Tornado Damage & International Travelers Return Home

We toured the downtown area shortly after the tornado. Some streets were still blocked off due to broken glass hanging from windows far above the street.
























































Spring has also hit Georgia and every day there is something new coming into bloom. Cherry trees, tulips, pansies, and explosions of paper white dogwood flowers.
Sunny skies one day and warm thunderstorms the next. I am loving the weather. On warm weekdays, people fill up the park as if it were a weekend. It doesn't get cold when it gets dark rather the temperature maintains well into the night.

Rob spent the last week in March in Belize visiting his brother Scott who left city life behind in Seattle and broke for tropical paradise for the foreseeable future.
Rob left without confirmation that Scott knew he was coming to see him and through the help of some island locals he was guided to Scott's house after a day full of travel and the two brothers enjoyed a week together.
Rob sent home regular photo updates of things like trained baby raccoons, drunk Brits and typical island life. Click here to view his albums on Picasa.
He did come home with some exotic treats such as beer and a cookbook filled with Belizian recipes (lucky me, I got an authentic dinner).
I missed him very much and started my new job while he was gone.













Adi and Pete were also gone at this time. Their destination was Argentina for 10 days.
Check Adi's blog for that recap - coming soon.

Yep, I was pretty much jealous of all of them as I descended into the subway system to make my commute to Buckhead every day. Never underestimate the power of souvenirs people.

33 and Without a Passport

It is a strange feeling knowing you can't leave the country. Rather, you can't get into anyone else's.
I sent off my passport for renewal about two weeks ago. It expired the day we returned from Cabo last October and I'll need it again to make the trip with Rob to see Scott in Belize.
Scott is updating his journal on an almost daily basis and it is hugely entertaining to follow him.

I turned 33 yesterday. The strangest parts of the day included my family.
My sister jammed a lotion bottle into her eye while showering in the morning and ended up in the emergency room with a cornea scratched in three places. She had to spend the rest of the day in a dim room.
My mother called me from a phone booth on the street in Cancun at 10pm. This is only strange because she lives near Toronto and had no plans to go to Mexico. I didn't get the whole story because her calling card ran out. Will investigate that further.

This year my birthday fell on a Sunday so default birthday rules state that I deserved a whole weekend of fun rather than just one day.

Friday, Peter and Adi cooked up a fantastic dinner of my choosing (pot roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, gravy) at Kim's house. The rest of us lined the island in Kim's kitchen watching these two put together a feast.
After dinner we all piled into Kim's Tahoe (thank you pregnant designated driver) and headed towards The Alamo in downtown Newnan for a few rounds of Silver Strike Bowling in which Adi and Ken dominated.

Saturday
Rob found out that a few pieces by Georgia O'Keefe were going to be on display at the High Museum of Art here in Atlanta. I've always liked her poppies so we found our way to the museum to see The Women of Stieglitz installation. The museum itself is pretty cool with multiple buildings forming something like a courtyard. A few uber-artsy restaurants, gift shops and this particular day tons of kids running around with their faces painted like tigers and other animals. Lack of sleep, slightly hungover, it was surreal.













Saturday also happened to be Kelly's birthday. I knew I liked her - my fellow Aquarian. She invited us to her birthday soiree at a place called Posh. Posh looks like a little French country house from the outside but a swank little lounge/restaurant when you step inside.
Here in Atlanta restaurants are rarely stand alone businesses. They are more likely part of a restaurant group. I haven't found this to hinder any aspect of the establishments but there is something about it that makes me feel like I'm going to a chain restaurant.
Enter Ragan, our amazing bartender at Posh. She is actually leaving Posh to be a part of her own privately owned venture that will be known as Holeman Finch Public House, named for the co-owner's mother's maiden names. Very cute. We will definitely check it out when it opens this winter.
And here are Kelly's fabulous birthday boots (Ginger, I knew you would appreciate this nod to fantastic footwear)...

























Kelly and Keith (aka Poodle). She knows some pretty cool people and we've enjoyed meeting them.

Sunday
Kim's punctured cornea kept her at home but Pete and Adi came up to celebrate with me. Sunny, warm weather - Midtown was packed with dog walkers, full patios and plenty of street traffic to watch from our front balcony.
Pete deals in art as his livelihood and is getting to know this new area. I thought it would be fun to check out Paris on Ponce, a bohemian antique mall. The place is great, with furniture in excellent condition, interesting nik naks, artwork and a ballroom full of couples doing the tango. What?
Adi found the secret room at the back of the building known as Le Moulin Rouge. We poked our heads in and under dim red light at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, to the sound of tango music were at least 30 couples gliding across a dance floor. We found out from one of the attendees (who invited Adi and I to tango) that George and Judy the owners of the antique mall rent out the hidden back room for weddings, parties etc. On this particular afternoon they had donated the space to the tango community. I'm intrigued and intend to investigate this more.

Oh and this chess set is the cutest and tackiest thing ever. I want it. A bargain at $950.










On to brunch at Murphy's then to The Highlander for some pinball and Silver Strike (addicted? No - I'm consistent) then to a cafe called Octane just outside the city.
One of my professional mentors Rebecca knows of my love of displaying information in a visual way rather than committing PowerPoint suicide. Public speaking is my weakest skill. I stop breathing and I'm sure it is really stressful for my audience to watch. When I worked with her in Santa Barbara she sent the whole team to learn from Edward Tufte in San Francisco. I loved it and learned a lot about sharing information in a visual way.

A couple weeks ago Rebecca introduced me to the Atlanta chapter of Pecha Kucha.
Pecha Kucha is the Japanese word for chatter. Developed by a couple of architects to convey information in a more visual and engaging way it is turning into an art form. Wired Magazine recently did an article on the founders of Pecha Kucha, check it out.
A rare display of information not to exceed 6 minutes 40 seconds, 20 seconds per visual slide. Sounds interesting right? It was. I was hooked after the first few presentations at Octane.































Funny, I didn't notice the girl in the white shirt when this picture was taken.
A special thanks to Pete, Adi and Rob for going to this with me. I know it wasn't a normal birthday thing to do but Atlanta hasn't had one of these meetings in years and it was a one night only thing.













As birthday presents Rob gave me my first pair of golf shoes, a glove and a lesson with one of Canongate Golf Club's pros. I'm on my way to my first Condor and now officially a Canongate Golf Club member. Thanks Ken!