Oy!

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So, as you know, we've been back in Atlanta for a few months now.  During this time, we've been eating and playing our way through the city since we've gotten back.  There are so many new places to eat and new things to do that have popped up while we were away.  So I will make it a thing to chronicle some of our new "discoveries" here on the blog.

One weekend here recently, the little family and I decided to go grab a bite for lunch.  I was craving a burger and nobody seemed to object.  Intent on trying out a new place, I jumped on Yelp and did a quick search.  This place "Oy" popped up.  It was only a few miles away and had great reviews--so we decided to give it a try.  They seem to have a very popular breakfast/brunch--but apparently, their burgers are the biz as well.




To make a long story short, the hubs and I both ordered the "Juicy Lucy" burger and it was fantastic.  Oy makes their burgers out of a mixture of brisket, short rib and certified angus beef.  The burger was seasoned perfectly...but the standout....is that it's stuffed with cheese.  Like, it's inside of the that nice juicy thick patty.  We also ordered what they call a "mountain of fries"--and it is indeed a mountain.

We all were very happy with our lunch that day, and we plan on going back for brunch to try the pancakes they serve that are as big as a medium pizza--seriously.

If you're in the Atlanta area, I'd suggest you give Oy a try...because, why not?


P.S. I thought it was fitting that I publish this post now, because as of January 1st, my hubs and I are on a 30 day vegetarian challenge.  So the next few food posts will NOT be about any juicy burgers, steak, chicken...any of that.  But, hopefully, I will have some nice vegetarian delights to share with you all.  So stay tuned!

Oy
2355 Cumberland Pkwy
Atlanta, GA 30339
oyatlanta.com

Life Lately...

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As usual, I've been slackin' on my blogging.  Fortunately, I'm never slackin' on my picture taking!  If you'd like to keep up with what I'm up to in a more "real time" basis, I suggest you follow my Instagram account!

As for now, I will leave you with some random snaps that I will from-here-on-out, call "Life Lately" posts.


The canal next to The Plaza.




Family dinner at Yard House at The Legends.
Thing 1.
Thing 2.


Beer and windblown hair.






Memorial Day weekend, we took a road trip to my hometown.  These are a couple flowers in my Grammy's garden.  I wish I'd inherited her green thumb, but I've only been able to keep cacti alive. Ah well. 



My little biggest man graduated from Pre-K.  Proud mommy over this way!






Road trippin'

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Hope all of you had a Happy 4th!!  Me and the fam took a road trip up to my hometown, Indianapolis, to spend time with my family.  We don't get up there enough, and my family are always dying to see me the kids.  We've been having a great time!

We decided on a whim to shoot up to Chicago for a few hours, as it's only like 2.5-3 hours from Indy.  Because of the holiday, downtown was jam packed with people enjoying the perfectly-slightly-overcast weather.  Trust me, on a July day while walking around town--you want it to be overcast.  Most people don't know, but Midwestern summers can be brutal.  

We also made our way over to the Navy Pier and spent time just hanging around beautiful Lake Michigan.  I definitely need to make a trip back up to Chi soon, as I wasn't able to see some friends that I have there since I was only there for such a short time.

Of course, we had Chicago's own Giordano's stuffed pizza before we left, as well.

Here are few snaps...










Oh, and how can I forget to mention--one of the birds out on the lake attacked my hair!!!!  Okay, I'm being a bit dramatic, but it did fly through the top of my hair, and hubs said it must have thought it was a bird's nest. Hardy-har-har.  So if you're ever in the Chi and you have a bush like me--watch out!!


Have a great weekend, ya'll!

*NikG*

Happy New Year!

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So it's officially 2013.  It is also officially a really gloomy, rainy day in the A(tl).  I'm assuming most of the east is having fairly crummy weather.  To brighten things up a bit--here are a few pics of me and the boys at the beach over the holiday.  













