I was off Monday and Tuesday and got to play house(almost)wife, I started a new j-o-b on Wednesday, and on Friday, my 3 best friends from HIGH SCHOOL traveled from near and far to visit the ATL for a little girls’ getaway.  

From left: Mary Bradley, Leslie, Lucy, and me. Baby Frank and Baby Drew are also present in this picture!

It was DIVINE.  We ate our way through the city (Noche – Murphy’s – JCT – Flying Biscuit) pausing only to shop, have our nails done, and laugh uncontrollably.

Things I learned:

1. We canNOT drink the volume of wine we used to… but that’s probably a good thing due to the fact that as our age advanced, so did the caliber and price tag of the wine we prefer.
2. Nobody can call you out on your own BS better than people who saw you through your braces and acne phase.
3. I am the last person in our friend group to be clued in on the easy and delicious dinnertime miracle – Santa Fe Soup.  I made it for Greg this evening and is is DELISH and totally easy and I thought I’d share it with you!

Ok so check it – this is all you need:

1lb ground sirloin
1 can white shoe peg corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 large onion
1 packet Ranch dressing mix
1 packet taco seasoning mix

Then you just:

1. Dice your onion and sauté it while you brown your meat and drain
2. Season the meat and onion with the ranch dressing and taco seasoning packets
3. Dump the rest of the ingredients in and bring to a boil
4. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.

D-O-N-E.  Mary Bradley told me to put a can of water in to stretch out the pot, which I will try next time – but it makes a HUGE pot of delicious and hearty soup as is.  Top it with a little sour cream and cheese and it’s AMAZING.

It’s also pretty healthy – I’d estimate it’s between 7-8 WW points before toppings.

Now back to my emotional hangover…miss you guys already!

Enjoy!

xx, L

Maki Fresh is the newest fast-casual concept from John Cassimus, founder of Zoes Kitchen.  Offering both traditional and innovative Japanese menu items, Maki Fresh serves sushi, sashimi, rice bowls, salads, sliders + more.  Maki Fresh also offers meals-to-go and self-checkout stations within the store.  Catering and delivery are available.

I’ve eaten at Maki Fresh a number of times over the past three weeks, and I’m a huge fan.  It’s super casual – in fact, last night I threw on a bizarre mix of workout clothes and ski gear and met Gorms for dinner.  I did not question my outfit once while we ate. 

Most of all, the food is fast AND really good.  Here are some things I’ve eaten and would recommend…

Kokoyashi Maki Bowl w/ Brown Rice: ahi tuna, coconut, cucumber, scallions + light coconut lime dressing.  It’s my favorite thing on the menu.

Look at all of that food!  And, for only $8.95.  Yeah, you read that right.

Tokyo Maki Bowl w/ Not-So-Fried Brown Rice: chicken, carrots, edamame, yellow pepper, scallions + teriyaki sauce.

Ringo Maki Roll w/ Brown Rice: eel, strawberry, jalapeno + cream cheese.

How creative, right?!  It was gorgeous, too.  And, I love that brown rice is an option!

Their sushi-related offerings are numerous, but Maki Fresh also has beef, chicken salad + salmon sliders for the sushi adverse. 

Y’all need to try this place.  It’s fresh, it’s yummy, it’s fast – AND it has one of the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines!

yeaaaaaaaaaaaa boy!

Love it.  See y’all there! 

xx, L

Maki Fresh
2349 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta, GA  30305
404.869.6600
www.makifresh.com

And I’ll be honest – until a couple of months ago, I thought Zumba was perhaps less appropriate for this blog and better suited for a feature in say… a publication like this: 

I was wrong.  Lucky for me, I had a small herd of girlfriends who persuaded me to attend a class at the brand spankin’ new LA Fitness in Town Brookhaven (which is conveniently located mere feet from my apartment door, so I had no excuse)

You guys.  It is a DANCE PARTY and full of adorable people. It’s less like this:

And more like this:

Here’s the Q+DD on Zumba: It’s a dance workout class that combines Latin-influenced music with pop songs that’s meant for all fitness levels.  You can burn 1000 calories in a single class!   

My 7:00PM Monday class at Town B is definitely more Usher than “Oye Como Va”– and definitely more cheerleader than soccer mom – but I think at least partial credit goes to the instructor, Melissa.  I am pretty much obsessed with her.  I don’t even know where to begin – she’s so cute I want to put her in my pocket.  And she SMILES the whole time.  It’s love.

Last night I took Broadway Meredith with me and pretended we were in our own little show stopping production of a dance musical.   It is the MOST fun.  (Can’t WAIT to bring Linds with me in a few weeks!)

Cabaret, Shmabaret. It's ZUMBA, baby.

