weekend update (no seth meyers)

Memphis is a good 8 hours away (9 hours if you drive back during a tornado watch), so we divided up the first stretch of our trip. We stopped in Chattanooga on Friday, and Jonathan’s mom made us a delicious dinner of steak, okra, corn and biscuits. We ate outside under an awning of twinkle lights, and I was overjoyed to be back. (The last time I ate there Jonathan was about to leave for Italy, and I was in a far less happy mood)

On Saturday the 4 of us piled in the Subaru and road tripped across Tennessee. Memphis is an hour earlier, so we had time for a drink on Beale Street before going out to dinner with Bo, Rachel and her parents at Spindini . I ordered a goat cheese, pesto, sundried tomato and chicken pizza that was so good, but I was so stuffed with bread and olive oil that I took most of it home.

The next morning Jonathan, Bob, Lisa and I walked along the Mississippi River bank and met Bo at Bluff City Coffee . Memphis gets a rap for being a bit seedy and rough around the edges, but the new river walk is beautiful and backs up to refurbished lofts that I would definitely live in without fear of being mugged.

We spent the afternoon exploring Memphis (i.e. watching Pirates of the Caribbean at the hotel.... shh don't tell anyone) and snacking at Bo and Rachel's cute little house. Then we went to a speakeasy and blue's bar on Beale Street (by day and night above). The blues bar was really fun, but I loved the speakeasy. I would tell you the name, but it didn't even have a sign, so all I can say is try to know the right people next time you go to Memphis ;)

Jonathan and I ended our night with gin and tonics and a bowl full of fortune cookies in the company of a nice chinese family who were closing up their restaurant - we know how to do romantic outings.

On Sunday we ate breakfast with everyone at Cockadoo's . It's no Mama's Boy, but I did love their mugs and mason jars.

Our trip was short and sweet, but completely worth the long drive. It was great to see Bo and Rachel even briefly, and I LOVED road tripping Bob and Lisa.

Jonathan and I ate a late dinner with my family (who I miss and want to go home and see for more than an hour soon!) and made our way back to Athens with chocolate cake and left-overs in hand.

can we take a breather?

This was the lazy Athens weekend I've been longing for. Homecomings, first days of school and birthday celebrations are wonderful, but I was ready for a slow, sunny Saturday and no obligations.

On Friday evening Brit and I went to Terrapin with a bunch of friends, and I got in free! for having a birthday this week. I know, I said the birthday celebrations were over, but this was the final little perk.

Then we ate dinner with Sadie, Zelda and Magali at White Tiger and sat and talked for hours. I had a seared tofu salad (above). At the wee hour of 9 p.m. Brit and I drove home, exhausted, and fell asleep watching Father of the Bride. (Actually we fell asleep during the opening credits, but would we sound a little cooler if we stayed up for a whole movie?)

I slept past 10 on Saturday (the latest I've slept since May!), ate breakfast with Jonathan at Big City, read, ran, relaxed and had dinner with Brit, Tatum and Anna. We made sangria with the ingredients my mama brought, and it was wonderful! It would have been even better if we'd let it sit over night, but we'll plan better next time... at least it looked pretty ;)

I started my Sunday with church and Five Star Day brunch, squeezed some studying in the middle and finished it off on a nighttime drive with Jonathan. I hope your weekend was relaxing and filled with friends too!

finally twenty one

I woke up Saturday to a mocha chocolate cake on my doorstep. My sweet mom had ordered it from a bakery in Athens.

She showed up a few hours later with a pitcher, a set of 8 beautiful glasses, and ample ingredients to make sangria (including a lemon or orange in every glass). She is the most thoughtful gift-giver ever! I’ve learned never to ask for anything, because her presents are always better than what I come up with.

My roomies and I spent the day baking and getting ready for our party. We ate Earthfare takeout for dinner and made blackberry mint mojitos. The sugary mint mixture wasn’t fun to clean, but the drinks were so pretty that out Mason jar presentation was worth it.

After dinner we threw a birthday/ everybody’s back party, and it was perfect! Really though, it was everything I ever wanted for my 21^st birthday. Everyone I missed this summer was there, and my brother even came from Atlanta.

