adios, cullens!

…and I’m fully on the ZOMBIE TRAIN.  Kev + I have been Netfix-ing The Walking Dead, and I am totally, 100%, completely, helplessly addicted to it!

Are y’all watching?  Are y’all watching?

I think it’s the most addictive show on TV since 24 (only 24 seasons 1 – 3 to be exact), and I. can’t. peel. myself. away.  All zombies all the time.  They are nasty, they eat your brains, and they are AWESOME!  The Walking Dead is filmed in/ takes place in Atlanta (represent y’all), which is just icing on the cake.  The cast is pretty bomb, too.

the walking dead line up

What the heck is The Walking Dead??  Here’s a little wiki info for ya:

The Walking Dead is an American post-apocalyptic television series based on a comic book of the same name.

The series stars Andrew Lincoln as Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Grimes who wakes up after being in a coma to find the world dominated by zombies or “walkers.”  He sets out to find his family and other survivors along the way.  The Walking Dead premiered in 2010 on AMC to wide acclaim, and was nominated for several awards, including the “Best Television Series Drama” at the 68th Golden Globe Awards.  Based on its reception, AMC renewed the series for a second and third season.

This Sunday night is the season 2 finale, sooooooo if I’ve convinced you to start watching it, please start with season 1 on Netfix.  Do not watch Sunday.  It won’t make sense.  But, when you’re all caught up + as addicted as I am, you’ll probably want to check out the weekly viewing party at The Albert in Inman Park.  Info below:

So cool.  Wishing you all happy zombie-watching!  The Walking Dead is where IT’S AT.

xx, L

WHAT'LL YA HAVE?!?!

The Varsity sits on more than two acres and can accommodate 600 cars and over eight hundred people inside.  On Georgia Tech football game days, up to 30,000 people visit the restaurant.  The Varsity sells more than two miles of hot dogs daily, a ton of onion rings, 2500 pounds of fresh cut potatoes, 5000 homemade fried pies, and 300 gallons of chili, all of which are made from scratch each day.  The downtown Varsity is also the world’s largest single outlet for Coca-Cola.  Fun fact for ya…

Most menu items at The Varsity are under $2.75, so we could keep it supa-casual for everyone (which Kev loved), while I still got to plan a party (which obv. I loved)!

Here’s another peek inside:

I strongly encouraged everyone to sport the traditional Varsity hat.

And, we all sat down to celebrate with the birthday boy!  (I went a little crazy in the toy section at Party City…)

Kev got balloons.

A Superman cake.  (My favorite is still that some kid walked by the cake table and goes, “Woooah!  That guy is turning 29!!!”)

Buddies.

Girl buddies.

Chili cheese fries + onion rings.

And, a few chili cheese dogs.  Mmmmmmm…  Man, were they good!

Some of us ordered up The Varsity’s famous frosted oranges.

behold!

But, none of us enjoyed them quite as much as little Avery! 

Kev ended up having a really fun + memorable birthday!

Don’t forget about The Varsity.  It’s been y.e.a.r.s. since I’ve eaten there, but it’s totally worth the visit + every, single, chili-covered calorie!  This Atlanta staple is an excellent place for a pre-sporting event bite, a lunch destination for tourists, and birthday parties for kids of all ages!

“What’ll ya have?  What’ll ya have?  What’ll ya have???”  Um, EVERYTHING.

xx, L

The Varsity
61 North Avenue
Atlanta, GA  30308
404.881.1706
www.thevarsity.com

I’ve said it once; I’ll say it again…  St. Patty’s Day is the greatest holiday all year long!  It’s science, actually.  You don’t have to celebrate it with your family – so no potential arguments.  Everyone’s drunk.  Again, everyone’s drunk.  You get to deck yourself out in GREEN (which is a pretty flattering color on most people – also science).  And, pinching is socially acceptable.  Y’all admit it: It’s a solid way to celebrate a holiday.

I love St. Pat’s so much I once named a dog, “Guinness.”  Fact.

Anyway, this year Kev and I are taking our St. Patty’s Day party on the road to the Ritz Lodge at Lake Oconee.  We may be far away from a lot of the green debauchery, but we are still sure to celebrate!

ritz at lake oconee

If we were going to be in town, though, we’d absolutely, 100%, without a doubt, be at Fado Irish Pub + Restaurant for their annual St. Patty’s party!

Fado Irish Pub & Restaurant was the first Irish pub to be designed and constructed in Ireland and shipped and installed in Atlanta.  It is distinguished by its genuine Irish hospitality, the quality of its pints + authentic Irish food and fun.

