Hello blogosphere! Gosh, it’s been way too long. I’ve missed you guys!
 

Here are the Cliff’s Notes on life since we last “chatted:”
 

I’ve been a bad blogger because spare time has been dedicated to baby things (and I’m not sure if you want to read a lot about baby things) or a little after hours work. 33 weeks down, 7 to go. Okay, I was trying to not post many baby things, but here’s a sneak peek of the nursery (I love the bright colored animal silhouettes I found on Etsy). Baby Margot’s nursery theme is safari (using bright colors and chocolate brown). I didn’t want to buy a bedding or decor set, so I’ve picked up affordable things here-and-there (from eBay, Amazon.com, Hobby Lobby, etc.).

We celebrated three years in our Decatur, Georgia, home in early March. Would you believe that’s the longest I’ve ever lived in one house? Crazy to think about, but true. I’m hoping we can stay put in this version of Mallory Manor for quite some time. We have 1,450 square feet upstairs (including our renovated kitchen, which I still need to share photos of), plus about 1,300 square feet of unfinished basement we plan to one day turn into another bedroom, bathroom, family room, office and laundry area. Dan is putting up the finishing touches in the kitchen (beige linen roman shades) then I’ll have some pictures up pronto! Here's a QUICK look at the kitchen (forgive all these iPhone photos. Sheesh. You'd think I didn't have a nice camera or something!)

The hubs and I took a long weekend trip to Asheville, North Carolina, last weekend. If you haven’t been, go! It’s like the Earthy side of Athens, on steroids! So much good food, art, music, etc. This time around, we checked out Laughing Seed (again), Tupelo Honey (again), Bouchon, Lexington Ave. Brewery (aka “LAB”), Cucina 24, French Broad Chocolate Lounge and Early Girl Eatery. Even though we’re not vegetarians, Laughing Seed was our favorite dinner again this round (be sure to order the raw spinach pesto manicotti). Tupelo was another incredible breakfast (I had the Tupelo Honey oatmeal and a side of bacon; Dan had the fried egg BLT… both were divine). As far as activities go, we walked to the River Arts District on Saturday and enjoyed that side of town. Also drove the Blue Ridge Parkway for a bit. (If you have questions about our experiences at any of these places, holler!) Possibly the best decision of the trip was booking three nights at the Urban Nest (a condo downtown we secured through HomeAway). For the same price as a downtown hotel, we got a 1 bedroom (plus office) condo. We used the kitchen to make coffee each morning, and it was nice to do some relaxing in the living room (with a great, big window overlooking downtown).

I chopped off my hair. It was getting REALLY long (probably ridiculously long) and I was feeling ready for a change. Not to mention I figured shorter hair would be easier to style and maintain with a baby. My inspiration photo was this long bob style of Nicole Richie’s. Miss Mary Verrilli did a fabulous job as always on the cut. Looking forward to getting back in her chair in two weeks to refresh my highlights/lowlights. (Full disclosure, Mary gives me a discount on my cuts/colors because I’ve sent a lot of business her way. But to be honest, I’ve sent a lot of business her way because she does a great job and her prices are reasonable!)

(Photo from Glamour.com)

Verrilli Hair Studios

1151 Hammond Dr NE , Suite 200, Studio 126
(in Salon Studios above Old Navy)
Atlanta, GA 30346 (770) 361-3557
Read her reviews on Kudzu here.

So nothing ground breaking happening in our world… just yet. But life is good, no complaints! More from me soon!

On Saturday, I checked out Victory Sandwich Shop's new Decatur location with some friends (right next to Raging Burrito behind the Square — on Church Street).

Over lunch, natural light poured into the joint (it's a long dining room, with a huge wall of windows). The sandwich shop's vibe is industrial, simple, cool and hip (think subway tile, grey grout, lots of galvanized metal). The staff is equally hip and cool (almost feeling like they were transplanted over from nearby Little Five). Despite the place being brand new and there being no shortage of great restaurants around, the place was popping with people.

(Darnit, I wish I'd snapped a picture of the interior.)

