Baxter Bark Twice

Do as I say, never as I do

Posts Tagged ‘atlanta’

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Here’s what’s happening in your world tonight

Posted by AllieB on January 20, 2011

Good afternoon. This weather sucks.

BUT! Treehouse has deigned to join the rest of the free world in the Groupon et al craze, and for only $8 you can get $20 worth of food and/or booze without any restrictions! Click here for the deal; it’s only available until midnight.

Thanks for throwing us a bone, Treehouse. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’ve stopped going in protest against their refusal to offer happy hour specials or Recession-friendly deals, but really – it’s about time. Maybe I should buy a few more…

I’ve grown tired of picking on Boobs Legsly, and Jessica Simpson seems to finally be heeding my advice by going out in public less, so I’ve been forced to find a new target for my celebrity ridicule. Taylor Swift…COME ON DOWN! Newsflash: your relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal was total baloney. Write your little ditty about picking apples in New York and sharing pumpkin spice lattes or whatever you need to do to mourn the loss of your fake – not to mention gay – boyfriend, get your platinum records and Grammy’s and make your millions, but for the LOVE OF GOD leave US Weekly out of it.

What the crap – how are you so boring. Just looking at you makes me want to take a nap. The only thing that could make you more boring would be doing something like not serving alcohol at your 21st birthday and having platters of cookies instead. Oh, wait…..

Girl Talk is tomorrow at the Tabernacle! If you don’t have tickets you’re probably S.O.L. unless you want to fork over $100…fortunately, I do not fall into that category, thanks to Leila, and have been accumulating glow sticks for weeks. I’ve also been preparing for my transition to Dance-Floor Allie by way of nightly stretching and some solo head banging – it’s like I’m the White Swan morphing into the Black…..except not because that would freak everyone out. DANCE PARTY!!!

Posted in Celebs, Really? | Tagged: , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

Please stop talking. Also, FREE Chick-fil-A!

Posted by AllieB on December 21, 2010

I just left a happy birthday message for my bestest Juan (happy birthday, JohnnyT!), and, as I was hanging up the phone, I noticed that the call timer was over one minute. I wondered, what on earth did I just say to him for one minute?! The answer: nothing good.

Without any kind of response or barrier, just wide open talking time, things can get really out of hand. My thoughts – which are scattered at best – come out in this mindless drivel that is tedious for the message recipient and outright embarrassing for the message leaver (me).

I recall another message I left my buddy Miguel (strange that the two people I have thus far mentioned have names that are easily translated to Spanish – even stranger that, come to think of it, I actually took Spanish with each of these individuals…) pertaining to a lunch date.

“Michael, it’s Allie. I am calling in reference to our lunch date. I was thinking we might go to Jalisco because it is my favorite place to have Mexican food. We should absolutely get a cheese dip, and I will probably act like I am deciding between a beef soft taco and a cheese quesadilla, but I will ultimately end up ordering both. I hope you call me back before 11 because I am very hungry and you know what happens when I get hungry – my blood sugar drops and I get really cranky. I should probably have a snack now, just in case you don’t call me back before 11. I wonder what I’ll have…maybe some peanut butter crackers…”

And that’s just the part I remember. Ew, it’s even worse seeing it written out like that. Oh GOD what if these people are READING their voicemails via iPhone/Blackberry app or Google Voice?! I’m cringing as I type. The lesson here is clear: after four rings – five, max – hang up the phone.

I went to my first White Elephant Christmas party/gift exchange last night, hosted by Talbott and attended by ten or so. I’m still not entirely sure I understand the premise. Everyone brings an elaborately wrapped gift – I suppose the point is that you want people to choose your gift –  but then people can opt to steal the gift you’ve chosen or open their own gift…and then the person whose gift gets stolen is then given the opportunity to steal another’s gift. Oh. I guess I do get it. Perhaps I’m just not that thrilled with the whole deal because someone STOLE my gift. To the grinch who yanked my bottle o’ red and grapefruit hand cream from Woo: I am not happy.

