Olive will be there along with her friends Lola, Cooper, and Sebastian…

Sebastian will be dressed to impress.

…and maybe you, too? Hope to see you there!

xx, L + O

(That's my sister's game-face)

…Sunday morning Greg and I decided to revisit the general scene of the crime for sustenance: back to the Westside for brunch at Urban Pl8.

Well, that and because we had both a Scoutmob AND a Groupon for Urban Pl8. (For the record: we had been dying to go there anyway.  I am seriously TRYING not to let SM and Groupon dictate all my activities but it’s just becoming so darn hard not to!  Especially with the iPhone apps!)

Anyway, after calling to see if Urban Pl8 is dog-friendly…

(they are!)

…we made our way over to the decorator district. Now, you should know that Urban Pl8 is all the way down Huff Road in a bit of a random location.

Luckily, we knew where it was because we had both, on separate occasions, tried (unsuccessfully) to dine at Urban Pl8 during their afternoon siesta (please note somewhat funky hours of operation below.)

Here’s the Q+DD: Urban Pl8 was opened last July by chef and owner Betsy Pitts, former sous chef at Bacchanalia and Floataway Café.  Betsy aimed to create a restaurant that focused on “high quality, affordable food in a casual, cool, friendly atmosphere…an everyday kind of place with exceptional food and service.” She says, “It’s about local, sustainable products, healthier options, and affordability.”

I REALLY enjoyed my brunch.   After we checked in on Four Square,

Greg ordered a bloody mary

I snapped a photo just in case you forgot what a bloody mary looks like. Ta dah!

I opted for a Greyhound.  (I forgot about Greyhounds!   Vodka + grapefruit  = perfect brunch cocktail!)  They also offer “bottomless” mimosas for $10 and “bottomless” bloody marys for $15.  Hello!

Our food was delish. Greg had the grilled chicken pesto omelet:

made with 3 farm eggs, goat cheese, roasted red peppers and pesto

Which was served with a whole wheat English muffin and creamy polenta. Not grits. (in case you thought they were secretly the same thing…a la Superman/Clark Kent…: Polenta = yellow cornmeal.  Grits = hominy. Thanks, TK!)

I had the veggie burger

made with pinto beans, jalapeños, shitake, roasted corn, and cilantro topped with mixed greens, spicy tomato salsa, and spicy sour cream

I don’t know if the consistency would be for everyone – but I liked my v. burg a LOT. It was served with a fresh little green salad with golden raisins and sunflower seeds and I thought it was perfect.

We also split a slice of the peanut butter French toast which was To. Die. For.

I took this pic with my glorious iPhone to send to TK to make him jealous...it worked.

I don’t really have words for this.  I just think you should try it.  And bring me with you. Please.

There were a lot of things on the menu that I’d like to try, plus, the menu changes almost daily – I am excited to go back for any meal!

Also worth mentioning: the crowd was really cool.  Funky little hipsters brooding over coffee, a table full of mimosa-swilling girlfriends, cute couples of all varieties, post-church patrons, solo brunch diners– it was a nice little slice of Atlanta life there at Urban Pl8 that day.

"Europe? I know that place."

Plus, I loved that the patio served as a patch of green among all the surrounding buildings. Sort of a little urban garden.  All-in-all, it was a lovely brunch – a gr8 way to start the day! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

xx, L

Urban PL8
1082 Huff Road, Atlanta, GA 30318
404-367-0312
Hours:
Lunch – Tuesday – Friday 11-2:30
Brunch – Saturday + Sunday 11-3
Dinner – Wednesday – Saturday 6:30 – 9:30

(Thank you.)

So yeah,  we’ve all got very particular ideas about what we’d like to look like at almost any hour of the day. Save the precious sweat pant clad evening on the couch with your DVR or the quick workout in your old sorority t-shirt, I think it’s fair to say that we are disinterested in removing ourselves from the world of fashion for almost any length of time and this definitely applies to the 9 months a woman spends while being pregnant.