We didn't know how ordering worked, so it was nice to be greeted by a server who explained that you order at the counter for lunch (regular table service for dinner). We found a spot at the end of a long, community table and pondered over the menu. Thing was, this was somehow a Victory first experience for all three of us. As we checked out the menu, we chatted about how unbelievable it was that none of us ever hit up the popular Inman Park location (which we hear is set to close to make room for a new building… but I'm having a hard time confirming this news online).

Womp womp. On to happier things… like how the place is revived… but in Decatur!

The menu works like this: sandwiches are half-sizes ($4 for a half), so most people order two along with a side ($3.50 or $4). So that means the average diner's food portion of the bill would be $12. 

After much deliberation, I decided on a half of the Hambo (prosciutto, mozzarella, arugula, reduced balsamic), half of a Castro (essentially a Cuban… slow roasted pork, ham, pickle, fontina, yellow mustard) and a side salad (mixed lettuces, radish, apple, parmesan, walnuts and sherry vinaigrette). The Hambo was a good balance of sweet and savory (i'm a sucker for the prosciutto/apple/cheese combo). The Castro's ingredients came together well (who doesn't love a Cuban?) but I did find the pork to be a little dry. However, in a restaurant's first week, I'll give them a break — and overall the sandwich was still tasty. The salad was a great sized portion and reminded me of the Farm Burger "Market Salad," which I'm a big fan of. Sandwiches came with kettle chips (peppery, delicious ones).

Greg and Travis, my fellow diners, were happy with their choices as well. Greg had two halves (so, in other words, "a whole?") of the Mile High Club (smoked turkey, ham, avocado, dijon mustard, fontina cheese) — with a side of potato salad. Mr. T had a whole Castro sandwich, also with a side of potato salad.

Since I can't or shouldn't drink at the moment (see last post), I admired the brief but fun/varied beer and cocktail list. If I could have ordered a beer, I would have grabbed a La Chouffe. I spotted several IPAs and pale ales (Dale's Pale Ale, Bells Two Hearted) that I knew the husband would like when we returned together.

Service was attentive, even more attentive than I'm used to for a counter service setup.

On my way to the restroom, I saw they have a ping pong table tucked away back there. Random, but cool.

I'll be back, or we'll be back*. I could see grabbing some lunch here or maybe coming for just a beer and a snack before mozying on to another nearby restaurant for dinner.

Victory Sandwich Bar
340 Church Street
Decatur, GA 30030

(Check out even more Victory Decatur info on their Facebook page.)

*Update: I did go back, on Monday, with Dan. He had a half Hambo and half Mile High Club. He thought both were pretty good, but that the "winner" of his meal was his "Fancy Nuts" appetizer (warm, spiced, mixed nuts with manchego cheese and dark chocolate for $5). After a bowl of the market soup of the day (creamy leek with veggies — creamy but not too heavy… I think I tasted parsnips), I had a half Mile High Club and the Beet and Goat Cheese Salad – mmmmmm. Salad was the standout with lots of fresh, cubed beets in a tangy dressing. Dan reminded me that while this was good, the best panini-style sandwiches in a mile-plus radius are probably still those at Java Monkey (which also serves beer and wine!). See my previous post about Java Monkey and it's delicious $7.50 sandwiches (with a side!) here. He has a great point… I'm hungry just thinking about that Java Monkey "Bella Prosciutto" sandwich.

Total Monday night Victory bill including Dan's two beers was $44.
 

(There's much more "baby bump" from the side view — I promise.)

Yesterday morning I sent my sister a "pregnant outfit/belly update" picture* — to my surprise, I got a fast response… "Shut up!"

No, she wasn't appalled by my progress… Anna was wearing essentially the same outfit I was (though her pants weren't stretchy waist maternity style, of course)! We'd both picked up this leopard print scarf at Hurs Wholesale Mart (my favorite inexpensive jewelry and accessories place on Buford Highway in Atlanta) on Saturday for $7.99.

On moi:
Old Navy tank top ($8)
Red Gap Maternity pants ($39 on sale from www.gap.com — I've bought a few pairs of similar pants on eBay for less but this pair came straight from the source.)
Hurs leopard scarf ($8)
BCBG patent leather loafers — not pictured ($25 if I remember correctly — super sale plus discounted more because I bought them at the Junior League Belk Shopping Event a few years ago)

Look at Anna's cute teacher self!

