz Buckhead

Since we’re scattered about the metro Atlanta area and have nine littles between us, I don’t have the occasion to get together with my best college gals as much as I’d like.  But when we DO find the time, we do it right :-)  On Sunday we celebrated all four of our birthdays over high tea at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead.

There really is nothing like walking into the splendor that is the Ritz.  The lounge was understated elegance, the Wedgewood bone china exquisite, the service unrivaled, the eats divine and the company perfection.  We were formally escorted to a lovely and sumptuous little banquette seating area.  With the classical pianist tinkering away on the ivories, it was a feast for the senses and a scene straight from Downton.



Between the four of us, we shared pots of vanilla bean, orange jasmine and peach tea, served in the English tradition with loose leaves steeped and poured through sterling strainers.  We noshed on savory tea sandwiches – turkey open face canape, ham and cheese, egg salad, smoked salmon and caviar, cucumber dill and lemon ricotta, prosciutto and melon, shrimp profiterole – while catching up on our goings and doings. 

 
And then we were presented with a scrumptious selection of pastries.  The scones with clotted cream and strawberry preserves were some of the best I’ve had.  Add to that the grand marnier profiterole, macaroons  tortes and tarts and it was heaven on a three tiered tray!



I only regret that we failed to get a picture together after the food coma set in.  I sure hope that we make this an annual tradition!

Happy birthday, girls!
xoxo

Chocolate Tasting

I spent last Friday night sipping on wine and tasting all sorts of divine chocolates with blonde AW. She brought over the treats as a “working dinner” to discuss her up and coming foodie blog and, I must say, it was quite likely the best girls-night-in I’ve ever had!



The Mo’s Dark Bar (laden with bacon) was like a dream come true, and the salted chowchilla almond bar was simply to die for.  All were from Whole Foods. 

What’s truly ironic about me blabbering on about chocolate is that I went the first twenty-nine years of my life not liking the stuff.  I strangely started craving it when I was pregnant with John and have loved it ever since.  (As an aside, I craved Chick-fil-A milkshakes with Whit, gained an obscene amount of weight both times and had humungous 8 and 9 pound babies.  I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that your body craves what it needs.  And my body obvi needed chocolate cakes, pies, bars, doughnuts and milkshakes.)

This would make a fabulous party – have everyone bring a chocolate bar and bottle of wine.  If you do it you positively MUST invite me :-)
xoxo

Atlanta Girls “Trip”

Each year a gaggle of my best college gals and I reunite for a weekend of shopping, wining and dining.  We’ve done NYC (a couple of times), Chicago, Savannah, the mountains (many times) and the beach and, sadly, as our littles get older it doesn’t get any easier to get away.  So, when we were checking our schedules and realized that Madonna would be making an appearance in the ATL the very same weekend of Breaking Dawn Part 2’s premiere, it pretty much sealed the deal on an Atlanta staycation.  The girls picked me up with the horn blaring Friday afternoon and we hustled into midtown to make our three o’clock check-in at the W.  After catching up over champagne and cheddar ruffles (fancy, no?), we caught a cab to Miller Union for a delightful supper. 

We could only afford to sleep in a bit on Saturday morning before jetting off to Phipps for Breaking Dawn Part 2.  (Once you’ve seen a flick in their ridiculously fabulous reclining seats it’s really hard to go anywhere else.)  We adore the series and all agreed that it was one of the best. (Except for bestie C who couldn’t really care less about the vampires…hence her texting in the background.)

We shopped around Phipps for a while before heading over to Lenox.  I was beyond excited to finally hit the C. Wonder store and it was every bit as fabulous as expected!  Lilly lovers should rejoice in the fun colors and lower price point.


Supper Saturday night was at Watershed.  It’s been on my list for eons and I was thrilled to finally give it a whirl.  The first bites of our food were quite delish and we were having the very best time until a fire broke out on the 6th floor.  They didn’t evacuate us, rather they tormented their patrons with a blaring alarm and strobe light for the entirety of our meal.  Honestly, it was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had.  Nobody even offered an apology until we paid for our meals and then complained about the nuisance.  After which the manager reluctantly brought us complimentary dessert. 

We rounded out our evening at MADONNA!  She worked it like I’ve never seen on that stage and looked ah-mazing for fifty-three.  I’m SO glad to have finally seen her in person.
  
