Wishing you lots of these…

And a whole bunch of those…

A special Q+DD thank you to the courageous men and women who serve (+ have served) our country.  Thank you for the sacrifices you have made to protect our freedom!  We appreciate you!

go team go!

We hope everyone has a super fun + safe weekend!  Enjoy. 

xx, L

I stopped by Gap first and was pleased to see that all regularly priced items are 30% off.

Including, among a few other great finds that I picked up, this adorable black sequin tote which is going to help me put some post-holiday sparkle into the otherwise bulky clothes I plan to wear this weekend to combat the frigidly cold weather we are expecting.  Sexy, I know.

I did serious damage at Banana.  They just got in their Spring line, which is super cute (peach is a big color), and they have massive sales going on, as well. 

That’s about it…  Just wanted you all to know about the bargains going on at these two reliable standbys.

In other news, happy 700th post to Lauren + me! 

Congratulations to us!

We’ve been pretty prolific over the past year and 1/2.  Hope y’all have been enjoying it as much as we have!  Thanks so much for reading! 

xx, L

captain kurt + me

Whenever I am a little light on blog material, The Captain is there to assist.  He has brought the majority of the Trend Alerts! to my attention, including my recent post about couture Teva stilettos.  Over lunch, I informed The Captain that I was running a bit low on interesting things to blog about since I’ve been out of town so much in December.  He assured me that he was on it!  The next day, I received an e-mail from him saying that although it wasn’t necessarily “newsworthy,” he was getting a kick out of the Women Laughing Alone w/ Salad stock photo compilation on The Hairpin. 

Now, I bring it to you…  From the bottom of The Captain + my hearts, we hope you enjoy:

THIS is so awesome! 

My two favorite comments on The Hairpin about these pictures are:

1 – “Those women aren’t laughing…they’re gasping for calorie-free air!!”

2 – “Take a seat b/c I am going to rock your world while I explain to you what Crystal Light is!”

Thanks, Captain Kurt.  Thanks. 

xx, L

It’s not easy to accomplish every day and in every situation, but when I’m in a rut – I just count my blessings and I’m back to feeling like the luckiest girl in the world!

It’s Thanksgiving, so….what better time than now to count ‘em?

Today I’m grateful for:

My family – Mom, Dad, Katie, Brian, Gram and everyone out in Texas, NYC, and Alabama who hang out on my family tree.

Oh, and Olive. I am particularly grateful for the puppy princess with whom I share my condo and my life.

My friends – My lovely family of friends who support me, make me laugh, sip cocktails with me, and tell me important things like when I have black bean dip stuck in my teeth.

Greg – he’s so smart and funny and ambitious and SO good to me… he is also quite private– so he’s probably grateful for the end of this sentence.

My job –I just adore the 4 partners of my firm for affording me the amazing opportunity to join their team and I adore each and every one of my brilliant, talented colleagues.

The Quick + Dirty Dirty – I’m such a lucky lady to get to write every day, have such amazing reader support, to have met such wonderful people along the way, to have a fantastic partner in Lindsay and to have people like Amy and Mark who make this site look GOOD!

I’m grateful for the big things like my faith and my freedom and I’m grateful for the little things like my hot rollers, my DVR, Keratin treatments and Junior Mints.

Finally, I’m grateful that I live in Atlanta – this fabulous city that inspires me and entertains me every single day!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

xx, L

HOORAY!

Thanks so much to everyone who voted for us!  We are SO honored!

(P.S.  Here are some photos from our victory happy hour at the Nook.)

Thanks again, everyone! 

Did you enjoy voting?  Still want to cast a vote for something? 

voting is super sexy

Exercise your right!  I mean, it’s not like just ANYONE can get up and vote.

sorry, martha...

Well, voters, here you go:

AOL recently announced the launch of the 2010 City’s Best program, providing a guide to the best local food, entertainment and lifestyle options in 25 major U.S. metropolitan markets.  Atlanta has been selected as one of the featured cities!  With a commitment to providing the highest quality and most relevant information at the local level, City’s Best editors and writers in Atlanta have visited and selected the best food, entertainment and lifestyle venues, creating a high-quality local directory of listings.  Now, AOL is engaging Atlantans to vote for – and ultimately determine – the “best of the best” that Atlanta has to offer!

