We are moving back to (for me) Brookhaven! Moving day is coming up very soon and most of the house is packed.
We are super excited about so many things about this house; namely, getting back over to Buckhead/Brookhaven (as so much of our life is there now and we just love that part of town), a beautiful custom kitchen, new chocolate hardwood floors, a finished basement which is the entire footprint of the house, an extra bathroom, a laundry/utility room, a great fenced yard for Shiloh + Lily…and it’s even within walking distance of three of our favorite restaurants!
We bought our new washer + dryer today…really, the only thing left to do is finish packing. Less than a week to moving day and counting!
Todd and I made dinner here Friday night. He grilled steaks and veggie skewers and I made a caprese salad and garlic bread. I must say…it was delicious! We bought grass-fed bison top sirloin steaks at Whole Foods and they were ah-maz-ing. They actually cook quite differently than beef, and Todd did a phenomenal job on the grill and they turned out just perfectly.
Anyway, hanging out at the house the first night gave Tom and Pat a chance to meet Lily for the first time, and all of us a chance to just relax and catch up. It was a really fun night.
I’d been many times for events but had never been through the entire aquarium. It was really cool! Afterwards we came back here for a while to spend some time with the dogs before heading down the street to our favorite neighborhood restaurant, Sprig.
We started at the bar with drinks and appetizers and later moved to a table for dinner. If you live in Atlanta and have never been, we highly recommend it! The food just gets better and better every time we go.
There’s really not much on the menu that they can’t make gluten-free. We started with the calamari and fried dill pickles – both dusted in GF cornmeal rather than flour and served with an amazing jalapeno creme fraiche horseradish dip – as well as their uber-fresh (and addicting) smoked trout dip served with house made chips.
For our main meal Todd and I both had the sugar rubbed pork shoulder with pan jus, creamed escarole, and mashed potatoes.
This was by far the best meal we have ever had at Sprig, and probably one of my top three favorite meals ever! The pork just literally fell apart when you touched it with a fork it was so tender.
This morning we went to Thumbs Up in downtown Decatur for a glorious breakfast outdoors before Tom and Pat got back on the road. It was a stunning sunny morning; 63 degrees and the absolute perfect day to sit outside, so we took Shiloh with us as well. It was the perfect way to wrap up the visit.
This weekend we were all able to talk through more details of our wedding and family gathering in December, and it’s really starting to shape up.
Now, the next thing we are looking forward to is our weekend at The Lodge at Reynold’s Plantation in two weeks. We’ll be celebrating my birthday as well as meeting with our wedding planner. Cannot wait!
It was the hottest day of the year, so far (and hopefully, what will be the hottest day of 2012) but honestly through various tactics we managed to stay cool most of the time and really didn’t mind it all that much, surprisingly.
If you haven’t been before we highly recommend you check it out either tomorrow or next year! If you’re staying in town for Memorial Day weekend it’s a really great way to spend a day.
Tonight we had an amazingly romantic Valentine’s Day celebration!
Just kidding.
Actually, we celebrated a few nights ago with a really nice dinner and evening at Sprig…more on that later.
Tonight we had puppy class with Shiloh, so beforehand the three of us went for dinner at Yeah! Burger in midtown – one of our local favorites and just down the street from the Atlanta Humane Society which is where the class is.
*If there were a #11 it would be Ted’s Montana Grill! We love their downtown Decatur location which will always be special to us because that’s where we had one of our more memorable dates early-on, and it’s where we all went for dinner the first night I met Todd’s parents.
Last week we were invited to attend a gluten-free event at Osteria del FIGO. They recently introduced a gluten-free meatball and wanted to let people know about it as well as get some feedback.
We were thoroughly impressed with the food! We started with two of their gluten-free salads: the Caprese Salad, and their Insalata di Spinaci e Caprino (without raisins, of course.) They were both absolutely delicious, and I have to take a moment to rave about the spinach salad. I don’t think I have ever had goat cheese that fresh or that delicious!
Next we had their gluten-free fusili pasta with a sauce of our choice. Every one of their 18 (yes, 18!) sauces is gluten-free. We tried three: Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino, 4 Formaggi, and upon Alberto’s recommendation, the Cinghiale (Tuscan style wild boar sauce). All three were absolutely delicious. If I were going to choose just one I would go with the Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino. It was light yet filling and had a perfect garlic flavor, and it blended very well with the pasta.
Last weekend, Stephanie and I had the pleasure to attend the first annual Atlanta Food + Wine Festival. We had a great time, and we are already looking forward to next year’s event.
We tasted some really great food, and were also exposed to some new wines that we really enjoyed! And the crowd was perfect…busy enough to be exciting with the right mix of cool folks, but not crazy busy that it was too packed. We never had to wait for a thing…
The crowd was perfect!
And most importantly, as we prepare to launch our new radio show, The Food Studio, we met a number of restaurant owners and chefs to book on the show, as well as several wine distributors who will appear on the show to update us on their latest wine products.
Look for the show to launch soon. This event was a great kickstart in booking some intriguing future guests!
