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Jess

WEEKEND RECAP

If you’re like me, you consider Thursday to be the unofficial start of the weekend. Which means today is technically the beginning of a new weekend (!!!) but I want to backtrack to last Friday-Monday because they were real good!

Friday and Saturday, Dustin was off with his dad and brothers doing Father’s Day weekend manly stuff so I took the alone time to get in some KJO hangs. We started off meeting at her place for wine and snacks then went over to the High Museum for jazz and art.

But before going in, got in some pics (duhh).

Aren’t my dates the prettiest?! Aleesha and Kristie Jo’s style is always on point.

My dress, an all time favorite, is from Free People. It’s so comfy and flattering.

We popped into the atrium for a little jazz then made our way around the museum to see the permanent art as well as new exhibits.

One of the most enjoyable things currently in the museum, for me, is the furniture.  Seeing designs and decor from centuries past is so cool! Lots of it would fit right in with my current pieces ;)

One of the new exhibits is ‘The Rise of Sneaker Culture.’  Really rad seeing the evolution of the first “sneaker” (which is really a fancy, more comfortable boot) to the first Chuck Taylor (my personal favorite) to what’s in style today. So many odd designs, we loved it!

After the museum we went to Establishment in Midtown for drinks and more food. We had terrible service, almost leaving 2 different times and I ended up having to complain to the manager which I hate doing and only do so when it’s absolutely necessary.  The one thing we ate, the crab cake, was really good so I’m hoping to give the place a second chance.  They’ve been open for only three months so maybe they are still working out kinks..

So the restaurant/bar was a bummer but we made up for it with the funnest Uber ride back to KJO’s place singing and laughing with the driver, too silly!  We ended up slumber partying and hanging out the entire following day. Did a lot of sitting on the porch (above) watching chipmunks and every species of bird in Atlanta frolic around the backyard forest.

We made a bomb breakfast, gave ourselves mani/pedis, ate a cheese and vege spread for lunch, watched Trainwreck, day drank + danced and ordered Thai takeout- pretty dang good Saturday if I do say so myself!!!

Dustin picked me up on his way back from the mountains and on Sunday we spent the morning and early afternoon doing things around the house and giving Flynn all the affection his little heart desires.

For a late lunch we met up with Sara Longsworth and her hubs at our favorite, La Fonda (read: margaritas!)  Then headed to Park Tavern for Sunset Sessions, a free concert series.  On the way to the venue, I spotted this bug and couldn’t resist a pic.

Originally we went to see our friend’s band, Sydney Eloise & The Palms but upon arriving realized another friend’s band was playing, Book of Colors. Yay for awesome local music AND WEEKENDS!

But wait! Fun didn’t stop on Sunday! Since we had missed Silversun Pickups at Hangout we decided it was worth it to drive to Chattanooga to see them at Track 29. IT WAS SO WORTH IT. The drive was under 2 hours each way, the venue was intimate and in a really cool part of town.  Beforehand we grabbed a bite and drinks at STIR.

Holy moly, if you visit Chattanooga, do yourself a favor and hit up STIR. We started off with a dozen raw oysters (bomb) then shared a seared tuna salad (above, heavenly) and a side of asparagus (even these tasted unique!). What a meal! Not to mention the delicious cocktails that had uncommon ingredients. So so good.

Silversun put on a great show and seeing Chattanooga for a few hours was a great way to start the week! We want to plan a visit and stay in the above train hotel. Yes, that is two trains that used to be in service but now are converted into a HOTEL!

Hope you’re cruising through your Thursday!

PRACTICAL MAGIC


Remember the dreamy apartment from this post? Had the pleasure of revisiting last week for a themed dinner the talented KJO hosted, Practical Magic.

There were skulls and smudge sticks, taper candles, black lipstick and magical sunbeams peaking through the trees.  I got to know new ladies over red wine and a grilled dinner. A fantastic night in the (spell) books!

Just look at the details that went into the evening, so wish I would have brought a real camera, but thankful to have at least captured with my Iphone~

After two weekends in a row out of town, we are looking forward to sticking around ATL. Going to start packing up the house and hang with some friends. Low key is just what we need!

Happy almost weekend!

HANGOUT FEST 2016


Round two of Hangout Fest is under our belts! Since I wasn’t shooting fashion and performances this time around was way more chill.  Which was nice just enjoying music and all the things the festival had to offer like ride rides and chilling on the beach by the condo beforehand, something we didn’t do as much last year.

First day it rained in the morning, or should I say, hurrican’d!  I’m talking whistling wind and sideways rain.  We were so worried the day would get cancelled but the rain let up and the music went on around 3:00.

