Gigantic renovation project visit

Today after another bout of home owner penance (yard work, vacuuming, furnace filter changed) we headed out to take a look at a photography exhibit housed in an outlying building related to a gigantic renovation project going on near us.

The project is to convert an old (mid 1920's) brick Sear's warehouse and store into a multiuse property. The building is gigantic and was only 10% occupied when the city of Atlanta finally sold it. The ugly 1970s addition and parking garage is gone. Yeah! Windows are being replaced. I guess it took about a year to empty the building of old office equipment and things like old phone exchange equipment, etc.  The whole area is changing. A wonderful park was built south of this building and that included uncapping a spring that had been sealed and making a storm control area into a beautiful lake and streams.

I love seeing massive undertakings like this!

Dinner and a movie date night

Yesterday afternoon we went to see "42" and enjoyed it although I wouldn't categorize it as a best movie. The acting was very good though. The theatre we went to sells wine and beer so we had a pre-dinner drink as well and then walked next door to a restaurant for dinner. It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon and evening while we enjoyed our decision not to join the thousand who flocked to the nearby Dogwood Festival in Piedmont Park. The streets and sidewalks were packed with festival goers as it was a sunny but cool day which makes for a great combo in Atlanta.

A fun and sunny weekend

Early Spring weather was here in abundance for the weekend and we got out and about to enjoy it. On Saturday we went to a matinee of the long running local play "The Waffle Palace" at our favorite small theatre. The play was inspired by real life goings on at the Waffle House restaurants. I finally got around to buying season tickets to this theatre so we have "The Book Club Play" to look forward to on June 1st.

Sunday was warm and sunny again so we headed to Piedmont Park with the Poodle Princess and gave her a good long walk and exposure to lots of people and other dogs. She was eager and seemed to enjoy it. We ended the weekend with dinner at the counter in front of an open window at a Japanese restaurant nearby.

Had a great time and it makes for good memories now that Monday has arrived cloudy with rain predicted for the afternoon.

Hope you had a good weekend too.

Support your local merchants - pay in cash

I was buying dog food this morning at a locally owned pet store and asked if they had to pay a swipe charge if I used my credit card.  The answer was yes.  We talked further and at least for this merchant he said the cards that cost him the least are ones through credit unions, ones that offer reward points for the use cost him a lot and the highest rate was from AMEX.  In trying to be more conscious about my buying decisions - on many levels - I have decided to add paying cash when buying from local/small businesses to the list of my intentions.  I want to have choices that aren't mega corporations or chains and so I shop at these type of stores when I can.  I certainly can make a point to bring cash and make a small difference that way.

So here is where my recommitment to consciously responsible consumerism has me:
- try to find products made in the USA
- pay cash to small/local merchants
- buy what is NEEDED not on impulse (especially applies to clothing)
- schedule some exploration of local thrift shops to broaden my buying options to used items

Yeah - a big step forward on our yard!

I am thrilled this morning that we finally had a landscaper we have used before come over to give us a bid on three things that are on my 2012 house to do list and more!

We are getting prices for:
- clearing out undergrowth in the wooded area
- removing two overgrown hollies that make pulling out of the driveway a chancy experience for anyone on the sidewalk and planting something in their place that will stay short without much care
- pruning back into shape three other hollies and a hedge
- using our pile of old bricks plus some they have and would like to get rid of to pave a parking strip where only weeds will grow now
- spraying everything appropriate with a once a year insecticide / miticide
- and best of all, a quote on quarterly maintenance to help reduce my workload!!!!!

This would all be money terribly well spent.  I will be much happier about the yard if all of this happens.

Now off to ask my neighbor if he wants his wooded area included in the bid.

Happy Monday thoughts

I was in the kitchen getting my second cup of coffee and looked out the window just in time to see this.  It was a happy surprise that we are going to have a sunny day today and can get outside!

