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

We’ve officially hit BLOG POST #1000!  Let’s hear it for quadruple digits! 

Thanks SOOOO much for reading us + for all the support.  We love y’all for it! 

what! what! what!

Here’s to 1000 more!

xx, L

The Q+DD would like to direct your attention to a story we recently heard about a family in need (friends of friends):

On June 24th of this year, Aimee Bruner and Mishi Methven thought their 2.5 year-old daughter, Stella, had an ear infection.  24 hours later she was diagnosed with Diffuse Pontine Gliomas, a brain cancer commonly diagnosed in children that has a 0% survival rate. 

Today, Stella is palliative and has perhaps a few months left to live.  She is at home surrounded by the love of her two moms and newborn brother.  She has difficulty talking, walking, sitting up unassisted, feeding herself, and swallowing.  Her condition is declining daily.  Since the diagnosis, both Aimee and Mishi have stopped working to spend quality time with Stella while she’s here.

aimee, stella + mishi

Aside from being an unbelievable tragedy, the family is facing a massive financial hardship. 

The Stella Joy Quilt Project was created to raise financial support and emotional comfort for Stella’s family during this incredibly difficult time in their lives.  Initiated by friends and loved ones, the project gives everyone deeply touched by Stella’s story a channel to reach out and help.  All financial contributions will be used to cover the family’s living expenses as they grieve Stella and care for their newborn.  The outpouring of emotional support will be used to inspire and create a quilt.  A tapestry of kindness, generosity, love and goodwill, the quilt will be a living memory of Stella and the inextinguishable joy she illuminated while she was here.

Please visit Stella’s site here: Stella Bruner Methven
Consider sending support here: The Stella Joy Quilt Project

‘Tis the season, after all.

xx, L

…I’d like to DAZZLE you with my extensive collection of pets in Halloween costumes. 

Enjoy.

Have fun today, everyone!  Happy, happy! 

xx, L

So, as you know, this weekend Lindsay went to DC.

As expected she saw lots of DC friends including

Anjali and Dana

and Sir Soren

PRESH!

What she didn’t know she’d be seeing was:

A ’62 Bentley

Kevin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND he put a ring on it!  The proposal happened at the Senate Reflecting Pool

To drinks at Poste Brasserie

To dinner and dessert at Central Michel Richard

It was a picture-perfect night!

Best wishes for an amazing, wonderful, magical, laughter-filled life, Lindsay and Kevin!

I could NOT BE HAPPIER!  You’re perfect and I just love you both.

xx, L

P.S. I am SURE special thanks go to DC residents and extra special friends Anjali and Captain Kurt!

Just ask Greg!  We’re a lot to keep up with…

Slick and I started dating shortly before LK and I created the Q+DD.  He loved the idea and fully supported us…

"wait - what??"

Slick was in a pickle.  He wanted to be part of the Q+DD, but he didn’t want his every move tracked and posted on the Internets.  Naturally, LK and I (excessive Facebook, Twitter + Foursquare users) had difficulty comprehending Slick’s privacy concerns, but we had to respect his wishes.

After much deliberation, we reached a compromise.  We would use pictures of him, but under the pseudonym: Slick.  He was down with it.

For the past two years + some change, Slick has been a regular on the blog. 

Enjoying fancy meals…

medieval times

Entertaining the locals…

chateau elan

Kissing babies…

fernbank museum of natural history

…so that he could support us while also feeling like he maintained some privacy + could keep it professional at work, etc. 

UNTIL NOW. 

Slick is tired of his alias.  He’s grown weary of people referring to him as “Slick” in public settings.  He’s now fully embraced his social media presence (+ trusts that we are not going to use our blog-writing-powers to humiliate him) and he is ready to let everyone know who he REALLY is!

"i'm ready, world!"

Slick, dear readers, is in fact KEVIN (Kev for short)!

KEVIN.  KEVIN.  KEVIN.  Finally!!

So, there you go.  Thanks for being such a great sport, Kev!