Now, I don’t know this from personal experience (I mean, yes, I do have a baby, but she’s furry and instead of giving birth, I simply picked her up from a Yorkshire terrier breeder south of the airport)

However, I do know some pretty fashionable ladies who have totally rocked the “with child” look.  For example:

Jess at her baby shower in NYC...mere weeks before the twins

Yep, it seems that the modern woman is trading in the tent dress for maternity Sevens…and from what I hear, it’s not easy.  Enter Amy Koch, author of BUMP IT UP:  Transform Your Pregnancy into the Ultimate Style Statement. 
Here’s the Q+DD on AK: She’s a NBC Trend Reporter, Vogue Style Expert, Twitter Mom Style Expert, Contributor to The New York Times, Town & Country, Travel + Leisure, INC., New York Observer and the Huffington Post and a mother of two. Her book, Bump it Up, promises to help “turn nine months of potential frump into mega maternity moxie” by offering style tips and tricks through each trimester and beyond.  BONUS: the book includes sketches from today’s most popular fashion designers, including Nicole Miller, Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, and Isaac Mizrahi.

In celebration of her super awesome book, Amy is on tour and will be making her way to the A on March 30th and all you gorgeous pregnantistas (and your friends) are invited!

Here’re the deets:
When: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 from 7pm-10pm
Where: W Perimeter 111 Perimeter Center West ATL, GA 30346 (770) 396-6800
What: Pampering treatments (oxygen blasts, neck massages) by BLISS Spa, faux glow bar by LANCOME, bra fitting and shapewear tutorial by WACOAL, book signing by Amy Tara Koch, fashion demo by Amy Tara Koch with Izzy Maternity, mega gift bag & raffle of Britax car seat, Medela breast pump, Baby Bjorn, Sittercity Membership, Babymoon at W, Pre-natal spa service by Bliss.  Sponsored by PAMPERS, TIDE, BRITAX, BABY BJORN, and WACOAL.

Awesome!

I LOVE that she is pairing up with Izzy Maternity! If you’re not familiar with this store and you are even considering having a child – you just have to go visit our friend Hannah at the Peachtree Battle location of this fabulous Atlanta-only maternity boutique chain that she and her family own and operate.

Hannah!

Hannah is fabulous, and from what I hear, totally the girl you want in your corner as you’re sporting the bump! Click here to view the website.

So, if you’re expecting, I think you can expect to have a great time at the Bump it Up event on March 30th!

Oh, baby!

Hope to see all you haute mamas there!
xx, L

1. PEEPS have appeared in the grocery store.  PEEPS!  Not only do I LOVE Peeps, but my friend Alexis posted all these hilarious dioramas of peeps and tagged me in this one last year: Peeps are a Girl’s Best Friend!

The other reason I know Spring is here is that Olive and I did our first loop around the Chastain walking trail today……and it was l.o.v.e.l.y.

The Chastain eco-system is so rich: walkers, joggers, strollers, dogs, dogs, dogs, ALTA Tennis players, golfers, Little League-ers, Canadian geese… just so much to look at during your 3-mile trek.
Sssssigh.  It’s the little things.

Happy Spring, everyone!

xx, L

You can follow me here and Lindsay here if you haven’t already!

I check in with Twitter as often as I check in with Facebook. Having access to it on my Blackberry is particularly helpful when I am, say, killing time at the hair salon or waiting in lines or while trying to look v. busy and important before meetings.

I also learn a lot of stuff! Some of my favorite “tweeps” include @womensweardaily (fashion + celebrity sightings), @jennfalik (beauty + style expert), @ATLCheap (great deals around town) @FoodieBuddha (only the most awesome food blogger in town), @lululemon (trust me on this one) or @lululemonbhead, and @Oprah (Yes, Oprah.)

Ok, but today? I learned about something so ridiculous its awesome. Mattel is set to release Puppy Tweets, a high-tech toy that will allow dogs to “tweet” via sound and motion sensor.Per the LA Times, “Attached to a dog’s collar, the plastic tag randomly generates one of 500 canned tweets when it detects barking or movement and automatically posts an update to Fido’s own Twitter page.”

As they said, the tweets are pre-written and randomly chosen (Such as, “I finally caught that tail I’ve been chasing, and . . . OOUUUCHH!”) and are triggered by a device attached to your dog’s collar which communicates with your computer.

Imagining Olive’s hypothetical Twitter page REALLY cracks me up.

I think it would read like this:

@OliveSchmolive “Mommy needs a new “get ready to go out” iTunes playlist. There’s only so much “Party in the USA” one dog can take…”

@OliveSchmolive “Who cares about the 64,000 toys I have laying all over the apartment floor? This Prada stiletto is delicious!”