Lastly – you’re welcome (credit: MPvZB)

http://www.getspicychicken.com/

Posted in Imparting Wisdom | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

If I had a million dollars…

Posted by AllieB on November 29, 2010

First, I’m so glad that the days of the Barenaked Ladies are days of yore.

Second, by “a million dollars” I mean “a hundred dollars” and, as it were, I do! I spent Saturday evening in Newnan, The City of Homes – or, according to Skin, The City of Magic (?) – and it was lovely. In addition to the company, setting, and food, the evening was made even better by the truly unprecedented event of me winning a raffle/bet/pool situation when I happened to have chosen the right square in a grid of 100, winning me one hundred dollars…a C-Note…a Benjamin…etc.

An extra $100 is also an extremely uncommon happening in my life, and I’ve been deciding what to do with this unexpected windfall…I have several arrears that need to be relieved, but that’s no fun and is what normal payday is for, so no – and same goes for savings. I’m going to buy something fun for moi:

The Short List:

  1. Christmas tree for my casa – this is a definite
  2. A wreath – also a non-option
  3. Lights for decorating tree and windows – thanks for sharing, Mom and Dad (read: free)
  4. Christmas presents
  5. I’m pretty sure I’ve run out of money…

Sigh. $100 really doesn’t go all that far, does it? No, it does not.

In addition to this excitement, I did three things this past weekend that I would highly recommend.

  • I saw Harry Potter and found it to be the best one yet; I cannot wait for the second installment. Dobby….!!!!
  • Enjoyed lunch at Horseradish Grill. The Baxter Fam has been enjoying meals there since before it was even there – it used to be The Red Barn Inn. It was a red barn that served steak. Anyway, we’ve continued our faithful patronage through the years and it’s one of my favorite spots. Lunch on Friday was no exception. I ordered the Turkey Club on HF sourdough with a side of grits, but I was having extreme order anxiety about all the things that I wasn’t getting to have, so I encouraged to Jordan to get onion rings, Stanton got the She-Crab Soup, and I assembled a delicious and rather substantial doggy-bag using everyone’s leftovers: shrimp and grits, mac n cheese…so, at the end of the day, I wound up with a nice sampling of the whole menu. Mission: accomplished.
  • The Dali Exhibit at the High. Go, but don’t go on the Friday following a major national holiday when most people do not work and are trying to think of ways to entertain their out of town visitors. The body odor, frankly, is what I remember most about the experience. I think my favorite part was holing up in the gift shop with a book entitled Paintings That Changed the World. I am, after all, an art historian…the exhibit itself was expansive and provided a very comprehensive look at the life and art of Dali – I hope to return on a less crowded, less pungent day.

Merry Mehday!

Posted in Arbitrary | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

Meet & Greet: My Restaurant Spreadsheet

Posted by AllieB on November 2, 2010

I published my restaurant spreadsheet as a web page that looks exactly like a spreadsheet and it can now be found under the page, “Eat & Greet: Atlanta Restaurants.” This page can be accessed via the tool bar on top. Hopefully one day I can do something way cooler with it…

Here is the document: Atlanta Restaurants, and below is a little preview – a snack, if you will – of the real deal.

Ross: You ate my sandwich?

Dr. Leedbetter: It was a simple mistake. It could happen to anyone.

Ross: Oh-oh really? Did you confuse it with your own turkey sandwich with a Moist Maker?

Dr. Leedbetter: No.

Ross: Do you perhaps remember seeing a note on top of it?

Dr. Leedbetter: There may have been a-a joke or a limerick of some kind.

Ross: That said it was my sandwich?!

Dr. Leedbetter: Now calm down. Come look in my office, some of it my still be in the trash.

Ross: What??!?!

Dr. Leedbetter: Well, it was quite large. I had to throw most of it away.

Ross: You-you-you-you threw my sandwich away!

Ross: MY SANDWICH?!!!

Ross: MY SANDWICH!!!!!!

