Yea, my last post was from my iphone and for certain reasons I had to finish the post early. That's the disadvantage of posting from a webapp.

Anyway, After late lunch the three of us headed to Dick Blicks up on Highway 92. It was fun, and I even managed to get out of there without buying anything. Was finally able to use my Evernote how I want and take good notes on prices for some lightboxes. I really would like to try my hand at original scrollworking but I just can't draw freehand to save my life. I found out the secret is to find the image you want, trace it onto tracing paper with thick/dark lines, then put the tracing paper under the paper and use the lightbox to make it shine through so you can copy it to the actual paper. Nifty hun?

After escaping from Dick Blicks we ran over to Target so Tanya could get some more of her catbox system. She uses the Breeze system by Tidy Cat which is very different. It has a pad under the litterbox where the urine seeps through. The poop stays in the box and the large pellets then dry it out so it scoops out very easy. looking at the pricing, if you keep up with it i think the overall price goes down from real catlitter. I'm tempted to go ahead and give it a try with our cats.

As we were leaving Target we all got a craving for chocolate and wanted to head over to the Schakolad Chocolate Factory in Alpharetta when I looked it up and they close at 5pm on saturdays. Or so I thought. You see, the Alpharetta store isn't LISTED on their website yet so I had to look at the Dunwoody store and THEY close at 5pm. However, I just now looked at the google listing and it says they close at 6pm. I hope Tanya and Laura never find out least they skin me alive. Realizing we were heading in the wrong direction, we hop on 400 and take the interstate around and home. Get to the house and pick up Pat then decide to go over to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.

I have finally tried all the sauces they have within my spice range and have found the few that I actually like. I'm going to have to ask for a side of ranch dressing with my order just to cut the spice periodically. But, it was good. We got one of the Buzztime quiz machines and between the four of us we managed to get in first place quite a bit. More than anything it was just plain fun. After dinner we went next door to the Yogoday yogurt shop. It LOOKS like a Japanese cafe straight out of Tokyo. Full of anime paraphernalia and everything. I think it's Italian yogurt though. Much like softserve. However, I suggest to anyone going there to first TRY the flavors they have. I love them all, but don't mistake "Plain" with "Vanillia". It's NOT. So far they have Plain, Green Tea, and Coffee.

Well, I'm POed right now because I lost my old "Rounded Rectangles" theme and I don't know how to get it back. I wouldn't mind changing except all the new theme designers decided that it wasn't necessary to have separators between entries which renders my friends page near unreadable.

Going to go sulk now.

Atlanta Restaurants | Restaurant menus, reviews and maps on urbanspoon.com:

Tanya tuned me n on this website after the iPhone 2.0 specs were released as they are going to be making an iphone app that makes use of the rotating sensors and gps in order to do a "magic 8 ball" style 'find random restaurant' feature. Not all restaurants are in there yet (Ru San's isn't in there), but it's already coming in handy.

Shire of Owl's Nest Event---Pirates of the Mediterranean:

The Shire of Owl's Nest Presents - Pirates of the Mediterranean: The Curse of the Maltese Owl
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Pickett's Mill Family Group Shelter
6789 Hiram Acworth Road, Dallas, GA 30157

I hope to be home in time for this. Anyone interested?

Girl Scout Council of Northwest Georgia Home Page:

I had a dream this morning about me being back in Girl Scout camp. It occurred to me in my sleep fogged mind after waking up that one of the things i could do to keep myself occupied was to possibly volunteer with the Girl Scouts. Used to love it and was so disappointed when I couldn't go from a Junior to a full Girl Scout (not enough in my area at the time). Maybe someone else out there might be interested in it as well.

Komen Greater Atlanta Affiliate | Home:

I'm probably not as vocal as I wish, but some of you might know about my passion for finding a cure for breast cancer. My family has a long history of breast cancer, most recently my sister having a double mastectomy. In getting some new luggage tags, I just found out that there is a local Atlanta group for the Susan G Komen foundation. They have events, volunteers, and newsletters. I strongly suggest to all local women (and men too!) to try to find some way to get involved. Might just see about volunteering once I get back home.

