one

In one year you can fly around the world 13 times. You can form 17 new habits. You could walk (and boat) from Atlanta to Sydney, and still have 156 days left to vacation (according to Google maps). Or, you could be me, and be completely shocked that you’d already spent a year in Atlanta.

Where did it go? In some ways it feels like I just packed up my car, and in others, it feels like it has been so long. So many things in my life have changed – I have new friends, and yet somehow feel closer than ever to my oldie goldies, I said goodbye to my first job and started a new one, I decorated my first apartment and am getting ready to pack up and move to my second. I had my first Christmas tree, found my own dry cleaners, got lost about 1,000 times…

Ah! It’s crazy. And although I would certainly never ever give up the last year, because I’ve learned so much, grown a lot, cried a little, laughed a ton, I’m excited for the second one to begin. I feel much more grounded in my life here. I’m less reliant on others and am so excited to see what this city has to offer, now that I’m not longer a total newbie.

Thank you to everyone who has made my first year in Atlanta wonderful. I never would have understood all the hundreds of Peachtrees without you guys.


image via

brekkie

I've often heard cooking described as an art, but a recent endeavor of mine proves otherwise. Due to a lifelong quest to find the perfect on the go breakfast, I made egg and spinach quiche cups.

I thought they'd look like this:
But they actually turned out like this:
Although they were less than beautiful, they were pretty tasty. They're only 75 calories, and super easy to make (recipe!). I added extra cheese because, well, obviously, and also added jalapenos because I'm having a love affair with them, as well as lots of Cayenne. I think the trouble was that I didn't drain the spinach well enough and too much water overflowed. Also, the suggested 10 ounces of spinach was too much. I'd half it.

And to redeem myself from this disaster, Hannah and I made pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes, and although the pumpkins on top would certainly be abstract art, they made us proud:

the festivities begin

I can't safely say that Halloween is my favorite holiday because (1) almost every holiday is my favorite while I'm living it and (2) my birthday is my real favorite one. However, it's near the top of the list.

Two years ago I got the swine flu (for real) the morning of Halloween, and last year I was at a wedding, which means I have not celebrated Halloween in two (two!) years. It's been really hard on me.

Fortunately this year I am lucky enough to get to celebrate it a couple of times, starting this weekend. I went to my friend Phi's birthday party and was pretty much in a state of bliss all night. The costumes were seriously legit.

Almost as blatant as my obsession with Halloween is my recent obsession with Pan Am. Man oh man. I am in love with it beyond belief, so this year I decided I'd be a stewardess for Halloween. I'd say it was a success, especially because my friend Casey decided to be an airplane at the last minute. My only regret from the party is we didn't have the good sense for me to try to get into her costume. It could have been really special.
After the party, the weekend continued with lots of happiness, including Party Atlanta, the fall event for the charity I'm part of, a batch of chili in my brand new stockpot (yaay!) and a trip to the Counter.
I hope you all had wonderful weekends, too! Happy Tuesday!