Tag: fun

Logical/#SoCS and the #Free48

#Free48, #SoCS, Atlanta, flowers, food, Georgia, humor, music, nature, photography, Three Little Birds, Uncategorized

You know, when your entire week has seemed liked this….

 

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it is only logical to long for the #Free48, that mystical place where you get to do all you dream of doing during the 5 days that seemed more like the 7,200 minutes that they were. Yes, I am being practical and counting non working hours because we all know our minds remain connected to the job until that glorious moment when we, like children waiting for the bell that heralds recess, punch our tickets and fling our critical thinking to the four winds.

My usual tactic for Friday is to find the nearest good food watering hole and begin the process of necessary amnesia. C’mon, you have to know we tried a new place. It was only logical to check out a venue near my favorite Friday hangout in The Battery, (aka Wahlburgers) just in case our choice proved to be a disappointment. We were not disappointed. Spending the evening sipping some really unique cocktails made with great skill by our bartender, Alex, ended up a great way to end the day. We will defintiely add El Super Pan to our list of favorite places to unwind. We almost felt like we were back in Costa Rica, although it is a Cuban venue. The Cuban sandwich was so good, the bread perfect and my Tostones with a cilantro oil sauce were also great.

 

Truly the best Cua Libre I’ve had. Not too much cola.
The bar was great. There was filming going on so we had to shhhhh…🙄
A very special drink
Alcohol offerings on the flip side. My drink was a Latin version Old Fashioned made with vermouth and bitters, camapari. Not too sweet!
Up close and personal
There is a nice patio too
The Cuban sandwich and Tostones

As to the #Free48, there are no plans as of yet. I need to do some serious writing and there are a few practical things to consider, like whether we keep watching our resident chipmunk continue his methodical melee’ on our tomatoes or take action. 😕

 

Well, at least the butterflies enjoy the spoils….

So, whether you prefer mystical, whimsical, magical posts or lean more to logic, do check out our host’s page. Linda Hill serves up some challenging and fun prompts each week for us.  For comic relief and logical info, check out Dan’s place. He is the IT and history guru.

And now…..drumroll please……..for my Victory moment this week!

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I did NOT eat one of these…..

(although I did look at them at least three times) 

Ahhhh….progess, and an awesome end to a somewhat chaotic week. Thank you, Linda!

This prompt reminds me of one of my favorite songs by one of our favorite bands.

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Tears and Beers/#SoCS

#Free48, #SoCS, Atlanta, Bars, burgers, Dreaming Reality, food, Georgia, tao of pooh, Uncategorized

When I saw the prompt for Linda Hill’s #SoCS it gave me a chuckle. I mean, who doesn’t love bodily functions? After I considered the amusing possibilities I decided to wait until the day unfolded. I knew we would have an adventure of some kind; and well, my body would be functioning for most of it, right?

My heart has been longing to see this new film and it did not disappoint. Can you guess which bodily functions were working during the movie? No, you scoundrels, not those. 🙄

 

 

Laughter and tears, that’s what. And so many moments nudged them out. This is a great feel good film. Disney does it every time. We can all benefit from Pooh’s wisdom. Especially a Piglet like me. 😊 See the movie and be rejuvenated. If you haven’t read A. A. Milne’s classic book you should.

Now, I know the title of this post wasn’t tears and laughter, so…..

After the movie we were hungry so we headed to mid-town for  a Burger Quest. I called our son for a recommendation and he suggested Grindhouse Killer Burgers and even met us there to spend time with the ‘old folks’!

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The restaurant is themed for B Horror Sci-Fi genre and pop culture icons. We sat at the bar.
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This menu was not difficult to navigate. I love a good old American style option.  Double Decker of course. The other half of the menu shows the vegan and GF options.  The beer? Eventide Blueberrry Grolsch
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Kettle cooked sweet potato chips with Bleu cheese dip
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Yeah….I added the bacon.
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We shared an order of rings and things. 😉
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My treat! A boozy shake. I chose the El Duderino
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It was SOOOyummy…

 

On my new scale for measuring a burger’s worth-The Wahl-O-Meter (named for my favorite Wahlburger), this one gets a strong 9.5! Pure yumminess and terrific service.

We try to plan ahead so we popped over to the local bakery to pick up breakfast goodies. Of course, one might choose to have something for dessert…later on…maybe.

 

 

And you can’t see what’s underneath those pies. 🙈
This was over the top. Like a whoopie pie on steroids.

I hope your day has included some fun quests! Seize the #Free48!

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Here We Go/#SoCS/#Free48

#Free48, #SoCS, Uncategorized

And it started with a crack, not a gunshot. What, you may ask? Well, the race to have a relaxing, productive, fun, peaceful, exciting, safe, drama-free yet noteworthy mini vacation. Easy peasy, right? 😳 And we were off to a great start until Alabama decided to step up and say, “Hey, you know what day it is?”

 

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3 great years and whack! Of course it must be filled soon or it will spread like a taunting grin and shouting, “Friday the 13th is reeeal” If I didn’t know better I’d think Nick Satan (I mean Saban) threw it himself. 🙊

But, we had a great trip otherwise and saw a cool new set of bridges, some great cloud antics, a nice sunset and sunrise. More on our food adventures later but mine was good last night, once we found the right restaurant.

We are excited about visiting with family and friends. Hope your #Free48 has no cracks, holes, breaks, tears or rot.