Fado is hosting the city’s largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration!  On Saturday, March 17, Fado will open at 7:00 a.m., and rugby fans will enjoy non-stop live action including Ireland vs. England in the exciting final match of the RBS 6 Nations Rugby tournament.  There will be a $10 cover charge starting at 8:00 a.m., which grants fans access to a viewing area that has been sectioned off for the game.  The rest of Fado is open with no cover charge for guests until noon.

At noon, the Buckhead pub will open its doors to the street festival that includes beer tents, bagpipers and Irish dancers along with live music throughout the day and night!  Pre-sale tickets are available for $10 online (these sold out fast last year!), and tickets will also be sold for $15 at the door. 

Astral Freaks (Van Morrison cover band), Desire (Atlanta’s own U2 cover band), and Justin will all perform live for the crowd outside the pub, and a DJ will be inside spinning tracks for inside partygoers.  Since St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Saturday this year, partygoers can start early and stay out late.  It’s a full day session that the pub likes to call a “Paddython!”

Fado will also be hosting exciting events leading up to the St. Patrick’s day festival, and interested guests can get more information by visiting the pub’s online event schedule.

Fado serves a menu of authentic Irish food and beverages including corned beef and cabbage, traditional Irish boxty and fish n’ chips, Guinness, Harp, Smithwicks, Bailey’s Irish Cream, proper Irish coffees, and a wide selection of Irish whiskeys.  Yummmmm.

So plan ahead + don’t miss out on the fun at Fado from 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 a.m on Saturday, March 17 – Sunday, March 18!  OR you may be making this face on St. Patty’s when the tickets are completely sold out…

Happy (early) St. Pat’s!  Wishing green-awesomeness to you all! 

xx, L

Fado Irish Pub + Restaurant
273 Buckhead Avenue
Atlanta, GA  30305
404.841.0066
www.fadoirishpub.com/atlanta

I heard about an event today that I think sounds really, really awesome + I want you to know about.  Check it:

12 Atlanta-based artists are invited to gather at ABV GALLERY around one table to create new work.  Everything goes up for sale at the end of the evening.  Pick up some amazing, orignial pieces at killer prices! 

The event is open to the public from 8:00 – 11:00 p.m.  Stop by to join the festivities + meet the artists!

Special Guest DJ Jake Turner + Complimentary beverages (21+ to drink).

Sponsored by: New Belgium Brewery & Sam Flax

More info here: Drink + Doodle!  So fun!

xx, L

A really radical DJ will be spinning your favorite 80′s tunes, and the bar will be pouring classic 80′s cocktails.  For $6 each, try a Long Island iced tea, Mai Tai, Blue Hawaiian or one of the new concoctions from Fadó’s winter drink menu. 

don't forget these bad boys!

Start the evening with the Atlanta Dance Marathon from 7:00-10:00 p.m.!  Join this fun-lovin’ group donning their best 80′s outfits for non-stop dancing to raise money for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. 

Cost is ONLY $15 per person + includes a pint of beer and all-you-can-eat complimentary appetizers.

yessssssss

There are few things that LK + I love more than a good 80′s party…

rock? ON!!

Sounds so super fun! 

xx, L

Fado Irish Pub + Restaurant
273 Buckhead Ave.
Atlanta, Georgia  30305
404.841.0066
http://www.fadoirishpub.com/atlanta/

Two years ago, we celebrated in Orlando at Disney for my very first visit.

Last year, we trekked out to Kansas City to watch the ball drop.  An excellent time was had.

THIS year, Kev + I are the hosts and we’re ringing in the New Year in Atlanta!  (Expectations are high.)  Sooooo, we’ve decided to celebrate with Yacht Rock at Park Tavern!

If you’ve ever seen Yacht Rock perform, you KNOW that we’re in for a great time!

And, Park Tavern is an awesome place to celebrate any holiday.  PT always throws a solid party…

NYE with Yacht Rock is an all-inclusive event.  Drinks and food are covered all night and into the wee hours of the morning.  There will be live music with Yacht Rock Revue & Atlanta’s best DJ spinning in the Piedmont Room overlooking the Midtown skyline.

Highlights include:
- Open bar: premium liquor, beer, wine and champagne
- Live music + NYE countdown with Yacht Rock Revue
- Gourmet food including hors d’ouvres, carving station, NYE specialties along with plenty of sides + salads to keep your energy up and dancing into the New Year.
- Sushi display
- Toast & get toasty with smores for dessert
- Midnight breakfast buffet including all your favorites + fresh Krispy Kreme donuts
- Photo booth
- NYE favors
- Champagne toast at midnight
- Coat check

This party is where it’s at on Saturday, so get your tickets NOW: NYE w/ Yacht Rock Revue!

