Urban Hiking 101

Lauren and I have been supporters of the Atlanta Beltline ever since its inception - or at least since we first heard about it over a year ago.

(For our non-Atlanta readers, the Beltline is a HUGE city-wide urban development project. It's still in the initial stages, but will eventually encompass new development, public transit and greenspace that follows 22 miles of historic rail circling the city center.)

So when I found out about a group of urban hikers getting ready to go on their third Beltline tour, I (easily) convinced some friends to come with me:


(L to R: me, Matt, Ameila and Lain)

I was foolish enough to let Lar take all the pictures, so there are none of her from our hike. Needless to say, she was the most fashionable of the bunch.

There were about 25 of us total in the group. We ended up walking about 6 miles of the Beltline in about 3 hours and spent a lot of the time listening to Angel, our tour guide who knows everything about the Beltline AND use to be a train conductor (he's the one in the orange shorts).


Of course no urban hike would be complete without graffiti. Scarface and the cow face were our two favorites:


The best part about the hike was getting to see the city from a different perspective. Imagine taking a train through your local city, but on foot - if that makes any sense. Some of you Atlantans might recognize the local spots in the photos below.

Starting at the top, left to right: Taking a break in Atlanta's Glenwood Park neighborhood, City Hall East (formerly the Sears building), Krog Street tunnel, and the rail bridge over Ponce de Leon Ave. facing east (that's Paris on Ponce on the left).


By 3 p.m. we were all exhausted, hungry and sunburned, but it was so much fun we're all looking forward to the next hike. For some more photos from the hike, check out the Urban Hiking Atlanta blogpost.

After a couple of hours of walking on rail, rocks, sand and branches, Lar, our friend Amelia, and I agreed the following would make up the perfect urban hiking outfit:

• Shorts, tank top and hoodie.
• Sneakers and tube socks.
• A large water bottle that won't leak in your backpack or one that attaches to a beltloop with a carabiner.
• Sunglasses that aren't so cheap they leave indentations on your checks (these are the only type of sunglasses I own).

So, dear readers, we hope this post inspires you to go out and explore your own city by foot - preferrably with a great group of friends and, if at all possible, a guide named Angel.

- CL

Shout Out to KingFly

A big thank you to KiNG FLY for sending us these amazing hair do dads! Lauren and I have had a lot of fun playing around with them in our hair and I've determined why these bird wing-inspired hair clips are so fantastic:

1. The clips are made from recycled maps. I freakin' love maps. I'm serious. Put a map on anything and I'll take it. Give me a map and I'm entertained for hours.
2. Rachel P., the lovely creator of KiNG FLY, is a local Atlanta crafter - woot woot!
3. You can order these do dads through email or purchase them at my favorite Atlanta indie craft/ gallery boutique, Young Blood.
4. My magenta clip will go perfectly with the Alexander McQueen Target dress I'm coveting.



If you like these clips, check out the KiNG FLY bags and bangles on their blog.

CL

Shop Local: Evolve

Evolve Boutique in Emory Village (northeast Atlanta) is near and dear to my heart since it's the first boutique we ever featured on our blog. That was over a year and a half ago, so we figured it wouldn't seem redundant to do another post on such a great store.



Here are 3 reasons why we love Evolve:

1.) All the items in the store are by indie designers, local, earth-friendly, organic and/or re-purposed.
2.) Joyce, the owner (pictured above left), is the nicest person you'll ever meet.
3.) Joyce's dog (also pictured above left) is so sweet and greets every customer that walks in the door. Eat your heart out, Walmart.



We both left with some great purchases including an amazing ring Lauren picked up - we'll blog about that in an upcoming post.

CL

Our Inauguration Adventure

Watching President Obama's inauguration on the Mall in D.C. made waking up at 3:30 in the morning to catch the metro, standing out in the freezing cold for over seven hours, getting crushed in a crowd trying to exit the mall, walking for miles and developing plantar fasciitis in both feet completely worth it.



Even though we didn't have tickets and it seemed impossible at first to get on the Mall, we found our way in right around 12th St. We had a nice view of the Capitol in the distance and a JumboTron nearby. That's Obama in the first image below and Yo-Yo Ma in the second.


