Category Archives: ATL businesses

presented without (much) comment

Posted on January 23, 2012 | 4 Comments

Over the weekend I did an inventory of my Waffle House collection, of which mention has been made here before. I’ve been meaning to catalog this stuff for some time, just to see how much (and what) I have. The oldest item here dates to the late ’90s, in terms of when I acquired it.  At my parents’ house, I have:

  • 4 assorted Waffle House buttons
  • 1 black and yellow Waffle House mini football
  • 2 Waffle House menus (circa 2003)
  • 3 old-school WH wall signs: Breakfast, Waffle, Delicious Sandwiches
  • 1 old-school WH wall sign in original frame: Desserts
  • 1 ladies’ Waffle House uniform shirt
  • 1 accent pillow made (by someone else) from ladies’ WH uniform
  • 1 black and yellow Waffle House paper hat
  • 1 maroon and yellow Waffle House paper hat
  • 2 50th anniversary Waffle House paper hats
  • 2 Waffle House 50th anniversary “Good Food Fast since 1955″ pins
  • 1 Waffle House 50th anniversary commemorative Coke bottle
  • 1 Waffle House 50th anniversary press kit in folder
  • 10 copies of Y’all magazine, in which a story I wrote on the 50th anniversary of Waffle House is published (my first freelance byline)
  • 1 mint-condition WAFFLE-OPOLY board game
  • 1 vintage 1960s Waffle House money clip with knife and file
  • Waffle House Jukebox Favorites Vol. 1

The rest of my collection is at our place (much to Jon’s delight). This includes:

  • 18 assorted Waffle House buttons
  • 1 clear yellow Waffle House logo piggy bank
  • 2 black and gold Waffle House logo water bottles
  • 1 Waffle House & Coca-Cola yellow mini football
  • 1 Waffle House & Coca-Cola “Partners since 1955″ metal sign from a restaurant fountain machine
  • 1 old-school WH wall sign in original frame: Waffle
  • 1 slightly warped WH vinyl 45: “I like what I see at the Waffle House”/”There’s 844,739 ways to eat a hamburger at Waffle House”
  • 1 3-lb. bag of Waffle House waffle mix
  • 2 Waffle House hashbrown plates
  • 1 Waffle House grits bowl
  • 1 Waffle House coffee mug
  • 2 black and gold Waffle House logo cappuccino mugs
  • 1 Waffle House logo cream and sugar set (direct from HQ!)
  • 1 Waffle House Museum Grand Opening coffee mug
  • 2 postcard invitations to the Waffle House Museum grand opening, September 3, 2008
  • “The Waffle House Experience” 50th anniversary coffee table book (signed to me by both founders & 47-year server Lucy Shelton)
  • 2 replica old-timey Waffle House paper hats
  • 2 replica old-timey Waffle House menus
  • 2 Waffle House Museum postcards
  • 1 Waffle House interstate guide
  • 100 or so Waffle House koozies (wedding leftovers)

Goodness that’s embarrassing. The sad thing is, I’ve probably missed something. But I can’t stop myself! Just look at how awesome this stuff is…

Help me.

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Posted in ATL businesses, excellent munchables, nerdery, nostalgia, pop culture, things southern

Rhapsody on a theme of Chipper

Posted on August 17, 2011 | 1 Comment

If I hadn’t been to the Braves game on Saturday and weren’t going again tomorrow, I’d be there tonight: it’s the first-ever Music Appreciation Night at Turner Field. The kids of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra are playing the national anthem, and there’s a panel discussion on music education and an instrument petting zoo (a brilliantly named concept) before the game. Sweet! I’m gonna go ahead and suggest that next year they get the whole orchestra out there to play the William Tell Overture live during the grounds crew inning-break.

The best part of all is the promo art found on the group tickets page:

Looks like Chipper hit that one pretty hard… his violin is holding up remarkably well under the circumstances.

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Posted in ATL businesses, Atlanta, music, things southern

(and don’t I deserve the best?)

Posted on May 19, 2011 | 5 Comments

The cover story for the May/June issue of American Photo magazine (for which I can’t find a website?) catalogs the top 10 wedding photographers in the world:

source

So, imagine my delight when I saw (via the blogs) that Jesse & Whitney of Our Labor of Love — our wedding photographers — were among those honored! Of course, I’m not surprised in the least. How could there be anyone else? They’re the best! (And they attract the best of the rest to work with them.) Click over to their blog to read their reaction and see how they reimagined the cover photo… Congrats, Jesse & Whit!

