MLK Day at Ebenezer Baptist

 Last Monday we went to the Ebenezer Baptist Church for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Memorial Service.  I snuck in this picture before the service began to give you an idea of the interior.  It was pretty packed that day, and although the service was over 4 hours long the attendees remained enthusiastic throughout.  Speeches were given by friends and family of MLK Jr., the US Attorney General, and MLK III.  The speeches were interjected by energetic performances by school groups and extremely talented local musicians.

 It was a great way to spend MLK Day in Atlanta and experience a little slice of history.

 Ebenezer Baptist Church

 Outside the church was a street festival, which brought all sorts of venders...

sign-bearers and proselytizers...

and capitalizers.

All in all an exciting day.  For those in the Atlanta area, I highly recommend attending the service next year!

Falling Gingerbread

This is a little late to be seasonally appropriate but its too amazing not to share:

Falling Water, gingerbread house style!  This really sets the bar for next year.

linked from Design Milk

Grandaddy's train set

This is a project my grandfather has been working on for a little while.  He's set up a train set in his basement that recreates Smithfield, N.C.'s main street and the saw mill he operates!

Here's the man himself.  If you're familiar with Smithfield, this train set is pretty endearing.  If not, just substitute your town's main street offices for the names featured here and you'll understand the appeal.

How we survived Atlanta's "blizzard"

We've been snowed in ever since we returned to Atlanta, thanks to a measley 4 inches of snow and Atlanta's lack of preparation.

The night of the snowfall.

Four days later: no change.  Hasn't been above freezing once.  

Luckily, our pantry is stocked with the dry goods to make cinnamon raisin bagels!  Who needs de-iced roads?  

Terrariums

A quick post before I give them all away

Incredibly easy (succulents are practically impossible to kill) with lots of excellent tutorials online.  I love using Martinelli's jugs (like I really need excuses to buy their apple juice!) but the narrow openings are tricky when placing the plants.

12 Days of Didi

Dear friends, family, and any rando's who follow our humble blog,

My sincerest apologies for neglecting the blog this month.  As consolation, I bring you...

The Twelve Days of Didi

On the first day of Christmas my Didi gave to me
A snuggle in a blankie.

On the second day of Christmas my Didi gave to me

Two new buddies
And a snuggle in a blankie.

On the third day of Christmas my Didi gave to me

Neon nighttime walking-safety
Two new buddies
and a snuggle in a blankie...

(*Let's hurry up and bring this one home*)

On the Twelfth day of Christmas my Didi gave to me

 A super classy bowtie

Dog-tired naptime

 Even more naptime

 Some squishing and personal-space infringing

 Checking a friends breath for him

 Very proper posture

 Snow clumps and a sweater

 Two meaningful stares

And a Westie in a Snuggie!


What better way to end 2010 than to extol the virtues of Didi (foremost of all has to be patience).
Happy New Years!

Yeah! Burger: 1017 N. Highland Ave, Atlanta GA

Continuing our quest to find Atlanta's best burger, Alex and I were pleasantly surprised to find another well-known Atlanta burgerstablishment had set up a sister shop in our very backyard.

YEAH! Burger's (yup, that's what they call themselves) new East-side location is in the center of the busy Highlands neighborhood, which doesn't seem to have been taken into consideration in the planning of the restaurant.

I have to gripe a little before I get to the food.  If you run a popular burger eatery and are setting up a new shop in a popular neighborhood, wouldn't it make more sense to have two registers?  If I have to stand in line an hour for your burger, my expectations are going to be significantly raised to make up for the loss of my time.

Also, there is no clear direction for said hour-long line, so we all end up milling around in the (cramped) parking lot until some inflated SUV honks at us to move so it can park.  

But enough about that, how was the food?

The menu isn't exactly succinct so lets just say for every possible option (meat, bun, condiments, toppings) there are at least 4 and at most 20 choices.  All the meat @ YEAH! is hormone-free and grass-fed so we treated ourselves to a bacon cheeseburger and chili dog with 1/2 and 1/2 (that's fries and onion rings) and a milkshake (not pictured).  

Verdict?  The chili dog was so runny we had to eat it with knife & fork (good or bad thing?)  the fries and o.rings were acceptable but not incredible, and the double-patty cheeseburger was good, but definitely not worth the wait.

YEAH! Burger, any convenience due to your close-location is negated by your ridiculous wait.  We'd sooner drive to Decatur for another round of Farm Burger than return to your poorly planned establishment.  Get your act together.