***BONUS***  LOOK FOR ME AT PARK TAVERN totally rockin’ out to Yacht Rock…

…and I will give a fist pump + one of these super rad Q+DD koozies to the first three people who wish me a “HAPPY QUICK + DIRTY DIRTY NEW YEAR!”

Your drinks have never looked so fashionable…  I can’t think of a better way to toast 2012!

Q+DD koozies: so hot right now.

See y’all at Park Tavern!  Wishing a fun NYE to all! 

xx, L

1. Bagel Bash 2011

Kosher Chameleon will continue the time-honored tradition of gathering single people who, on the night before Christmas, aren’t caroling, drinking hot wassal or um… cooking a ham… for a little dancing, a little schmoozing, and of course, some bagels. 

Also featuring DJ Jazzy “Bagelsteingoldbaumschwartzberg” and lots of cash bars.

A message from your grandma: “Go!  What else are you doing?  G-d forbid you might meet someone!  Oy gavalt!”

Use promo code KraselskyBagel for $5 off your ticket!  Click HERE to get yours now.

2.  Spiral New Years’ Eve: The Kings Ball

Ring in 2012 Spiral style at the Kings Ball!  Spiral pays homage to the Big Easy at it’s annual new year’s party this year at Westin Atlanta North in Perimeter  (OTP?  No big D!) featuring:

• 6 different party areas including the Grand Ballroom
• 5.5 hours of OPEN BAR (and plenty of ‘em to avoid lines!)
• Gourmet catered buffet with carving stations, pasta, mini Spanish Wraps, a “fancy shmancy” baked potato bar, veggies and desserts
• Dance the night away with Cover Band MOBY DICK (80’s and 90’s dance music)  and then DJ Jazzy J and DJ Wats spinning a mix of 80’s, 90’s, Top 40, Hip Hop, Classic Rock till 2:30AM
• Laser Light Show  (oh yuesss?!)
• Midnight champagne toast
• Krispy Kreme donuts after midnight
• Free coat check and parking and….
• $99 Spiral hotel room rate.  No drinking and driving, kids!

Alllllll that AND $20 off your ticket with promo code LKfest.  What more could you ask for?  Click HERE to get yours now.

Happy happy, darlings!

xx, L

And I’ll be honest – until a couple of months ago, I thought Zumba was perhaps less appropriate for this blog and better suited for a feature in say… a publication like this: 

I was wrong.  Lucky for me, I had a small herd of girlfriends who persuaded me to attend a class at the brand spankin’ new LA Fitness in Town Brookhaven (which is conveniently located mere feet from my apartment door, so I had no excuse)

You guys.  It is a DANCE PARTY and full of adorable people. It’s less like this:

And more like this:

Here’s the Q+DD on Zumba: It’s a dance workout class that combines Latin-influenced music with pop songs that’s meant for all fitness levels.  You can burn 1000 calories in a single class!   

My 7:00PM Monday class at Town B is definitely more Usher than “Oye Como Va”– and definitely more cheerleader than soccer mom – but I think at least partial credit goes to the instructor, Melissa.  I am pretty much obsessed with her.  I don’t even know where to begin – she’s so cute I want to put her in my pocket.  And she SMILES the whole time.  It’s love.

Last night I took Broadway Meredith with me and pretended we were in our own little show stopping production of a dance musical.   It is the MOST fun.  (Can’t WAIT to bring Linds with me in a few weeks!)

Cabaret, Shmabaret. It's ZUMBA, baby.

BONUS: If you attend Melissa’s class on Monday 10/31 – wear all black and come prepared to do a little THRILLER.  (!!!!!!!!!)

In doing a little Zumba research, I found out that this class has been around since 2001- so I don’t know what took me so long to find it but I hope it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

The bottom line: it’s a super intense cardio workout cleverly disguised as a party and I am ALL about it.  

Obviously, I love the 7:00PM Monday class at LA Fitness Brookhaven, but check out your local LA Fitness, I think they all have a class or two on the schedule. 

You can also find a class nationwide by clicking THIS link.

Or, apparently Zumba from home!  DVDs are available HERE.

I hope you Zumba with reckless abandon. As that old cliché goes, “Dance like no one is watching.”  Seriously.  It’s way more fun that way.  

xx, L

Until now!  Scoutmob threw a Revel Party at the CfPA last night, and as soon as I found out about it I snagged two free tickets for Mrs. Casey (this chick is down for it all!) + I to join in on the fun!  Thank you, Scoutmob!

scoutmob revel party at the CfPA

We pre-puppeted at Ecco, and headed over to the CfPA a few minutes before the show to check out the Jim Henson exhibit. 