It was so exhilarating to be in a crowd of 1.5 million all celebrating and cheering for the same thing. I wish I could write more about the feeling of the crowd, but anything I'd write would sound ridiculously cheesy. So just believe me when I say that it was an amazing experience.

That being said, I don't think I've ever been so cold for so long as I was waiting for the swearing in. Three things made all the difference:
1.) Being with a great group of friends (Chris, Daren, Esther, Lauren and Matt).
2.) Having a delicious packed lunch that my mom made for everyone.
3.) Knowing that in a few hours Bush would no longer be President.


Thanks to all our readers for the well wishes, thank you Esther for the great photos and thanks to Daren for supplying the whiskey - it was a life saver!

- CL

Getting into the (Victorian) Christmas Spirit

We spent most of our weekend in West End Atlanta at our favorite house museum, The Wren's Nest. Saturday we helped decorate the house for Christmas. Don't believe me? Well, here's proof. And here's what we were doing Sunday:



We spent a good bit of our time in the kitchen making sure there was a continuous supply of hot cider, hot chocolate and coffee for the visitors and, uh, taste testing the cake, cookies, mini cheese biscuits and chicken fingers.

Here we are in the kitchen (apologies for our overly-earnest poses - all that eating dulled our desire to pose fashionably). Lauren is pointing out the bust of Mr. Harris himself placed regally atop the fridge. Note: fridge and Christmas dish towels not original to the house. Come to think of it, the whole kitchen is not original to the house.

Outfit details: Lar is wearing a jacket and boots from Tarjay and Cheap Monday jeans. I'm wearing a H&M coat, J.Crew sweater, Blank jeans from Rockit and thrifted boots.

Up next on our to do list: decorate our own apartment for Christmas. Time to bring out our aluminum tree!

CL

Best of ATL Party

Although it might not be evident in the photo below (I look alarmed and Lauren looks confused), we had a lot of fun at Atlanta Magazine's Best of Atlanta reception last night. The best part was getting to hang out with so many other Decaturites outside of Decatur.



For our loyal readers, here's a image of Lar's new H&M fringe dress (mentioned in the previous post) that she wore last night. It's not really form fitting so she added a wide belt, which made it also look less costume-y. I think she looked fantastic!

Outfit details: I know her boots are from Tarjay, but I'll have to get back to you about the belt...

CL

Woohoo!

Our blog has made it onto Atlanta Magazine's Best of list this year! We had some inkling that we'd get a mention in the December issue, but had no idea that it was the Best of Atlanta issue. According to the magazine Asian Cajuns is the best local style blog. Well, as the Brits say, we're chuffed :).



If you're an Atlanta Magazine reader and this is your first time visiting Asian Cajuns, welcome! And if you're a loyal reader of our blog, thanks for all of your support!



Also, congrats to fellow Decatur bloggers of Decatur Metro and In Decatur for getting best neighborhood news and to the gang at Heliotrope for being the best one-stop gift shop!

CL

A Delightfully Delectable New Coffee Drink

One of the best things about writing this blog has been getting to meet all you fellow bloggers spread across the world, as well as meet face-to-face with some inspiring people in our own backyard. Tonight our backyard was located in Whynatte Latte's headquarters (right by Grant Park, for you locals).

Whynatte wha wha???

Pronounce it "Why-Not-A" as in "Why not a latte?"

Whynatte is the caffeinated elixir invented by Jesse and Andy. It tastes like the best iced latte you've ever had, but with an additional boost of energy. And the best part is you can mix Whynatte with your favorite alcoholic beverage that you always thought belonged in your plain-joe latte. So far Cath and I have just tried Whynatte sans spiking, but they have a list of tempting recipes on their website for you to try.

For you locals, Whynatte is sold at Alons, Parish and other gourmet shops around the city. Those farther a-field can order some here.

We got a full tour and some lovely new tees from the Whynatte crew:


Me, the lovely Hannah and Cath; Jesse and Andy (geniuses behind Whynatte) and Dave the super-talented graphic designer.


Me and Cath sporting our new Whynatte tees.

Thanks for the tour and the jolt, Whynatte Team!

Fellow readers, if you get a chance to try Whynatte- let us know what you think and then upload your own pics to their blog.

LL