@OliveSchmolive “Don’t mind me, I’ll just be barking at the Pomeranian across the hall. All Day. Long. #getsomeearplugs”

@OliveSchmolive “I’m eating boiled chicken and white rice while Mommy eats a veggie burger over the sink. There is something wrong here and I LIKE it!”

or

@OliveSchmolive “Had a spectacular time at brunch on the Café di Sol patio. Got to debut my new pink collar and met the cutest Jack Russell! Date next week at the dog park!”

Olive and her bestie, @OscarMeyerson!

Maybe Olive will trade a few yaps for tweets?

What would your dog say?

xx. L

When your day starts at 5:00 and ends at midnight or later…the hardest part is not showing it on your face. What’s the use in going anywhere at all if you look like something the cat drug in? (I can’t be the only one who feels that way?)

Plus, there are those mornings when you hit “snooze” a few too many times or you remember your 7:45a breakfast meeting at 7:15a…we’ve all been there.

Here are a few little lifesavers I have picked up over the years:

1. Dry Shampoo

1(a). Unite 7 Seconds Dry Shampoo

Ok, I JUST discovered Unite 7 Seconds Dry Shampoo

It’s an alcohol mist and here are the campaign promises:
“1. Aids in preserving hair color
2. Removes excess oil
3. Increases Volume
4. No visible powder
5. Refreshes hair without the use of water
6. You’ll never be late for Happy Hour again!”

All true. In an effort to keep my superblonde hair from looking like a haystack, I’ve been making an effort NOT to wash my hair daily and this product has really helps. Unlike powder dry shampoos, my hair really does feel cleaner and genuinely refreshed.. Plus, skipping my normal blowdry session has awarded me an extra hour or so every other day….which is HUGE.

Available at Studio Todd G in midtown…which may or may not be my new hair salon. OK, fine. It is. But if all of y’all start going there and I can’t get an appointment, I will be u.p.s.e.t. Nobody wants that. Trust.

1(b). Powder dry shampoo

For YEARS I have used the following:
Burt’s Bee’s Dusting Powder. I know it’s old-school, but when I lived in NYC I could make a good blow out stretch almost a week! I would just dust a little baby powder on my roots and voila! Good as new. Now, this is not a solution for everyone, but if you happen to be nearly platinum, such as myself, I recommend it.

However, Bumble and Bumble makes the gold standard in dry shampoos for all hair hues: Hair Powder
It comes in 4 shades: blondish, brown, black, and red. Available wherever Bumble and Bumble is sold. (Such as Natural Body Spas, Michele Coulter Salon, and James Madison Salon.)

2. Click-Stick.

Yves Saint Laurent had the original, I believe.
YSL’s “Touche Éclat” is a pen that distributes a bright, light concealor. It’s not for blemishes – You want to use a concealor that matched your skin color for those, obvi. This is just for brightening and giving your tired mug a little lift.

You just slick it under your eyes, on top of your cheek bones, and in your t-zone for INSTANT results. It truly is like 8 hours of sleep in a pen.

FYI, YSL’s is available for $40 but almost everyone, Bobbi Brown ($38), Chanel ($38), Trish McEvoy ($38) has a version of their own.

3. Portable perfume.

Listen, I am in no, way, shape, or form condoning the use of perfume in lieu of a good old fashioned shower. However, I have miniature bottles of my 2 signature perfumes in a Ziploc my handbag at all times for when I’m in need of a post-work spritz!

Ralph Lauren BlueJo Malone – (I use Nectarine Blossom and Honey)

OK, once you have these things, all you need to do is master the perfect day-to-evening wardrobe and bada bing-bada boom, you’re fresh (-ish) as a daisy!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go. I have an afternoon meeting, 239481 post-work errands, dinner with the girls, then drinks...

Happy Friday afternoon, everyone!

xx, L

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LAUREN!

Ever since then, our Lauren has brought style, grace, big smiles, excellent hugs, laughter, creative ideas, impeccable taste in restaurants, an amazing sense of humor, loyalty, brunch cocktails, incomparable beauty, selflessness and a pretty impressive shoe collection into our lives - as evidenced below:

Today we celebrate her birthday!

We wish you the most wonderful birthday, Lauren!!  We love you and hope that all your birthday wishes come true! 

xx, The World

As I have mentioned before, I have a thing with stationery. I love love love to send handwritten notes. It’s warm and personal and in this age of digital technology, people LOVE to get snail mail. Fact.