Hailing a cab in Atlanta is no joke, y’all.  Every.single.time we wanted one was a production.  Case in point: at one in the morning – clad in heels and skinny jeans and sequins - we were having to heave our thirty-something-year-old-mommy-to-two-or-three-kids selves over a fence to catch what was seemingly the only vacant cab in the city last night.  It was quite hysterical…

After sleeping in and breakfast at Starbucks, we headed back to the four dads and nine kids that all successfully survived without us for the weekend :-)  I’m already looking forward to next year!
xoxo

Eat, Drink and Craft

Sister hosted a few fabulous sorority sisters for an afternoon of girl talk, eating and crafting this weekend and it couldn’t have been more fun!  We were all asked to bring a black crow and Sister guided us in dolling them up with crepe paper ruffled collars, metal medallions and pom topped hats.

    

After dressing our crows we sat down for a scrumptious snack of homemade butternut squash soup and beer bread.

It was a lovely afternoon and my fancy crow feels right at home on an antique silver tray in my kitchen.

Y’all check in tomorrow for pics of her gorgeous Halloween decor!!

xoxo

Night Ryder

We spent a long and convivial evening with our supper club last night.  Hosts L&D served up a scrumptious fall inspired meal – think caramel apple martinis, roasted veggies, a hearty pasta and toasted gingerbread with ice cream and caramel.  *what I wouldn’t do for another piece of that dessert*  After dinner the gals curled up fireside on the porch while the boys headed out with glow in the dark golf balls for Ryder Cup inspired Night Ryder tourney.  And while I can’t give a first hand account of that outing, I can tell you that the captain of the winning team came home drinking scotch out of his trophy.  I’m guessing they had a pretty fab time out there :-)




I couldn’t be more thankful to have such fun friends.  And I can hardly believe that three years ago I’d yet to meet a single one of them!
xoxo

Hope Springs

Yesterday I spent a rare little free afternoon with bestie F.  For our deliciously impromptu date, we caught a matinee showing of Hope Springs.  It wasn’t so much what movie we saw…but that we saw a movie that wasn’t animated, rated G or on Netflix a year after it’s premier.  I adore Meryl and, while it certainly wasn’t my favorite flick in the world, it was cute and entertaining and had a real life message. 

The best part of all is that bestie F is the kind of gal that won’t think twice about blowing it out with loads of butter on our popcorn, Junior Mints AND Goobers, and Cokes as large as our handbags.

And the cherry on top?  Afterwards we indulged in BLT Bloody Mary’s – think housemade bacon infused vodka and glasses rimmed with garlic, salt and pepper – at Marlow’s.  YUM!

A fine kick off to a long holiday weekend, if I do say so myself!  Now I’ve got to go get the PCP ready for ball practice and run a few errands with the baby before hitting the pool.

xoxo

Lake Side Supper Club

As I mentioned back when we had our Chili & Beer Tasting, we thank our lucky stars each and every day for the great group of friends we made in our "new" neck of the woods.  Each month we leave the littles at home and convene for Supper Club.  Last weekend, new friend A and her husband hosted a so-Southern lake side low country boil.

Is this not the loveliest lake house entry ever?  I swoon every time I drive up to the place and then I drool myself around the house.  Oh, and A painted the fish herself on reclaimed wood.  (more to come on her work!)

 We dined on a traditional low country boil, dumped right smack on the table in the precise way these things should be done.



 After supper the ladies retired to the porch and the boys took their mischief downstairs to the dock and game room.



And so went another memorable night with friends.  Can't wait till next month, y'all!
xoxo

Prayer Request

It’s with a heavy heart that I want to ask all of you to pray for two friends of mine facing tremendously scary health issues…


Sorority sister L is just the sweetest, smartest, most gracious Southern belle you could ever hope to know. Last week this healthy, happy mommy was diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive form of cancer called primary angiosarcoma of the breast and she will have surgery next week in hopes of removing the cancer. Please pray for L’s doctors and pray that the cancer hasn’t spread beyond her breast. Pray for courage and hope and peace for L in the coming days. And pray for her two darling littles, her husband, her family and all of the people that love this precious gal.

As if that news wasn’t terrifying enough and saddening beyond belief, my vivacious, full of life, fun loving friend H was travelling abroad on vacation with her husband and contracted an unidentified strain of bacteria that quickly made its way all through her lungs. She was one of the first friends I made on our move three years ago and she immediately welcomed our family into her fold of friends. Today, she is back stateside in the ICU on a respirator and with failing kidneys. Please pray for H’s strength to battle this bacteria. Pray for her two beautiful girls, her husband, her family and all of her friends.

I know this isn’t the usual décor, party planning and crafty fluff that you come to my little slice of the web for, but I feel compelled to ask everyone I know to pray for these girls over the coming weeks. It will make a difference.

xoxo