The City of Brotherly Love

August came in with a "gust" of activity again.
Saturday the 1st, we dropped Matt's car off at the Mazda dealer to finally get his Aux port made available. LONG story and it's totally Mazda's fault, but in the end he is now able to play an MP3 player or iPhone/iPod through his speakers in the car. Yay!
I did a quick brunch with Ruth at Cafe Intermezzo, a brief visit from Erika, and then later in the evening we went to CosmoLava to celebrate Janssen's birthday! He surprised us by having a nice VIP area reserved. Woo hoo! It was fun, and I also got to rock my new one shoulder dress from Victoria's Secret Catalog! As usual, Matt and I ended the night with the dirtay nachos from Taco Cabana!
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Sunday was a bit more relaxed, and Erika slept over, so we had coffee and eggs on the screen porch and chatted about the previous night's activities. Later, we did a photoshoot at Erika's Spa Waverly. And last we ended the evening with a better-than-expected-comedy Get Smart.
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Monday was a hectic, as I finalized my packing, went in for Allergy Shots and Nutritionist appointment, grabbed a quick lunch at Wendy's, and finally Matt gave me a ride to MARTA so I could ride to the airport and catch a plane to Philadelphia for work.
The flight was fine, and then I got on the Shuttle to the hotel. I swear, this guy drove his 12 passenger capacity van as if it was a SPORT BIKE in NYC traffic. SCARY! Talk about bad driving, cutting people off, and hard braking. Anyhoo, I did get a nice little tour of the city from the backseat. AHH!
The hotel was perfect, and I had a restaurant recommendation for RAW Lounge, which was within walking distance. The OhToro was delish, and so was the Matsu. I recommend trying it! During Happy Hour they have $5 drinks also. Unbelievably, Philly was JUST AS HOT as Atlanta, and humid too. Yech!
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Tuesday I met my boss for breakfast, and then he showed me how to get to the office (since its kind of hidden). We did a nice lunch at Paganos Market, and then after work we checked out the Liberty Bell and Maggiano's.
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Wednesday was work work work and I ended up staying in and ordering room service (so tired!), but they DO have an excellent Crab Cake entre!
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Thursday was more work work work, but I did get off work at a decent time and then hopped a bus to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I went up the steps and was thinking of paying to see the place, but turns out I would have only had 45 mins before closing time, and they were still charging full price (bastards!), so maybe next time. However, this was the ONE of the nice cool days in Philly. It was a breezy 75 and sunny, so I took a nice long walk down the parkway from the top of the museum, and all the way to the City Square, then down Market Street to the waterfront. I passed by the Rodin Museum, Ben Franklin Institute, and many other lovely buildings. I finally came to a stop at the PennsView Hotel's Il Bar to have a flight of wine. They have a special system called a "cruvinet" - and can offer over 120 wines by the glass.
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Friday I worked from the hotel room, then hopped a cab to the airport, and whisked back to Atlanta again. Photos of the City of Brotherly Love.
Marybeth was visiting us this weekend, and so she was kind to meet me at MARTA, then we walked to her car to get home. She brought her daughter Catherine with her this time, so we had a nice evening at Season's 52 for dinner, and then later Matthew & I went to Gulru's Housewarming Party near Peachtree Battle.
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Saturday, we went to Goldberg's for breakfast, and then Matt went home to mow the lawn, but the ladies and I went off to the Atlanta Zoo. Why we did this in such ungodly heat? well, opportunity struck, so off we went. I'm ashamed to say I hadn't seen our zoo yet, so why not do it now? Armed with a cooler of water bottles, and carrying some more in hand, as well, we bravely sweated our way through the Panda's, Lions, Tigers, and Monkeys. LOL. Later, we met up with David and Matt for dinner at Chow Baby. Finally, we headed back home to view our photos of the day, and then finally fall asleep.
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Sunday, our guests departed (for the Aquarium and then the airport). Matt and I took it easy and went to Get Coffee for breakfast, stopped at Target to get Matt some nice new dressier/casual shirts, and then drove up to "Alph-Alaska" to see a friend who had just had hip surgery. She loves Prosecco, so I brought some for her (along with some St. Germain and strawberries for a different option). Awesome! Finally, we went back home to do laundry and relax. I made Spaghetti for dinner, and we ended the night with the movie Watchmen. I decided my two favorite characters were Silk Spectre and Rorschach. Both were played by amazing actors! Loved the writing too! Some scenes were a bit violent for my taste, so I hid my eyes and had Matt tell me when it was over, but for the most part it was pretty good. BTW it's a 3 hr movie!!!
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Finally back to normal (?) this week? We'll see.