We heart you, babe. 

xx, L

Dearest readers, we would be SO incredibly grateful for your vote this year so that we might retain our title as Reader’s Choice for Atlanta’s Best Blog/Bloggers!

(Check it HERE and HERE for last years’ wins and click HERE to access this year’s survey!)

We were seriously honored + flattered to have won last year and we hope that our reign has been a good one. 

You know what they say…one good turn deserves another and we’re screaming: One more term! One more term!

(we even got fancy for the occasion)

…we want to grab that net and catch that beautiful butterfly, pals!

Please vote for us by clicking here:

http://bit.ly/VoteQDD

Best Local Bloggers: Lindsay Roberts + Lauren Kraselsky
Best Local Blog: “The Quick + Dirty Dirty” or “Q+DD”

You have to vote for 5 things in order for your ballot to count.  If you need help figuring out what to vote for…please feel free to ask us.  We have LOTS of opinions on every category!  (What the hey? You could even vote for us for local personalities to follow on Twitter: @LaurenKAtlanta and @LindsayWhat44 that takes care of 3 right there…)

please vote! we don't take ourselves too seriously...but we take this survey V.E.R.Y. seriously!

But listen, don’t do it just because we told you to.  We want you to make an educated decision before casting your vote.  Please review our political platform below to know our stance on ALL the important issues.

As a reminder, L+L are:

FOR: Happy hour, excessive use of exclamation points for emphasis, feminism and chivalry, anything from the 1980’s, Mexican food, enormous sunglasses, mussels and muscles, beer-related competitive gaming, Peace on Earth, bubble baths, 3-day weekends, puppies, costume parties, costumes and parties independently, hair products, brunch cocktails, Texas, anything neon, renewable energy, being awesome, human rights, strategic accessorizing, reducing the escalating price of movie tickets, fedoras, mandatory workday nap time, silly moustaches, hot vampires, and your mom.

AGAINST: Alarm clocks, being put on hold, giraffe purses, camping, humidity, cats, children carrying guns, Canada, denim on denim, serious moustaches, Atlantans referring to queso as “cheese dip,” man-sandals, and of course, any sandals worn with socks.

UNDECIDED: Texting, parking vehicles on Cheshire Bridge, eating club sandwiches when you have NOT been invited to the club (note: we are generally FOR club sandwiches and frilly toothpicks), “free” yoga classes, pirates v. ninjas, belly dancing, and where to go for dinner most nights…

(So basically, if you hate man-sandals + love your mom and being awesome…the choice is clear.  VOTE FOR US!)

Thanks…and…we love you.  We really do!

xx, L+L

leon's full service - decatur

It has been a serious while since I last stuffed my face dined at Leon’s + I decided to rectify that with colleagues yesterday evening.  SOOOO glad I did! 

Witness our gluttonous feast:

(the carnage)

We ate e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.gggggggg.  Bacon in a glass; peppdews stuffed with goat cheese; prince edward island mussels with witbier + lemongrass broth; the pig smorgas with melted gruyere grand cru, cherry jam + pineapple on toast (my personal fav.); cornmeal fried calamari; maroon-colored beet hummus with feta; charcuterie + cheese plates; sundried tomato grilled flatbread with smoked mozzarella; scallops; pork chops; a truly impressive amount of pub fries + delicious dipping sauces; etc, etc. etc… 

We weren’t messing around, y’all. 

The food was so mouth-wateringly amazing, and honestly, better than my last two experiences there – which were still great but not fabulously excellent.  Last night was fabulously excellent.

However, one of my favorite of our orders was actually not food at all, but rather it was part of their creative summer cocktail list.  Rosh selected The Wasp as her drink of choice for the evening.  (And, I almost finished it for her.)  This drink is spectacular, guys.

the wasp

The Wasp:  Redemption rye whisky, Georgia peach honey, lemon juice, salt + pepper w/ a big fancy ice cube in the middle.  Try it!  Try it!

