Baxter Bark Twice

Do as I say, never as I do

Archive for the ‘Food & Drink’ Category

Why don’t you have a seat, Encyclopedia Brown

Posted by AllieB on September 7, 2011

Oh, hello. Time for some Q & A.

Are the Dawgs going to disappoint us all season?

I don’t know, but Saturday sucked. Royally. And the uniforms of both teams were eye sores – let’s keep the fashion statements off the field, shall we boys, and I won’t try to discuss a topic about which I know nothing. Next question.

Is it time for an eggtervention?

Yes. I love eggs. I just made an accidental and surprisingly healthy french toast by putting slightly runny scrambled eggs on a bagel round then going on a fit of tidiness and cleaning my kitchen. By the time I got to my breakfast, I had a borderline french toast situation that was a-mah-zing. If I talk about this anymore I will lose 99% of my readers (Mom, you’ll still read, right? You love eggs!), so, self – consider this an intervention. INTERVENED.

Does the phrase, “clear as a crystal, sharp as a knife” have new meaning?

Unfortunately. It’s the Billy Joel lyric that the sad-and-getting-sadder Lindsay Lohan tattoed on herself. She might as well have gotten, “I am begging you, please do not take me seriously” inked on her torso and called it a day. Or maybe, to keep things short and sweet, a simple “hot mess.” I’m going to stop talking about her, it’s just too pathetic.

Is writing BBT sometimes a pain?

Pass.

What restaurants have you been to recently of which you are especially fond?

One Eared Stag in Inman Park. I went with BP to a swanky cocktail thing there a few weeks ago. Like: bar treats are not your standard bowls of nuts, but mason jars of cured bacon. Like: their Moscow Mules. Like: they had lard. I have a special fondness for all places that offer lard on their charcuterie plate. It’s got a very cool yet chill ambiance, and – AND – perhaps the best thing of all: it is directly across from the Marta station. I’m not sure which one, but how’s that for convenient!

Also, all things in the Westside Provisions District. I dined with Pants and Pal at Taqueria del Sol yesterday, then we continued our binge at Star Provisions. I want to live in Star Provisions. And I want to dress my non-existent child in things exclusively from B. Braithwaite. And myself in things from Anthro and Ann Mashburn. Christiane Celle, founder of Calypso clothing was in Atlanta recently on a scouting trip and she – the taste maker herself – declared the Westside to be a very “chic” neighborhood.

Remarkable: my crap Blackberry camera makes even Star Provisions look unappetizing. Also not helping: Sister and Allison’s mauling of the treats.

Molly, I think you’re very wise to suggest my B’berry to shoot our Bootlegz post. Molly is the founder of Bootlegz – you can read all about them here and BOLO for our upcoming post. This pleasantly fall-esque weather reminds us that fall is around the corner…! I.E., time to purchase an accessory that ensures our jeans stay put beneath our boots. More on that later.

Just to highlight the difference between my camera and, say, an iphone – enjoy this dramatic image I swiped from BP’s instagram images. My life is sad.

The skies are angry!

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He figure skates, and it is glorious

Posted by AllieB on August 31, 2011

If you don’t already know about this (and you live in Atlanta), then either your friends don’t like you very much or you live in a hole:

Reserve yours today! There are still plenty reservations left…hopefully it’s not just oatmeal. Betsy and MPvZB shared this with me Monday, and I’ve been meaning to post…my bad.

Speaking of fine dining, it’s Midtown Restaurant Week. My laziness has precluded me from sharing this, also, but…better late than never. It ends Sunday.

Pardon me while I climb up on my soapbox…there we are. Ok, music on websites. There is nothing more off-putting than opening up a web page  and being BLASTED by some techno bullcrap – particularly when in the office or library or just would rather not have a heart attack…PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE THIS. Aqua Bistro: GUILTY. 9 of out 10 hair salons: GUILTY. I remember one Friday morning back in the day when I rolled into work sufficiently under the weather, was browsing lunch options and happened upon a web page whose music was so loud and offensive that I vomited. True story. Except it’s not true, but it very easily could be. Just ask me first…is all that I ask.

I miss JBax :(

So, because I want a new car, new clothes, and window treatments, I’ve started babysitting more. Kids say the darndest things! Cut to: the other night:

I was babysitting these cute little blonde kids – Jackson, age 4, and Grace, 2. They are two little peas in a pod and seriously so adorable I wanted to just gobble them up. We watched Toy Story 2, took baths (they did, not me), read our favorite books (Spider Man comic books – questionable…how about Where the Wild Things Are or something), and even played paddy cake. Anyway, we were hunkering down for bed, when Grace announced she was missing Jessie. Jessie is her nighttime friend. Jackson and Grace are very self-sufficient and insisted upon finding Jessie themselves. I said sure, go ahead, and began my manhunt for the pantry while they searched. After not hearing anything from them for awhile, I called to Jackson, “how are things going?”

“Well, Miss Allie, they’re going great – but they’re not going super great.”

I die. And I never did find the pantry…either they don’t eat anything but refrigerated food or they have like a secret revolving book case – I swear I looked everywhere.

WordPress has just recently allowed me to change the color of my fonts. It’s a veritable RAINBOW of FUN!

Also, I was reading BBT on an iPad recently – it really doesn’t translate well to mobile devices, does it? Sorry. I’m right on top of that, Rose.

