Sssssigh.

Without further ado:

1. Van Cleef and Arpels “Sweet” Alhambra clover pendant necklace

Yellow gold. Mother of Pearl clover.

 2. Balenciaga City handbag in Gris Poivre

I love you.

 3. And… as always, a black diamond eternity band.

You will be mine.

Oh, and adding to this dream wish list, Lindsay would also like to put an order in for a Neverfull in the light Damier canvas. 

While you’re at it, send me one too. 

Pleaseandthankyou.

 xx, L

I’m pretty sure if you ask Greg, he’d suggest a lovely Orange Savings Account or a Roth IRA but if I were you, I might opt for the following: 

1. Oribe Royal Blowout

I am pretty much obsessed with Oribe.  It all started with the Anti-Humidity spray (blogged about here) and then the “Beautiful Color” shampoo and conditioner.  But I was recently introduced to Royal Blowout and I’m never turning back.  You just spritz a little of this weightless-greaseless product into damp hair and bampf! – perfectly straight, glossy-yet-somewhat-voluminous hair.  And of course it has the signature Oribe scent which is AMAZING.  I love this stuff.

2. Trish McEvoy Beta Hydroxy Pads  

These are the most amazing exfoliating pads…ever.  I used them forever ago, but I quit because at $65 for 40 pads…they’re pretty pricey.  But I’m back on the bandwagon now.  My skin looks absolutely amazing and I feel like these babies take care of those hard-to-exfoliate places like around your nose and such.  Basically, they dissolve dead skin cells to make your face glowy and help to prevent breakouts.  So worth it.  

3. Hammitt Viper Holiday Clutch  

You guys – I had never even HEARD of Hammitt before I fell in love with this clutch and now I’m planning nights out just so I can carry it.  The leather is DELICIOUS, it’s SO spacious (I love the new “oversized clutch” trend.) and it’s the perfect amount of glam and rock and roll.  The entire line is to die for – but this clutch made me really happy.  (I got mine at Gus Mayer in Birmingham– but you can find them on Facebook or search for them on your Google Machine)

4. Alora Reed Diffuser in Due 

G got me one of these as part of my Hanukkah gift and I LOVE IT.  First of all, it’s gorgeous.  Secondly, it smells absolutely AMAZING – jasmine, cucumber, basil and ylang ylang.  (What is a ylang ylang, you ask?  I have no idea.  But it smells good.)  The best part is how the scent fills my whole room without overpowering it.  I recommend.

So there you have it.  Nothing you need…but all fun stuff.  Happy December 29^th!

xx, L

The holidays are here!  For the entire month of December, you can find the perfect gifts and enjoy all the holiday experiences that Midtown has to offer! 

The kick-off reception was last night (and it looked like fun!), but there’s more! 

12/2 + 12/3: Local Gifts + Treats Pop Up Shop at MidCity Lofts (West Peachtree at 6th St. between Tech Square + Renaissance Hotel).  Vendors include: Olive, Pieces of Me, Lisa Jill Jewelry, Kristi Hyde, and JuneBug.  To compliment your shopping experience, enjoy treats from Sinless Cocktails + Rockin’ Cupcakes!

All Month Long: Midtown’s holiday festivities continue! 
- Ice skate in Piedmont Park at Park Tavern
- Visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s “Garden Lights - Holiday Nights” installation
- Visit the ”Picasso to Warhol” exhibition at the High Museum of Art
- See “A Christmas Carol” at the Alliance Theatre
- Get tickets for “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” at the Fox Theatre
- Revisit the story of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” at the Center for Puppetry Arts
- Hear “Handel’s Messiah” at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

More info below…

December may be 31 days long, but you’ve got A LOT to do.  It’s going to fly by! 

Happy Holidays from the Q+DD!

xx, L

As a recap, the Ritz Lodge is located in Northern Georgia, just 75 miles east of Atlanta on the shores of Lake Oconee – Georgia’s second largest lake.  Luxury merges with quintessential Southern hospitality at the stunning 251-room resort.  Nestled in the woods, the Ritz Lodge is surrounded by water on three sides, offering commanding lake views.  Draped in beds of ivy and edged by towering pines, blooming crepe myrtles and colorful caladiums, the five-story main building fronts the glistening lake, while six separate lakeside cottages and a presidential house with four master suites overlooks the Oconee Golf Course.  Lodge guests have full access to a complete gamut of activities and amenities, including a state-of-the-art Spa, tennis, two swimming pools, two full-service marinas, hiking trails and 99 holes of championship-caliber golf.

model view of the lake oconee area

We arrived late on Friday evening, but just in time to have the most delicious dinner at Linger Longer Steakhouse.  We checked in, grabbed another drink at the Lobby Lounge bar, and then headed upstairs to check out our room. 