Now, before you begin to curse the day I was born, I must confess that for me it wasn't really beach weather.  The whole time we were in Nassau, the high temps were in the high 70s and a few times touched 80 degrees.  Not to mention, the water this time of year is cold as heck.  I need it to be a good 85 degrees to make me want to get in water.  Nevertheless, it was perfect to layout in and watch Max play in the ocean as if it was as warm as a bath.  Rock on, little man.

Hope 2013 brings all of you plenty of accomplishments, blessings and fun!




Thankful & Back Home

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Lighting of the "tree". (Downtown Indianapolis)

I'm a little late in wishing all of you a Happy Thanksgiving, I know.  I have an excuse!  Me and the family took a road trip up to Indianapolis (where I'm from) to spend time with my family for the holiday.  Road tripping with two kids for 8 hours each way is no easy feat!  Nevertheless, it was totally worth it.  I miss seeing my family on a regular basis at times, but I don't think I could ever move back to Indiana.  We all pick our battles, I suppose.


Me and my beloved Grammy.  She was in her "cleaning clothes" and was not happy for the photo op!

So, now that I'm back in Atlanta, I'm about to twist up my hair and get back on my workout wagon big-time.  I may even do a cleanse from my favorite local juice spot here called Arden's Garden.  We're heading to The Bahamas for Christmas and I want to be ready!

 Hope you all had a fantastic holiday!


Link Up

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This past Saturday, I got the chance to connect with an old (new) friend.  I say "old (new)" because she is someone I stumbled upon during the Myspace years.  I use to devour pictures of her and her friends' eclectic, earthy and fabulous Brooklyn style.  This was before I transitioned to natural hair, and all of them had natural hair which was additional inspiration for me to take the plunge.  Anyway, over the years, we've been social media friends and finally met up this weekend.  She happened to be here in Atlanta and wanted to film me for a video project she is working on for a website she will be launching soon!  I will be sure to let you guys know when that happens.  It is always great to meet another kindred spirit!

Introducing Michi!  If you want to be inspired by cool fashion and a warm spirit, follow this girl!


We met up at one of my favorite coffee shops that I frequent weekly.  So the night began with coffee and ended with cocktails and laughter.  I took her to one of my favorite rooftop lounges found at the restaurant, Cafe Circa.  


 
Can you believe the picture below of our drinks were actually shots?  Yes, the bartender decided to make us shots the size of real drinks.  We had to call it a night after that. haha


Looking forward to sharing with you all the finished product!

Weekend Mentions

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This past Saturday, me and the fam decided to head out to the Dekalb International Food & Music Festival.  The weather was perfect!  It really was a diverse affair, all types of food from Jamaican to Ethiopian to Puerto Rican to Chinese...and of course, Bahamian.  We got our Bahamian food itch satisfied, and all was well with the world.


So what kind of fun did all of you get into this past weekend?

This post is part of :



Pumpkin Patch 2012

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So this past weekend, we made our yearly jaunt to the pumpkin patch (last years post here).  Max had been begging us for weeks now.  There are several pumpkin patches on the outskirts of Atlanta, but we usually go to Yule Forest.  They offer most of the usuals, i.e. hayride, petting zoo, pumpkins (of course).  They also have bounce houses and things of that nature for the smaller kids.  I can't wait until our boys get a bit bigger so that we can go to another pumpkin patch in the area that has a huge 4 acre corn maze!  In due time...


So what did you guys do over the weekend?




Food porn.

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I'd happened to be looking through the SD card I use in my camera and came across a couple of pictures that I'd taken about a week ago while having lunch with a friend (remember THIS post?).  I couldn't let these go to waste!  They immediately caused me to reminisce on this meal and just how tasty it was.  Pardon me while I wipe the drool.....




Okay, if you can't tell.  This is "fish & chips"--what you see are two pieces of fish on top of potato wedges on top of a sort of green pea "mash".  Delectable (the pea mash, not so much).  I'm not sure if  I mentioned it in that previous post, but I'm telling you now, this yummy meal can be had at P'Cheen, for all you Atlanta folk. Go and get you some!





Biloxi Blues...

