Weekend recap

This past weekend, I had the time of my life with Phillip and Irene. It's a given that we will have a LOT of fun whenever we are together....our visits always include hysterical laughter, food, and wine. (This time around did not include wine...as we ran out of time and never made it to the bottle chilling in the fridge....next time!)  I've known Phillip since I was 14, and Irene since I was 19. I actually introduced the two of them, and they are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary on August 31st! We attended their destination wedding in Greece (we actually surprised them by showing up), and they've been a huge part of our lives, even though we don't get to spend as much time together as we would like to due to us living in Atlanta and them in Brooklyn. 

Phillip and Irene arrived on Thursday night, and Emily graciously came over to sit on the couch while Lily slept so I could get to the airport without having to wake her. When we got back, we all stayed up entirely too late catching up since the last time we saw each other was in October. I think we went to bed around 1 AM....haha. 

Of course, since Irene is Greek, she came bearing gifts. She brought this adorable Baby Gap dress for Lily, and raspberry swirl cheesecake from Juniors. (yes, the same cheesecake at Carolyn's bridal shower) I love butterflies, and the dress is actually 12-18 month size and fits Lily. The straps are elasticized, as is the bodice, so I am pretty sure she'll be able to wear this as a tunic when she's a toddler after it's too short to wear as a dress. It was awesome to introduce Lily to two of my dearest friends, and I think it's safe to say that they hit it  off! Irene and Phillip will make amazing parents in the future, and it was fun to see them practice with Lily. Irene had some experience taking care of her little brother when she was young, but it's been a little while since she's practiced with a baby. They successfully dressed her in her pajamas and sleep sack one evening, and Irene also gave her a bath too. I told them not to worry about doing anything perfectly - the goal was not to maim the child, and it was all good. ;)

Friday morning, we all headed to Highland Bakery for brunch at 11:30 (Lily sweetly let us sleep until 11 after waking at 8:30 to nurse and promptly going back to sleep!) and enjoyed a wide variety of things....Phillip and Irene are fellow foodies, so we usually order up a bunch of different dishes and all share when we go out. We also tend to eat a lot of delicious food wherever we are - we cook it, we buy it, etc. It always works out quite well! Ethan had to head off to work, and so did I - but they were also telecommuting at their jobs on Friday. Good thing I have a job....Lily was pretty distracting for them with her adorable cuteness. When I got home from work, we were all still pretty full from brunch so we just made do with sandwiches and settled in to watch an Adam Sandler movie. Irene and I were dying laughing, but Phillip had fallen asleep as soon as the movie was on, so he missed out. Oh well!

On Saturday, we walked to the Kirkwood Spring Fling and had some fun looking around at various vendors and food trucks. One of Atlanta's popular institutions is King of Pops, which makes gourmet handmade popsicles in yummy flavors. We picked up a couple of chocolate sea salt ones. There was also fun music playing, and Lily actually took a nap in her stroller while we walked around. 

One of the vendors at the festival had these adorable pillowcase dresses that I loved, but want to wait until Lily is a toddler to purchase. Plus, I bet my mom and/or grandmother can figure out how to make them with fabric and ribbon that I and/or Lily pick out, which would make them even more special! I don't think it will take too much convincing.... Or I could ::gulp:: figure out how to make them myself....but I don't really see that happening. Haha. Just being honest with the world. Arts and crafts are not my forte. I much prefer digital medium for creativity, thank you very much. At least I know what I'm doing with a computer!  I also found the perfect wall art to commemorate Lily's birth at another vendor booth and will be ordering it soon for our home. Here's an example with another baby's information. Completely perfect, and is our style. The colors will be customized for our home as well. 

After the festival, we went to the DeKalb Farmer's Market to pick up some ingredients for a Bobby Flay mojo pork tenderloin dry rub and sauce recipe that Phillip wanted to try. Since there are no Chick-Fil-A's in New York City anymore (the secret NYU one closed), we stopped in Decatur so they could get their CFA fix. I also stopped by Piece of Cake bakery and picked up a piece of strawberry cake and a piece of key lime cake for dessert later that evening. I love cake, and always have to have ice cream with my cake....but not with cake from Piece of Cake....it's just THAT good. Especially their strawberry. Too bad it's only offered seasonally. :( When we arrived home, Phillip and Irene took over the kitchen and started dinner prep while I took care of Lily. After I had her down for the night, they were outside grilling, so I whipped up a batch of banana muffins for breakfast that day. We had a really late dinner that night, but it was amazing.... Phillip knows how to grill a pork tenderloin so it's literally like BUTTER, and we had grilled swiss chard and rice with it. The cake for dessert was awesome too....and we all managed to go to bed at 11:30 this time around. 

Sunday morning was a lazy morning, and we headed out to Atlantic Station to visit The Atlanta Nosh. Emily had told me about it after attending it last weekend with her boyfriend, Adam.  I knew it would be perfect for us to visit. I was totally right. We met up with Emily, Adam, Aneli, and her sister Lily (along with Emily and Aneli's puppies!). The Atlanta Nosh is a Sunday street market with really unique food vendors that come together to offer their creations to the public. You can find wild things like Ethiopian chocolate soup and bacon nutella ice cream. Servings range from $1-5, and we pretty much tried most everything! Our favorites were the watermelon gazpacho, shrimp stuffed beignets with mango salsa, steamed pork buns, and banana pudding ice cream. Don't worry - we shared, so it was like 2 bites per person, but it was soooo much fun. If you're in Atlanta or visiting on the weekend, take some cash and go to Atlantic Station on Sunday between 12-3 to take part in this awesome culinary event. You won't regret it! 

Uncle Phillip, Aunt Irene, and Lily

Later that afternoon we decided to go swimming, and we were in the pool for all of 10 minutes before a thunderstorm rolled in. That thunderstorm was a CRAZY good old fashioned Southern one, complete with English pea sized hail. There was a huge and gorgeous rainbow at the end though. 

Aneli generously offered to babysit Sunday evening, and arrived at 8 so that Lily could stay on her sleep schedule. I took Phillip and Irene to the airport to catch their flight home. :( Every time we are together, it never feels like quite enough time. I'm so grateful for the time that we did have together though....there is nothing like having amazing friends who are there for you through the thick and thin. I'm so fortunate and blessed to have more than one of those friends in my life! Family is not just those you are directly related to, but also includes those you choose. You guys know who you are. Know that I love you and am so thankful you're in my life. 

Phillip and Irene....don't stay away for too long! See you guys in the fall when we bring Lily up for her first trip to New York!