Sunday Supper

I snuck out for a fondue supper with my college besties…

…we rehashed things from senior design projects to sleep-away camp for N’s rising fifth grader.  It’s hard to believe we’ve been together long enough to have conversations about topics spanning multiple decades.

xoxo

live * love * Lilly

I had the great pleasure of spending my evening with two fab gals at a local boutique for their Lilly Pulitzer launch party!

Lemonade girls welcomed guests with pink lemonade and lime green whirly pops at the most darling stand you’ve ever laid eye on.  Inside were all sorts of divine sweets and treats, and of course LILLY.  A cookie artist was monogramming pink and green confections right there in the store – I could die at the cuteness!

    

Afterwards we rehashed our purchases and caught up on love, lives and local gossip over cocktails and chips at Marlow’s. 

It was a PERFECT evening!!  Now, if only we can get some warm weather down South – I cannot wait to wear my new white eyelet shorts!!!

xoxo

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