The only photo I have of the museum area is this one, which I happen to love. (I was scolded by the hipster puppet museum cop when I tried to take an iPhone photo within the exhibit…  She was intense.)  What I CAN tell you is that we saw a number of our favorite Sesame Street characters, we heard Kermit sing “The Rainbow Connection” (Kevin’s fav), and we ogled the Fraggle Rock + Labyrinth portions of the exhibit.  It was very cool.  But, it was also time to get a drink (priorities, people!), so we quickly shuffled downstairs to the bar “The Tavern of Lost Souls,” for some overpriced wine in plastic cups.

CfPA Atlanta

The downstairs area + theatre were all Halloween-ed out.  We loved! 

The stage + a sneak peek at one of the puppets:

SOOOO without further adieu, here’s the Q+DD on The Ghastly Dreadfuls (according to our friends at Creative Loafing):

“The Center for Puppetry Arts has an unflowing crypt’s worth of spooky stories composed for The Ghastly Dreadfuls, its annual anthology of comedic and scarifying short puppet shows.  Co-creators Jon Ludwig and Jason Von Hinezmeyer debuted the show in in 2006 as The Ghastly Dreadfuls: Compendium of Graveyard Tales and Other Curiosities, then revised it in 2008 as The Ghastly Dreadfuls II: Handbook of Practical Hauntings and Other Phantasmagoria.  Currently Ludwig and Von Hinezmeyer can cherry-pick their favorite tales of the lot, such as the witty, grisly “The Girl in the New Dress,” adapted from the story by Larry Letemplier, which unfolds – or maybe “unscrolls” would be a better word — on a single, seemingly endless sheet, in the style of old Coca-Cola advertisements.  You’ll recognize the music of “La Danse Macabre” by Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns, accompanying a skeleton dance worthy of Fantasia.”  Etc, etc, etc…  I don’t want to give away too much!

Y’all it was SO good!  The show was really well done – from the detailed puppets and impressive puppeteering to the creative stories and talented musicians.  It was funny, too!  I very much enjoyed it.  In my opinion, The Ghastly Dreadfuls is probably not for the novice theatre goer, but it IS for someone who is really passionate about theatre, off-beat humor +/or Halloween. 

if this photo looks blurry, you are probably drunk. stop drinking at work, readers... (JUST kidding.)

mrs. casey w/ her scoutmob moustache

I strongly suggest scheduling a date night this month to see The Ghastly Dreadfuls at the CfPA!  But do it soon because they only have performances on Wednesday – Saturday nights through October 29!

serious theatre-goers...

Still need more convincing??  Check out a behind-the-scenes preview HERE: The Ghastly Dreadfuls.

And, Happy (early) Halloween!!

xx, L

Center for Puppetry Arts
1404 Spring Street Northwest
Atlanta, GA 30309
404.873.3391
www.puppet.org

The finest chefs in Atlanta are preparing food for you to sample. The line-up currently includes:

•   Kevin Rathbun of Rathbun’s

•   Anne Quatrano of Bacchanalia

•   Shaun Doty of Yeah! Burger

•   Jay Swift of 4th and Swift

•   Hugh Acheson of Empire State South

•   Ford Fry of JCT Kitchen

•   Duane Nutter of One Flew South

•   Brian Jones of the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta

•   Joe Truex of Watershed

•   Joshua Hopkins of Abattoir

•   Ron Eyester of Rosebud

•   Scott Serpas of Serpas

•   Pano Karatassos of Buckhead Life Restaurant Group

•   Frederico Castellucci of Iberian Pig…and more to come!

 

As if that wasn’t enough, some of your favorite food trucks will also be on hand to be sure that all of your food cravings are satisfied.

 

Tours of the old Sears building will be provided during the party on a first-come first-serve basis.

Ponce City Market, a two million square-foot structure, is an adaptive reuse development that when revitalized will house a mix of retail, dining, office + residential space.  A landmark structure at the crossroads of Midtown, Poncey Highland, Old Fourth Ward + Virginia Highland, situated along the Atlanta Beltline transit corridor, Ponce City Market is perfectly positioned to become a hub among its neighboring communities, and a vibrant reflection of the diversity that makes each of those neighborhoods authentic and distinct.  It is a development borne of integrity, one that is destined to emerge as Atlanta’s next great urban experience.

This all sounds amazing, but for me The Indigo Girls performing takes the CAKE!

indigo girls

I am going to DC this weekend + will unfortunately miss PatP, but I would absolutely be there if I was going to be in town! 

Find out more about the event here: PARTY AT PONCE. 

Ticket info here: GET ‘EM WHILE THEY’RE HOT!

Party on, Atlanta. 

xx, L