fight the fright

Atlanta people: listen up.

Non-Atlanta people: book yourselves a flight here. Then listen up.

Unusually bossy, I am. But for good reason.

Last night I had the sheer pleasure of dining at my very first underground supper club, Porkman's Table.

The chef (and financial advisor by day), Ben Portman, hosts weekly dinners with the hope of "fighting the fright of Sunday night." 

You're intrigued, right? As was I.

The first step is to sign up for the mailing list. After you sign up, you'll receive an email mid-week with the menu. The first ten people to reply (from a mailing list of 400+), earn a spot at the table via a cryptic email: "You are in. Keep your eyes peeled for an email with details and directions." A few days later, you receive a follow up with the time and location, and that you will be greeted with a drink and a snack. Who will be there? What to expect? Completely blind. It's an adventure at its finest. 

In other words, it's my jam.

The food was some of the best I've ever had. There was leek bread pudding, herb and truffle stuffed hen, fennel ice cream -- and course after course of incredible combinations of ingredients I wouldn't dream of mixing. I felt like I'd walked into Top Chef's home, just down the street from my own. 

I don't claim to be a foodie, and, while obviously blown away by the food, my real weakness is ambiance. I'm such a sucker for a good vibe that I often don't realize I didn't actually enjoy my meal that much. I can't tell you what I ate, but wasn't the lighting great!? And the chalk board on the wall! And the bathrooms! 

Now, last night, I remember the food. It was unreal. But, true to form, the vibe was what filled me up the most. Melissa and I walked in knowing no one. We sat with seven strangers (plus one girl I just happened to know). We started the evening knowing nothing about the night, but by the end we were talking about weddings, celebrating a birthday and laughing at inside jokes from the prior course. It was the kind of natural intimacy that comes only when no one has stake in the conversation. We will likely never see one another again. We did not need to impress one another. We were just there to enjoy the experience. The conversation was relaxed, real and life-giving. It was the absolute perfect way to end the weekend, before slipping back into reality.

If you haven't already, sign up for the mailing list, and get your trigger finger ready. Your speed will be greatly rewarded come Sunday night.

stay humble

When it comes to airline travel, Courtney and I are both a little lot bit ridiculous. We run through the airport more often than we walk. We're no strangers to having our names last called over the intercom. And we're notoriously the final passengers to board the plane.
 

(And to the rest of our family: I can feel ye cautious travelers cringing right now.)

 

 

I cannot count the number of times we've been driving to the airport in Virginia, Denver, Houston or Atlanta and one of us has looked at the other and said: "Are we going to miss our flight?"

And then the other of us looked at the clock and laughed, saying: "No! We're not going to miss our flight."

{meanwhile thinking: we might miss our flight}

We are overconfident to a fault. We operate as if we are above the law in the one place on earth that absolutely no one operates above the law. The plane would not leave without us!
 

One time, we were at security a few minutes ahead of schedule and there were two lines. Courtney had to go in the longer line, but I had the option of either one. So, I obviously chose the longer line so we could stay together longer. I had eight extra minutes. Puhlenty of time!

 

 

Fast forward 22 minutes and what was I doing? That's right. Giving Courtney the quickest hug in America and sprinting to my gate, sundress, sandals and all.

 

 

Last week, though, I received a text from Court that rocked my world. It went a little something like this:

And I say it again. What!

 

When I called her I needed to know every detail: What exactly happened? So the airplane actually just took off without you? Like it left? Even though you weren't on it? It just left?

 

 

Turns out, even we, with our false sense of security when it comes to ETDs, can be left behind. And let us be your cautionary tale: stay humble everybody. Ain't nobody operating above the law - on the plane or off it.

 

 

Happy Friday :)

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mooore adventuring

I'm trying to think about how to tell you what I'm about to tell you in a clever way. And the amount of times that I have shared this news is making me dig deep into the realms of my brain to get creative.

So here we go.

In high school, I went through this phase where I thought it was really funny to tell cow jokes. I don't know why I thought it was funny. But I swear I snagged my high school boyfriend with them. He took me to the moo-vies, even.

(Yes. They were that bad. Like Colonel Moo-stard and moo-chas gracias caliber. All the time.)

So today, brought to you by Whitney Circa 2004, I ask you what a cow says when he finds out his house sold?

That's right. We're moo-ving.

Moving! 

Which means, yes, so far in 2013, we have a post about moving as a quarterly feature. January and April. But this is it. For real, for real, for real.  This is the last time we're moving for a long time.

When we moved in to our current place, we knew it was a possibility that the house might sell, but the market wasn't that good and the rent was low and the location was amazing and our luck certainly had to be up after living with rats. 

Right?

But, alas, someone has decided they want our abode as their abode and they don't want to rent it anymore. I thought about lobbying for these newlyweds to let Mel and me continue to live in two of the four bedrooms this house offers, but it didn't exactly scream logical.

So, in just three weeks time, we'll be on the move again. You might think I'd be worried that I have absolutely no idea where I'm going. But I'm oddly relaxed...

In the meantime, I've made a real short Greenwood Ave. bucket list, which includes: dinner at Panita Thai and to score an invitation to a porch party at our neighbors' house. They live on the corner of Highland and Greenwood in this hugely huge house with two wraparound porches and they're always having so much fun out there. 

Cross your fingers for good weather this weekend so I can deliver them some baked goods with a cow joke and a smile and really set the mooood right.

{I won't do that. Cookies. No cows. Promise}

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say it out loud

Yesterday, I got myself in just a teensy bit of trouble with some people I love, because, apparently, I told very few people about planning to go to Africa. I'd like to say this is atypical for me, but I'd be lying. I have a tendency to sit on my plans: working out every single detail, every last step, before sharing them. Just to ensure they're really going to happen. And then BAM: the big reveal.

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Back up to a few months ago, when my friend, Maggie, was giving me advice on a situation. I reaaaallly wanted something to come to fruition and she said: If you really want it to happen, say it out loud.

At the time, I wasn't exactly sure what she meant by it. Why did that make a difference? Was this some sort of Thoughts from the Universe advice?

But then, yesterday, it clicked for me. Saying it out loud is letting go of just a bit of control and admitting that you hope something will happen. You really want it to. But you're not quite sure yet if it will. Saying it out loud is being vulnerable. It's letting people in to your space before everything is aligned - before all of your ducks are in a row.

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It's saying: I trust you enough to tell you I'd like for this to happen, but if I can't work it out, I know you won't hold it against me.  And it's being confident enough to know that even if it doesn't work out, the people you love will keep on loving you. Not matter what continent you're on.

And from where I'm sitting, having the people I love by my side sounds a whole lot better than having all my ducks in a row, any day of the week.

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Sidenote: Thank you so much for everyone who has donated to my trip! I am so grateful and excited. It's really happening, now! :)