When we woke up in the morning, we realized that we were on Club Level (holla!).  And, we had a private terrace with an outstanding lakeside view! 

Check out THIS gorgeousness:

ritz carlton lodge

room w/ a view

We spent a significant amount of the morning sitting on our balcony staring at our breathtaking view of Lake Oconee and the Ritz Lodge grounds.  It was the most relaxed I’ve been in a long time.

When our hunger finally got the better of us, we walked over to Club to get some grub (I totally recommend staying on Club Level*) + then we went out exploring. 

*Club Level: The Ritz Carlton Club Level features both deluxe guest rooms and suites, with a spacious lounge and personal concierge and staff, as well as four complimentary food and beverage offerings daily: continental breakfast, a light snack, hors d’oeuvres, and cocktails + evening cordials.  The Club Level is accessible only with a special key.

Just look at how magnificent the property is:

the set up for chiminea dining

heated infinity pool overlooking lake oconee (my favorite part of the whole property)

hot tub

We were overtaken by our beautiful surroundings + so many amazing amenities.  We walked a bit further, and then Kev dropped me off at the Ritz Lodge Spa for my Long Winter’s Nap treatment. 

The Spa is an adventure in and of itself.  An expansive 26,000 square feet, the Ritz Lodge Spa is adjacent to the hotel and features 19 private treatment rooms, one couples spa suite, four wet treatment rooms – including one hydrotherapy room – male and female relaxation areas with lockers and changing facilities, an indoor lap pool, saunas, steam rooms, whirlpools, a relaxation terrace, a full-service salon + a spa boutique.  Named one of America’s top resort spas by Conde Nast Traveler, this state-of-the-art sanctuary offers more than 90 health and wellness treatments, many of them utilizing ingredients indigenous to the area, such as rosemary, pine, fir and geranium, and extracts gleaned from gemstones such as smithsonite and malachite.

Here’s a peek inside:

spa lobby

spa pool

spa relaxation lounge

It was heavenly, to say the least.

My treatment, the Long Winter’s Nap, was perfect for the chilly October afternoon.  Here’s the description: A blend of essential oils add to this traditional hot stone massage to create a relaxed dream-like state, melting away stress and muscle tension.  Continue the sweet dreams with a nap that enhances the repair process.  Um, yes, I’ll take two!  (Kidding.)  It was SO enjoyable – I definitely recommend.

By the time I left the Spa it was pushing up to the Florida vs. Georgia game, so Kev + I scooted over to Gaby’s by the Lake to stake out seats. 

Gaby’s is a newly-renovated outdoor venue offering sweeping views of Lake Oconee, as well as a full menu of casual favorites and cocktails throughout the day.  Guests are seated at the water’s edge and can catch a spectacular sunset most evenings.  “Come-as-you-are” attire for lunch and dinner.

As soon as we walked in, we fell in love with Gaby’s.  It was so open and casual, and had large TV screens over the bar for us to watch the game.  I’m OBSESSED with Gaby’s chairs - incredibly comfortable and such a cool design!

We ordered beers + the housemade potato chips with bourbon BBQ, blue cheese and Vidalia onion dips.  The bartender also threw in a bowl of boiled peanuts.  We were set.

We met some friendly folks at the bar who were also rooting for the Gators + we became fast friends.  However, Kev couldn’t bear to see his Gators lose, so we eventually closed out our bill and decided to head back to Club to see what was going on in there. 

We stopped to take this picture along the way:

We ate dinner in Club, poured some wine + headed downstairs to the campfire for 8:00 p.m. S’mores!  All the kids staying at the resort (and Kevin and I, naturally) got in line to prepare our special evening snack over the campfire.  We had such a fun time doing this + pretending that we also had a kid around somewhere making s’mores…  Kids at heart?!  Yeaaaaaaa! 

We went back up to Club, poured some more wine (don’t judge), changed into our swimsuits + ran down to the hot tub to spend the next few hours hanging out outside and enjoying our last night on the property.

In the morning, we were both feeling pretty gluttonous.  So, we decided to go for a walk on the Oconee Trail after breakfast in Club. 

Our walk was eventful. 

We got about 5 miles of exercise on the winding trail…

We saw the leaves turning on the towering Georgia pine trees…

Kev whittled a walking stick (that now calls our condo balcony home)…

And, we plotted how we could stay at the Ritz Lodge F.O.R.E.V.E.R.!! 

(We couldn’t come up with a way…  We are already dying to go back.)