 

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Cool twin bridges
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I loved the lines and squares in it

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This is a saki margarita. Oh yeah, it was..

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Ummm those are tuna tatake sliders. Yum!

*Okay Linda did I make the extra points? Do visit Linda’s blog for more great #SoCS posts and to join the fun. Today’s prompt was to use a three letter word. I had a few four letters in mind but tried to be good. 😂

Moments/#SoCS

#SoCS, Costa Rica, flowers, life, moments, photography, Uncategorized

Life is merely a string of now moments, some larger than life….

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Like me, living in Costa Rica…ever!
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Having a Real live toucan sitting on my shoulder
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Being able to enjoy this ridiculously decadent burger at a new venue
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A refreshing drink after a long week

 

While others are magnificently subtle, creeping over you like the brilliance of a sunset and pulling you into their perfection…

 

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Watching the busy-ness of Nature like a voyeur
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Scratching an itch…we all have needs
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The fragrance a blossom that only comes once in the dark of night
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Baking birthday cakes for friends..and having a piece!
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Making a simple meal of plantains
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My feet in the cool waters of a river
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Freezing a mood for all of posterity.

 

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One of my all time favorite moments-the completely unexpected! 🙊😂

Moments make a life. We need to remember that all moments which are savored are holy moments and try to savor every one for whatever it is bringing into our consciousness at the time.

Happy #Free48. That’s 2,880 moments…172,800 seconds’ worth of opportunity..waste not, want not.

This post brought to you via Linda Hill and her #SoCS prompt “start your post with a noun. “

 

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I’m Late!

#Free48, Atlanta, food, Garden of Delight, Hush Puppy, Uncategorized

I’m late, I’m late….

 

I promised I would post the result of my hush puppy trial yesterday but never got around to it. I must apologize but it was with good reason. I was having fun!

We were fortunate to be able to get out during a reprieve from our recent rains to make a return trip to the Botanical Garden and found a new spot that we totally missed on our first trip. We found a couple of new friends there!

 

 

More on that later….on to the hush puppies.

I actually like this recipe more than most others I have tried because it gives more of a light, cornbread texture-and they are good cold as well! The inside is light and fluffy while the outside maintains a nice crispy texture.  They were perfect with the breaded shrimp we had alongside.  Time was short so we opted for a prepared shrimp that only needed cooking.  Next time, the real deal.  Honestly, I avoid frying anything very often so this was a special occasion.  When I do fry it is normally only pan frying in a small amount of oil.  This requires the full monty, however, and so we did.

 

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Hush puppies cooling their jets..
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These breaded shrimp came from the grocery freezer..not like homemade but sufficient
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Nice platter yes?
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Crispy outside, light inside. Perfect with butter!

 

We made a significant dent in this platter.  My plate was clean!

 

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Who would think there was room for dessert? Well, how could we resist fresh, juicy mango with whipped cream?

 

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Yeah….we had to wait a few minutes before tackling the mess in the kitchen. 😂

 

Would I change the recipe in any way?  For me, the white cornmeal is a bit too fine so I would try to find a self rising yellow or make my own.  I might even substitute some yellow corn flour in place of the whole purpose flour in the recipe.  I added cayenne or perhaps you might like fresh jalapeño.  The green onions were great and I added some well drained diced red pimiento, or you could use finely chopped fresh sweet pepper.  It’s your cornbread, after all! The buttermilk definitely made the texture perfect for me.  I hope you guys let me know how yours turn out.  In case you missed my last post, with the recipe, you can find it here.

Meanwhile….back in the garden….

 

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Doesn’t he look just tickled? Exactly how I feel when I am there! Sans frogs in hand….

 

Maybe he’s thinking frog legs with hush puppies….🙊

 

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Savoring the moments….

 

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“We have to stop meeting like this,” I whispered.  He said he would be there waiting until next time.

I promise to share more of our #Free48 later on.  I hope yours is unfolding splendidly!

Doors to Imagination

#ThursdayDoors, Atlanta, cat, Memories, Uncategorized

I thoroughly love spending time near the Atlanta BeltLine, so was not disappointed when last week’s work event was held near one of the best areas of it. It was the finale to a vision fundraiser ending with a walk on the BeltLine. I had planned ahead because I had a special little gift for someone who lives there, though we have never met.

Oh! And I did make some new friends! 😀

Real out of townets
Such talent!

 

Oh…what? Yes! My tiny friend and my little gift. I adore the #tinydoors folks and made a special gift to leave for them at my favorite door.

Who lives behind such lovely door?
Who knows? But I left them a gift for the tiny garden!
My very favorite tiny door…so far!

 

And here is one other for you. This one is so unreachable I have no idea how any one but a real faerie could have put it there!

 

 

We had a nice walk down the BeltLine where local artists share a myriad of eclectic designs and grafitti. Hubby spotted this one and we had to get a closer look…

 

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Eeeek!! We need to close that door! Pronto! 😱

What better way to cool off than with a tasty fresh made popsicle from Atlanta’s own #Kingofpops  and if you want an adult version, they make them in their shops. Such imagination and yumminess all in one.  For our event I chose an Orange Cream Pop.

 

 

This is our group photo. It was a gorgeous day.

 

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PS….

This is for a very devoted Doors Poster. Visit Dan’s blog for some amazing doors!

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This post brought to you by our King of Doors Norm Frampton.