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?

PROgress for the sake of Living Room PROgress

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Does anyone remember the scene in Harry Potter 5 when EVIL Dolores Umbridge says "PROgress for the sake of PROgress MUST be discouraged?" Well, ever since then, the word PROgress has been pronounced with a very dominant "PRO" in my household. And by that, I mean just me.

Anyway, I'm sorry to break the spell yesterday's naked apartment tour cast on you (I know, you're in love. It shouldn't have taken its clothes off on the first date. Bad apartment. Bad). But, the apartment decided to get a little more dressed up. Well, some of it, at least.

Disclaimer: This is by no means finished. It's PROGRESS. So keep posted for the decor - because I just spent my life savings on Etsy. And by life savings I mean not really. But still a lot. The mail room delivery people are starting to hate me, I can feel it.

<--- Enter the Living Room!

As anyone who's ever moved can tell you (so... almost everyone?), the simple act of adding furniture can make an apartment feel much less nude. We brought in our new couch (in gray, on the left), which I'm sort of obsessed with still. 

I'll take more images to highlight why exactly I'm in love with a couch. But in short: Clean lines, retro feel, and those legs! Ha.

Sidenote: Yes, that would be me watching Avatar on my first night in the new apartment. It's just so pretty!

You may also notice the black futon from the old apartment. It seems to play well with the new couch, too. They both have tufting in the seats and a similar era feel with clean lines.

By the morning after furniture placement, we were semi cleaned up. We decided to swap the gray pillows from the couch to the futon to tie the corner together a bit better.

This retro side table was already at Justin's old place. It wasn't getting much glory there, because there wasn't a purpose for it, but here, it fits purrrrfectly.

To top it off? For now, a few funny comic books, A Book of Luminous Things (Poetry from my Uncle Toby on my birthday), and a random stick I painted bright colors.

See that TV? Yea, it's special. That was my first big girl purchase after getting my first big girl job. It's been sitting in my bedroom at my parents' house ever since (because the Wicker Park apartment was so small that an oversized TV would have made it impossible to breathe).

And this wonderful credenza is also a wonderfully special piece. It was my first huge furniture purchase. After perusing Craigslist for weeks, I finally stumbled upon Department Chicago. It's run by a young couple that finds old pieces (mostly mid century modern from what I've seen on their site) and fixes them up (cleans them and makes sure they're in working order) to sell. So, this is a true 1950s piece of furniture. Most 1950s credenzas are going online for $1,000-2,000, but we snagged this for the upper $400s. Thanks to Department Chicago for getting us such a great value.

Stay tuned for the rest of the apartment!

Naked Apartment Tour

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You know, like the apartment is naked. Get it? Geez. I wonder how many bizarre search hits I'm going to get with this post title. Bring it on, Google.

So, I moved this weekend. We were "good little workers," as my mom would say, and have the place pretty much set up. There are still a few projects we're looking to do over the next few months, but for now, at least all the furniture and art is in place.

But how can you appreciate something beautiful without seeing how barren and empty it once was? Answer: You cannot. [Okay, not always true, but here it's quite important!]

Let's start at the front of the apartment. I've highlighted in yellow where you enter the apartment.

This is how the entry looked on Thursday evening, when we first showed up to move things. The front door opens onto a tiled platform.

From the platform, you step down onto the wood floor. I'm not sure how recently these were done, but they're beautiful. So beautiful :)

On that beautiful wood floor, immediately accessible from the entry way, is the living room. 

This is the Living Room wall after stepping down from the entryway. We're planning to keep this corner couch laden (as you can see in the floor plan above). You know, so people actually have a place to sit down when they hang out (instead of the last place, where you practically had to stand around).



Okay, so we just turned around and are now looking back at the front window. On the first day we were there, literally while I was snapping these pictures, the couch I bought last weekend was delivered. Here's your first snap shot of the space with real live (or not live) furniture. Hopefully the couch gives you a bit of a sense of scale.



"Look at me! I'm a sexy looking couch!" (And now the combination of this post title with the word sexy in that couch quote will lead even more people to show up on this page and find out it's just some crazy lady talking about her apartment. Sue me.)

Next, in the same general space as the Living Room, we have a second space.

Past the Living Room is what I'm pretty sure was meant to be a Dining Room. But we're not doing it that way.  Instead, we're trying to keep a lot of this space open. Imagine a cute little desk in that corner, diagonally facing the rest of the room (so you can see the TV from your desk, what a treat).

From the Dining-turned-desk-room, there's a cute cut out to the kitchen. Again, you could be cutting onions in the kitchens and watching Revenge at the same time! Life is good, folks. Or... it will be.

To the left of the cut out to the kitchen, the hallway begins (dun dun dunnn!). Let's walk down it, shall we? Come on!

This hallway stretches from the bedroom door (behind me as I took this pic) to the kitchen (up ahead to the right). Straight ahead is the door to the washer and dryer (in unit, people. Don't be jealous). To the left is a smaller hallway to more storage and a bathroom. To the immediate right, however, is some wonderful display space.

I thought you wanted a closer look. There's no lighting inside the display shelving, but I'm excited to spice it up in there. We have so many random nick nacks (is that how you spell it?) that I'm sure it'll be obnoxiously cluttered like your grandma's piano in no time.

Next, turn right to the kitchen...

After walking down the hallway, this kitchen is to the right. Tons of storage. We'll be putting a table and chairs to the left, inside a little corner nook that's hidden in this pic.

Here we are from another direction. See the cut out that lets you see out the front window? I love it. Because, yet again, it means I can watch Revenge while cooking. Or any other show. Like Nikita. Alias reruns. Modern Family. You know the drill.

Here's a shot going back down the hallway. There's a tiny little glimpse on the right into the bathroom. We'll go there later :)

Here's the bedroom...

Here's a view from the back corner of the bedroom toward the door. You'll notice on the left that they installed a white ledge that extends a few inches from the ground and floor. Might pose a problem, as we're planning to line all the furniture up on that wall to avoid cluttering things up near the door.

Here's a shot of the closet (which spans the whole width of the room, amen).

And last but not least, the wonderful bathroom...

And back in the bathroom, her I am! Proof that I really did take these pictures. And proof that, in true style, I moved into an apartment without taking off my suit jacket. 

Stay tuned for pics this week. Get excited - they will include... drumroll please... furniture!