Would anyone actually be interested in anythin Mary Kay? My sister is a consultant, in fact about to go full time, and she mentioned she could come down to help host a skin care class and whatnot. I dunno.

The biggest reason why I've never really mentioned it is because I know how expensive all this stuff is. To get a full cleanser pack is $57, one of the full color collections is $113.50 (3 eye colors, eye liner, blush, lipstick and liner, lipgloss, mascara, compat, cheek brush, and eye applicator). Granted, you can get things piecemeal at avg $10 for makeup, $12 for skin care.

Like any good sister, I want to support mine, not to mention I DO like their products, but due to prices I just don't think I can really help her out. Though, if peeps would be interested that would be cool. (Wouldn't be till I got back, probably june or july at the absolutely earliest.)

Anyway, anyone interested feel free to respond to this as well as checking out her website:

http://www.marykay.com/dwardchampion

[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.normsoft.com/hblogger/]

We just got back from the Alton Brown 'lecture' (was sorta like a talk/question&answer) that was over at Walker School. Bought two of his books: Gear for your Kitchen and I'm Just Here for the Food v2.0, and both are signed. The one thing he had to talk about to start things off are 10 key points from his "Ab's Practical Guide to Coking and Eating Planet Earth". Wasn't sure what to expect, but.. in true Alton form it's hilarious while being practical and true. This wasn't just a straight lecture, but he'd go to one of his points, then ramble on, taking audience input, etc.

1) Food is delicious
-- Mostly how the trend lately is to put so much spicing and seasoning on something you can't even taste what you are actually eating.
--Get out of the way of the food.
--Don't mess it up.

2) Hunger is the best sauce. (Cervantes quote)
-- Eat when you're hungry. Doesn't sound like much, but.. you'll find you and your family are less picky about your food when you are hungry.
-- Wasn't mentioned, but cutting back on 'snacks' would probably help with this.

3) Chickens don't have fingers.
-- Fast food is crap and avoid it if you can help it at all.
-- A lot was mentioned about picky kids, or "Food Terrorists" as he likes to call them.
-- Soylent Green isn't people, it's CHICKEN FINGERS!
-- Joke but true, if you want your kids to stop eating stuff like that, then go down and show them what it's made of... that nasty part of the chicken that's under the breast with a huge sinew running through it.
-- Lots on parents being responsible for teaching their kids how to eat properly. If you start them on fast food/junk food, soon that's all they want.
-- Best way to get a young kid/toddler to try real food? DENY them. I think he said "No, you can't have this.. it's ADULT food. It's too sophisticated for YOU." And believe me stuff like that works.
-- Good food isn't cheap, but isn't your FAMILY worth it? What's more important then them? Very little if anything.

4) Water... Isn't that the stuff that comes out of faucets?
-- Water bottles are filling the landfills. ((use google earth if you don't believe it))
-- Get cheap filters and just use tap water.
-- The true allure of water is that it DOES taste different everywhere you go.
-- Yes, you can sometimes BLEACH clothing in the sink with Atlanta water, but that's why you get the filters.

5) Ronald McDonald isn't your mother.
-- Take responsibility for the food you and your family eat.
-- Apparently new york is looking to outlaw/ban trans fat. ((WTF? I need to look this up but don't doubt it's true.))

6) Want Chinese chili? Go to China.
-- Watch what you buy. All that effort to get that imported stuff to you does hurt the environment. A small effort of trying to buy as local as possible is something you can do to help.

7) Get a life, not a diet.
-- Diet is from the greek word meaning 'way of life' or something along those lines.
-- Use your diet as a barometer for your life. If it's bad, then you need to take a look at your life and make a change. Makes sense, if you're eating crap all the time because you're stressed out and feel like you don't have the time, then you need to find that stress and work on it.

8) Draw a circle on a map and eat of of it. The smaller the circle the better.
-- Kinda like number 6, eat locally.
-- Go to farmer's markets, join a co-op, do what you can.
-- Organic doesn't mean anything. People pay for the label, no real restrictions or requirements.