The Week of Insanity

Last week was nutso.
Absolutely nutso.
I am seriously wondering what's in the water these days! LOL.
I was oncall last week (aka getting paged at all hours of the day or night). Every workday last week I worked through lunch and stayed over 1-2 hours to help keep the work caught up before the next day. Sheesh!
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However, the weekend was more relaxed thank goodness.
Friday, we stayed home and had an impromptu screenporchparty with friends. Saturday, Matt and I went to Get Coffee for breakfast (my fave), and we watched Multiplicity with Alex & Gorkem (one of Alex's fave movies). Saturday night, Matt took me out on a "date" and we went to WASABi for some excellent Sushi, and then later an impromptu dessert over at Apres Diem. The Espresso Martini is just delicious.
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Later on, I couldn't sleep due to upset tummy (later found to be result of the St Germain), so we stayed up until 4am watching Groundhog Day (one of my favorite movies), and then slept in very late on Sunday. Sunday, we relaxed, played some Wii Sports (I beat Matt at Tennis again!), had a nap, and then watched Thomas Crown Affair 1999- one of my favorite movies. Gorkem hadn't seen it yet, but she enjoyed it. YAY! I also have the 1968 original movie, but have not watched it yet.
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Matt's off to a VIP suite to see the Tool Concert tonight. I was the backup person if they couldn't get all the spots filled. VIP suite includes the concert, food, and drinks. Hmm. Should be fun. At the last minute another guy wanted to go, so I am off the hook. Not that I don't want to go, but it's a "school night" and my boss is in town this week (which means I usually have to work later hours), and it sounds like they won't get home until 1-2am (which means less than 5 hrs of sleep for me) and I prefer not to have the hassle. Anyhoo, I hope the gentlemen have a GREAT time! :-D
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Finally tracked down a bottle of St. Germain Elderflower Vodka (well I thought it was vodka, but actually it's more like a liquer), and some champagne to make myself a St. Hillaire beverage. It's very tasty and summery. Garnish with strawberry. mmm. However, I soon learned that for some odd reason, this St. Germain stuff totally wipes me out. I feel like I'm having a total sugar crash right after I have any of the stuff. So, I am guessing that means it will be something we go through very slowly.
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This week is going to be hectic, and next week I'm off to Philly for work, so I may not be updating the blog for a while.
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Have a great rest of July & start of August!

Three Sheets Premiere - TONIGHT

Raise your glass
give a toast
check your channels
I have to boast
Three Sheets is BACK
and tonight's the night
Fine Living Network's where it's at!
10 Eastern, monkey in hand
Zane Lamprey's rockin'
Three Sheets New Zealand!
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In other news, although I'm still hacking up a lung and fighting a cough, the house is finally rid of this awful cold/sinus/whatever the hell bug we all had.
Matt had a photo shoot Sunday afternoon and both the model AND the Makeup Artist showed up! YAY!
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Our dear White Russian turned 30 yrs old, and we hosted a small gathering at the casa. As it was an unusually cool weekend for Atlanta in July, we had it outside on the deck, with tiki torches lit. I guess it wasn't too cool for mosquitos (nasty little buggers!). James had homemade blueberry cake from the Bulgarians, and Matt and I gave him a bottle of Johnny Walker Black. We had light snacks of strawberries, bing cherries, blueberries, cheese wedges, chips, and salsa (homemade with those weird purple hull peas from the CSA farmer's thingie). Delish!
BTW check out James' website: www.viterashn.com.
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Cousin Tara and her family met us for brunch at Atkins Park on Sunday also. In spite of the unlucky battery situation in their vehicle. No worries, it was the kind of day where nothing could make you upset, and we just dealt with and moved on. Sweet! It was a lovely weekend. Sunny, breezy, cooler than normal, oh yes and I got my hair done (it always feels SO good to have freshly colored/styled hair!).
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Lastly, my monthly visit to the liquor store, didn't turn up any St. Germaine Elderberry Vodka, or Gran Centenario Rosangel Tequila, but I did find the Asombroso Rose Reposado, and that was good enough for me.
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Have a great night with Three Sheets everyone! and may your week be prosperous also!
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SALE FOR THE LADIES:
Victoria's Secret's 70s Jean (IMHO the BEST jeans ever)
are on sale for $19.99 a pair in 3 styles and 5-6 denim shades/hues.
Item numbers: Z7-228-947, Z7-244-031, and Z7-233-330.
even if they are long on you, get them hemmed, and I swear you will love them forever! I have 3 pairs, and I am still thinking of getting 1 more. I love these jeans!

