I mean, I’ve been obsessed with Harry Potter and the Twilight series, and so many of my favorite shoes have to do with the supernatural (The Walking Dead, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, the list goes on…)  So, I guess I am a Fantasy geek.  Whatevs.  I’m totally entertained, at least!  

Anyway, I felt a little left out of all the commotion (and y’all know how much of a pop culture freak I am) about The Hunger Games movie coming out last weekend + I kept hearing my friends talk about how much they loved/ quickly read the book.  So naturally, I HAD to buy it. 

Ummmmm, I had no idea what I was in for!  This books is SO unbelievably addictive – I may need a support group.

(1) I’ve never read a book so fast in my life.  I haven’t been sleeping to finish it.
(2) I’m completely OBSESSED with it now!  Move over Harry Potter…
(3) I can’t wait to see the movie this weekend!!  It’s pretty much all I can think about.

Are y’all reading?  Are y’all reading??

I’m taking a two-day breather + then diving into the 2nd book in the series, Catching Fire!

May the odds be ever in your favor,

xx, L

way to go, adele!!

And, she looked STUNNING in Armani.  Watch her Grammy performance here!  She was simply perfection!

yowza!

I’m a really big fan.  And, I don’t only appreciate Adele for being an unbelievably talented artist, but also for how she has addressed negativity in the press regarding her weight.

“I’ve never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines.  I represent the majority of women and I’m very proud of that,” she said, according to the U.K. edition of Marie Claire.  “I’d lose weight if I was an actress and had to play a role where you’re supposed to be 40 pounds lighter, but weight has nothing to do with my career.  Even when I was signing [a contract], most of the industry knew if anyone ever dared say [lose weight] to me, they wouldn’t be working with me.”

Now THAT is an incredible sense of self.  A true role model.  What a beautiful, strong woman!  I think we could all learn something from Adele.  Many congratulations, lady!!   

xx, L

So, as your elder, I’d like to share a few New Year’s Resolutions (better late than never…) with y’all that LK + I thought were worth a double-read.  If you haven’t quite made your 2012 resolution(s) yet, or if you made one and have already broken it (like me…I was hoping to eliminate my Diet Coke consumption), here is a little something to think about from the Thought Catalog.

20 New Year’s Resolutions for 20-Somethings (30-Somethings count, too…)

Before you status update, Tweet, Tumble or Instagram, pause and say to yourself, “is it entirely necessary that I share this morsel of thought with my entire social network?”and if the answer is not, “yes, I absolutely must,” then step away from the Internet.

Know which candidate you’re going to vote for in the upcoming presidential election, and know why.

Enough with the 14-day juice cleanses.  If you want to lose a little weight quickly, eat less and exercise like crazy.  If you want to lose a lot of weight slowly, do whatever Jennifer Hudson did.

If you really like the person you’re hooking up with and would like them to be your boyfriend/ girlfriend, find a way to tell them, and hope for the best.  If you don’t and wouldn’t, stop.

Find a way to save approximately 300 dollars and spend it on a flight to see a friend or family member who lives far away.

Please stop liking the Kardashians, all of them.  It’s not helping anyone, least of all the Kardashians.

Spend less than or equal to the money you earn each month.

Wear clothes that fit you, especially to work.

Call someone on the phone at least once a week, and speak to him or her for at least ten minutes.

Start preparing now to get over the fact that Facebook is probably going to change again in six months.  You’re not going to deactivate your account.  You don’t know how.

Wait 30 seconds before you look up a fact you can’t remember on your phone, and try to remember it using your brain.  This is what the olden days were like.

Replace one terrible reality show you’re currently watching with one wonderful scripted show currently available on television. 

Try that food you think you don’t like but have never actually tried, unless it’s brussel sprouts.  They really don’t need any more attention.

Cut one person out of your life who you truly do not like and add one person who you truly do.  Note: not on Facebook, on Earth.

If you’re still blacking out regularly, you should stop.

Volunteer once over the next 90 days.  You’ll feel really good about it, and probably end up volunteering again over the next 275.

Tell someone who you love that you love them on a more regular basis.  To their face, not in a text.

Back up your entire online life onto an external hard drive, especially your photos.

Poop or get off the pot.  This applies to whatever thing you’re not doing that you should just sack up and do already.

And in the eternal words of Tom Haverford, “TREAT YO SELF!”

All worth at least considering…  We hope that 2012 is treating everyone really well! 

xx, L

We drove the scenic Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) from Los Angeles to Napa.  It was a trip that had been on my bucket list for a while, and we thought it was appropriate for our ENGAGEMENTMOON!  Breathtaking scenery, lots + lots of fantastic wine, and not great cell phone service.  Yes, please!  So, we did some master planning, packed our bags for a nine day trip, and flew to L.A.

We stayed in L.A. for two days and had an excellent dinner at Wood + Vine in West Hollywood, perused the extensive Studio City Farmer’s Market, did some light hiking in Fryman Canyon…

…and toasted the start of our trip with the Wolkoves at the infamous Chateau Marmont hotel with a few rounds of kir royales.