9) Be thankful from time to time.
-- Remember that steak you're eating was once a cow, that a chicken gave up it's life for that chicken alfredo you're consuming, a farmer worked hard to raise the plants. This isn't to make you guilty, but.. a reminder that food doesn't magically appear on the shelf, doesn't get constructed from thin air in the restaurant kitchen.

10) Eat more lawyers.

After he was done with the points, he opened up the floor for a more Question and Answer session. Here's some of the things I remember/wrote down on my phone.

-- Eating with your family is important.
-- Food's power is the ability to bring people together. It's one of the two things that people the world over always like doing in groups: eating and laughing. Face it, when was the last time you ENJOYED eating alone?
-- Almost as important as eating together is cooking together. Bring your entire family in the kitchen if you can. A new thing for fathers to do with their kids now isn't so much the 'woodshop' and 'working in the garage', but cooking. Don't be scared for your kids. If you 'protect' them so much they don't know their way around the kitchen, then the kid's screwed. People get hurt, but you learn the most and the longest from getting hurt.
--tip for college students: try making/joining 'food clubs'. Plan meals together, pool your money to buy in bulk. This is a great idea if you think about it. ((also takes care of that pesky 'eating alone' problem))
-- If you want to avoid store bought baby food, be careful of just taking what you normally eat and throwing it in blender. Often adults will be on a 'low salt, low fat' diet, which is actually BAD for kids. Even with children, don't forget that their growing bodies NEED that extra stuff to grow properly. The key is to make sure that the food they get is BALANCED.

FLOR Modular Tiles:

internetbrain  actually was the one who introduced me to Flor. I've fallen in love. I've already put in an order for two boxes of samples, but would love to head to the showroom. Anyone want to go with me?

Yep, that's right. tatianamik and internetbrain have found a place, and it's just down the road across 41. I'm SOO excited! So far the plan is for them to move in April 12 (yea, I'll be in MI), anyone think they might be able to help out? They also have some stuff that needs done. The master bedroom needs repainted (right now this deep forest green which is very much not internetbrain's color), and the garage door going into the kitchen needs to be replaced with a wooden one with a cat door.

If you're able/willing to help out at all, post here with how they can get in touch with you.

EDIT: tatianamik is also looking for some recommendations for various things on her blog.

Friday night, quu and I decided to give California Dreaming a try (his second time, my first). We got there at an almost perfect time. The big crowd was just starting to leave so wait was very short and the food was fresh. The place was far from empty. Sadly the first thing I noticed was a 'fishy' smell, but my thought was that they served seafood so of course it will have a bit of a smell. Wasn't over powering, but noticeable. Anyway, we're seated, greeted by a wonderful waitress, and soon our orders are in. quu decided to go with the Prime Rib, rare, while I chose to go with the Fillet Mignon, medium rare. After placing my order and was about to hand the waitress my menu, I catch sight of the line "...Philadelphia style...slightly charred...". I nearly changed my order, but decided to give it a try and see if it wasn't what I was fearing it would be. Just so you know, I don't like my meat burned in any way, shape, or form. The slightest hint of charring seems to permeate the entire thing making it all taste like a brick of charcoal. My hope was the 'charring' the style called for was something other than... well... burned meat.

First, however, we received our salads. These... FANTASTIC salads. House dressing is almost a creamy Italian, but that doesn't come close. Very sweet and tangy without being overly done. By default, salads come with lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, jack cheese, egg, bacon, ham, and almonds. I ordered mine with no tomatoes and almonds. The first thing that struck me was that the lettuce was cut into bite sized pieces, yet wasn't shredded. The taste was just fantastic. The closest I can come to is a ham and bacon sandwich in salad form. It even comes with a croissant (drizzled with honey) so you have pretty much everything there. This could easily make a single person lunch any day. I was also impressed that they didn't drown the salad with dressing.