How to Vote:  Beginning today, Atlantans are invited to join the quest for its “City’s Best” by visiting www.citysbest.com or downloading City’s Best applications for iPhone and Android to vote for their favorite businesses within a variety of food, entertainment and lifestyle categories.  Joining Atlanta, the other metro-markets selected for AOL’s  2010 City’s Best launch include: Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Twin Cities + Washington, DC.  

Voting Period (October 13 – November 30):  City’s Best voting kicks-off today, October 13, and will run through November 30.  Individuals will “vote” for their favorite spots from a list of top 10 businesses in specific categories.  A winner will be determined for each of the categories in Atlanta and announced on December 14.  Categories were selected based on local popularity and general public interest to ensure participation from the greatest number of people.  Categories include:

• Best After Work Bar
• Best BBQ
• Best Beer Selection
• Best Boutique’s/Women’s Clothing
• Best Breakfast/Brunch
• Best Burgers
• Best Cheap Eats
•  Best Children’s Clothing
• Best Chinese Restaurant
• Best Cocktails
• Best Day Drinking
• Best Desserts
• Best Dive Bar
• Best Family Friendly Restaurant
• Best Hook Up Spot
• Best Hotel
• Best Irish Pub
• Best Italian Restaurant
• Best Live Music
• Best Mexican Restaurant
• Best Movie Theater
• Best Night Club
• Best Pet Culture
• Best Pizza
• Best Places to Get Dumped
• Best Romantic Restaurant
•  Best Salon
• Best Seafood
• Best Soul Food
• Best Spa
• Best Sports Bar
• Best Steak House
• Best Tattoos/Piercing
• Best Thrift Shop

Quote from Someone Important:  “City’s Best is a unique opportunity for Atlanta residents to engage in their community and be a part of recognizing outstanding local businesses for the exceptional services they provide,” said Natalie McNeal, AOL Southeast Regional Editor. “City’s Best is where neighbors and experts find and share what is best in their city.  And who else would be better suited to decide Atlanta’s best food, entertainment and lifestyle venues than Atlantans and local experts who experience the quality of these businesses every day.” 

Vote away, readers.  Vote away!

xx, L

1.  I pre-ordered my iPhone 4. It only took about a day of my life, but I am certain it’s going to be worth it. If I’m not mistaken- preorders, which began Tuesday of this week, will extend through the 21st and the magic iPhone fairy will be delivering the phones around 06/24. I just don’t know how I could be any more excited. Witness a video here.

I love you.

2.  Vocab word for today: Vuvuzela.  No, it’s not a South American country and no, it’s not something for which you need a prescription of antibiotics.  It’s that almost constant buzzing noise that has become the 2010 World Cup ambient music. Yep – a Vuvuzela is a South African blowing horn and although I have personally had juuuuust about enough…if you are soothed by this sound you can enjoy it 24x7x365 by visiting Vuvuzela.fm. You’re welcome.
3.  In mere hours, I will be making my way to Birmingham to witness the nuptials of this adorable couple:

precious people

4. ONE WEEK FROM TODAY:

5.  You know what else is awesome?  You. You are awesome. Thanks for reading.

Oh, and have a great weekend!

xx, L

Watch out, World!

It’s totally bittersweet because while I am very excited to take the next step in my career, I’ve truly LOVED where I am now for the better part of four years and I can think about a zillion and one things I will miss. In particular:

• Downtown Atlanta

My current, superamazing firm is located right smack dab in the middle of downtown Atlanta and my new company is up in Sandy Springs, teetering on OTP. (Teetering…but still inside.) I love my proximity to, well, everything downtown. So what if I’ve never been to the (new) World of Coke? If I wanted to go, right this very minute, it would only take me about 5 minutes on foot. And you know what, Giraffe Purse-Toting Women of America’s Mart?

I will miss you, too.

(although, I suspect there will be pleeennnty of Giraffe Purses in Sandy Springs…)

• The Peachtree Center Ecosystem

The other night, Lindsay and I were discussing our intense desire to be “regulars” somewhere…

Norm!

…and lamenting the fact that we aren’t quiiiiiiiite there. Anywhere. (YET.)

