'Brides About Town' Trunk Show

::[Dress] Gap [Tights] Target [Shoes] Nine West "Gordon"::

So I just got back from the 'Brides About Town' Trunk hosted by Brides magazine. It was at the chic Aiko Restaurant and Lounge here in Atlanta (Buckhead). As I said earlier, I wasn't quite in the full bride mode yet but tonight help me get there.

First of all, what I love about events like this is that everything is FREE. (That doesn't make me cheap, just human.) Anyways, the event was also sponsored by Waterford Crystal and Anne Barge Atelier.

::My second favorite dress of the evening. Isn't it gorgeous?::

::Gown from the Anne Barge collection::

::Anne Barge and Mischka Badgley collaboration for Anne Barge Atelier::

Let me just say that the Anne Barge collection is absolutely beautiful. I may be over exaggerating but I think I may have found my hero dress. It was, white, sparkly, A line silhouette (not poofy) and AWESOME. The designer herself was there showing pieces from her line. She's seriously the cutest little thing.

I don't have a house yet, but Waterford Crystal (and the fine china) is remarkable. I'll have to remember that once I'm Susie Homemaker.

My Weekend

I apologize people for the lack of the blogging Friday thru Monday. I sorta had a hectic weekend. Between work and writing I couldn't bring myself to blog.

As a random tidbit because I had it on Friday morning...nothing starts your day off like a chicken biscuit from Chik-Fil-A and some good ole OJ.


After working all day Friday, I had an interview with Kameron Corvet, an Atlanta based artist who was playing at Grape in Atlantic Station. He was great and mean on the guitar. My favorite songs are "Spelman Girl" and "Kiss and Make Up" (from his upcoming album Korporate Rockstar.) For more on Kameron check out his myspace...


It was pretty funny while I was interviewing Kameron because we got interrupted like 3 times. Apparently, I don't look important enough to interview someone. Because this picture was definitely during my interview. But I get it. They really wanted their autograph...

Then I worked Saturday...and apparently wasted the rest of the day now that I think about it.
(UPDATE: As it turns out, I did blog this weekend. Oops...I completely lost track.)

Sunday I had the day off and went to the boyfriend's parents' house. Next up, I saw the play 'For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf' at the 14th Street Playhouse. It was PHENOMENAL! Jasmine Guy directed it and it was truly an inspirational piece that revealed the untold story of women of color. I wrote an article on the play being the directorial debut of Ms. Guy for Savoy Professional magazine which will officially make that my first published article.


Tired? Yes, but it was all worth it and this is the face I ended the weekend with.

The Weekend

This weekend was kind of full. I worked Friday thru Sunday and had a full agenda on my plate.

First, Friday was my cousin Jennifer’s birthday so we headed to Copeland’s Cheesecake Bistro with some friends and family. I usually get the big plate of fried shrimp but I switched it up and got the salmon instead.


Absolutely delish! It was good times…aside from Jennifer being my cousin she’s one of my closest friends and I had a ball laughing and reminiscing with her.


On Saturday, I worked all day and then had to go grocery shopping. I was also supposed to clean but I failed miserably at that once I fell asleep on the couch. At work though, a lady by the name of Ms. Turner came in looking for a pair shoes. She had just found out earlier that day that she would be speaking at her church for women’s day and needed some shoes to match her hat. Seriously, this hat turned my life upside down! It was fabulous and made Ms. Turner one of my favorite people ever! Black people…I love us!


Next, I was on my way to the good ole job again on Sunday. Afterwards, I met some friends and co workers at Geisha House in Atlantic Station – where apparently I spent my entire weekend. Unfortunately, our server sucked and after an hour and a half I still hadn’t been served my food.

Dah, well. I still had a good time with the gals and headed home for some spaghetti. Yum!

Fun with ME...

Me at the carnival...

Toys R Us!

So I went to Toy R Us because after having a thorough conversation about it earlier this week, I've realized it's one of the funnest places ever. It's seriously one of those places where you go and instantly feel good about EVERYTHING. However, as I walked through the aisles of board games, I noticed how things have really changed. I noticed a game called "Cootie" and I'm not too excited about that. Is that something I really want my child to be playing? I mean I'm not a parent but really though when do you we draw the line? When children start playing the completely harmless game called "Dildo"? Sure, you laugh but it's all fun and games until some kid tries to stick his finger in some other kid's "cootie"...you see, not so cute anymore is it?