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So, this past Friday, me and the family took a quick trip down to the Gulf Coast city of Biloxi, MS.  The hubs had some work to take care of there, and me the kids tagged along to check out the little town of Bilox/Gulfport as I'd never been there.  While he worked, we played.  Max didn't mind the murky water at all and was all in it.  Cruz, on the other hand, didn't want anything to do with it.  Notice he's right on the edge of the water--that's as close as I could coax him to get, and he is a water lover (pool, clear Bahamian waters, etc.)!  So I know it has to be the color. lol  I won't bore you with a lot of talk, but I will say that brown ocean aside--the place is beautiful, and the people are so friendly!












Happy Monday!





This post is part of Mom's Monday Mingle.  Click the button to the right to find out more!




A few snaps--Birthday Celebration

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Happy Friday everyone!!  I was planning on posting today (because I'm challenging myself to post more often), but couldn't really decide to what to post.  So today, I'm being lazy and will just share with you a few snaps of a birthday dinner for one of my besties.  She usually has bigger affairs, but this time opted for a nice intimate dinner with some of her favorite people. :)  Anyway, we had dinner at Sotto Sotto, a really quaint Italian restaurant in Inman Park (a nice trendy neighborhood in Atlanta).  The food was dee-lish.



A great time was had by all.

Have a great weekend!

Grand time in Grand Bahama

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Hey all!  Sorry for lack of posts, but I just got back from visiting some of my husband's family in Freeport, Grand Bahama!  A trip was in order for me and the youngest babe's birthdays.  Mine is the 17th and his is the 19th--shout out to all my Cancer readers out there!  We thought it would be nice to celebrate over there, not to mention, there were still people on that side of hub's fam that hadn't seen the baby.  We had a great time.  I'll leave ya with few beach pics, since that is a major highlight of the trip, especially to Max.  :)


Have a great Monday!

What's Upper?

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Hey ya'll!  Sorry I haven't been very blog-ilicious lately.  I just haven't been that motivated!  And because this isn't my "job" and I don't make any (real) money from this--I purposely try not to force it.  I want to remain organic with it and blog when I really get the urge or have something to share.  Anyways....

So how was everyone's Memorial Day weekend?  Mine was great.  Great meaning VERY chill.  Went to one backyard barbecue and the rest of the time just hung out with my little family.  I did try a new restaurant in my 'hood for the first time, and was pretty pleased.  It's called Doc Chey's Noodle House (the Grant Park location).  I guess it's like an "Asian fusion" kind of spot, i.e. you'll find some Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese offerings on the menu.  I had a spicy basil noodle Thai dish with shrimp and the hubs had spice Szechuan chicken with brown rice (he's on a health kick. lol).  Anyway, everything was muy delicioso and we'll definitely make this one of our regular spots.  Plus, kids eat free on the weekends!  Can't beat that!  They have a lovely patio by the way.

The shrimp were buried under the noodles.

Szechuan chicken & brown rice

That face says it all on how he feels about my camera in his face.

The baby is huge. lol

Until next time...


Jamaica Jamaica

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Hey you guys, so I'm back from JA.  We had a great time.  I took pics--not a whole lot, but here are some of them...

The purpose of the trip was to attend and be in one of my good friend's wedding.  It was a beautiful event in a gorgeous locale.





Of course during the trip, me and the hubs were able to get in a little R & R...



By the way, I experienced the most hair shrinkage I'd ever experienced since being natural.  It was SO humid, due to it raining sporadically here and there.  They're in their rainy season.

We also made some new friends...


The "friends" in this pic you can't see.  I wanted to get an "in the water" shot, next thing I know I was surrounded by little fish.  This is my reaction. I was a little taken aback for a sec. lol


There were beautiful sights...



Oh and I did call myself trying to take some outfit posts.  After this first attempt--I couldn't be bothered. haha  Old clearance F21 dress. I think it cost me 8 bucks.  I fell in love with the bird print.  Shoes by Zara.  Do you see how tan I am?!




Oh, and one more gratuitous bathing suit shot...



Now, I do have quite a few other pics--but it's such a chore trying to figure out which to post.  So I'll just leave you with this.  All in all, we had an awesome time. :)

P.S.  Congrats to Suze & Jabari!!!