Then, we hit the road for sunny Santa Barbara.  We cut over to the PCH and finally had an ocean view! 

In Santa Barbara, we chilled at Stearns Wharf, had dinner at Brophy Brothers, and wondered how it is that some people get to live in such an exquisitely gorgeous city…

We skipped to neighboring Los Olivos, to wine taste in the adorable, quaint city where Sideways was filmed.  We filled our day with stops at various tasting rooms: Saarloos + Sons, Alta Maria Vineyards, Coquelicot Estate Vineyards, and lunch at Los Olivos Wine Merchant Cafe.

Side note: Isn’t this chair at Saarloos + Sons amazing?! 

On our way out of the city, we couldn’t resist driving by Neverland Ranch, which was a stone’s throw from Los Olivos. 

Yep, we did that.

The next day it was onward + upward to Big Sur with a quick stop in the city of Cambria.  On the way, we got to see nesting elephant seals…

Take some photos of our gorgeous surroundings…

And, seriously keep our eyes on the road as the drive got increasingly white-knuckled. 

I usually fall asleep pretty quickly on roadtrips, but I was WIDE awake as the PCH drive became steeper and more mountainous.  We were literally driving 35 – 40 MPH on a road carved out of the side of a mountain.  To our left was the expansive Pacific Ocean…no guard rail between us and the water.  It was exhilarating.  We patted ourselves on our backs a number of times for planning the trip from South to North instead of the opposite, which would have put us on the outside of the road even closer to the ocean.  Take note.

It was difficult to capture the gorgeous drive on my iPhone camera, but I tried…

I tried again with my real camera once we got into Big Sur for the night and I met some deer just hanging out - grazing and such – at the Post Ranch Inn.

We stayed at the Glen Oaks in Big Sur, which was perfect for us, but we didn’t want to be in our room very much.  There was SOOOOO much to see and do in this gorgeous city: walk around Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, meals at Big Sur Bakery, and drinks at the edge of a cliff at Post Ranch Inn’s restaurant: Sierra Mar.

It was my favorite stop along the PCH.

From there, we drove over a series of bridges like these (how did someone build this?!) to get to Carmel.

Fun fact: Clint Eastwood is a former mayor of Carmel. 

We saw the Carmel Mission, had a delicious Greek lunch at Dametra Cafe, and walked around the adorable shops in Carmel before we headed to Pebble Beach.

Pebble Beach was GORGEOUS!  We did the 17-Mile Drive which took us by massive mansions, the Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and The Links at Spanish Bay. 

Kevin was in h.e.a.v.e.n. at Pebble Beach.

We also got to see the famous Lone Cypress.

We headed into Monterey for the night, but not before visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  I pet a shark, and I made friends with their octopus.  It was a successful visit.

For dinner, Kev had his first In-and-Out Burger experience.  In full disclosure, I was satisfied – but he was pretty seriously underwhelmed.  Oh well, at least he can cross it off of his “to do” list now!

The next morning, we drove through Santa Cruz and stopped at the beach-front boardwalk on our way to Half Moon Bay.  The boardwalk was pretty deserted since it was early in the morning on a chilly day, but at least now I can cross that off MY “to do” list. 

A short while later, we arrived at the Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay.  JUST look at this place…

It was, hands down, the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in.

It was so hard to leave the next morning.  It looked like it was on the edge of the world.  Perched on a cliff overlooking the endless ocean – we were in paradise.  We spent a large portion of the day in Half Moon Bay’s “downtown” area wine tasting and eating our way from one end of the strip to the other at Half Moon Bay Wine & Cheese Company, Sushi Main Street, and Pasta Moon.  When we got back to the hotel, we sat outside our balcony with our personal (outside!) fireplace warming our feet, finishing a bottle of wine, and listening to the ocean.  Absolutely incredible. 

I will always remember this hotel stay.

The next morning, it was off to San Fran where we cut through the city + drove over THIS bad boy.  (Kev, who is slightly weary of heights, was pretty proud of himself.)

We arrived in Sausalito and had the most delicious lunch at a restaurant on the pier called Fish.  We were only there for a few hours, but Kev will tell everyone that Sausalito was his favorite city because of this meal.  Go there.  GO THERE.

To work off our enormous lunch, we drove to Muir Woods National Monument for a hike through the park’s towering redwood forest.  We sang Woody Guthrie pretty much the entire time… 

These things are just unbelievable.  Seeing redwoods should be a must for everyone at some point. 

We spent our last two days in California wine tasting in Napa and Yountville.  We had both been to Napa before, but we definitely wanted to visit again and try out a few new wineries.

We tasted at Darioush Winery, Hess Collection, and Swanson Vineyards.  They were all fantastic in their own right - each so wonderfully different from the other.  Lunches at Mustard’s Grill and Oakville Grocery helped us to cut through some of the wine with delicious local eats.  Dinner at Morimoto Napa was fantastic, as well.  And, Chef Morimoto was there!  Naturally, I was in total paparazzi mode…

We splurged on the tasting menu, and we agreed that it was one of the best meal decisions we made throughout the entire trip.  Napa was the perfect way to end our vacation.  We flew out of SFO this next morning.