-The One with Ross’s Sandwich

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

Agree to Disagree: Top 20 Restaurants in ATL

Posted by AllieB on October 26, 2010

I know I write a good bit about food around Atlanta, but if there’s anyone who knows the eateries around this place – it’s Kennedy. She sent me an email yesterday complete with this list and her highly relevant and accurate commentary, and I knew it must be shared. We see eye to eye on just about everything (per usual), and we’re both concerned with the caliber of the journalism behind the composition of this list. Thank you, K, for imparting your invaluable wisdom.

The 20 restaurants in ATL, according to…

  1. Leon’s Full Service – This I can get on board with. Represents a lot of what makes Atlanta great, outside dining, fun drinks, southern but creative food etc.
  2. Ru San’s (UMMM – WTF? HAS THIS WRITER EVEN BEEN TO ATLANTA IN THE PAST DECADE OR DID THEY COPY OVER A LIST FROM THE 90s??) I shudder at the thought. This list has lost all credibility. (Allie Says: this is really very questionable. I’m with K’s all-caps horror.)
  3. Livingston Restaurant + Bar
  4. Rhodes Bakery – Given that this is Southern Living’s list, I suppose that this can slide; I feel as if they make good cakes and pies which I picture on the cover of a Southern Living.
  5. LottaFrutta – never heard of it and don’t even want to google it – shocking, I know.  At the rate this list is going, I will add to my list of places NOT to go. (Allie Says: my thoughts exactly.)
  6. Rosebud – again – where is Holeman and Finch?!
  7. Caf̩ Intermezzo РJust no. The last meal I had here was around 1 am and I still thought it was bad; this is saying something (Allie Says: indeed, this is saying something.)
  8. Flip Burger Boutique – the only thing that I can think of here is that Southern Living is based in B’ham and there’s a Flip in B’ham so maybe they think by adding it to the list it somehow makes B’ham cooler? I see through this little plot…
  9. Fox Bros Bar-B-Q
  10. Taqueria Del Sol – overrated and sort of lame. The end. I’m tempted to stop reading…(Allie Says: I like this place a lot. Should it be #10? No…but still in Top 20, IMO.)
  11. King of Pops – does this count as a restaurant? I think it’s like a cardboard stand or something?
  12. Highland Bakery
  13. The Atlanta Cupcake Factory – I suppose this is the obligatory shout out to the cupcake craze – again not sure it really fits as a “best restaurant”
  14. Antico Pizza Napoletana – Someone can’t count or rank or something because OBVIOUSLY this should be in the top 5. (Allie Says: and possibly numero uno.)
  15. Paolo’s Gelato
  16. Aria – so 2001.
  17. Souper Jenny – I love SJ so this would probably find its way to my top 20 and again goes with could be on the cover of Southern Living theme; I picture bowls of soup surrounded by cornucopias. (Allie Says: I agree, it definitely should be in Top 20. Also, I had a grilled cheese there back in August that ranks in my top 5 sandwich experiences of all time…so…just sayin‘.)
  18. Sotto Sotto – this one can stay appropriately at 18.
  19. Sweet Auburn Bread Company – again the cover theme. I had to google this one – apparently Bill Clinton went there? Sticking with the 90s theme…
  20. SweetWater Brewing Company – I was unaware they served food?

Well, there you have it. I’m with K – wtf is this list?! It makes no sense. I’m not sure the person who wrote this has been to Atlanta, like, ever – even if they spent just 20 minutes browsing YELP they would know how erroneous 3/4 of this selection is. Ru Sans?! They may as well have put Papa John’s and Applebee’s on this thing. Someone needs to write the Editor.

Also, I usually take the time to hyperlink the restaurants, but this list seemed unworthy of such an arduous task. Sorry I’m not sorry.

TO TUESDAY.

Sister: it feels like hot breath outside.

Ross: It tastes like feet!

Joey: I like it.

Ross: Are you kidding?

Joey: What’s not to like? Custard? Good. Jam? Good. Meat? Gooooood.

-The One Where Ross Got High


Posted in Food & Drink, Really? | Tagged: , , , , | 5 Comments »

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