It was so hard to leave, but it only took us about an hour and a half to get back to Atlanta + now we have such great memories from our relaxing weekend in the Georgia woods. 

If you haven’t been to the Ritz Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation – you absolutely MUST go!  There is so much to do there; perfect for adults and kids alike.  The Ritz Lodge is a relaxing Southern paradise that makes you feel so far away from your worries and stressors, but it’s merely a 75-mile drive from Atlanta!  Visit soon! 

Oh, also, (as if there isn’t enough to do there already) the Ritz Lodge is building an ice skating rink on property for winter!  More info here: WINTER AT THE RITZ LODGE.

xx, L

Ritz Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation
1 Lake Oconee Trail
Greensboro, Georgia  30642
706.467.7196
http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/ReynoldsPlantation/Default.htm

marisa tomei

thomas everett scott

joe francis

Now this is getting kinda crazy, people!  Celebrities are crawling all over Midtown Atlanta filming this or that + they’ve fully invaded my humble ’hood.  (Rumor has it that the Kardashians are here, too.)  With the tax break allowing folks to film cheaply in our southern city, stars are flocking to the Dirty Dirty in hordes.  Marisa Tomei was incredibly cool to see – she’s gorgeous, Thomas Everett Scott was also impressive but I found it hard not to belt out singing “That Thing You Do!”, and Joe Francis – decidedly not cool.  (Isn’t he supposed to be in jail or something??)  Anyway, I’m getting used to Midtown stargazing + I’m ready for more.

Soooooo, here’s my OFFICIAL celebrities-in-Atlanta wishlist: 

betty white

aziz ansari

the entire cast of the real housewives of new jersey

dave chappelle (where HAS he been?!!)

meatloaf

ke$ha

ron burgundy

jared

That’s all for now.  Welcome to Atlanta, famous people!  I’m on the lookout for you… 

xx, L

Until now!  Scoutmob threw a Revel Party at the CfPA last night, and as soon as I found out about it I snagged two free tickets for Mrs. Casey (this chick is down for it all!) + I to join in on the fun!  Thank you, Scoutmob!

scoutmob revel party at the CfPA

We pre-puppeted at Ecco, and headed over to the CfPA a few minutes before the show to check out the Jim Henson exhibit. 

The only photo I have of the museum area is this one, which I happen to love. (I was scolded by the hipster puppet museum cop when I tried to take an iPhone photo within the exhibit…  She was intense.)  What I CAN tell you is that we saw a number of our favorite Sesame Street characters, we heard Kermit sing “The Rainbow Connection” (Kevin’s fav), and we ogled the Fraggle Rock + Labyrinth portions of the exhibit.  It was very cool.  But, it was also time to get a drink (priorities, people!), so we quickly shuffled downstairs to the bar “The Tavern of Lost Souls,” for some overpriced wine in plastic cups.

CfPA Atlanta

The downstairs area + theatre were all Halloween-ed out.  We loved! 

The stage + a sneak peek at one of the puppets:

SOOOO without further adieu, here’s the Q+DD on The Ghastly Dreadfuls (according to our friends at Creative Loafing):

“The Center for Puppetry Arts has an unflowing crypt’s worth of spooky stories composed for The Ghastly Dreadfuls, its annual anthology of comedic and scarifying short puppet shows.  Co-creators Jon Ludwig and Jason Von Hinezmeyer debuted the show in in 2006 as The Ghastly Dreadfuls: Compendium of Graveyard Tales and Other Curiosities, then revised it in 2008 as The Ghastly Dreadfuls II: Handbook of Practical Hauntings and Other Phantasmagoria.  Currently Ludwig and Von Hinezmeyer can cherry-pick their favorite tales of the lot, such as the witty, grisly “The Girl in the New Dress,” adapted from the story by Larry Letemplier, which unfolds – or maybe “unscrolls” would be a better word — on a single, seemingly endless sheet, in the style of old Coca-Cola advertisements.  You’ll recognize the music of “La Danse Macabre” by Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns, accompanying a skeleton dance worthy of Fantasia.”  Etc, etc, etc…  I don’t want to give away too much!

Y’all it was SO good!  The show was really well done – from the detailed puppets and impressive puppeteering to the creative stories and talented musicians.  It was funny, too!  I very much enjoyed it.  In my opinion, The Ghastly Dreadfuls is probably not for the novice theatre goer, but it IS for someone who is really passionate about theatre, off-beat humor +/or Halloween. 

if this photo looks blurry, you are probably drunk. stop drinking at work, readers... (JUST kidding.)

mrs. casey w/ her scoutmob moustache

I strongly suggest scheduling a date night this month to see The Ghastly Dreadfuls at the CfPA!  But do it soon because they only have performances on Wednesday – Saturday nights through October 29!

serious theatre-goers...

