How do you say "Relaxed" in French?

After the move to the new house, we mysteriously started getting Conde Nast magazine (without paying for it, I don’t think).  I’ll flip through from time to time before throwing it down in the guest room bathroom, which seems to be the place our old magazines go to die. 

A few months ago, they featured the world’s best spas.  Unfortunately, some were a little out of reach - like the $8000 night hotel in the Seychelles or the private Turkish baths in Istanbul.  But I did noticed one of place that I do frequent: QUEBEC.  Who knew, but one of the top spas recommended by the magazine was in no other than Montreal! 

Bota Bota is located in the Port of Montreal, as in LITERALLY in the Port.  It’s a boat-turned-spa, and features not just the typical treatments but also a water circuit for relaxation.  The water circuit consisted of 10 minutes in a dry sauna or steam room, 2 minutes in a cold bath, and then 10 minutes of “relaxation” in one of the lounge chairs on the deck, overlooking Old Town in Montreal.  You can repeat several times, and when you’re done just hang out in the hot tub outside.  SIGN.ME.UP.

Cold Tubs and Relaxation Chairs (From the Bota Bota website)

This might be my last trip to Montreal for this project, so my Colleague and I took off right after work for one last hurrah:  a water circuit and specialty facial.  My facial was called "Cocoa", because it included both a massage of cocoa butter as well as a mask made of pure cocoa (removed of all fats and sugars).  It smelled and felt like straight up chocolate fondue on your face.  The estitician must have noticed my temptation to lick my cheek, because she told me in a thick French accent, "Oui, madam, it is...how you say....edible?"  Embarrassed, I resisted...

After the fabulous facial (one of the best I've ever had) and a few rounds through the water circuit, I was ubber relaxed and refreshed. Can I do this after work every day??

"Relaxation Tub" overlooking Old Town Montreal.  (From Bota Bota website)

Happy Anniversary!

Our 2nd anniversary came and went on Monday without even a blog post!  That's the problem with social media - too many outlets to keep up with.  I did post a wedding photo on Facebook and sent my honey a text AND email, but the blogger fell to the wayside...

That's okay, because technically we're celebrating our anniversary THIS weekend.  As we speak, James is downstairs yelling encouraging me to hurry up so that we can hit the road to Charleston, SC.  We cannot wait! 

I'm going to do something really lazy and refer back to last year's post, just for a little trip down memory lane.  Taking you back to September 26, 2009....(click here).

Just What the Doctor Ordered

You know what's good?  I mean, like reeeeeaaaal good (as we say here in the South)?  Dublin Dr Pepper.  Regular DP is good, and as a Waco native I'm all about supporting the hometown hero.  But the Dublin stuff really rocks my world.

What can I say, we love DP around these parts...

What makes it different?  Pure cane sugar instead of the normal corn syrup, and maybe a little bit more love added into the mix.  Why everyone doesn't go to this recipe is beyond me, but the Dublin bottling company is the only one who has / sells it.  And even the sale of it has now become controversial, based on disagreements between the rights of a bottling company vs. the brand owner, blah blah blah.  I tried to keep up with it in the Wall Street Journal, but I was less concerned with the legality of the sale because I was more concerned that it won't be around much longer!!
So when we went home for Labor Day Weekend a few weeks ago, I had more DDP (Dublin Dr Pepper) in two days than I think I had the last few years.  First, we discovered that there is a little old rickety convenient store in Hewitt (corner of Spring Valley Road and Hewitt Drive for those of you who are familiar) which sells the product out of the fountain.  HEAVENLY!  I didn't even try to mix in some Diet DP to save calories - I took the DDP straight up.

THEN, seeing how excited I was about DDP, my dad suggested that we actually stop in Dublin on the way to West Texas.  That's right - the ORIGINAL soda fountain where DDP was born and continues to thrive.  Lawsuits be damned, we got a few drinks from the soda fountain and enjoyed every drop.

I know you can buy the stuff online and have it shipped (for quite the premium, as my friends up North tell me)...but nothing beats a Dublin DP from Dublin, Tx with your family.

Happy Birthday, James Sasser!

A very happy birthday to my honey!   It's very hard to believe that he is [content removed by editor-at-large, James Sasser] years old, because he doesn't look a day over 25.  And now that he is a college student again down at Auburn University, I'm sure this EMBA-er gets confused for a undergrad all the time.  :)

Pretty low-key birthday, as the weekend before we combined a "Welcome to Atlanta, Adrian!" with a "Happy Birthday, James!" party.  Many of our close friends were at our house then to celebrate, so on the actual day we kept things nice and quiet, just like the birthday boy requested.  James' mom made her famous birthday cake, and along with James' aunt we had a lovely family dinner at Treehouse and enjoyed cake, ice cream, and presents back at our own casa.

O, how I love this birthday boy!  Happy Xth Birthday, and best wishes for another happy, healthy 34 years (and more!)

Labor Day Weekend 2011

 Ah, Labor Day Weekend.   Both the Sassers and the Kerrs have long standing traditions, so James and I are guaranteed a good time each year, no matter where we land.  Last year we celebrated Virgo birthdays with the Sassers down in Boca Grande, and this year it was back with the Kerrs in West Texas.

This is an annual trip for our family going back...well, certainly before my time!  I don't remember an opening Dove Season weekend that was not spent in Hamlin, Tx with our dear family friends, the Prewits.  Daddy and "Papa" Prewit were college roommates at Baylor in the late 50s, so do the math they go way the heck back.