So, salads are consumed and then we are served our steaks.quu's Prim Rib looked mouthwatering. The size of mine was quite impressive. I cut into the steak with hopes that my fears were unfounded, as it didn't seem burned at all, but then I took a bite. It's hard to describe other than.. flavorless. Aside from the charring, there was -no- flavor. Not even a hint of salt and pepper to help bring out the taste of the meat. All that was there was that hint of charcoal. Don't get me wrong, the steak wasn't bad. Quu had the suggestion of dipping it in his Au Jus sauce that came with his prime rib, and it was AMAZING. So, I ended up cutting off as much of the 'crust' as I could, and relishing the steak with that hint of flavor from the au jus.

Overall, I do highly recommend the place to anyone, but with a warning to NOT get the Fillet. It was 25 bucks and not worth it. The Prime Rib was only 17 and it blew the Fillet out of the water. The salads are amazing and the croissant are to kill for. A bit on the price side overall, but nice if you want to take someone out for a 'special' dinner.

ottom: Birthday plans and other stuff:

Most everyone know, but just an fyi, this sat, battle and brew. RSVP on Ottom's journal please.

Anyone having problems with congestion/stuffy nose, I can highly recommend the Zicam "Extreme Congestion relief" with aloe. Just bought some and HOLY COW I can breathe again.

And for the locals, anyone remember Cherokee Cattle Company? It used to be one of the best steak houses in town, but over the years cooks changed and it has gone downhill. Well, a while back the folks who own the Marietta Diner bought the place. I was wary at first, but we just tried it out and BOY have they improved things! I seriously suggest people to try them out sometime.

Metro Atlanta YMCAs
Cobb County YMCAs
Google Map: Metro Atlanta YMCAs

So, my old roomies, tatianamik and internetbrain, are going to be moving here to Atlanta, hopefully soon. While talking with Tanya, she mentions the YMCA and gives me a link to the one near where I live. Not too terribly far. I look at the membership fees and my jaw hits the floor. $126 intro, $53 a month for a single adult. $175 intro, $76 a month for two adults. But then I notice it's for all "Metro Atlanta YMCAs". How many can there really be? Well, try something like 26. The 'map' they have is impossible to tell where anything really is, so I took the addresses and made a google map of them all. Not only is there the one near us, but there is one not to far from where quu works. The one near us not only has a pool, whirlpool, and sauna... but also a rock climbing wall. How cool is that? I'm thinking we're going to hold off on our memberships until after I get back from up north. That way I have my own car and can go during the day. Maybe if I get used to being out and getting some exercise I'll be more likely to do stuff at home. Who knows. But anyway, thought I'd share what I found!

Well, christmas is come and gone, still have a handful of cards to still send out.. hopefully before new years. *sighs* But.. got a LOT done.

( Cut for kids stuff. )

( Cake and Soup Adventures! )

( Christmas. )

( Gaming. )

( LJ Icons! )

( Health and Depression. )

( Da House! )

Gah.. that's about all I can think of.

Trying to get back in contact with friends again.. but it's hard. Ya'll know how bad I am at keeping in touch.

Looking forward to ShadowCon though.

Enough for now.. hope ya'll enjoy the LJ cuts.. didn't want to clog up the friends pages and make everyone ignore me. >_>;;;

Laters!

Yes, once again I'm trying to send out cards. However, my addressbook is sorely lacking. I've sent a few people emails asking for their addresses, but if anyone else would like a card, please send me an email: lethann at gmail dot com

Completely optional. In return you'll get ours if you want it.

Jonathan Coulton with Paul and Storm | Five Spot | Eventful:

This is the guy who wrote CodeMonkey and the "I'm Still Alive" song (end credits for Portal). Anyone want to go?

Georgia National Fair October 4-14, 2007 Perry, Georgia:

Don't see any real local county fairs, but man this looks big. o.0;; Perry is about 2hrs away from Kennesaw though.

North Georgia State Fair:

Woot! I didn't know this existed! I was gonna look for some sort of 4h youth fair, but this looks perfect! Anyone wanting to go?

I signed up for the AJC "dining" newsletter and this was on there. It was just too interesting to not pass it on.

http://www.thechocolatebardecatur.com