In true Hampton House fashion, my roommates made me a HUGE sign to wear around my neck with 21 things I had to do by the end of the night. (I did all but 2... and ended up with a few bonuses) At midnight we went downtown, talked on the deck at Bluesky , attempted to steal pool balls from Magnolia's, danced at 9d’s Bar and finished the night at a hot dog stand.

My favorite part of the weekend though was Mama's Boy on Sunday morning. We sat on the back porch and ordered champagne strawberry lemonades. I'm so happy to be back with my roommates and back in the land of cheese grits, butter, biscuits and $4 meals!

They are the best friends ever and did so much to make my birthday special. They even cleaned the whole house afterwards (and accidentally stole a lot of balloons from Kroger).

ready for a long post?

This weekend started out on a slightly sad note, because I had to say goodbye to Kylie. We both came to New York ready to make professional connections and focus on internships, but neither of us expected to find such a close friend. Even though she’s about to move to France for a year (I know, so fun!), I'm sure we’ll keep in touch. And since she goes to Georgetown, I’ll get to see here when I visit Matt.

We had our farewell over a slice of pizza in Columbus Circle. Then we walked to Grom for real Italian gelato – I mean the good stuff, with an Italian menu and employees with accents.

After we said goodbye, Kaiti and SB showed up on my doorstep! Actually they showed up down the street, and we literally ran a block to hug each other – I was barefoot, suitcases were flying, people were staring and I was too giddy to care.

That night we wandered through the West Village and talked non-stop over frozen yogurt and red wine. We got up early the next day to pack in as much as we could – and that’s exactly what we did.

We started our day with brunch at Bubby’s . Then we walked through Soho in search of Bethany Frankel or the Kardashians. No celebrity sightings to report, but we did see lots of expensive price tags so we headed to Brooklyn stores that were more up our alley.

Of course I took them to 10 ft Single , but after this weekend I have a new favorite store - Made . If you sifted through all the other vintage stores, found only the best items and arranged them in a little boutique you would have Made. Reusable canvas shopping bags made it all the more charming.

We were starving after walking and shopping, so we stopped by the Brooklyn Farmer's Market for a snack. I've always gone in the morning, but late afternoon is definitely the way to go. Some booths were closed, but we got free tastings, discounted prices and a spot at a picnic table to eat our hot and spicy Mexican tacos.

(Yep, those are oysters above – this is a farmer’s market like no other – with frozen bananas dipped in chocolate, bloody mary’s with an okra garnish, homemade mustard and so much more)

That night we ate half-off dinner on Bleeker Street , thanks to Kaiti’s i-Phone, stopped by Grom for dessert and went out to The Jane Hotel . We seriously (I mean seriously to the point of lifting the lid off a cookie jar and reaching my hand in) considered Magnolia Bakery post-Grom, but ran out before the cupcakes got us.

On Sunday we had BBC’s with B and J, wandered through Central Park, walked the Highline (below) and squeezed in Magnolia right before Kaiti and SB left for their flight.

I love SB and Kaiti more than I can say, and it made my week to give them tight hugs again and get excited for our senior year. (We already have our whole first week planned.)

All of our friends have been so scattered this summer. We’ve learned a lot from our various countries, jobs and camps, but we all three missed each other more than we ever expected to. We are so blessed to have the most wonderful friends and life in Athens, and I’m excited to get back to it very soon!

the men in my life

Okay, I know I haven't blogged in almost a week, but that's because I've been busy... being an editorial assistant for the day on Friday, eating brunch at Heath Ledger's restaurant , eating more brunch at Cookshop , shopping with my best cousin, sitting near Alec Baldwin in a cafe, going to the Brooklyn farmer's market, seeing Harry Potter, and best of all seeing my brother Matt!

And that's saying a lot, because Harry's tough competition.

I will say that HP made me cry, and Matt didn't have quite the same affect.

I felt like I lost a little bit of my childhood Thursday when I missed the midnight showing so I could wake up for work in the morning. Thankfully though, it was just as good Sunday night - - at least that's what I'm telling myself.

Aside from Matt and Harry, two delicious brunches were right up there with my weekend highs. Breakfast is far and away my favorite meal to eat out. I love the coziness of breakfast restaurants. I love getting up early, and I love meeting people before the day really starts. No brunch can beat Mama's Boy or Big City's, but my smoked salmon omelette on a biscuit at Cookshop was pretty unforgettable.