Driving the PCH is a phenomenal way to see some of California’s most gorgeous cities.  We didn’t get car sick on the windy drive + Kevin never got bored with our surroundings or plans.  If we had recorded a soundtrack of our conversations in the car throughout the drive it would have sounded something like this on repeat:

Lindsay (passenger): Oh wow!  Oh wow!  Oh wow!
Kevin (driver): WHAT??
Lindsay: I CAN’T believe what I’m seeing!/ Did you see that?!/ Oh wow!
Kevin: I can’t look or I’ll drive off of the cliff…
Lindsay:  Eh, I’ll take a picture.
(Repeat)

We were a captive audience to California’s beauty.  We will tell our kids about it one day – I know this for sure.  Do this trip.  Do it.  It’s nothing short of amazing.

xx, L

Lindsay and I over here at the Q+DD want to wish you and yours a happy, healthy, prosperous, fabulous, stylish, laughter-filled new year and also want to share a few things to help ring in 5772!

It’s customary to dip apples and honey to signify a “sweet” new year

Alternative: you could try out this recipe for a Honey Apple Martini!

1 shot (2 oz) Wild Turkey American Honey
1 shot Apple Cider *
1 shot Ginger Ale

Shake first 2 ingredients in a martini shaker filled with crushed ice
Pour into large martini glass and top with Ginger Ale
Garnish with thin slice of apple

Delish…

Please also enjoy this Rosh Hashanah Rock Anthem:

and finally, some words to the wise:

Happy New Year, everyone!

xx, L + L

Here’s the Q+DD on Wicked:

Tony Award winning musical, Wicked, arrives at the Fox Theatre for three weeks this fall, from September 14 to October 9, 2011.  The musical is slated to hit 30 other North American cities as part of its current 2011 tour.  Wicked is based on Gregory Maguire’s book, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which is a parallel novel to the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz.  It depicts the events that shaped the lives of Elphaba, a social outcast by virtue of her emerald skin color and very opinionated nature who eventually becomes the Wicked Witch, and Glinda, who becomes the Good Witch.  The musical has also spawned some incredibly popular show tunes such as “For Good,” “What Is This Feeling?” + “Defying Gravity,” among others.

ATTENTION ATLANTANS: Get your Wicked tickets here before they sell out: “Because I Knew You, I Have Been Changed For Good…”

This is one of my most favorite musicals ever!  It’s a fantastic show for everyone + the traveling cast was spectacular the last time it visited Atlanta!  You WILL NOT want to miss it!

“Something has changed within me/ Something is not the same/ I’m through with playing by the rules/ Of someone else’s game/ Too late for second guessing/ Too late to go back to sleep/ It’s time to trust my instincts/ Close my eyes and LEAP!”

OMG…can’t. even. wait!!  See you there!

xx, L

In hopes of finding inspiration + getting my wheels turning, I’ve been reading a pretty disgusting amount of Twitter feeds.  This one is my recent favorite.

You’re welcome. 

xx, L

The show is in Atlanta through the weekend (the entire stint is June 21st – 26th) + stars former American Idol contestant Anthony Fedorov as “Joseph.”

(He looks totally creepy in that picture, but dude has an incredible voice.) 

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on the “coat of many colors” story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis.  Although I was familiar with the musical, I hadn’t seen it before.  I did, however, know the songs “Any Dream Will Do” and “Close Every Door” from singing in choir in high school.  (I know, I’m so cool…)  Anyway, the show was really cute – and short – even with an intermission it was just about two hours long. 

As a Hebrew school dropout (just look at me now! whee!), I took the story to be 100% accurate and am now surprisingly very excited about the Book of Genesis as it seems that they had western hoedowns, Elvis impersonators, Caribbean-themed and decade parties and were into neon colors as much as I am.  Now, folks, THAT is a book I can really get down with!

All joking aside, I found the play to be educational while also very entertaining.  Something about the musical felt sorta 80′s-ish to me, which honestly made me like it even more than I maybe otherwise would.   If that’s not enough to convince you to buy tickets to see Joseph this weekend, I’ll tell you that the tickets were cheaper than most I’ve bought recently for shows at the Fox + the musical features 50 local kids from the Atlanta area in the cast, which was pretty special.

Plus, the Fox is a very memorable place to take a special someone on a date! 

There are a few remaining shows over the weekend.  Deets here:

Friday, June 24: 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 25: 2:00 p.m. + 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 26: 1:30 p.m. + 7:00 p.m.

Check it out!  “Any dream will do” is an awesome song to have stuck in your head for the following week after seeing the show.  Go, Joseph, go!!

xx, L

Please enjoy:

I don’t think I could love this store any more if I tried. 

xx, L

Jonathan Adler
1198 Howell Mill Rd.
Atlanta, GA  30318
404.367.0414

http://www.jonathanadler.com/

It was ABSOLUTELY brilliant.  Moving.  Incredibly well-acted.  And, it is going to sweep the Oscars.

Do not miss it!

xx, L