On Anna:

Steve Madden flats via TJ Maxx – $25
Old Navy pants – $16
Gap PURE top from Goodwill – $5-ish(?)
Hurs leopard scarf – $8

Have you ever shown up to a party dressed identically to a friend, or to work dressed in tandem with a colleague?

*Yes, it's a true story! We're five months and some change pregnant, which I think is one of the reasons I've been quiet on this blog (instead I've been brainstorming nursery themes, adding items to my registry, reading message boards on BabyCenter.com, etc.). But don't fret — I'm not planning for this blog to become a mommy blog. If you're into kids and that kind of thing, I'm sure I'll find a blog-type space to post pictures, favorite products, etc. We're excited to welcome the new addition in late May: a little girl!

Honestly the whole thing felt like an episode of Top Chef (specifically a "Restaurant Wars" episode)… but maybe that's because Eli Kirshtein (Season 6) was hanging out at the bar.

The whole idea behind a pop up restaurant really isn't much unlike Top Chef Restaurant Wars: a chef takes over a blank slate space for a limited time (three months in this case) — using a small budget and a lot of creativity to create a crowd-pleasing menu and pleasant ambiance.

Billy Streck (who I didn't know was of Cypress Street Pint & Plate until after I went home) is the man behind this operation. He very enthusiastically and excitedly showed us around the temporary joint, which he describes as a "Farm to Tavern" concept. His budget? Seven or eight Gs (plus the items already in the defunct Grape space). They spray painted compasses on the table tops and hung candle-lit mason jars from the ceiling for a whimsical and not-so-serious vibe. The restaurants pop up storyline is literally written on the windows outside, attempting to explain to passersby what the space is all about. Inside, the names of patrons so far are delicately written on an accent wall (another creative, personal and inexpensive decor idea). I would have thought the decor cost more than it did — kudos to the team.

The food. You're probably wondering about the food.

We ordered the Fritters (ricotta-parmesan, asparagus puree, pickled mushrooms) and the Figs (amber ale, bacon, almonds, chile powder, parsley) from the "Bar Snacks" portion of the menu (to share). The fritters were moist while maintaining a little fluffiness. The figs melted in my mouth without being overcooked. The amber ale used to deglaze the pan almost gave the dish a sherry flavor (which I liked). Both starters had some heat from chili powder, which was nice on a cool night.

For the main, I ordered the Seared Tuna — and Jewel picked out the Scallops. My tuna was tender and just slightly seared. The green olives were a nice surprise along with clementines. I sometimes skip potatoes in a dish (I'd rather save myself for dessert) but I found myself cleaning this plate. I had a taste of Jewel's scallops, which were cooked just right and downright tasty alongside a hash of bacon, creamed corn, chiles, cilantro and red onions (I also tasted some fresh lime).

For dessert, we "split" the Apple Pie (served in a mason jar with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream). I used split in quotation marks because I think I ate 80 percent. Whoops. Great ratio of crust to apples to gooey goodness to ice cream. I would order again — and maybe not attempt to share.

Other items on on the menu that looked tasty but we didn't get to included: Braised Chicken Tacos, the North Burger, Scallop Crudo, Portobello Salad with Root Veggie Slaw, Pulled Pork and Braised Short Rib and Banana Pudding. (Billy and crew play with the menu, so you may not see all these same items when you come in.)

We found our servers to be attentive but not overly so (note: the restaurant wasn't busy, but that isn't always a sign that you'll get good service.)

What's next for Billy? We're not sure, but he did mention that he's trying to get a feel for whether or not there's an appetite for the concept (sorry for the bad pun). The space will turn over permanently to Shaun Doty (of Yeah! Burger fame) January 7 — rumored to be a chicken concept (hopefully he learns from Leroy's Fried Chicken's mistakes?). I will be curious to see what becomes of this pop up establishment (and others that Atlantic Station tries out). The pop up concept could have big rewards for chefs and restaurateurs who don't have big budgets and want to make a name for themselves in a time crunch — or they could go unnoticed in a sea of other great Atlanta dining options. Time will tell. For a defunct restaurant space's owner, pop up restaurants definitely seem like a risk worth exploring.

