Sunday Review

I kept telling myself I would blog this week but things got kind of crazy when my sweet neighbor went into labor early Wednesday morning.  This matters because both her and her husband don't have family close by and they asked me to let the dogs out when her time came.  Cue me being pretty late leaving for work through Friday morning. Thankfully we are still in summer traffic season here in Atlanta so I wasn't actually late for work any day.   Had a pretty chill work week but felt stressed and irritable for some reason so that will explain the giant photo of Pinkberry lunch below.  It just seemed totally necessary for survival by Friday afternoon. 

Gus and Gizmo.  My babies for the week! I pretty much want to steal that little black pug.  Not even going to lie. 

Originally planned for a Saturday lunch with Elise but after looking at the rain report we decided to run up to JCT Bar after work Friday night for some angry mussels and fries.  We had long chats over rosé and walked around Westside Provisions and even had our first Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams treat.  

We walked around Star Provisions to window shop and peeked into that pesky Bacchanalia which killed me a lot inside because GOOD LORD I want to eat there so badly! It was a super nice evening and not too crowded I think because there was a 30% chance of rain -- which of course meant a nice breeze on the patio.  It did rain but we were there early enough to get one of the tables under cover on the back patio of the bar.  It was a super night with my wonderful friend.  She makes me laugh hysterically on the reg.  I only wish my wit were as sharp as hers. 

I'm still really trying to save money but finally gave in to replacing two of my throw pillows because the yellow and gray silky ones from Target were full of coffee/drink spills and dog drool.  I couldn't take it anymore.  I kind of feel like Chevron is played out but these were pretty much my only option after several trips to Homegoods the last few weeks.  It's not like Domino Mag is coming to shoot my town home anytime soon so I just bit the bullet in the name of cleanliness.  Also - don't look too closely at the Ikea sofa that so clearly needs to be replaced judging from the ALL THE STAINS on the cushions.  Le sigh. 

This morning Matt and I actually slept until 7:30.  I walked the dogs and then got back in bed to watch The Open with him under the covers until we dragged ourselves downstairs around 9 to make breakfast and coffee.  This NEVER happens.  It was soooooo nice.  I never allow myself to lay in bed -- there just always seems like there is too much on my list to complete before heading back to work. 

As far as the photo -- I know you like that butter wrapper in the pic right? It's Sunday -- my preferred cooking/baking day of the week so I jumped up and made some blackberry scones this morning.  Wow.  I could sit down and slowly eat through all of them today alone.  Grabbed the recipe here -- note I cook everything with almond milk these days so I subbed that in where the recipe called for regular milk.  Also, don't freak out about smushed blackberries because hey -- what can you really do about that when trying to roll out your dough? 

Happy Sunday! What are you up to? Baking? Reading? Nothing? 

~the engaged gal~

Restaurant Review: Canoe

I got up early this morning to jump on this post! I don't even know if y'all like the restaurant reviews but I could not let this week pass without expressing my love for Canoe.  For years I've heard how wonderful and beautiful this place is and it did not disappoint.  We went for an early birthday celebration for Little A's Dirty Thirty. 

If you google enough images you will see that solely based on scenery they have many, many weddings and other nice events here as well.  It's super romantic there so there are TONS of couples but don't let that deter you one bit because we also had a perfect girls night out. {Additionally, I will say that if your man takes you -- he is a keeper for sure.}
  

*photo credit here*

**photo credit here*

Daytime view.
*Photo credit here*

One piece of advice -- reserve your table early! I got on Open Table on Sunday night to make our Saturday reservation and we could either eat at 5:45 or at 9:00 p.m. We opted for 9 and decided to arrive around 8 for pre-dinner drinks at the bar. The bartender was excellent at helping us pick out our wine from their list and they even transferred our drinks to our dinner tab so we didn't have to go through the trouble of closing out at the bar before dinner {serious bonus points for that}.  The hostess also offered to try to seat us early if we wanted, but we were having fun chatting so I never went back over to grab her and ask if we could eat early but it was extremely nice and awesome of them to offer.  