I'm sitting here craving pumpkin pancakes and after looking at recipes am instead going to have a couple of my husband's frozen vegan sweet potato pancakes (the no effort solution).  I have no big plans for the day.  I want to watch the final episode of this season of Downton Abbey on-line, walk the dog, and call some friends and my future daughter-in-law who has just moved for a new job.  I may help my son move cross country when the time comes in a few months - he is staying a few more months at this current job.

I need to decide whether to make reservations for this which is the 90th anniversary celebration dinner at a restaurant near us - looks like fun and a good way to celebrate leap year doesn't it?  I would like to find at least one other couple to go with us.  Want to head on down to Atlanta and go with us?

February 29, 2012
Prohibition Dinner

In Celebration of our 90th year

Making Temperance Temporary Since 1922

 - Prohibition Dinner Menu -

 

Speakeasy Snacks

Devils on Horseback, Welsh Rarebit, Deviled Eggs,

Salt Roasted Nuts

Drink Pairing: Black Velvet

Clams Casino

Bacon, Garlic, Breadcrumbs, Butter

Drink Pairing: Cask Conditioned Rye Pale Ale 

Medallions of Lamb, Chasseur

Asparagus au Gratin

Drink Pairing: The Old-Fashioned

 

Chocolate Charlotte

Burnt Almond Caramel

Drink Pairing: Mint Julep

Going someplace new in my town

We just got back from a fascinating (yet cold - we have our first wintery day today) artist studio walk in a nearby area of town that we have never explored.  They call it Rail Arts District studio walk because it is an old light industrial area of a town next to the tracks in a small town (suburb of Atlanta) called Avondale Estates.

I had lovely conversations with several female artists - one, Su Abbott, a self taught painter of abstract art who is surprised to have become an artist at all; the link takes you to one of my favorite of her works on display today.  Another just back from a very successful gallery show in New York with one coming up in Key West and then Switzerland and a partially finished commissioned piece on her work table; no more art festivals for her.

We also so lots of unexpected little surprises.  A frame shop where they are building a wooden hulled boat in the lobby; show up any Wednesday at 7:30 and you can work on it too.  A meat shop where they make their own sausage on site.  A drumming circle - just sit down and join in.  A food truck selling great tamales.  A small bakery with an artist showing intricately painted rolling pins and bowls.  Did you know the rolling pin with moving handles was invented in 1884 by John W. Reed, an African-American?  We also stopped by The Beer Growler where you buy a refillable bottle (2 sizes to pick from) and then bring it in to purchase your selection from an unusual list of beers.

I wouldn't know about any of this if I hadn't headed out to someplace I had never been! And I made progress on one of my 12 in 2012 goals - 4) Go 4 new places in my city - only 3 to go.

Try something new - Malaysian food

One of my 2012 goals is to try 4 new restaurants.  Friday evening we went to the first - a close by locally owned restaurant that serves Malaysian and Thai food.  My hubby had eaten lunch there once and liked it although he had Thai food that time. 

We had potato samosas as an appetizer and they were very good as was the sauce.  We both ordered Malaysian entrees.  Mine was called Salmon Lava - don't you love the name?  It had lots of veggies in it as well as a large piece of salmon.  I enjoyed the fish and veggies - even the okra which is not usually a veggie of choice.  However, we both found the sauces on our dishes too heavy and oily.  No return visit is planned but it was great to try something new.

What new thing have you tried recently?

One in - three out

New walking shoes have been on my clothes shopping list for some time and I finally took action.  Based on the recommendation of a friend I went to a locally owned running shoe store where they actually do some specific evaluation of your feet and gait before recommending the right potential shoes.  I tried on 3 pairs and ended up with these.

Ironically, they are the same brand as I have bought for years.  I read the tag and was happily surprised to learn that they were manufactured in the US.  They have a lot more cushioning than the model I had before and since I walk on pavement my hips and one knee have been complaining about the old shoes.

The best thing that happened though from my perspective is I came home and threw out three pairs of shoes that had very worn soles.  Why was I holding on to and wearing these shoes that had lost their cushioning?  I guess I wanted to make sure they were really worn out LOL.  Now I have fewer pairs but they are all in good shape!  My body will thank me.