But in the mean time, go check out Hudson North and let me know what you think! Hudson North did bring me to Atlantic Station for the first time in more than a year, so maybe others will be encouraged to visit an area that's widely chains/commercial.

Check out some pictures of the space and the grub:

Thanks again to Jewel over at Eat.Drink.Shop.Love for inviting me to attend this preview with her! Check her review and commentary here. We had a good time!

Hudson North
264 19th St NW
Atlanta, GA 30363
404-747-2297

Jewely from Eat.Drink.Shop.Love was kind enough to include me in the Glambassardor Event at Godiva Salon earlier this week. It's such a treat to have your hair professionally blown out, and an equally great treat to hang out with some fabulous other bloggers/ladies.

Image care of Eat.Drink.Shop.Love. (If you're curious, that's a Goodwill/thrifted dress ($5 – still had the Macy's tags on it!), a purple/gold Ann Klein watch via eBay ($39) and my new GlassesUSA glasses I still can't seem to take off!)

Read more about the event over at the fantastic Eat.Drink.Shop.Love blog.

Checked out Richard Blais' HD1 ("Haute Doggery!") restaurant last night with two friends. Really enjoyed it. We each ordered a hot dog — then split two sides and one dessert.

Here's a bite-sized and stream of consciousness review for y'all about our experience:

Not crowded (easy to grab a table on this Tuesday night)
Not as pretentious as sister restaurant Flip Burger
Affordable (not counting adult beverages, meal/dessert was under $13 including tip/tax)
Tasty
Just the right amount of food
Smart beer selection/cocktail offering
Got my waffle fry fix (I've been kind of avoiding a certain fried chicken sandwich chain for the past bit…)
Attentive wait staff
Insane soft serve ice cream (current offerings: roasted fig and bourbon and brown sugar)
Gluten-free bun options
All-beef hotdog option if you're not a pork eater
Husband would have been impressed with my "East Bound and Down" dog (quality weiner topped with pulled pork, slaw and honey mustard) paying homage to a show he loves…
Casual but not order-at-the-counter casual
 

In the words of the Ah-nold, "I'll be back…"

East Bound and Down dog.

L to R: Waffle Fries with "Maple-oy" Sauce (description doesn't do this sweet and sour, slightly spicy, maple-y mess of sauce justice. Mmmm); Plain HD fries with ketchup.

HD1
664 North Highland Ave, Atlanta, GA 30306
(Poncey-Highland Neighborhood)
(404) 815-1127

Menu here

A few weeks ago I was contacted by GlassesUSA.com with the offer to review their glasses*. The online perscription glasses vendor asked me not just to review the glasses themselves, but the whole ordering/customer service process.

I’ve been committed to only reviewing products that fit with my blogs content — so considering that I’ve been a regular unpaid reviewer of Zenni Optical’s eyeglasses, it seemed appropriate that I accept this mission.

How it works: GlassesUSA allows you to shop by many attributes including frame type, style, material or shape. Unlike Zenni, GlassesUSA offers a variety of name brand/designer frames. I definitely spent some time oggling over the creations of Tom Ford, GUESS, Lacoste and Kenneth Cole. (For perspective, Kenneth Coles on GlassesUSA.com ranged from $99 to $140, which is a good chunk less than one would pay at, say, your neighborhood brick and mortar shop (e.g., Lens Crafters). These really reasonable prices include basic lenses.

The site also has a huge number of non-branded, trendy and classic glasses — meaning there’s a really solid number of choices. 

While nothing can really compares to trying on glasses in person, the “virtual mirror” functionality does somewhat fill the gap.

However, I have to say the tool could use some enhancements. For example, I tried to upload three different existing photos to use with the mirror — and I couldn’t enlarge my photo enough to work with the scale of the glasses.

I then decided to take a live photo (using my laptop’s webcam) to use with the virtual mirror — but then I had to retake a live image every time I wanted to try on a new pair of glasses. The virtual mirror definitely helps you visualize wearing the many options available, but you may get a little frustrated along the way.

Meh. Alright but not my style.

Better!

But don't take my word for it… check out the try on mirror for yourself:

After about 20-25 minutes, a particular pair jumped out at me. They needed to be mine! iSee 007 (tortoise shell) – $78 including my single vision lenses.