Another fact: the winter holidays are an excellent snail-mail opportunity. BUT, a word to the wise – holiday cards can be stylish, clever and gorgeous or they can be nerdy, cliché and c.h.e.e.s.y. And if you wait too long to get yours, you’ll be stuck with the latter. Trust. Also, it can be especially hard to find cool Hanukkah cards. You have to start early.

The time is NOW, my friends.

Check out these spectacular cards I found:

Available here at Pinecone and Chickadee

Available here on etsy.com.

Available here from Rock Scissor Paper

Available here from fabulous Julia Farill at Red Bird Ink. Please see my previous post about Julia’s stunning work here.

Inside: "Pez on Earth." Brilliant.

Available here at Papercards.com

Available here at Pancake and Franks.

Available here at Vigocard.com

I will tell you, though, that I also considered doing tongue-in-cheek family photo card with Olive…

…but I didn’t think I can get her into a reindeer costume. Ssssigh.

xx, L

So next Wednesday, Olive and I are going to East Andrew’s Yappy Hour, benefiting the Atlanta Humane society!

My superawesome friend Dina, who is the Events Manager for East Andrews and Andrews Upstairs, hosts this event monthly and we are SO excited to finally attend! Here’s the Q+DD:

Yappy Hour at East Andrews with MetroMix
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
6:00pm – 8:30pm
East Andrews Terrace
56 E. Andrews Dr.
Atlanta, GA
$5 suggested donation

Per Dina:
“Bring your puppy pals out to the East Andrews Terrace again for our monthly Yappy Hour, Wednesday the 23rd at 6 pm. We’ll have a full (h2o) bar for the canines and drink specials for the humans. Please come out and donate to Atlanta Humane Society. See you there!”

Bonus: The Atlanta Humane Society will also have their mobile bus for doggie adoptions there this month!  Fact: A rescue pet is a far safer bet in terms of unconditional love from a bar pick-up.

xx, L

wwll (woof woof lick lick), O

East Andrews Cafe & Bar
www.eastandrews.com
56 East Andrews Drive, Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 869-1132

Atlanta Humane Society
www.atlantahumane.org

If I’m not drinking wine, my cocktails fall into 2 distinct categories: 1. Vodka 2. Tequila. Additionally, I’m not a sugary-mixer kind of girl and never, ever order cocktails with clever monikers.

In other words, under normal circumstances, it would not occur to me to drink a Mint Julep. However, a few weekends ago, I served on the host committee for a Kentucky Derby-themed event and had my people over for cocktails beforehand, so I figured I’d better learn how to make one!

Apparently, I drink bourbon now.

Here’s the Q+DD on how to make a Mint Julep:
(special thanks to my darling Jeff for teaching me.)

Ok, so you need either a mortar and pestle or a muddler. I opted for the muddler.

You also need bourbon (I went with Makers Mark), fresh mint leaves and sugar. I also threw some club soda in there so that we didn’t get too toasty before the event.

You also need to make a simple syrup. Just add equal parts sugar + water (so like, 2 cups water 2 cups sugar), bring to a boil, and let cool. Voila.

Then it’s easy-peasy.

You just put some mint leaves and simple syrup in the bottom of your glass. (you’re supposed to use a Julep cup, which is sterling silver, or an old-fashioned glass, but I didn’t have any of those. Whatever.)

“Muddle” leaves and syrup together. As far as I can tell, “Muddle” is synonymous with “Mash.” So, mash it up until you release the scent of the mint. It takes a little elbow-grease, but if I can do it in a party dress, you can do it too. Witness:

Add the bourbon and stir. (I’m not one for measuring. Jeff said something about “parts” or an “8-count pour” but I went with the “dump” method. It worked fine.) Fill the glass with crushed ice and stir until a frost develops on the outside of the glass. (Or until you are extra-thirsty.) I topped it off with a splash of club soda, but this step is optional.

Garnish with a few mint leaves to make it fancy (I used whole sprigs, as I am prone to gross excess.) and serve immediately.

There you have it. Now you can go and have a “spell” out on your “porch.” I also thought it was particularly hilarious to make Olive wear pearls and everyone refer to my 644-square-foot condo as “the plantation” for the evening.

Olive + Jamie

Y’all come back now, y’hear?

xx, L