A Change of Scenery

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately! I can't say that anything has been going on too exciting!

Davis and I finally got out of Albany this past weekend. We have not been anywhere alone or non-work related since our anniversary last summer! We took a last minute trip to Atlanta. Davis has been extremely busy at work lately, and we decided we needed a weekend to ourselves to relax and do whatever we wanted! All I wanted to do was eat and shop, and we certainly achieved that!

On Friday, Davis and I left Albany about lunch to head to the big city! I didn't have anything that I was super excited to wear Friday night, so I hit Lenox running! I bought a couple of things (which actually ended up going back), but I wanted to have plenty of options for the night! After a little shopping, we headed to our hotel-the W Hotel Buckhead. Davis and I have stayed at a couple of hotels in the area, and I wanted to stay somewhere we had never stayed before. Our room was so modern and cool!

I settled on a variation of this dress for the evening-mine is just grey, not snake print. It is an Aqua dress available at Bloomingdales.

After we got dressed, we went downstairs to have a drink before dinner at Market in the hotel. The atmosphere at the bar is so different! I loved all of the light fixtures and decor! Here is a picture of the downstairs lobby at the hotel.

Davis and I headed to Aria on East Paces Ferry after drinks. Before eating here, I read some reviews on various websites. There were a lot of good reviews, but there were also a lot of bad reviews. Everyone said the food was wonderful, but they complained that the service was terrible! I warned Davis about all of the bad reviews, and we decided to give it a shot anyways because the menu looked amazing! We got to the restaurant a little early so we could get a drink at the bar. Many of the bad reviews claimed you would sit at your table for 15 minutes before the waiter ever arrived, so we wanted to be armed and ready.

We were surprised at how good our service actually was! If you ever happen to go to Aria, ask to sit in Nathan's section! We had nothing but good service from him! Davis started with the Tempura Crisped Jumbo Prawns, and I tried the Warm Lobster Cocktail! Both were excellent. Aria has the most amazing bread too! As usual, we had already stuffed ourselves on the appetizers before the main dishes ever got there! Since I had never tried it before, I tried the Hazelnut Crusted Blue Ridge Mountain Trout, and Davis ate the Beef Short Rib. Both were amazing! The weather was so great Friday night, so we asked our waiter if we could enjoy dessert outside on the patio. I enjoyed the Chocolate Pot de Creme, and Davis had the Apple Tart. Once again, wonderful!!

 After dinner, Davis and I decided we had to check out Whiskey Blue at the top of our hotel. I was hoping to see someone famous, since Michael Jordan, among many others, has been spotted there. I loved the atmosphere up there, and since the weather was so amazing, we were able to sit outside and look at Buckhead all around us!

Saturday, we hit the mall again, after a failed trip to Luna. Online it looked like they had some great things that were reasonably priced, but the store didn't have a lot of those things! Anyways, we headed back to Lenox, and I found a few things. I was mainly looking for work clothes, but if I got to wear casual clothes to work, I would have had lots of luck! I think I will just continue to shop sales online!

After a day of shopping, Davis and I went back to the hotel to get ready for another wonderful dinner out. We chose Dogwood Restaurant in Midtown. More amazing food! This restaurant has two stories, and we were seated on the top level. These were the best seats in the house because we could look at what everyone was eating! Davis and I started with the grits flight. This was a sampling of all three of their grits bar selections-grits topped with beer battered fish, pimento cheese, and pulled BBQ pork. Davis took over the beer battered fish grits so I didn't get to taste those, but I don't think they could have been better than the other two! For dinner, Davis had the fried chicken, and I had the short rib! We were both stuffed, but we had to try the apple bread pudding with ginger ice cream! I felt like I needed to be rolled out to the car after that much food!

On Sunday, we got up and met The Wages and The Hills for breakfast/brunch at the Flying Biscuit. It was the perfect end to a fun weekend! I was so excited to get to see these couples and spend a little time with them before heading back to the Good Life City! I can't wait to see these girls plus my other besties in two weeks!

It was so great to get out of South Georgia, even if it was just as hot in Atlanta as it is at home! I was so glad to eat lots of good food from a non-chain restaurant (there aren't many non-chains in Albany!).

It is always nice to go on a vacation, but it is also nice to come home to my pups!