What do you buy on-line to save money or aggravation?

I just placed an on-line order for 6 months of "Teenie Greenies" treats for our dog for a price I could never get at a pet store.  I even found a discount code for an additional $5 off and there was free shipping.  On the other hand when we needed to get more of her special shampoo I found it was the same price or a little less to buy it from a locally owned shop.  This got me thinking about what I already buy via the internet vs. shopping at local businesses or chain stores.

The items purchased on-line at a savings recently were a supply of specialty furnace filters, books, and printer ink.  I also ordered Christmas and birthday gifts that were on wish lists that came complete with links listed.  I didn't save any money on those but I didn't have to drive around to get them either and I was able to send them home wrapped with the recipients after Thanksgiving so there was a saving on postage.  Most of our shopping is for consumable items for ourselves, the dog, or our home so we go to the store for those.

I have started considering though what else we could buy on-line less expensively and really would like to hear what others are doing.

7 stores later ...

I did all of my Thanksgiving food shopping plus all of my weekly shopping yesterday and am happily not driving anywhere today!  It took 3 grocery stores and a bakery to get all of the food and drinks, two pet stores for routine food and to get the great smelling shampoo every poodle girl needs (Harry Barker Prickly Pear Shampoo & Conditioner to be exact), and a return to a home goods store of something hubby picked up that doesn't work color wise.  Oh and I forgot the 8th and most important store - my favorite coffee shop for a strong latte.  At least four of the stores were locally owned businesses.  And then there was book returns to the library.  Hopefully next week will be back to routine grocery shopping and the library only!

We are well stocked for days of yummy food with our family and looking forward to Thanksgiving.  Hope yours is great!

Saturday Pictures - Callanwolde Arts Center

Just 3/4 mile from my house is the county's Callanwolde Arts Center.  Built by one of the Coca-Cola heirs who thought what Atlanta needed most was a Tudor mansion, the house and outbuildings and a small portion of the original grounds now serve as a visual and performing arts center with exercise classes thrown in for good measure.

I've taken drawing, painting and exercise classes in the house and carriage house while my husband took pottery classes in the basement of the house.  We've been to concerts in the house and pool house (jazz on the harpsichord!) and I went to a poetry reading in the greenhouse.  It's also lovely to just walk around the grounds on a nice day.  On Monday I went over to see the current exhibit in the art gallery and enjoy another beautiful fall day in Atlanta.

 The front of Callanwolde

 The ceiling above the staircase in the house.

 The back of the carriage house.

 The greenhouse that didn't survive

 and the one that did.

The pool house complete with balconies!

 Formal gardens near the house.

An invitation to the gardens and amphitheater.

Healthy Wednesdays - A headline I can love

  Coffee Drinking Linked to Less Depression in Women

 

I feed my coffee addiction and my sweet tooth at a local coffee house that roasts their own coffee.  One of their three locations is 3/4 of a mile up (and I mean really up hill) my street.  San Fransisco Coffee Roasting Company - the outdoor patio even has a wrap around mural on the walls that includes the Golden Gate Bridge and streetcars.  This transplanted Californian loves that as well as their Organic Peru coffee beans or San Fransico blend coffee beans - grind those for a french press please.  

 Oh and make me a double, skinny latte and through in a piece of pumpkin chocolate chip bread - I'll just sit over here and read my book and enjoy the surroundings.  See why it will be hard to cut back on going out for coffee!

 

Saturday Pictures - Sculpture at the botanical garden

Pilates is wonderful

I started Pilates sessions June 30, 2010 and have typically had one session a week since with a hiatus this summer when I thought I would swim instead.  That didn't happen and I returned to Pilates and I'm glad I did.  I choose the studio, Studio Lotus, and my trainer carefully as I needed to safely return to exercising after several surgeries.  It has worked out wonderfully and I have stayed with the same trainer and individual sessions because I see progress.  My posture is better, my abdominal, leg and arm muscles toned and generally I feel better.

Do you have a favorite way of exercising that has paid off in many ways?