BONUS: If you attend Melissa’s class on Monday 10/31 – wear all black and come prepared to do a little THRILLER.  (!!!!!!!!!)

In doing a little Zumba research, I found out that this class has been around since 2001- so I don’t know what took me so long to find it but I hope it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

The bottom line: it’s a super intense cardio workout cleverly disguised as a party and I am ALL about it.  

Obviously, I love the 7:00PM Monday class at LA Fitness Brookhaven, but check out your local LA Fitness, I think they all have a class or two on the schedule. 

You can also find a class nationwide by clicking THIS link.

Or, apparently Zumba from home!  DVDs are available HERE.

I hope you Zumba with reckless abandon. As that old cliché goes, “Dance like no one is watching.”  Seriously.  It’s way more fun that way.  

xx, L

You guys, it was an incredible trip and I have SO MUCH to share with y’all – but alas, I am at the mercy of the people who snapped pictures and I am happy to report that I was too busy taking in the gorgeous scenery, stunning Italian culture and architecture and amazing fashion to be one of them.  

I was also very busy taking in wayyyy too much of this:

And this:

And this:

What I need now is to see a lot of this:

And a gym.  STAT.

Even though all I want to do right now is pour over wedding blogs and obsess over color combinations, I need to find myself at my trainer (I love you, Lloyd!) and definitely at Zumba (which I just discovered and LOVE!  Ridiculous dance party as a workout?  Yes, please.) and hopefully some good old fashioned running now that the weather is a little cooler.  

But to keep my eye on the prize, I found a bunch of motivating images on Pinterest that I thought I’d share with you… in case you needed a little extra kick in the rear this week, too.  

(KIDDING!!!!)

Enjoy!

xx, L

And, guess what, they weren’t half bad. 

Nothing tastes quite as good as real full-fat Pringles, but these seem to me to be a pretty great way to get some of the old Pringles taste but now with multigrain goodness!

Here’s the Q+DD on Multigrain Pringles:
Serving size: 16 crisps
Total fat: 8 g
Calories: 140 g
Carbs: 16 g
Protein: 1 g

So, not terrible.  Just sayin’…they’re definitely worth a try!  (Watch your cart, too, they’re sneaky.)

xx, L

They aren’t quite as “healthy” as 100 calorie packs, but they’re a heck of a lot better than your grandma’s brownies + a tasty way to satisfy your summer sweet tooth!

Here’s the Q+DD on SnackWell’s Rich Vanilla Creme Brownie Bites:
Serving size: 1 package
Calories: 150
Fat: 5g
Carbs: 26g
Protein: 2g

I strongly suggest putting them in the refrigerator.  They are delicious as a cold snack.  One more month of official swimsuit season to go…JUST sayin’.  Pick them up at your nearest grocery.

Happy, happy Friday!

xx, L

I have literally spent the last 4 days with my toes in the white sand, in not one stitch of makeup, with a gin + tonic in one hand and in the other? ...my new NOOK!

I am OBSESSED.

FYI the “Nook” is Barnes and Noble’s e-reader.  My mom has an Amazon Kindle and we spent the whole trip debating the merits of each…  she still loves hers but I’m still pretty happy with my choice for 2 main reasons: #1.  I got the new color version so in addition to books, I can also read my trashy gossip magazines AND #2. I have the CUTEST Jonathan Adler Nook-case EVER.

Witness:

How cute is this!? I mean, please!

The Nook is great.  Greg loaded my iTunes into it and I can also Tweet and check my email!  You can do everything with this thing. I was worried that would be a double edged sword- because I’m often too busy (distracted) to finish a single book, but lo and behold: I have read 4 books on this trip! (a book a day!) Here’s what I read:

1. Bossypants by Tina Fey
You guys…it was GREAT.  Not only was it laugh-out-loud funny (if you’re planning on reading this in public, you’ve officially been warned.) but Tina also shares some pretty interesting insights – I think my favorite was the section entitled “The Rules of Improvisation That Will Change Your Life and Reduce Belly Fat* (*Improv will not reduce belly fat) and I really appreciated her commentary on media influencing politics…and vice versa.  I recommend this book 100% to anyone. The cover alone had me chuckling:

2. Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me
This is a compilation of essays written by her staffers, friends, and family (her dog, Chunk, even has a chapter!) It was really funny and informative and definitely worth the afternoon I spent reading it.  I still prefer Chelsea’s first person books (Are You There, Vodka, Its Me, Chelsea and Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang)

3. My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler
What can I say? Chelsea makes a great beach read.  In case you’re living under a rock  and didn’t know this- MHL is the first book my lady love Chelsea wrote and if I’m not mistaken – written before she had her own talk show (while she was appearing in the hidden-camera show “Girls Behaving Badly”…which I LOVED)  I still prefer Are You There Vodka and Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang…but this was a great beach read and I’m happy to have completed the series in its entirety.  I love you, Chelsea. I’d order room service and watch TBS movie marathons with you anyday.