2 Jokes and other madness

What does Snoop Dogg use in his laundry?
Bleee-ach.
Where does Snoop Dogg go on vacation?
The Beee-ach.
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I know, I know, that's terrible. It's all in the pronounciation! Humor me!
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We've been gloriously on vacation for the past week.
We started off 2 Friday night's ago with Happy Hour at Tijuana Joe's, and later met Matt's Friend Jeff's girly girl Bianca. All I have to say is that Bianca is a Minx. She's barely 18, but she's definitely an "old soul" if you will. To sum it all up = Memorable.
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The next day (Saturday) we had an impromptu visit from our dear friend Erika. I thought she was just stopping by to drop some stuff off, but in the wonderful way that those glorious weekends work out, she ended up staying all day, all night, and all the next day. We were sad to see her go on Sunday, but very glad to get to hang out with our lady all weekend long!
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We hit "TAP" for Gorkem's Birthday celebration, and later a quick visit to "Opera" for some dancing. TAP's slogan is "A Convivial Place to have a Pint" - so of course I asked what the word "Convivial" meant (as a test of course). I finally found 1 server who knew. Anyway I love the sophisticated verbiage and the food was divine!
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Sunday (even though Matt had TWO cancellations with models - darn them), E and I went suntanning in the park with Mr. SportyPants, and then later Ruth came over and we all had a photo shoot to cheer Matt up. It ended up being a good thing, since the new issue of the Voyeur is coming up, and the submission deadline is June 19th! ACK! We better hurry!
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Monday, Matt and I ran errands and packed for our beach trip, and ended the night at "DrinkShop" for a swell evening of Pin-ups and Cocktails hosted by the Dixie Pin Ups! Check out our photos here and here. DrinkShop is run just like an old fashioned lounge used to be run in the 1950s and 60s. The staff actually dresses like folks did in that era. There are no ice machines or soda guns, the juice is fresh-squeezed, you name it. It's like AMC's Mad Men come to life! The perfect location to, what else? Host a pin-up event! The Dixie Pin Ups are make-up artists and hair-stylists who get you pin-up ready for your fabulous close-up. Our dear friend Matt Odom was the photographer of the evening, and everyone just had a blast! I tried my best to come pre-pin-up ready, but I still let the Dixie Pin Up gals give me some fake eyelashes, eyeliner, a flower in my hair, and some "rolls" to top off my look. Where else can you go to a party where they make you even PRETTIER? I was like DAMN next time I'll just come with my hair washed and let them do everything else! Just kidding. Love love loved it!
My fave drink of the evening was called the "Hillaire" made of St. Germain Elderflower Vodka and Champagne. Pin-up-a-lishious!!!
Then I ruined my diet (as if), with some nachos from Taco Cabana on the way home. What the hell? I'm on vacation!
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Tuesday was the big drive to the beach (aka Beee-ach!). We checked into our condo, and promptly walked up the beach (with toes in the water) to Crabby Bill's for a CrabTrap drink and some Alaskan King Crab - oooh yes!
It was a week of relaxation, lots of sun (Matt got sunburned on accident, even though he was under the umbrella the whole time), games, friends, food, drinks, and fun!
I got to visit with my sister and nephew for a little bit on Thursday, and then Jamie came alone for some adult girl-time on Saturday evening.
We played Apples-to-Apples, Trivial Pursuit, and Scrabble. I played Scrabble with Gorkem almost nightly on the beach until the sun went down. We had a blast!
Girls versus Guys and Matt was on his own team for Trivial Pursuit (since he's such a smarty-pants). The girls won the first round, but day 2 Matt finally saw victory.
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Some hilarious quotes that went on during the game:
1) Q) Who was the father of Cleopatra's twin sons?
A) Marc Anthony
Comment made by the loser - "I thought he was the singer married to J Lo?"
2) You know what continents are don't you?
3) It's either a Mary or an Elizabeth. No, lets go with King Henry the 8th. (wrong it was Mary I)
4) Is Singapore an Island?
5) (after reading an arts and literature question)- is this an Art question?
6) Oh dammit I got George Clinton and George Michael mixed up. WHAM!
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All in all, it was an awesome vacation - and I'm spent.