If you haven't heard of Hamlin, it's about 15 miles outside of Sweetwater, which is about 30 miles outside of Abilene.  (If you haven't heard of Abilene either, I can't really help you there.   Maybe try listening to some old country music.)  It's a very, very small West Texas town, which is surrounded by red dirt fields and oil wells.  Perfect land for dove hunting!   It's also dry, dry and dry.  Oh, and very dusty.

The boys and gals - we're an equal opportunity family of hunters - headed out each morning and each evening, killing lots of birds and seeing lots of wildlife (coyotes, wild hogs, horned toads, etc).

Nearly extinct, but we saw one!

My sister-in-law, Missy, and I didn't necessary shoot at birds, but rather rode around on ATVs looking for birds.  You see, despite the fact that we kill so many dove, the majority of my family are also "birders" who get their kicks from searching for and identifying rare birds.   I tried to contribute, but after I got everyone worked up over what ended up being a cardinal, they lost faith in me.

The cool kids club!  (Yes, I'm teasing out of love)

For those who aren't hunting, there are the fun trips into Abilene, hanging out with friends and family, and eating, eating, eating.  This group knows how to eat.  Of course, the bounty of the hunt was thrown on the grill the last night for everyone to enjoy. If you haven't had a fresh dove breast, filled with jalepeno and cream cheese, then wrapped in bacon and grilled, well, my friend, you just aren't living right.  YUM.

Antiquing in Abilene

The Good Life

We love this Kerr family! I can't end the post without including some of my favorite shots of some of our favorite people on the planet. I have to provide color commentary on most because there was usually some funny story behind - we can be clowns:

James and my brother-in-law, Marcus, fishing out the dove that they shot over the tank.  Sure would be a good time to bring back the Weimerainers!

Kelly and Shawntel - so glad she could join us this year!  Because of her, I put on about 3 lbs.  I'm pretty sure she mixes crack in her sugar cookie dough (they are so addicting!)

Marcus and my favorite nephew, Tristan.  Holding down the fort.

Me and my honey, enjoying a Lone Star Light in a longneck.  One of the many things you can only find in Texas.

My sweet niece, Tori Claire, hanging out in the tree.

The redheads: My sister, Stephanie, and Tori

Stephanie and my Dad.  (Oh, and the newest addition to the family, mean old Pedro.)

Let me provide the background:  my dad asked James to go get them a pan for the dove.  James couldn't find one, so (being the resourceful South Georgia boy that he is) improvised by putting foil in an empty ammo box.  Oh, dear me...

The Kerr boys, plus the boys who put up with Kerr gals.  God bless their very souls - they are certainly up to no good in this picture.

The entire Kerr family!  Mother had to promise everyone that she would not use this for a Christmas card (because no one was prepared, no one had on make up, people still had bird guts on them, blah blah blah, excuses excuses), but I never promised I wouldn't add it to the blog.  :)

Houseguests in the New Home!

(Upfront disclosure: I can't take credit for any of the great pictures from this post!  A huge thanks to Chris Perez for sharing all the beautiful pictures that he captured during their visit.)

Call me crazy (and I know James probably did), but the guest room was the first room that we tackled once moving into the new house.  Being able to properly hosts friends and family is one of my favorite duties as a Southern lady.  So when Christy Perez (my college roommate) wrote to say that she and her husband, Chris, would be visiting Atlanta, I was thrilled:  our first houseguests in Peachtree Hills!

I love this view of our front porch

Chris and Christy

We had a great time catching up and introducing the Perezes to some of our favorite things and places in Atlanta.   From shopping in the Highlands, strolling around Decatur, eating in Inman Park, and then back to Buckhead, there was not a lot of time for rest.

Decatur

Finding unqiue books at Little Shop of Stories

Enjoying a beer at Brick Store

Cool shops in the Highlands

In case you were questioning it, Christy and I are not sisters. The reason I clarify that is because we were asked that multiple times a day during their visit. I don't remember ever being asked that in college, but obviously (as we gracefully get older) we're looking more and more alike!

Most everything centered on good food and drinks, which meant that we never went hungry and mostly gravitated from restaurant to bar to kitchen back to another restaurant, etc…for 3 days  Fortunately, Christy is training for the upcoming Chicago half. She motivated all of us to get up on Sunday morning and run part of her long run with her (hopefully burning off some of the calories). 

One cool new find was in Buckhead: a little place simply named Pie Shop.  Chris has a sweet tooth so we asked our restaurant to recommend a place for a late night snack.  We about never found it (as it's hidden away behind the shops on Roswell), but so glad we did!  This shop stays open until 1AM for late night stragglers like us.  We enjoyed a slice of peach-and-almond cardamon pie, plus a German chocolate pie that was right of the oven.  Delicious!

We were so happy to host these great friends, and can't wait to see them again (in Atlanta, Austin, or where ever that may be!) 

Goodbye, You Old Scoundrel

James just read how I was titling this post, and said "it's really not nice to talk about her like that".   No, I'm not trash-talking an actual person, just a car.  His car, or what was his car until we sold it tonight (YEA!!!)

James is a little sad to depart with his older Land Rover Discovery, but I am pretty darn excited.   It's really insensitive, I know, and I'm trying my best to empathize with him.  And I know it's a very nice, rugged car, but I could just never learn to drive "the beast", as I liked to call it.  I like good, small, reliable, efficient cars, like my 1997 College-Car-Camry that I sold this year.  Or, my little Honda hybrid that I just bought.  This thing was a tank and a half!   She and I never got along...

But, James is sad.  So, as his wife, I'll try to act a little sad, too...but secretly I'm doing the happy dance in my head. :)

So sad to see her go :(

Don't worry, James is not without transportation for long.  The newest beast should be arriving shortly!