Working Girl

This outfit is definitely on the conservative side of office dressing for me, but I suppose it's not half bad to try to look like an actual adult every once and a while. My smile in the photo on the bottom right does a better job of capturing my happiness after another delicious meal at Taqueria del Sol.



Outfit details: Jacket (Lauren's) and dress (mine) from H&M, BCBG shoes purchased at Ross.

Hope you all are having a great week!

Tag Time: 6 Things

Our friend and author of In Her Twenties tagged us a few days ago and, seeing as I've made it a kind of mini-resolution of mine to be better at tagging, I'm determined to complete this tag before a whole week has gone by. That being said I think we might have done this tag before, but since I can't remember, surely no one else can! So here goes:

The Rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

My six random things:


I love SPAM (not the email version).


I've kept all of my old pointe shoes and have no idea what to do with them.


I'm part Chinese and part French/English/Irish/German, but I'm obsessed with anything Scottish.


I love maps.


I don't own a TV, but watch shows on Hulu.com all the time.


I would love to visit Stockholm.

I'm tagging:

Already Pretty
Hiking in Stilettos
June Shin
On Dressing Up
The Leila
This Wheel's on Fire

All photos are from flickr.com.

CL

Pie and Other Things

I've been a fan of Pushing Daisies for about a year, but ever since I heard that ABC decided to cancel it after this season, I've been obsessing about it. How can something so good be canceled? I shouldn't be surprised. If it can happen to Arrested Development, it can happen to any great show.


Images courtesy of www.thepiemaker.com

The endless amount of over-the-top set designs and costumes are a great source of inspiration. But the show is much more than just pretty clothes and fancy rooms. The writing and acting is very good. Even though the plot sounds ridiculous, the show somehow pulls it all off without being too sweet or precious.

The main character in the show is a pie-maker and Lauren and I always have a craving for pie after watching an episode. This week has been busy, so after watching an episode we decided to make do with a mini cherry pie from Kroger. Here's what's left of it:


Being busy might be a good excuse for not making a pie from scratch, but it's no excuse for not having all of our Christmas decorations up yet. I'm determined to have everything up by the end of this weekend. I've made a good start this evening - the tree ornaments have actually made it out of the storage box!


Hope you all have a good weekend! If you have some free time make sure to rent/buy/netflix Pushing Daisies.

- CL

Weekend Delicacies

There's almost nothing better than eating your way through the weekend with friends.

Outdoor concert picnic: grapes, cheddar cheese, guacamole with tortilla chips and wine from Trader Joe's (nothing but the best!).

(Dress from Rockit in Decatur and boots from Newport News)


Cherry and grape flavored sno cones at the company picnic and Lauren's bf enjoying some champagne grapes.



A breakfast of pastries and coffee at Parish: almond and chocolate croissant, pistachio custard tart with strawberries and apricot/white chocolate scone.


Yummmm....

CL

Parish Atlanta

Parish (as in Louisianian county, not an ecclesiastical district) has become one of the most popular places to eat in Atlanta this summer. It's a restaurant/market that serves New Orleans inspired dishes and pastries. Being part Cajun, Lauren and I felt it was our duty to check out the place, so we dragged some friends with us one Sunday morning for the restaurant's deliciously rich brunch. The best part was the complimentary beignets - just like our mom makes them (from the Cafe du Monde beignet mixture).

Lauren has a huge sweet tooth. After a very filling brunch in the restaurant she promptly visited the market on the ground floor and order some more coffee and pastries.


The whole establishment reminds me of what an Anthropologie store would look like if it turned into a cafe: crumbling, exposed-brick walls, chic furniture, lots of greenery, quirky gifts, and antique signs.


I love how someone kissed the bum of the statue located in the middle of restaurant. And no organic market would be complete without its own reusable tote.


CL

Weekend Recap

With 3 dance performances and the parents in town for a few days we jammed a lot into the weekend. Below are just a few of the highlights.

Our dance friends are ridiculously stylish. Not only can they drape Ikea sheets like pros (see earlier post), they're also true fashionistas off stage. Below Becca and Stacey prove my point. Becca is dressed in vintage finds and Stacey is head to toe in Target - and they both look fabulous! You can check out another dancer friend's style on her own blog: Hiking in Stilettos.


A weekend would not be complete without a few stops in some local boutiques. DressCodes is one of our favorites - great clothing and a super cute (and friendly) guard dog.


After the Saturday night performance we celebrated with dessert at Cakes & Ale - Decatur's newest restaurant. The pistachio and strawberry ice cream Baked Alaska (left) is the best I've had. The Phatty Cakes (right) are soft ginger cookies with a creme filling - perfect with a cup of coffee from a French press.


While stuffing our faces with Phatty Cakes, we met fellow blogger and local jeweler extraordinaire June Shin. More on that in another post!

To sum it up, a good time was had by all. I wouldn't mind having more weekends like this one.

CL

Happy Easter!

Just a little whimsy for an afternoon treat...
Our Mom (the Cajun half), she of the magnificent "eye," found these delightful critters for us in Maryland. We've brought them out for Easter.

LL

Yoforia

Yoforia has become my new favorite snack place. The yogurt creations are what frozen yogurts of the 1980s should have been: simple, yogurt-y and served with fresh toppings. There's only 3 locations in Atlanta, but I'm hoping they'll continue to expand - preferably right next to where I work.

My favorite mix is the original with fresh strawberries, almonds and dark chocolate chips. Yum...

CL

Eats

One of the best things about going on vacation is trying different types of food. The northwest isn't necessarily an exotic location, but the delicious food we hand certainly deserves to be mentioned in its own blog post.

Of course there is an abundance of coffee shops/cafes in Seattle and the surrounding areas, so we got our fill of the stuff. Lauren enjoyed her iced espresso in downtown Seattle.


Being so close to the ocean meant eating fresh seafood almost everyday - except for our cook-out on the beach where we feasted on hot dogs, chips, hard cider and s'mores. We also filled up on Rainer cherries and golden raspberries.

It was a lot of fun picking oysters then cleaning them, shucking them and eating them at the oyster farm. It was my first time eating raw oysters without a ton of lemon butter or cocktail sauce and I'll admit that I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious they were.



Other meals included mussels and crab cakes - yum.
Even though it was 10:00 in the morning, we stopped by Dick's, a Seattle fast food institution, for strawberry and chocolate milkshakes.

You can't visit Seattle without going to the Pike Place Market. I found it a bit overwhelming because it was so crowded, but it has yet to turn into a really touristy-type place (apart from the original Starbucks, which was a madhouse). We spent a while at the German meat market shop. Maris' green dress complimented the colorful packages of the German baked goods, jams and pickled-things. The Three Girls Bakery has the best chocolate macaroons and ginger cookies. After Pike Place we stopped by Uwajimaya, an amazing Asian market where we bought sushi and my all-time favorite cha siu baau (steamed buns).

Having just returned from Hong Kong, Maris brought back these cute cookie tins for all of us. I love the guy on the front and the cute designs on the back. The little cakes that come inside are separated by flavor. Given my past experiences with Asian desserts, I know they can either be really good or really, really bad - so I have yet to muster up the courage to try a cake. Until then, I'll enjoy the cute packaging.

4th of July would not be complete without pie.
CL