Security was NUTS checking bags and being jerks and as a result the line was ridiculously backed up when they finally opened. We waited for 2.5 hours missing the band we wanted to see the most, Silver Sun Pickups.  We ran to the stage to hear the last strum of their last song. It was a very sad moment. BUT, we rallied and took the couple of hours we had between sets we wanted to see to chill.

The fest had several spots to unwind, our favorite was Camp Hangout, which had these teepees and a fire pit.  Sitting by a fire next to the ocean and being able to see and hear music, doesn’t get any better!

Dustin found a pick-up kickball game that also helped to turn the day around.  Especially silly because in between the bases was a slip-n-slide!  Saw a couple funny whip outs, hahah.  In this photo he had just kicked the ball over the fence and got to 3rd, go D!

Day two, no rain and beach hangs!

We are in love with our new Pendleton towels!

Found these cuties at Target. Black swan is a bad influence :P

My happy place!

Wearing a Stetson hat and Free People cover-up

Q’s bike chain broke and so they rigged up this two seater-so funny trailing behind them!

We did a lot of watching from afar but for a select handful we wiggled ourselves up close, like Miike Snow! I’ve seen them 3 times now, Atlanta/Coachella/Hangout. Great performers.

Dustin and I seriously have a taco problem. 9/10 meals include some form of them.  Actually, we think it’s great, so not a problem at all! Bring on all forms of tacos!

Chilling down in Stella style~

Last minute I stopped at Junkman’s Daughter here in Atlanta for some fun hair dye.  Ended up buying blue and dying some strands of my recently highlighted hair that turned out pretty much green, but that’s cool, it’s so subtle. While I was there I found this awesome cover-up, loving how Grecian it looks.

I’d say we’re working on getting some Summer color but both of us are wearing 50-70spf, sooooo…..

THE PIRATE SHIP!

My in-motion glamour shot hahah!

So fun! Didn’t go upside down, thank goodness, probably had too many Stellas for that but it did provide a nice breeze!

My girl Grimes! We watched from a little ways back but could see her and her awesome backup dancers moves.

Day three!

Rode the ferris wheel for a cool down and views. Emma winked at the guy running the wheel and he let us go around a few extra times!

Wore my new Free People dress and while it was very hot and sorta hard to walk in the sand in, it was totally worth it. Felt right dancing to Florence in as well. Her performance stole the fest!

Overall good time. We’re thinking next year we’ll just go to hang on the beach and listen from a bar or restaurant like some friends did. I’m not over music festivals by any stretch of the imagination but maybe done with Hangout. We’ll see, I said that after my first Coachella and went again and it was such a good time. This years line-up, for us, was just ok.  Missing Silversun, who we had our hearts set on to see up close and rock out to, sucked big time. The headliners interested us but usually we like the bands just below headliners and last year they kicked butt-Joywave, St. Lucia, Phantogram-but not as much this year.

Monday we took the day to do more beach chilling and rented a cabana before driving home- so worth the tired Tuesday!

Tonight we’re headed back to the beach for the holiday weekend. Whirlwind couple of weeks but bring on more sun and palm trees! Be safe everyone <3

CONCRETE JUNGLE’S 2ND ANNUAL FRUIT RAMBLE

Sunday the Concrete Jungle crew took folks on bike and foot around the city educating us on the wild growing fruit they pick and donate to the homeless and hungry. I was with the biking group that started and ended at Mother. We went through Old 4th Ward, Cabbagetown and Grant Park stopping at trees, bushes, vines and even the zoo! Here’s a short recap of our sunny afternoon-

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CJ co-founder Craig who handles most of the mapping design and engineering recently created these tags for the plants they pick from.  It not only says “hey! you found a resource we use to feed the hungry” but also encourages you to lend a helping hand. Is this fruit tree ready to be picked? Let CJ know! Snapping and sharing on Instagram? Tag CJ!

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My bike companion for the day, Ryan, enjoying some ripe service berries.

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Service berries up-close. Tasted like blueberries with a hint of vanilla. Since they are small it’d take forever to pick them so what they typically do is lay down a tarp and shake the tree silly. They also do this with apples and mulberries.

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We were all very excited to see the maypop. It’s a hardy fast-growing vine that produces a small yellow fruit. Aubrey referred to it as a ‘very complicated flower’ which is a perfect description- so many components!

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Peaches! Did you know Georgia is NOT the peach state it’s actually South Carolina. But it’s on our license plates so we’ll just keep the claim!

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Ramble ended back at Mother for games, a raffle and drinks! Pictured here is the foraged mulberry cocktail- little tart, touch of sweet with a punch of vodka.  Yum!

You may be surprised at all the fruit growing around the city, even KIWI. See a full food map here.

CJ is always looking for volunteers to help with the garden or on fruit picks, if you’re interested visit concrete-jungle.org for more info!