More Weekend Mentions...

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This weekend was pretty low key for me.  Sunday, me and the fam were out and about and had a really nice outdoor lunch at one of my fave "kinda' restaurants" called F2O (Fresh to Order).  There are several of these around town.  I say "kinda" because the food and interior is what I consider as full restaurant quality, but it's one of those places that you place your order at the counter, they give you a number, you go seat yourself, and they bring your food out to you, and that's it.  Anyway, they have one of the best salmon paninis and their wild mushroom soup is to die for.  Obviously that's my plate you see.  And just a quick shot of my boys! Please disregard Cruz's milk mouth.


Lastly, I was wondering if any of you have tried Target's little "gourmet" frozen pizzas they sell by Archer Farms?  Well, I tried the spinach & goat cheese as you can see.  They are usually sold out in my local store, actually.  I have a fetish for goat cheese which is why I went with this one, but they have other varieties.  I have to say, this pizza was pretty darn good, especially for a $3.99 pizza.  The only thing I would change are the "disks" of goat cheese--it makes it look factory made. lol  They should try making it look more like dollops instead.  I'll definitely keep one or two of these in the freezer for quick fixes in the future.

Well, hope you all had great weekends!  What did you do?




A Black & Cream Sunday

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This past Sunday, I had a brunch date with one of the besties.  We decided to hit up this little Mexican spot in a cool part of town not too far from where we live.  The place is called "Across the Street" and it didn't hurt that it happened to be on ScoutMob.  Always trying to save a buck!  Anyway, this was what I wore...


 Tank - TJ Maxx
Skirt - NY & Co.
Sandals - DSW

Flowy "gypsy" skirts (sometimes called "circle skirts") are a big staple for me during the spring/summer.  I have quite an assortment in several colors/prints and lengths.  I think they look so cute and girly and are just so easy to throw on with a tank: an instant, but simple pulled together look with a slight bohemian vibe.

Anyway, we both had chimichangas and "grown-up drinks" as our waiter called them.  I had a spicy margarita, which is basically a regular margarita made with tequila infused with some type of chile.  It was quite delicious, and I liked that hint of spice!  Oh, and we got serenaded by a guy on a trumpet.  How random.


Hope you guys had an enjoyable weekend and are ready to face the week ahead!



+Weekend Mentions+

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Happy Monday readers!  Just thought I'd give you guys a short re-cap of my weekend that was worth mentioning...

1) Changed up the nails!  This time I used Sally Hansen Salon Effects in "Bling It Out".  It's a sparkly pink and I luv it!  The pink is a little darker than my pic shows, but is still quite subtle compared to last weeks nails.  My husband called the "confetti nails" jungliss (meaning ghetto in Bahamian talk). Ah well.  I is who I is. haha





2)  Another date-night with the hubs.  This time we went to a fairly popular French Restaurant in town.  And for the first time ever......*insert drumroll*....I tried escargot!  Yes, SNAILS.  Even I have a hard time saying it. lol  They actually weren't bad.  They were cooked in a garlic/butter sauce.  It was actually like eating mussels.  I will say that I still couldn't get over what they were mentally, so even in all of their deliciousness--I doubt I'd eat them ever again.  Silly me forgot to take pics of the dish. :/   Since I have no food porn for you, I do have a few pics of what I wore.
Random white tank, skirt from H&M (similar HERE and in love with THIS ONE), belt is F21, Steve Madden shoes (not shown).


3) All week, my 3 year old has been running round the house wearing my rubber gloves I use for cleaning exclaiming that he's baking a cake.  I assume he thinks they are oven mitts.  So on Sunday, we made cupcakes.  Baking is NOT my thing, and these were made using the Pilsbury variety.  He was very pleased.

 




So how was your weekend?