But today, as I ordered my skim latte from the Peachtree Center Caribou, I realized…they know my name AND my order. Same goes for the adorable people at My Friends Place (who just yesterday raised an eyebrow when I ordered a turkey sandwich instead of my usual tuna salad plate.) Come to think of it, I’m a regular everywhere around here! The twin girls who run the newsstand know me by name and know what kind of protein drink I like in the morning. Pepper, our janitor, knows my birthday and asks about Olive every once in a while. In fact, just the other day – I bought a cheap pair of sunglasses from a kiosk that I’d never really noticed before, and the guy recognized me and gave me a tenant discount. I am totally a regular!

• Business Formal
  

When I was a kid, I was INSANELY jealous of my neighbor, Cameron, who attended Catholic school and wore a uniform during the week. Not only did she look crisp and polished every day, but she did it WITHOUT the 20 minute daily meltdown I experienced in my closet as I chose my school outfits. PLUS with all the money and creativity she saved during the week, she could really afford to step it up on the weekend attire!

Well, that’s how I feel about my suits. I practically get dressed with my eyes closed (suit + shell + accessories + pumps = Done.) and, in my opinion, I always look neat as a pin and have the added bonus of feeling like Melanie Griffith in Working Girl:

All business, baby. "I am not steak. You cant just order me!"

I mean, in reality, I probably look more like this most of the time:

So sophisticated.

But whatevs. I love love love my suits. I do. I’ll miss them – my new office is bid’ness casual. Truthfully, I’ll bet I don’t give them up completely. I totally sympathized with Barney in the episode of How I Met Your Mother when he meets the superhot girl who wants him to give up his suits. In fact, there is an 87% chance I, too, will break into song today a la Barney in Nothing Suits me Like a Suit

• Working with all women

My firm currently consists of 5 gorgeous women. At one point during my tenure here we were as big as 9 gorgeous women, but we’ve always been small and all female.

It often feels like going to work in a very sophisticated sorority house. The conversation is: work, work, work, fashion, boys, work, work, fashion, work.

The funniest part about it is when there is a “man on the hall.” When the distinct baritone of a male voice carries through the hallway, we are all popping out of our offices like Petticoat Junction to see who it is
I mean, it could be the dude that delivers our water or our FedEx guy, it doesn’t matter. If there is a man in the office, he will be surrounded in roughly 2.5 seconds. Fact. Another fact: I do not know one male who has visited who has not LOVED this, but I do have more than a few clients who have expressed a fear of visitation.

I love working with all women, but I think a lot of it is the particular women with whom I work. I can’t get into it without typing a novel or getting super sappy, so suffice it to say that I am so grateful and that nothing makes me happier than when I see qualities I have admired in each of them show up in myself. I am SO lucky.

Now, onwards and upwards…

xx, L

and THANKS for reminding me that, even though I love love love Atlanta, there’s just no place like home…

xx, L

On Monday evening, I posted the following status on my Facebook wall, “I am so sick – someone please bring me pizza…”  Well, much to my surprise, the incredible Mrs. Amy Wolkove did just that – and all the way from L.A.!  I could not believe my ears when it was delivered and I was told that my delicious surprise Mellow Mushroom pizza was from my bestie in sunny California!! 

Lovely Amy

And guess what – it made me feel better!  Pizza really is the very best medicine.

Yesterday was Slick’s worst day of fighting this virus we’ve picked up.  He was running a high fever and has been overall just completely miserable.  I decided to “pay it forward” and do something nice for him (like Amy did for me) - or that would at least make him smile in his feverish state.  Since he is going to stay home from work today to recover a bit more, I decided that he needed a friend to keep him company.  So, I went to the Pet Supermarket at Toco Hills Shopping Center yesterday and came home with Junior (Slick Jr.)!

Slick Jr. is a gorgeous purple betta fish.  He cost a mere $3.49 – and if Slick Sr. properly takes care of him – he could live for up to four years!  How’s THAT for a return on investment??  Felix is thrilled, too! 

Slick Jr.

Remember to always “pay it forward” – and long live Slick Jr.! 
(Feel better soon, Slick Sr.!)

xx, L

Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers
991 Monroe Drive NE
Atlanta, GA  30308
404.874.2291
http://www.mellowmushroom.com/midtown/#/store/index/midtown

Pet Supermarket
2959 North Druid Hills Road
Atlanta, Georgia  30329
404.321.5436
http://www.petsupermarket.com/

Thanks to everyone for keeping up with the Q+DD!

(Obviously, he meant The Quick + Dirty Dirty)

…but we are sooooooooo glad that you do!

xx, L + L