Georgia On My Mind

Atlanta is my second home. I know, I am consistently told that I have MANY different homes & it causes much confusion. As a child, my mother, siblings and I were aboard Amtrak as soon as school was out, and headed to Atlanta for the summer.

We returned to DC/Maryland (I lived in both places) right before school started in the fall. Once my grandmother passed away, we often traveled north instead. As an adult, I currently live in both Texas and Illinois and DC will always be *home* for me. Hopefully that makes it a little less confusing for those who hear me call multiple places my home away from home. We spent the past week in my childhood "home away from home," going to Atlanta for a long overdue Peyton family reunion. I don't know what I was thinking, planning a reunion for nearly 40 people from around the country while caring for an 8 month old! I can say, however, the reunion was a great success and one of the best ever (patting my own back).
While in Atlanta, we stayed at the Georgian Terrace, an historic hotel on Peachtree Street (everything is on Peachtree!) across from the famous FOX Theatre.


The Terrace is on the National Register of Historic Places and played host to the premiere gala of Gone With the Wind in 1939. The FOX was designed in the late 1920s as the headquarters for the Yaarab Temple Shrine Mosque. When one arrives to the Georgian Terrace, one of the first faces to be seen is Anthony at the door. He is more than fabulous! Anthony truly sets the pace for your stay at such a wonderful place. Anthony treats everyone to VIP service, especially the Terrace's littlest customers.

Stand in the lobby and look up.

Or down from the 17th floor.

It is a bit dizzying, but a very cool aspect of the hotel. Our suite had a kitchen, which is a great thing to have when you are schlepping a baby with you. You can see the bottles, binkys and bottles of baby water in some of these photos. Clearly, the baby runs everything, no matter if we are at home or on travel.

The only drawback to the suite is the bed. We have not slept in a Queen bed (and I really think this was a double) in a long time, so not much room was to be had for sleeping.

I did enjoy having his & her walk in closets and the 17th floor view was awesome. In my next entry, we will check out our stop around the corner at a Southern kitchen that opened during 1945. The shrimp grits come with a back rub! Stay tuned.

with preppiness,

Girls' Night @ Grand Spa

I love a night out with my girls. This time we went to Grand Spa in Addison, sponsored by Addison Magazine. This was a great evening for me because my friends from various social circles had the opportunity to meet one another.
The evening began with a champagne queue that lead to the massage rooms. Here we received complimentary 15 minute head and neck massages. It was a great way to begin the night.
As more friends began to filter in, we enjoyed trying various products at different stations throughout the spa.
All of that pampering can make a gal hungry, so a few of us headed for Mexican food and caught up on what was happening in our lives. It was literally a chat & chew!
Here I am with friends and fellow bloggers, Amanda, Caroline & Ashley.
I then joined another set of friends at a restaurant next door for some more catching up. It is always a wonderful thing when I can get out of the house on my own for a bit and live it up with the girls!


with preppiness,

Enough Said.

2011 NBA Champions!

with preppiness,

ipad book series

I stumbled upon a book series under the category, "baby books," on my ipad last week. I *love* the series. It is from China, but you have the option of playing the narrative in English.

The greatest feature is the ability to record your own voice so your baby can hear you reading to him or her even in your absence.

It is quite comical to watch the baby's confusion as my voice reads "The Three Little Pigs" to him as I sit next to him. He looks as if he is trying to figure out why my voice is coming form the ipad but my mouth is not moving in person.

During my next visit to DC in a few weeks, I will have my parents each narrate stories for him, so I can carry their voices with us all of the time.

Ironically, we had already given the grandparents this recordable book from Hallmark to give to the baby, but now we will have my father-in-law and parents "go digital" as well on the ipad!

with preppiness,

Y'all Should Go Digital

I love reading magazines on my ipad, and I am all but begging one of my favorites to go digital. y'all is the magazine of Southern people and a really great read. I would rather read it in a more compact format on Zinio.

with preppiness,

a whale of a time

I had a whale of a time today. I pulled my turquoise Vineyard Vines dress out of the closet and paired it with my LL Bean whale flip flops and a pink whale belt for a splash of color. I love outfits that are fun, easy to throw together at the last minute and remind me of the ocean.

with preppiness,

NBA Finals: Mavs vs. Heat

The Mavs are back in Dallas to take on the Miami Heat for the NBA finals and the city has gone wild! When we arrievd at the American Airlines Center, these "Mavs Men" were seen roaming the corridors.

We ran into many loyal fanatics!

Inside, the overhead reminded all fans to don their blue t-shirts, which were on the backs of every seat.

Of course, we had ours in hand.

We arrived early and watched the center fill up in a sea of blue.

It was time for the team to warm up with our star players heading out first.

The official Mavs Man revved up the crowd for the game.

And I became revved up on a major sugar rush, thanks to some pink cotton candy-one of my weaknesses.

We spotted singer, Charley Pride, nearby.

Only in Texas will you find the patrolling police officers in cowboy hats.

Then it was time for the Mavs and Heat to hit the hardwood for the game.

But it would not end well for us, in such a close game!

with preppiness,