As far as ordering goes, the process was overall simple and straightforward. I opted for the "Standard" package for an additional $19 (with UV coating and anti-reflective coating). (See other package options below — but also note they offer polarized lenses, tinting and transitional lenses if you're intersted in those options.) So that put my grand total at $97.00 once you add the $8.95 for shipping.

I input my Rx information into the form and added my payment info and thought, “bam, I’m done!” I was a little surprised when the customer service team e-mailed me to ask for a scan/image of my actual prescription to process my order;  luckily I had it saved in my e-mail. So know if you order through GlassesUSA, you may need to have a digital copy of your actual prescription on hand. (FYI – GlassesUSA doesn't follow up re: the Rx on every order, just if the technician has additional questions or if you have a heavy duty perscription.)

My glasses arrived three days later via DHL (which was right in line with what the company promised, and I got plenty of communications along the way). (Note: signature required. It was a lucky break that I was sick and working from home that day!) That turnaround time is about a week to week and a half faster than Zenni Optical's, and the glasses case was much nicer… My glasses were safely nestled in a heavy duty case inside a sturdy shipping box. I'm fairly certain a car could have fun over the box/case and the glasses still would have been in tact.

For comparison purposes.

I really really like my new glasses. They're durably made, fit snugly and I feel confident in them. And I suppose it's important to also mention that they got the Rx right. In fact, I haven't worn any of my other pairs since they came in (nine days ago). I may be biased now that I have them in-hand, but I think these iSee 007 frames are a really versatile style (young, older, male, female, etc.).

Other GlassesUSA perks not mentioned yet above:

365 day return policy (which Zenni doesn’t have)
Handy dandy guide for reading/interpreting your prescription
Ability to check out with Paypal or Amazon
Support phone # you can call
I left an item in my cart and got an e-mail afterward offering me 25% off my order if I changed my mind and wanted to get the item!

Glasses USA has tons of sale options any given day (the most current discount codes can be found here) but they’re also offering a 10% promo to readers of this blog (use promo code Blog10). So next time you need to buy glasses (or if you just want to add another look/style to your glasses collection), definitely check out GlassesUSA.com.

*GlassesUSA offered me a $65 credit in exchange for the review. I paid the additional $32 needed to complete my order personally.

(Update October 10, 2012: I still haven't worn any other glasses!)

Snatched up a pair of faux leather leggings at Forever 21 today ($20). I keep seeing leather leggings in magazines and on fashion blogs.

The jury's still out.

What do you think I should do… love 'em or leave 'em?

(Blazer is Tahari – thrifted, tee is from Target. Gianni Bini pumps were a 30%-ish off eBay find.)

It's been so long since I've posted that you would *think* Savvy in the City is under construction… but I'm actually talking about our kitchen.

We've been wanting to renovate the kitchen of our 1949 ranch since we moved in but needed to sift through a few other projects first — as well as put together a solid plan of attack. Oh, and there's that saving money up detail.

This is our kitchen today, in all its linoleum floor, black iron hinges and paneled wall glory. Ain't she a beaut?

We basically need to start from scratch (walls, ceiling, electrical, etc.). Anyhoo, our casa will be under construction very shortly, as Dan just got our initial building permit yesterday! We're excited to get started but are sure the path won't be an easy one (so many decisions to make on everything from sink type to paint colors to drawer pulls and more). At least we have similar styles and agreed very quickly agreed we wanted a classic kitchen with a touch of industrial (white shaker style cabinets, subway tile, industrial-looking light pendants, hardwood floors, granite countertops, stainless appliances, etc.).

You know, something not unlike the below style-wise (we don't have near this much space!):

Photo from Shuffle Interiors via Houzz.com. If you haven't played around on Houzz, do it. Or don't do it if you don't want to lose all your spare time. It's like Pinterest, but for just house stuff, and better. A search for "shaker style cabinets" will yield like 30,000 inspiration photos to look through. Love it.

Dan was a quick study on Google SketchUp, a free platform you can use to make to-scale, 3-D drawings. Here's our vision for the kitchen, from Dan's finger tips. We also had some great help from our contractor, Phil, and from our neighbors Becky and Andy (Becky is a designer by background and knows all about how functionality can meet clean lines, etc.).