Still need more convincing??  Check out a behind-the-scenes preview HERE: The Ghastly Dreadfuls.

And, Happy (early) Halloween!!

xx, L

Center for Puppetry Arts
1404 Spring Street Northwest
Atlanta, GA 30309
404.873.3391
www.puppet.org

Lauren + Greg got engaged!!  AHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Many, many warm congratulations + mazel tovs to the amazing, gorgeous, incredibly happy couple! 

Check out their special moment below:

Absolute perfection!  Just look at them – they are BEAMING! 

Wishing Lauren and Greg a lifetime of happiness, laughter and celebration together!  Also, happy wedding planning, LK (soon to be LC!!).  Love you guys so much!

xx, L

Slick said that the lawn leading up to the Biltmore House was the “single greatest football-playing yard” he’d ever seen… 

For those unfamiliar with the Biltmore Estate, here’s the Q+DD:

The Biltmore is a Châteauesque-styled mansion in Asheville, North Carolina.  It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States at 135,000 square feet with 250 rooms.  Still owned by one of Vanderbilt’s descendants, it stands today as one of the most prominent remaining examples of the Gilded Age. 

On Christmas Eve 1895, George W. Vanderbilt officially opened the Biltmore House.  Three years later, he brought his bride Edith Stuyvesant Dresser to the Biltmore, and in 1900, their only child Cornelia was born there.  After Vanderbilt’s death is 1914, Edith and Cornelia continued to call the Biltmore their home, with Edith assuming the management of the estate.  In 1942, Cornelia married the Honorable John Francis Amherst Cecil, and they lived and entertained in the Biltmore House.  In response to requests to increase area tourism during the Depression and to bring in money to preserve the estate, the Cecils opened their house to the public in 1930.

The mountain views from the Biltmore House are pretty outstanding, too.

After thoroughly touring the house, Slick + I walked around a few of the Biltmore gardens.  The gorgeous weather didn’t hurt one bit, either…  Below are pictures from our stroll through the Italian garden, the shrub garden, the walled garden + the rose garden. 

To cool off a bit from all of our walking + to cap off our visit, we drove to the award-winning Biltmore Winery to test out a few of their signature wines.  Although we skipped the winery tour, we were happy as clams at the tasting counter – and very pleasantly surprised about how good the wines were! 

Our favorites were: Biltmore Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc de Noir (Lindsay) + Biltmore Limited Release Chenin Blanc (Slick).

I am SO glad that we decided to visit the Biltmore while we were in Asheville!  Although we could have easily spent a full day there, we saw + did quite a bit within the four hours we were on the property. I highly, highly recommend taking a trip to visit the Biltmore.  It’s gorgeous, romantic, incredibly fascinating (historically + architecturally), AND it’s only a short 3.5 hours away from Atlanta! 

Truly amazing.

xx, L

Case in point, after lunch on the Westside yesterday, I mosied into Anthro’s Howell Mill location to kill some time + look around.  (Never a good idea for the wallet…)  Shortly thereafter, I walked out with three adorable vases for my bedroom:

curvy chrysanthemum vase

rose of sharon grand vase

anemone mezzo vase

And a replacement of my favorite candle in my living room:

voluspa japonica candle tin

Here are a few other items I have my eyes on…

austin's flora measuring cups

wise 'ol cookie jar orange

antiqued giraffe taper, bending

gulping guppy ring dish

paper sketch green vases

Have I mentioned that I am allergic to flowers??  I’ll take a decorative vase any day, though.   

Anthropologie’s home section is so fun to casually peruse while on the hunt for a special something for a housewarming party, a birthday (check out their jewelry section, too), or simply a cute any-day-that-ends-in-”Y” gift. 

Check out Anthro’s Westside location or visit their home section online. 

xx, L

Anthropologie (Westside location)
1207 Howell Mill Rd. NW
Atlanta, GA  30318
404.355.4889
http://www.anthropologie.com/

I could go to this wedding a million times over!  Highlights included (but were certainly not limited to): the absolutely perfect weather, the bride’s spectacular dress, the Smile Booth, the bride + groom DJing (see Sam above) + the overall kitschy-ness of the event.  It was all simply amazing.

Sam + Jess’s special day was my first Park Tavern wedding and I have to admit that there’s really nothing else like it.  Such a great space!  Click here for info about planning a wedding at Park Tavern: Tie the Knot on 10th.

Well done, Sam + Jess, and many, many congratulations!  Slick + I loved celebrating with y’all!  Wishing you guys a lifetime of happiness starting with an awesome honeymoon.  Live it UP! 

xx, L