Our server Mitch was absolutely fantastic! Request him if you go!  He knew so much about the menu and was able to guide us to really good choices for appetizers and entrees.  He also didn't seem to mind that we were loud, drank lots of wine, and demanded a brunch menu and discussion of said brunch menu before we left the premises.  

You can find their menu here -- although I am sure they do some seasonal changes.  I had the Pan Seared Arctic Char for my entree and it was incredible.  Really, really great food!  I think all the girls agreed.  Also unprecedented -- we could not decide on one dessert to try so we each got one at the end of the night.  I had the apple cobbler.  I was so full I couldn't eat it all even if I wanted to so I was sad to see some of it go in the garbage at the end of the night but I couldn't get another bite in of anything.  But they have a ton of signature plates and dishes Mitch told us about and it was so hard to decide that I will just have to go back very soon to try something else.  A++ on service, ambiance, and food.  Everyone go and tell me how much you loved it!

Love you. Mean it.
~the single gal~

Weekend Recap!

So...Monday morning I was incredibly sad to see last weekend come to an end.  Well, I was sad for like 4 hours until my flowers were delivered!

My weekend started early.  TDH really likes to be the one to make the plans (no complaints here) but since he is an out-of-towner I always send a list of suggestions and he goes from there.  I was beyond excited to finally eat an actual meal at Little Alley Steak in Roswell {reviewed previously} rather than just sit at the bar, drink too much Chard, and harass the awesome bartenders.  I figured a nice steak dinner would be good prep for my race on Sunday, too.  Boy was it.  I had the small filet and successfully ate every bit of the mac and cheese on our table.  And maybe had a lot of wine.  We had a fabulous dinner! We were almost 30 minutes late for our reservation but I have yet to see a hostess that isn't immediately disarmed by his ridiculous Scottish accent so I knew we wouldn't get any static. 

Little Alley place cards!
*image from atlfoodsnob.com*

The only crazy part was that we had to make our exit right by Tall Stu who also happened to be right outside with some friends that night.  Awkward. I prayed he didn't see me but I think he did! It's not that I'm sneaking around but I didn't exactly feel like making introductions either. 

I was up late for sure but managed to eek through Friday at work and then speed into Atlanta to meet up for our reservation at Murphy's {I know, I know, we went there last time, but Murphy's is never a bad idea. Ever.}  We ate on the patio.  We drank beer.  The food was perfect.  The service, as always, was spectacular.  I also love that he recognized that I was hardly keeping my eyes open and I got to go back to the hotel and watch TV in bed until I fell asleep.  Speaking of sleep - I didn't get out of bed until well after 9 a.m. It was so nice to just pop out of the hotel and be right in Atlanta.  We walked around a lot, talked a lot,  had coffee, and then meandered to ESS for brunch.  Where we talked more, ate more, laughed more, etc.  {I even cheated and had a bellini the day before my race.} 

Anyway. He is super fun. And its always nice to go out with someone that takes care of all the little details where you don't have to worry about anything.  The accent, good looks, and perfectly fitted suits don't hurt either.  

Sunday was race day!!!

I already gave y'all the only picture I took when I did Monday's post.  So sorry about that.   I had such a great day! It was so easy to get to Athens early in the morning, they had plenty of free parking,  and there were only about 3,000 people racing.  My original goal was to shoot for a time anywhere from 2:10-2:15.  The last official time I logged was 2 years ago for a half and it was around 2:26.  I got my race results -- and I officially came in at 2:09:38!!!!!!!!! I can't believe I beat my ultimate goal of 2:10.  I needed a good race to get out the crazy bad juju that was the Las Vegas Marathon.   I am so proud of myself - especially considering I trained alone and wasn't even sure I could run that fast.  Again, I ran like hell to get that time.  I looked at my race photos yesterday and I basically have a terrible look of pain on my face when I crossed the finish line, but I did it! 

I came home and sat on the couch the rest of the day and watched girly movies with Em and it was glorious. So was the pizza we ordered.  And the beer we drank. 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~