And, PLEASE make a point to visit Decatur more often if you’re stuck in Midtown, Buckhead, Brookhaven, etc., like I’ve been.  It’s really not that far out of the way or difficult to get to.  Leon’s should be your first stop.  (But, again, this is v. old news…)

xx, L

Leon’s Full Service
131 E. Ponce de Leon Ave.
Decatur, GA  30030
404.687.0500
www.leonsfullservice.com

(Check it HERE and HERE for last years’ wins and click HERE to access this year’s survey!)

We were SO honored and flattered to have won last year and we hope that our reign has been a good one.

You know what they say…one good turn deserves another and we’re screaming…. one more term! one more term!

…we want to grab that net and catch that beautiful butterfly, pals!

Lauren: What do you like better? Wedding Season or The Q+DD?
Lindsay: (raises hand)
Lauren: Miss Roberts?
Lindsay: Yes, um, the answer would be, um, The Q+DD?
Lauren: Bingo.

Please vote for us by clicking here:

http://bit.ly/VoteQDD

Best Local Bloggers: Lindsay Roberts + Lauren Kraselsky
Best Local Blog: “The Quick + Dirty Dirty” or “Q+DD”

You have to vote for 5 things in order for your ballot to count. If you need help figuring out what to vote for…please feel free to ask us. We have LOTS of opinions on every category! (What the hey? You could even vote for us for local personalities to follow on Twitter! @LaurenKAtlanta and @LindsayWhat44 that takes care of 3 right there!)

But listen, don’t do it just because we told you to. We want you to make an educated decision before casting your vote. Please review our political platform below to know our stance on ALL the important issues.

As a reminder, L+L are:

FOR: Happy hour, excessive use of exclamation points for emphasis, feminism and chivalry, anything from the 1980’s, Mexican food, enormous sunglasses, mussels and muscles, beer-related competitive gaming, Peace on Earth, bubble baths, 3-day weekends, puppies, costume parties, costumes and parties independently, hair products, brunch cocktails, Texas, anything neon, renewable energy, being awesome, human rights, strategic accessorizing, reducing the escalating price of movie tickets, fedoras, mandatory workday nap time, silly moustaches, hot vampires, and your mom.

AGAINST: Alarm clocks, being put on hold, giraffe purses, camping, humidity, cats, children carrying guns, Canada, denim on denim, serious moustaches, Atlantans referring to queso as “cheese dip,” man-sandals, and of course, any sandals worn with socks.

UNDECIDED: Texting, parking vehicles on Cheshire Bridge, eating club sandwiches when you have NOT been invited to the club (note: we are generally FOR club sandwiches and frilly toothpicks), “free” yoga classes, pirates v. ninjas, belly dancing, and where to go for dinner most nights…

(So basically, if you hate man-sandals and love your mom and being awesome…the choice is clear. VOTE FOR US!)

Oh, and while we’re shamelessly self-promoting, please “Like” us on Facebook by clicking here. Thanks! (if each of you had a “like” button, you better believe we’d click it!)

Thanks…and…we love you. We do.


xx, L + L

And, we seriously heart Pura Vida.  It was our favorite Q+DD happy hour yet!!

We’d like to extend a very special thanks to Hector + Leslie Santiago for embracing all the Q+DD excitement and allowing us to invade their incredible restaurant for the evening!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Q+DD + the Santiagos

An excellent time was had by all.

Slick + Greg…

…and lots of our amazing friends + readers!  Thank you all so much for your support!

Another big THANK YOU to Pura Vida bartender extraordinaire, Paul Calvert, who did a phenomenal job taking care of our thirsty Q+DD happy hour-ers!  You rock, Paul.  We loved the shout out on the cocktail menu, too!  The best.

Finally…DID YOU GET ONE OR WHAT?!

the Q+DD has koozie FEVER!

They’re the hottest summer fashion accessory for your beverages.  Just look:

Drinks just don’t get sexier than that… 

Thanks again for celebrating with us last night + toasting to many more Q+DD-filled years to come! 

xx, L