Anyways, I loads of fun discovering how much I miss Play Doh and how interesting oversized crayons can be. Okay so not really interesting but they're great props to take pictures with.

I did good. I didn't buy anything...I brought myself to a point of complete and utter self control...

...but I can't promise that next time :)

Can You Help Me?

So after coming back from NYC where you can eat every kind of food POSSIBLE, a friend had an issue with picking a meal at a Thai restaurant. She confessed that she didn’t really enjoy her meal and that she really isn’t good at picking her meals whenever she goes to new restaurants. I decided to write about it…

And share my tips with the world.

Look for what you like. First and foremost, read the menu. Give yourself and the restaurant a chance. At the Thai restaurant last week, they didn’t really have what I wanted so I looked for food I was familiar with. If you’re not familiar with the fried peanut sauce and you don’t even favor peanuts like that anyway: stay away. I’m all about trying new things but base it off of what you like. Completely foreign foods are like playing the lottery…hitting the jackpot is seldom. I ended up ordering the Chinese broccoli with chicken. I’ve had Chinese food before and I like chicken. Go figure. Granted the dish had a little more greens (aside from broccoli) than I anticipated but it was delish!

Ask what’s good. After reading the menu thoroughly you realize that they you don’t see anything you are familiar with or would order. That’s when you starting asking questions. Ask the date you’re with, the friends you came with or your waiter what the popular dish of the day is or what the restaurant is known for. The first night I was in the city, I went to this chic Spanish restaurant and asked what good appetizers they had. Turned out they were known for their grilled corn with chili powder. I was a little apprehensive about it (especially the chili powder) but it turned out to be the most delicious corn I’ve ever tasted. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, you might miss out on good corn.

Smell around. Maybe I’m the greediest human being on earth but when I enter a restaurant I use all five of my senses. But I notice that smell usually will dominate all of the senses and conquer me into ordering whatever that sweet aroma maybe. Fresh bread, baked chicken, fried seafood…all of these have a distinctive smell and make my mouth water. Look around and see what’s on people’s plates (especially the folks sitting right next you) and you may find what you’ve been smelling all along.

Meat and potatoes. Rarely does this ever fail. Everyone has had a burger and fries and it’s a combination that usually leaves their customer satisfied. It’s familiar and a lot of restaurants carry it. Believe me I know. I’ve been eating that combo since I was 3 and just step out of its boundaries when I was 21. Hey, they’ve never let me down so why would steer away from that? (To try something new, duh.) If it’s not a burger and fries, most eateries have steak and mashed potatoes or some kind of traditional meat and potato meal that you grew up on.

Copycat it. If don’t see anything you like, you can’t build up the nerve to ask what’s good, nothing smells good to you and they have the audacity to not have the All-American cheeseburger on their menu, find something familiar on anybody’s plate and tell your server, “I’ll have what they’re having.” Sure, not being original is lame but saying it like that makes you sound like you’re talking about something. Hopefully, you’ll end up liking it and coming back to the restaurant because their chicken and broccoli with peanut sauce and jasmine rice is to die for.

Or make the person you copied pay for the crap and use the money you saved to buy a number three at the nearest McDonalds five minutes later.

It’s a win-win situation.

Out and About: Grand China

Grand China Restaurant
2975 Peachtree Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 231-8690

So the Boyfriend and I had a fulfilled Sunday. Started the day off with church (like all of us should have!) and the received the Word for the week. We also went to the movies where we saw Hancock and Wall-E.

Before we hit the movies though, we stopped by one of our favorite eateries, Grand China! We had discovered it a few months one night while cruising in Buckhead and looking for a bite to eat. (That's usually how you find the best things...by accident.)

Not only was the service great but the food was delicious.

I always get the Hunan shrimp which is divine. I had totally forgotten what I usually get the last time I went and actually ordered the Szechuan shrimp. It was tasty but my favorite is still the Hunan shrimp. The Boyfriend has tried the salt and pepper shrimp, the Triple Delight and then most recently the Two Delights of shrimp. (Have you noticed? We like shrimp...)

If you like Asian food (any kind - Thai, Japanese, Chinese, etc.) this is definitely somewhere you need to check out. The owner is the cutest little lady and she is so nice...and funny. She's one of the reasons why Grand China is so awesome. Since we've discovered it, I've been there twice (one of which was my birthday dinner).

I absolutely love it here and I suggest you check it out if you get the chance.