4. Skinny Bitch by Rory Friedman and Kim Barnouin
I picked this book up on the recommendation of my friend Angel.  Angel told me this book changed her life and her body…and since has a totally smokin’ hot figure I figured I’d better comply.  Witness:

Sandwiched between two of my favorite skinny b--s. Stefani (left) and Angel (right)

Angel wasn’t the only one to recommend this book to me, many of my skinny b— friends have read it and I am here to tell you it TERRIFIED me.   It probably got a LITTLE too conspiracy-theory-y for my taste (pun intended) and it’s pretty extreme, but you know, I think there’s some pretty valuable information regarding our food supply in the US and it gave me a lot of food for thought (pun intended) about my diet.  (I’ll let you know how that goes.) I think it’s a must-read.

And there you have it!  It seems I DID actually accomplish something other than this wicked tan* these last few days!

Catch you when I’m back in the A!

xx, L

(*Deep apologies to my dermatologist and to my airbrush tan artist, Tiffers.)

The 28th Annual Virginia Highland Summerfest is this weekend, folks! 

The Q+DD on VaHi Summerfest:
When: 6/4 10:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. & 6/5 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Where: Summerfest takes place along tree-lined Virginia Avenue, in the heart of the historic + charming Virginia Highland neighborhood.  (Between North Highland Ave. and Park Dr.) 
Tickets: FREE ADMISSION – donations to the VaHi Civic Association are appreciated.
Buzz: Regularly recognized by local media as one of Atlanta’s best neighborhood festivals + consistently revered by art professionals as one of the best artists’ markets in the southeast, Summerfest is a great event for the entire family.
Arts: The juried artists’ market features work + exhibits from more than 220 of the best artists in the southeast and beyond, in a variety of media including painting, clay, glass, jewelry, photography, printmaking, fiber, wood, metal + mixed media.
Music: The 92.9 Dave FM music stage will feature a variety of renowned local musicians, along with nationally acclaimed singer songwriters.

summerfest '10

And, and, and….I will be there!  Hooray!!

Click righttttt HERE for more info about Summerfest.

dave fm stage at summerfest

Summerfest is a seriously solid festival.  I always end up buying something awesome, eating something fried and terribly delicious + having a great time at it.  The only way that Summerfest could get any better is if there are going to be food trucks this year.   For sure King of Pops (love!) will make an appearance, but I’m talking about FOOD TRUCK food trucks.

Which brings me to one of my favorite parts of last weekend when Loren + Seth (congrats on your engagement guys!) and Slick + I chased down (from Little Five Points to Midtown) two of the trucks remaining in the Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race.  We found out that they were filming in and around Atlanta from our friends, Mr. Casey + Foodie Buddha.  Once we did a little research on the contenders, we knew that we were going to set aside time to find them. 

On the show, food trucks travel across the country seeing which can sell the most food.  At the end of each stop, the food truck that made the least money goes home.  Atlanta was the last stop before the finale in Miami.  Hardcore readers may remember that I recently tried the Nom Nom truck in Palm Springs, which was runner up in last year’s The Great Food Truck Race.  I guess that this is sorta becoming my thing…

We only had time to sample two trucks, both of which were fan-freaking-tastic + we plan to root for on the show.  Here’s what we ate:

Truck #1: Roxy’s Gourmet Grilled Cheese (Boston, MA) 

(Slick ordering from Roxy’s.)

Oysters ROXYfeller.  Cute.

Grilled CHZ: Vermont cremont cheese, proscuitto de parma + quince.

Grilled CHZ: Private stock cheddar, foie gras, applewood bacon + peach preserve.

So nice…

…it got photographed twice!

We were in cheesy heaven.  And, I got a Roxy’s t-shirt which I proudly wore to the gym yesterday!  Somehow, we found inner-hunger, strength, whatever you want to call it, to check out The Lime Truck up the street.

Truck #2: The Lime Truck (Irvine, CA) 

Crab + Bay Scallop Ceviche.

Green Curry Tofu Quesadilla.

Ahi Tuna Poke Nachos.

Blistered Shishito Peppers.

And, the coolest part of all is that we got to see them filming!

Even now, I’m still stuffed.  Total.  Both trucks were SO good and for such different reasons.  There is a time and place for a loaded grilled cheese.  Likewise, there is a time and place for creative, fresh fish + tofu.  Last weekend, it was time for both. 