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It just makes good sense

Posted by AllieB on August 18, 2011

Last year, I mentioned this article that ranked college towns and had the gall to list GAINESVILLE, FL as #1 spot with Athens, GA coming in at #2. I’m fairly certain the auteur of said article now serves cheeseburgers and fortunately someone infinitely wiser, more normal, and with the ability to tell the difference between the gutter and awesome has come out with a new ranking:

  1. Athens, Georgia

Athensga2_display_image

People who don’t care for college football (which is frankly, unthinkable) will find a rich art and music scene in the southern haven of Athens which also offers some truly unique eateries.

Yes, REM and the B-52s got their start down in Athens, but to the pure at heart, these are just side benefits to a town of 115,000 that keeps Sanford Stadium hopping with over 92,000 screaming fans as the Bulldogs take care of business down “between the hedges” on Saturday’s in the fall.

So, do you crave just one factoid about picturesque Athens?  Well, the university (which opened at the early date of 1785) shut down from 1863-66 due to the Civil War.

Source: Ranking the 31 Coolest College Towns (credit: Miss Bambi via FB – thanks, Miss Bambi!)

Gainesville still made the list, but at a much less respectable #11 or something, and I think I’d quite like to go to Corvallis, Oregon…on that note, Char and SRM – I hope you’re having a nice time driving cross country. I believe this morning finds them in Dallas, TX, home to temperatures above 100 degrees. Safe travels!

I was chatting with Caro yesterday about food (standard), and we were ruminating over the delight that is a fried egg, cheese, eng muffin (I opted for light Havarti and a bagel round), and hot sauce sammy…I did an $83 trip to the grocery store yesterday, just like a real live adult, and purchased all of the ingredients for said treat – YUM. I just made one for breakfast, and, if I had an iphone that could do the meal justice I would’ve shared a photog – my B’berry camera makes even the most delicious meals look like vom. It was quite a day at the grocer – heretofore my biggest purchase has been $30 or so… For awhile I followed around a Hot Mom decked head to toe in Lululemon. She pondered waffles for five minutes; I pondered waffles for five minutes. For the record: frozen waffles are GOOD. BP mentioned them awhile back, and I got some whole-grain varietal that is really, really tasty. Anyway, Miss Lulu got a bit wary of my shadow-game, so I had to forge out on my own…it was a far cry from my Grocery Store Shame of yesteryear, so I think that’s really something to be proud of.

The opposite of good sense: the Today Show is currently airing a section on padded bras and high heels for toddlers. Or, “tods,” right, Katie? Wonder if you’ll be pedaling platform pumps this weekend at the Mart…I blame Toddlers & Tiaras, a show I adamantly refuse to watch. High heels on 5 year olds is something only Suri Cruise can pull off.

I posted this on the BBT FB page yesterday, but this video of Anne Hathaway doing a Lil Wayne style rap is kind of amazing. In the words of Leila: even left field did not see this coming. Obviously need sound.

TGIT!

Posted in Celebs, Food & Drink | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Life’s a beach

Posted by AllieB on August 8, 2011

Oh, hey.

Lo siento por el absentia. I was busy being at the beach! I love the beach. I am meant to be in warm climates, near the water, with a nice tan. In Atlanta, I am missing one of these crucial components…and it’s not the warm climate part.

Meet and greet: Sand Cliffs, FLA! We went to Miriam’s house – it is just delightful.

Janie is the cutest.

It was about 193 degrees – contact with water was mandatory…minus the Attack of the Sea Slugs. Ew.

The Hilton House. I’m obsessed with this house. I think it is just so cool – when we were down here last spring, the landscaping was pretty sparse and it was more of an eyesore than anything – now it looks pretty badass, IMO. Once again, some truly excellent photography thanks to my Blackberry 9630.

Other highlights (from top left):

-vista from Bud and Alley’s

-pool side!! a nice reprieve from sand. I just shook out my shorts and sand came out. I’ll be covered in sand for a week, at least

Strawberry Watermelon Marg (courtesy of Lindsay)

Iced Vodka with Cucumber, Lemon, and Mint (Lindsay again)

We did a bad job with pics…this is from our last trip back in 2010, but it’ll do.

I don’t like doing photo centric posts, I’m very disoriented – I prefer to use my words.

MUNDAY….blerg.

Tex’s Tacos this week. (K! Lunch tomorrow???)

Weekly horo. (It’s still last week’s – check this afternoon)

Lastly, have you LIKED BBT ON FACEBOOK??? Do it. Do it now.

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Jump, dive, or bellyflop

Posted by AllieB on July 25, 2011

MUNDAY.

It’s hot and humid. I embraced this weather but spending the day at the pool on Saturday. It so happened that said pool had a high dive – when is the last time you went off the high dive?? Some people did flips, some got real adventurous with the pencil…someONE got crazy with a bunk inward that incurred “AWWWW!” and “ugggggggggggh” from the crowd as she landed…that last one was probably my favorite “dive” (I use the word loosely) of the day, if not an impressive failure….good times!

If you haven’t been yet, I highly recommend Bistro Niko. While you are there get the mushroom flat bread because it’s a-MAH-zing and we actually wound up ordering it twice because we wanted more. BBT says: two thumbs up!

Meet & Greet: Gus. Gus has got the right idea – it’s too hot to even swim outside, so he decided to bring his pool inside. I like where your head’s at, Gus. This is actually really funny…A for Effort! (Don’t need sound, credit: JBax)

Tex’s Tacos schedule for the week…CKB, Gaylen, and I went on Friday and it was as delicious as ever – if not more so since they’ve started using skirt steak for their carne asada taco…YUM

Weekly horoscope: mine was way too aggressive for a Munday. No thanks.

Ok, bye.

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