Beyond aesthetics and no-brainers (nicer, newer cabinets – stainless appliances, etc.), the most noteworthy changes from the kitchen of today are:

- Moving more of the "functional" kitchen to the end (an area that was once a screend in porch) versus it being 100% galley-ish (there is nothing in this previously porch area today – no counters, cabinets – nothing)
- Cutting down the wall in between the kitchen and the dining/living room to half wall (and around the staircase) to open up the spaces
- Creating a "peninsula" between the kitchen and dining area with room for three stools at the counter
- Cutting the foyer wall (the wall immediately to your right if you were walking in from the front door) down to a half door
- Creating a window seat (the window is too low to really build a desk there)

The below gives you some perspective re: where the kitchen is situated in regards to the rest of the house.

I may be getting ahead of myself but I'm already trying to figure out what items we will store in what cabinets (I suppose it's a good exercise in understanding if the balance of upper to lower cabinets will work – and if everything will have a home):

C'mon in. Take a little digital tour of our culinary construction zone:

Pray for us in the coming months, as I would bet we start demo in early-to-mid September and will be without a kitchen for a few months. Gulp!

The ladies over at Atlanta Style Bloggers (ASB) have been kind enough to have me on their blogroll for the past year or so.

As if that wasn't great enough, now I get invited to neat ASB events! Tonight was a blogger event at Free People (White Provision) — over near Ormsby's and Bacchanalia on the West Side (Atlanta).

The gals and the store hooked us up with pretty solid discounts at Free People (25% sale items, and 10% off our entire purchase) as well as tasty bevs, snacks (including some from JCT kitchen!), fingernail polish changes, gift certificate and more. I made a beeline for the complimentary chair massage from Spa Sentio (just upstairs in White Provision – FYI looks like they may be a decent spot for services other than manis/pedis). Days were busy this week in my "real job" (which is not blogging), so the shoulder rub was more than welcomed.

The complimentary beer from Mirosa was legit tasty. The purveyors positioned it as, "like a Sprite, but mixed with beer." He was kind of right. Mirosa Lemon reminded me of Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy. It was refreshing, light and lemon-y without being overlight sweet. I didn't taste it, but I'm told the Mirosa lager is not unlike Heineken. Probably most fascinating is the beverage company's "Economic Stimulus Opportunity" promo. Allegedly if you buy a six-pack of Mirosa, which is available at Metro Atlanta Publix and Kroger stores, and e-mail a picture of the receipt (along with your name, mailing address and phone number) to MirosaBeerPromo@gmail.com, you'll get a share of Mirosa stock.

Free People has cute stuff (a high-end Bohemian/hippie vibe), but over conversations with fellow bloggers about my blazer ($5 at Goodwill), I was reminded that most of the shop's goods were out my usual price range. What can I say? I'm a thrifty gal! (Though I must say FP had a wide range of goodies, with items like bracelets sometimes going for $15 or tops for $30, all the way up to dresses for $139 or handbags for $200. I do hear they have some pretty good sales as well).

BUT I talked myself into these fun print, high-waisted, cropped pants ($49 on sale) and bright orange/coral tank ($19 on sale). Altogether my goodies were $56 once discounts came into play. I'm excited about the funky pants (I plan to wear them with a grey or white tank and a khaki blazer — and blue wedes) but I can already hear my husband saying, "are you sure those aren't pajama pants?" (See exhibit A below. Necklace is mine: picked up for maybe $8 at trashy ole Dots — they have good accessories, y'all!)

And I got to meet a few other Atl blogger chicks!

Miss Foodie Fash (L) is new to the blogging scene! Check out Dee Dee's blog here.

This is Holly (R) from My Scuttle, who in her most recent post is wearing the same orange tank I bought! Holly's blog shows off her cute, sometimes edgy, feminine and deal-savvy style. I would describe her look as a more polished Betsey Johnson vibe (a little rock and roll, a little bohemian). Cute!
 

These are some of the fabulous ladies behind ASB and the Free People event. (L-R) Diamonde, Mattie (of Mattieologie) and Kristen (of Lily Kai Vintage).