Don’t miss Summerfest this weekend in the Highlands.  And, if they have food trucks – I’m sure I’ll see you there.  Play on, players + good luck to Roxy’s Gourmet Grilled Cheese + The Lime Truck! 

xx, L

What’s Core Fusion?  Allow me to enlighten you…

Core Fusion is a technique which fuses the disciplines of core conditioning, pilates*, the Lotte Berk Method, interval cardio training + yoga to produce long, lean muscles and an athletic body.  The focus, intensity + challenge of Exhale’s one-hour classes allow the participant to work from the inside out, creating a unique, results-oriented experience.

*Personal note: I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the word “pilates,” b/c of how closely it’s spelled to “pirates.”  Just saying…

I am totally sucked in.  And, I am so, so, so FAR from being anywhere near the best in the classes, which has actually been very motivating to me.  (Seriously, I’m the person in the back trying to get through everything w/ wide eyes thinking, “uh, you want me to do what with my leg?” but still doing it.) 

I frequent the Core Cycling, Core Fusion Cardio + Core Fusion Open classes.  (I almost passed out in Core Fusion Sport, but I know people who love that class.)

Read more about Exhale’s variety of Core Fusion classes here: Core Fusion or BUST!

famous chicks who swear by core fusion

This coming Thursday, April 28th, Exhale is rolling out a new class to their growing program: Core Fusion Boot Camp!  It sounds great.  Here’s a little blurb from Fred DeVito, one of the Core Fusion creators…

fred

“[Core Fusion Boot Camp] is a heart-pumping cardio and strength training program that will give you ripped abs, sculpted arms, shapely legs + a firm backside.  The class brings variety galore!  We do athletic Plyometric-type jump-backs with a core ball, planks and push ups on a core ball + then we do yoga flow movements for breath work + elongating of the muscles.  Also the ab work in this class is the toughest that we do…but after all, that’s what Boot Camp is [all about], right?!”

Read more about Core Fusion Boot Camp here: There’s Nothing Else Like Exhale Atlanta!

Interested in trying out a class?  Contact our friend + Exhale’s Manager of Guest Experience, Anne-Marie Berte @ amberte@exhalespa.com.  (Tell her that you read about Core Fusion on the Q+DD!)

Come check out Exhale’s new Boot Camp class with instructor Lis Halpaff at 5:30 p.m. on April 28th followed by a post-class party!  Sign up early as rumor has it that this class is filling up fast… 

xx, L

Exhale Atlanta
Anne-Marie Berte, Manager of Guest Experience: amberte@exhalespa.com
1065 Peachtree Street
Atlanta, GA  30309
404.720.5000
http://www.exhalespa.com/Locations/GAtlanta/Default.aspx

I don’t know about you guys…but I’ve been busier than ever and SO ready to blow off some steam!

Luckily, there are LOTS of fun events coming up!

04/23: 5 lbs. Macho Totcho™ Food Challenge: Watch teeny tiny Grace Lee from Atlanta GSpots challenge GSU’s star football players & brothers, Jake and Louie Muasau to a Totcho™ eat-off tomorrow night from 6-10pm at the Nook. Suggested donations will be collected for non-profit benefactor Corporate Code and the Nook will be having Totcho™ and drink specials for all the fans who come to cheer on their favorite competitor (or accidentally compete at your own table? Totchos are delicious…)

04/29: Rooftop Royal Wedding Reception! Brought to you by our girl Becky over at Chicks in Atlanta/Holy Cow Events the Rooftop Royal Wedding Reception at Fado is the place to be…if you can’t be in Buckingham Palace.  Raise your Pimm’s cup to William and Kate while you watch their pre-recorded wedding from earlier in the day and perhaps have your picture taken with real live knights from Medieval Times!  Tickets are $10 at the door – RSVP here…. It’s the proper thing to do!

04/30: CAMP DANCE at the World of Coke. Camp Dance Camp Dance Camp Dance!  It’s almost here and I’m SO excited.  If you don’t have your tickets yet – get them today and join me at best party of the year on April 30th!  Rock your sundresses and polos while we take a step back in time and enjoy that old summertime favorite… the Camp Dance.  But this time we’ve spiked the bug juice, updated the food, and replaced your counselor’s CD collection with an amazing band! Tickets are $65 at www.campdance.org and $75 at the door.

05/05: Cinco de Spiral at Noche in Brookhaven! Join muchos amigos for an evening filled with margaritas and mariachis. Dust off the sombrero and get some rest-a before this fiesta and use promo code LKFest for a discount! Tickets available at www.spiralentertainment.com

05/14: Atlanta Food Blogger Bake Sale at Phipp’s Plaza: The 2011 ATL Food Blogger Bake Sale will take place on May 14th, 2011 at Phipps Plaza in conjunction with the Luxury Living Show. Come out and visit with your favorite local bloggers, buy tasty homemade treats and support a wonderful cause - Share our Stregnth!

xx, L