Mamma Mia

TA-DA!!!!

It has taken me three days to write this post, by the way.

Pictures from Atlanta! Mom and I had the best time just having "girl time." Since Mom lives so far away, we love getting to squeeze as much time as possible out of each other when we're together. She's my best friend!

And I have a super awesome, amazing, sweet, caring, kind, loving, and generous husband who lets me spend 4 whole days away from home so that I can spend time with my Mom. Thanks, Boosef. I owe you one. :)

We stayed at the Loews-Atlanta Hotel in Midtown. Piggy had been talking for weeks about getting a free robe at the hotel. As soon as we walked in the door of the room, he somehow ended up with it on and he was lounging on the bed. What a slob.

I get a really sweet discount on this fabulous hotel because my company owns and manages the building. So we get to stay 5-Star while paying 3-Star. And you know how much I love a bargain!

We decided to go for sushi for dinner. I got Mom to try sushi when we went to the beach together over the summer. She LOVED it! So, we walked across the street from the hotel and went to Ra, for delicious and yummy sushi! The one in the front is the Viva Las Vegas roll - crab and spicy something. YUMO! The one in the back was an eel roll. It was soooooooo good. :)

The next morning, Mom and I went to the Georgia Aquarium where we saw all sorts of amazing creatures. It was an awesome aquarium. I love to go to things like this.

I always wonder HOW people don't believe in a Divine Creator when they witness things like this octopus. There is no way that something so intricate, so beautiful, so perfect could have been made by a big bang. It had to have been made at the hands of God.

After the aquarium and a quick cookie snack, Mom and I headed over to the World of Coca-Cola across the park from the Aquarium. I had already been here once with Ben, but it is loads of fun and I was happy to go back with Mom.

The World of Coke is full of Coke memorabilia, artifacts, and super cool Coke stuff. Plus you get to taste Coke products from all over the world at the end. It is lots of fun!

They have a whole section of pop-art centered around Coke. This was my favorite.

When we finished with the Coke factory (and I had bought a Coke tshirt), we wanted to enjoy the beautiful day a little more, so we walked over to Centennial Park. When the Olympics were in Atlanta in 1996, all the impressive ceremonial stuff was in this park area. It's a central location right smack in downtown. The Olympic rings above are water fountains that shoot synchronized water up. We sat here for quite a while watching kids (and a few adults) play in the water.

We didn't take a picture of our dinner hilarity that night, but it was quite the adventure. We decided we wanted Italian food. I had looked up restaurant reviews before we left and had read about a restaurant called Baraonda just a few blocks away from the hotel. I figured we could walk there, so we got dressed and set out. After we walked about 4 blocks, we realized we had walked 4 blocks in the wrong direction, turned around, and then walked 4 back, and then an additional 5.

Dinner was DELICIOUS, but we took a cab back. :) Really though. Dinner was delicious. Mom had mushroom ravioli and I had homemade lasagna. They had an amazing wine list, and we split a warm apple tart with gelato for dessert. YUM.

The next morning, we went to the Margaret Mitchell House. For those of you who don't know, Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With The Wind. It is one of my all time favorite, love it, got to have it books, and movies, as well. Mom and I have shared all things Gone With The Wind my whole life, so it only made sense to go to the home where she wrote the book.

We were not allowed to take photos in the actual apartment, but we were able to stand in the corner where she kept her desk and wrote the massive novel that she only began as a hobby because she had broken her ankle and needed something to do. So she sat in a corner by a window and wrote one of the greatest love stories (or non-love stories, however you decide to look at it) of American fiction. She wasn't even going to publish it.

They had a little museum to the side with a few movie relics in it. The photo above is me standing by the actual portrait of Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara that hung in Scarlett's bedroom in the movie. It was quite stunning in person.

We left the Margaret Mitchell House and walked to the High Museum of Art, where they were having an exhibition of Salvador Dali's late works. Dali is my brother's favorite artist, so we knew we had to go. I totally got caught and yelled at for trying to sneak a cell phone picture to send to Wes. Oops.

And, then there were no more pictures. But we did go to Atlantic Station that evening for dinner at Rosa Mexicano, where they make fresh guacamole tableside (and I don't even like guacamole, but this was GOOD) and a little shopping.

We had a blast.

Mom, you are my best friend and I love you more than you know. Thanks for such a great week. I can't wait to conquer another city with you!

Random Gone With The Wind Fact: The famous "burning of Atlanta" scene is not General Sherman and the Yankees burning Atlanta as commonly thought. It's actually set a few weeks before when the Confederates burned their own arsenals so Sherman couldn't get to them. Kind of a "if we can't have it, nobody can" thing.

Oh, and look closely. Vivien Leigh had not been cast yet when that scene was filmed. In the carriage with Rhett, it's either a dummy being used or a stand-in, depending on the shot.