Atlanta

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I spent the last few days in Atlanta, celebrating the wedding of one of my husband's best friends. I had been into the city briefly before, but was never given carte blanche to explore at my leisure and whim.

This time, I got exactly that.

We stayed at the Highland Inn, a 1920s boutique hotel in the Poncey-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta. The wedding reception was held here, and we were surprised by how interesting the hotel was. Every room was different, and the basement contained an old school bar and a quaint ballroom.

The neighborhood we stayed in reminded me of Chicago's old Wicker Park (you know, before it became a bunch of stroller-pushing yoga moms), as it is very eccentric and offers a lot of creativity. 

One of my favorite stops we stumbled upon was Paris on Ponce, a collection of chic boutiques all housed in an old warehouse. I was intrigued based on the exterior (above), and the moment we walked inside, I was sold.

The interior contained everything from vintage industrial to mid century furniture, tiny trinkets to large artwork, etc. I can't leave out this well-dressed woman, who quite literally "lost her head."

Paris on Ponce also contains a gorgeous, red-bathed event space, which reminds me of Delphine's Club from 1920s London (I first saw this on the show Mr. Selfridge, but here's a fun article about the fabulous woman and her club). 

Can I get married all over again and do it here? Pretty please with a red cherry on top?

We also enjoyed walking on the BeltLine, a running/walking trail that will eventually connect the parks in Atlanta, forming a visual 'beltline' around the city. I love the concept, but it was also plain old easy to get around on foot and catch some great sights using this walkway.

The wedding reception, itself, fit in with its surroundings. In case you need proof...

Another exciting stop was Stone Mountain. We hadn't heard of it until my husband's friend mentioned it the day we were leaving, so we decided to fit it in. It featured the world's largest baas relief, and a huge, granite mountain that took 30+ minutes, some serious shoes, and a bit of sweat to summit.

Oh, and skyline views of Atlanta.

After Stone Mountain, we headed to an area called "Little 5 Points," which reminded me of Chicago's 6 corners, but again, without the pugs and yoga pants (I'm not judging - I love both of those things).

The center of the area was filled with artists, musicians, and competing drum circles. After walking around a bit, we ducked into The Porter Beer Bar, which came highly recommended by our tablemates at the wedding reception the prior night.

The ambiance was wonderful but the food was to die for. 

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Have you been to Atlanta? What did I miss?
What's your favorite restaurant in your city?

Life Lately - Hippie or Not Hippie, That Is The Question

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If the title of this post made you think of "To be or not to be," then you can officially award yourself ten points. Or maybe I should just go ahead and award those points to Gryffindor. 

1. I went to Grange Hall on Randolph St and loved it. It was hipster through and through, and felt like a scene from Portlandia where they tell you all about where the beef came from and whether it had a good home (it also reminded me of Ft. Defiance in Brooklyn). The menu is mostly burgers, but I had chili and salad. Best of all was sitting outside with this view.

I will never call you Willis.

Also, they brought water with only a little bit of ice, a small slice of lemon and a small slice of lime (or was it cucumber?). Perfection.

2. Hippy move number two... and I'm not sure if this really is a hippie move. I ordered new toothpaste from Vitacost.com (I figured that something more natural would be more sensitive to our teeth). When it showed up, my loving fiance teased me and said he was engaged to a hippie. Apparently even the packaging looks hipstery? Beats me...

Are you there, Jason? It's me, Hippy

3. Do hipsters get manicures? I'm thinking maybe not (at least not the "real" hippies... I'm looking at you, Wicker Park), so perhaps this will balance out the Portlandia restaurant and supposed hipster toothpaste: I'm usually a french manicure girl. I like that I can get a no-chip manicure and make it last for 3+ weeks without having to take the time to go back and get them fixed. But, the last time I went, I decided to be brave and change it up. And by change it up, I mean get something almost the same but not entirely. I think it was called I Theodore You.

Still going strong, Theodora

4. Fourth, and this has absolutely nothing to do with the (not so) epic battle between hipster and not-so-hipster, I'm a Yelp Elite!

In conclusion... yes, I am fully aware that I am not a hippie. I can hardly pass for hipster, depending on the neighborhood. It is really all in jest. 

QUESTIONS:

• Do you ever make purchases that strike you as out of character?
• Are you into all natural ingredients?
• Do you Yelp?

5 Tips For Alternative Christmas Decor

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When it comes to Christmas decorations, I'm non-traditional. So, some of you will hate this post because you swear by the red and green decor, the Santa figurines, the stuffed animal reindeer. Try not to hate me! We're all different.

When it comes to finding alternative, modern ways to decorate your home (or apartment) for a Christmas party without becoming swallowed up in the red and green, here are a few tips!

1. Globe Lights

First, purchasing interesting lights will help with the nontraditional vibe. Look for large globe lights, or the larger oval bulks. Consider stuffing a few of the lights into a mason jar (I found a blue mason jar a few months ago and it worked beautifully here).

(Large globe lights stuffed into a beautiful blue mason jar)

2. Homemade Signage

Then, to up the ante, make your own festive signage. I posted a tutorial over the past few weeks to show you how to make the sign pictured above. I'd suggest decorating with doilies, stamps, or anything you can glue on (I seriously considered Mod Podging glitter all over the place, but didn't want to end up with an obscene amount of glitter on my couch, because we all know glitter tends to spread like, well, let's go with the flu and keep it PG).

3. Framed Signage

For those of you who don't have the time to put together a homemade sign (or perhaps you can't find a good place to put it), there's also a much easier way to include special quotes or phrases. In particular, this works well for quotes that are too long to put on a sign, like lines from poems or music.

Justin and I love this line from a traditional Christian hymn, so I wrote it out and framed it. It's not exactly in the holiday spirit, but it's a good reminder to keep your thoughts on what the holiday is all about.

4. Ornament Display
Instead of displaying all of your ornaments on your tree, create a festive display on a countertop by placing a few ornaments in a small (or large!) bowl or glass. I suggest going with ornaments that are in a similar color scheme. You can work with your existing collection, or stop by Home Depot to pick up a package of ornaments in the same color family.

I put the ornaments in a thrift store bought, Kate Spade-esque bowl that was a gift from my Aunt Betsy and Unka Toby as at my housewarming party.

5. Unconventional Colors
You may have noticed as you browsed the images in this post that my color scheme for Christmas decor is somewhat unconventional. To replace the traditional red and green, I used blues, silvers, and other "cool" hues to keep things fresh. In picking these colors, I was inspired by snow and ice, by songs like "White Christmas" "Let It Snow."

I also played around with a new Christmas tree idea. For those of you who, like me, are renters and city dwellers, sometimes it's just a big hassle to get a live Christmas tree in the city, haul it to your place (or pay for it to be delivered), and then deal with disposing of it afterward. Instead, we went with a small, shiny white tree from my mother and decorated it with blue Christmas ornaments.

We also strung blue ornaments in front of the windows, to add a bit of festive flair without making things too cluttered.