Weekend Mentions

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So as you all know, this past weekend was pretty nice weather-wise for everyone in the continental United States.  Me and the family decided to get out and about a bit.  Saturday afternoon, we decided to go get some exercise and take the kiddies out to the park for a stroll.  First, however, I had been bugging hubs about checking out one of the Vietnamese restaurants because I'd always wanted to try their cuisine, especially since I have a couple friends who have raved about it.  So we decided to grab lunch at Pho Dai Loi, a pretty popular and authentic Vietnamese restaurant that was suggested to me.  I think most people have heard of "pho"--which I think may be the most popular Vietnamese dish period.


So here are the basics.  If you're a newb to Vietnamese cuisine, there are probably 3 things you will be told to try first:

1.  Bubble tea - which is some kind of blended drink with tapioca balls sitting at the bottom.  Those are the "bubbles".  I got an avocado bubble smoothie, and it was delish.  I don't like to eat/drink the balls though.

2.  Spring rolls - I'm sure everyone has had a spring roll in their lifetime.  These had shrimp in them and were fairly tasty.  They are just very simple and mild in taste.  The peanut dipping sauce was definitely the star of that show!

3. Pho - Last but not least, the popular dish "Pho".  It is basically a noodle soup with various meats.  I got the Pho Tai which contained flank steak and eye round.  It was DELICIOUS!  And you can't tell from the pic above, but that bowl was HUGE and I'd ordered a medium bowl.

Verdict is:  We will definitely be back!!

So after that we hit up the park, but before we got there, we caught a glimpse of Baton Bob on the street!  He is definitely one of Atlanta's sweethearts!  A Baton Bob sighting is always a treat!  As you can tell from his name, he is usually twirling a baton--but this time he had pom poms along with tartan wear.  Maybe for St. Patty's day?  He gets tons of honks & heckles from the cars driving past.  No one is sure why he does what he does--but HE GETS THE PEOPLE GOING. lol


We eventually made it to the park and had a lovely time walking around and seeing SO many people out enjoying the weather.  Spring is definitely here.

I luv to see a man pushing a stroller, by the way.



Oh and as for SUNDAY:

Nerdy girl swag.



Mojitos with the girls!  [Don't think an explanation is needed for that.]

All in all, it was a great weekend!  What did you all do?

Eat+Play+Love: Happy Birthday to My Hubs

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So my hunk-of-burning-love a.k.a my hubs a.k.a. the hubster celebrated a birthday this week.  Quick fact about us:  I'm a whopping 3 years older than my husband. *insert cougar roar here*  Anyway, we're low key kind of people these days and so I decided to take him out to a nice dinner at a popular resto here in Atlanta called Shout.  Yes, the same Shout that happens to be on Scout Mob at the moment, because that's how I roll.  Plus, hubs finds my fairly new money consciousness/bargain hunting ways quite sexy.  To make a long story short, we had a nice dinner and here are some pics.  By the way, if you're ever in Atlanta, you should check out Shout, it's a really cute spot.  They also have this outdoor rooftop area that is set up cabana-ish and during the spring/summer, it could make you think you've been transported from ATL to Nikki Beach in Miami.  Real nice.

The birthday boy! He feels some kind of way about being splashed across my blog...but I do what I want.

I started out with this really cute (and sweet) pear cocktail. I forgot the name but it was made up of Pear Grey Goose vodka, Pear Schnapps, topped off with moscato.

We started off with calamari.  We love calamari it seems.  This calamari was just oKAY.  Nothing special about it which was quite surprising as Shout also serves sushi and other seafood.  I've had tastier calamari from smaller less fabulous restaurants around town.

Hubs had the "special" of the day a duck breast with brussel sprouts and potatoes.  I forgot the name of the dish or specifically how it was prepared, but those are the components.  It was SPECTACULAR.

I had the blackened Mahi Mahi with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus.  The Mahi Mahi was topped with "crab butter", basically it was tasty, buttery lump crab meat thrown on top.....and it made made me want to slap my momma.  Totally awesome this whole dish.

Hubs wasn't that interested in the dessert offerings, so we decided to have more drinks for "dessert".  Here, I'm drinking the peach sangria.  Quite tasty, I must say.

All in all, it was a nice time.