Tonight we leave for Hangout Music Fest, expect a recap of that up next.  Have a good weekend!

CINCO DE MAYO PICNIC

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

My favorite food group has a holiday! Jk, I know it’s about more important things but we Americans have made it into being all about tacos and tequila-I’ll admit it :P

I cannot express how excited I am to show last night’s hard work! Maggie (from my last post, the crazy talented artist) and I combined forces yesterday and styled a Cinco de Mayo themed picnic in my backyard! We used a blanket Dustin and I got on our honeymoon as the color inspiration, the new German beer garden table as a centerpiece, her hand-lettering skills, props from our personal collections and worked as a team creating the cutest outdoor party! Seriously so proud and happy with the turn out! It was planned for Sunday but thunderstorms got in the way so we both did anti-rain dances that it wouldn’t rain yesterday and low and behold we got a pretty night to shoot our visions!

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Pumped to have used my DIY’d indigo napkins from this post and our new wedding porcelain dishware from Villeroy & Boch. As I knew she would, Maggie brought it strong with her prop additions, loved the gold flatware which was something we wanted for our wedding, got but then realized they weren’t dishwasher safe and that wouldn’t work for everyday use. These have re-inspired me to look into adding some to our collection!

The colors popped so much after we added the sheepskin “cushions.”

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Maggie came up with two drinks (besides our crisp, cold, delicious Corona Lights- gotta have those!) that would definitely impress your attendees- a DIY cocktail bar and salted rim shooters!

Rosemary and Jalapeno Palomas—

I love herbs and spice in my warm weather drinks but I find it common at parties that some people lean toward spicy while others prefer fresh cooling flavors, so I love to set up a choose your own path cocktail bar!

Make ahead:
Grapefruit Juice- Juice from about 6 Large Sweet Grapefruits (on average you will get 1 cup of juice per fruit)
Infused Simple syrup- 1 cup of water to 1 cup of Sugar bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved, allow syrup to cool for 15 minutes and add the warm mixture to bottles containing fresh rosemary sprigs and jalapeno slices, refrigerate and use for up to 14 days.

Other ingredients:
Jarritos Grapefruit Soda/ or Seltzer Water
Gold Tequila

For each drink over ice, add 1/4 cup juice, 1/4 cup tequila, the juice of one lime wedge, a splash of the simple syrup(s) of your choice and top with Grapefruit soda or sparkling water, for a lower calorie version.

A traditional Paloma has a salted rim but I also like to give party goers the option to skip the salt by setting a salt shaker with flavored salts (rosemary salt is a great addition!) to the cocktail bar to add to drinks.

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Tequila Shooters—

Chilled Gold Tequila
I cut a tiny slit in a lime slice and ran it around the rim of the mini coupe and then dipped the top of the glass into a saucer with homemade Sriracha salt. Spicy with a warm bite!

Sriracha Salt:
Mix one part Sriracha hot sauce with 5 parts salt, spread out on a baking sheet and allow it to dry for 48ish hours.

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You probably thought we’d go with tacos for this picnic but since Dustin and I have made this chicken 3 times now after discovering it on Budget Bytes figured I’d give it the credit it’s due!  You should check out* her recipes, money-saving and tasting! We’ve tried lots and they are all pretty easy too.

*Since I followed her recipe exactly, please follow link if you wish to know how to make-it’s so easy!

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My version of Mexican street corn—

Peel back husks and remove the silk strings, rub with butter and sprinkle on black pepper, re-put husks back over and bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Then coat with mayo, sprinkle crumbling cheese and top with avocado yogurt ‘dressing’ (Taken from this recipe.)

For the spicy slaw I cheated and got pre-cut raw organic veges, added Sriracha mayo, red onions, radishes and called it a day-very good! We were piling it on chips haha!

The beans were the canned organic spicy kind we buy all the time. Usually eat with yellow rice and green chilies. I prefer black beans over re-fried any day!

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Maggie pulled colors from our blanket and NAILED IT! That peony opened up so much from the time she texted me a photo at 11:00am – it was wild!

The flowers were inspired by your blanket and Frida Kahlo. For the deep pink/red accents, I looked extensively for buganvilia sprigs but had to settle for clippings from my neighbor’s knockout rose bushes (with permission!).

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Hope you enjoyed our collaboration! It was so fun brainstorming with her and then bringing it all to life! I give the table some credit because it was after I bought it at Scott’s I knew it would make for a great backdrop. That and the warming temperatures lit the fire under my rear to get together with Maggie, I can’t wait until we do another!

It’s officially after 5 o’clock here which means CINCO DE MAYO HAPPY HOUR! And since you’re just now seeing our awesome idea, feel free to do this for any Summer day, no holiday needed!

Enjoy the evening and be safe out there!