My love affair with Atlanta

I have to say, I just LOVE living in Atlanta! The city is beautiful, the people are so nice (true "southern hospitality" DOES exist!), and there always seems to be something to do. Seriously, every time I open my email and read one of the 153 Atlanta newsletters and discount sites I've signed up for, they are pushing some sort of event, exhibit or festival. Don't even get me started on the festivals. There is one every weekend. Especially in the Fall, this city just seems to love their festivals. No complaints here! We had a few back in Tampa but most of the time they were hot, crowded and overpriced. There are also farmers markets everywhere and one just happens to be across the street from our place every Saturday morning. I have yet to check out the one at Piedmont Park, but I heard it's great! Maybe this weekend...

Anyway, another thing there seems to be plenty of here are parks, including my beloved Piedmont Park. Attached to Piedmont Park is the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. We've only been there once before. Back in December, we went at night for their Holiday Lights display (which was beautiful!). We had yet to see it during the day, so we strolled through last Saturday afternoon. Here are a few pics from our visit. My favorite are the bumble bees. Oh my gracious are the bees here huge!! I risked getting close enough for the sake of good shots, and it was totally worth it. Surprisingly, I ended up with no bee stings. Just some really cool pics. 

As Summer Ends...

In my previous post, by "last week" I really meant "a month and a half later." ;) I joined my family on our annual trip to Sanibel Island, FL at the end of July. We've been going since I was really little. Unfortunately, once I hit college, I wasn't able to make it a regular thing. Between summer classes and jobs, I was sometimes able to squeeze in a few days at the most (they go for a week) and there were a few years when I had to skip it entirely (and then I start to question why I never stuck with my original plan to become a theater teacher. Summer vacation in my 30s? Yes, please!). Anyway, it's a pretty relaxed week - there's not much to do on the island and we've been going there for so long that the most exciting thing to explore is a new shop that might have opened up since the previous summer. It's mostly just beach time, bike riding and making sure to enjoy fudge from their general store (yep, that's what it's called). They also have a little village that gives a glimpse into what life was like on the island from the late 1800s to the 1940s, with actual structures and items from back in the day.

Before I get to the pics, I will explain the hiatus. We are now Atlanta residents!! Long story short, my husband was offered a project up here months ago and, like everything else in the construction world, things get delayed for one reason or another. Well, I am happy to say that we are finally here and so far, so good! I'm still on the job hunt, but there is a lot of opportunity up here, so I'm confident that I will find something. My next venture is to hit up Piedmont Park and the Botanical Gardens and take some pics there. I absolutely LOVE both of those places and you bet that I'll be going nuts in about a month once the leaves start to change (we actually get all 4 seasons up here! Yay!!). In the meantime, enjoy these pics as summer comes to an end.

This is why I don't swim in lakes in Florida...

Out in Captiva (the neighboring part of the island), there is this super old cemetery from the 1800s. There are a few new gravestones from recent deaths, but the majority of them are really, really old. Some of them, you can't even read the tombstone anymore. 

This cracked me up. I have a KitchenAid mixer that I am obsessed with since I love to bake. It's come a long way since this!