*20 bonus points to those of you who know what I’m referencing in my post title

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Posted in ATL businesses, in the media, inspirations, photography, weddings

You must see this!

Posted on May 13, 2011 | 2 Comments

This has got to be one of the most insanely awesome weddings I have ever seen on the blogs. I love all the vivid colors — the trees, bride’s hair and dress, everybody’s tattoos — huge grins and wild dancing.

photos by Matt Miller for Our Labor of Love

The bride and groom clearly put together a killer celebration, and Matt Miller from Our Labor of Love did an amazing job capturing everything. (The getting ready photos are especially awesome.) Go check out the OLOL blog post to see more incredible pictures! Happy weekend, y’all!

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Posted in ATL businesses, love, photography, ROCK, weddings

a smilebooth reunion

Posted on May 4, 2011 | 4 Comments

As the head of the class reunion party committee, I more or less mandated that we would be having a Smilebooth, because what party is not made like fifty times better by having one there? Hilarity, as one might expect, ensued (as soon as people figured out what exactly the setup in the corner of the room was):

Me, Abby and one of the delicious cookie cakes we had. Go Cats!

Excellent use of props!

This crew is well-versed in Smilebooth best practices. (see here)

This football-captain ninja turtle was discovered in a classmate’s attic — it was a homecoming decoration senior year — so he brought it along. Amazing.

Get-a-load-of-this-guy cam

!!!

This and the next are two of my favorite shots — everyone in the photo is either in med school or a doctor already. Here are their best pondering doctor faces…

and here they are doing what they do best. (Sort of.)

That guy.

Twins! Don’t my glasses look great on George? No? Hm.

Reaction shot

Clearly a lot of warm fuzzy feelings about high school among these folks.

One of my reunion co-chairs and his lovely wife

Stoneface. HOW DID I MISS THIS ONE?

Number one! Go big green!

(To see the whole Smilebooth gallery from the reunion, click here. Smilebooth started in Atlanta but they can and do go anywhere, so check out their website if you’re interested in having one at your shindig!)

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Posted in ATL businesses, events, photography

Letterpress Grüße

Posted on February 25, 2011 | 2 Comments

Over the past few years — well, since college, really, which is more than a few years now — I’ve developed an interest in all things paper. Stationery, prints, invitations, greeting cards, all of it. The lovely textures of letterpress had a hold on me long before I decided to learn how to do it myself so I could make my own wedding invitations. (More about that here if you’re interested.)

A couple of years ago at one of Atlanta’s Indie Craft Experience markets, I picked up some letterpress postcards by local studio Concrete Lace featuring the city and many of its awesome neighborhoods. I sent this one to Jon’s folks out in Idaho (I remember that because it’s still on their fridge):

As if the city/neighborhood postcards weren’t cool enough, last fall I learned about Concrete Lace’s foreign-language greeting cards for the first time. Much to my delight, they have five excellent cards auf Deutsch! As an erstwhile scholar of German who still has a pen pal or two across the pond (not to mention a tight group of friends from study abroad), I was super excited to find these:

I saw the sisters who run Concrete Lace at the latest ICE holiday market and picked up a happy birthday card (Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, top right above) and a congratulations card (Herzlichen Glückwunsch — Prost!, bottom right) to have on hand for the next time I need something to send one of my Germany buddies. I love the Prost! card so much I almost want to put it in a frame and hang it on my wall.

In addition to their German cards, they sell greetings in French, Greek, Hebrew and of course a few in English in their Etsy shop. Go check them out! If you’re local to Atlanta, you can find Concrete Lace’s paper goods at The Beehive in the Edgewood shopping center.

*all photos from the Concrete Lace Etsy shop

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Posted in ATL businesses, graphic design, letterpress

Sublim(e)inal messages

Posted on February 23, 2011 | 5 Comments

Between the doughnut slideshow in today’s New York Times dining section, the Glamour-ized doughnuts from across the pond making the rounds in the blogosphere and Sunday’s Scoutmob deal for Atlanta’s best Sublime Doughnuts, I get the feeling that the internet is conspiring against me and my quest to practice moderation when it comes to consuming baked goods.

DANGER ZONE: Krispy Kreme on Ponce. I do a pretty good job of staying away.

A hot and fresh Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut is definitely a treat, but it can be had in any number of towns across the country — it’s not all that special. I might be jealous of New Yorkers with their fancy schmancy doughnut shops if not for the aforementioned Sublime Doughnuts, a local doughnuttery just off the campus of Georgia Tech. If you’re in Atlanta and you haven’t visited in the almost three years it’s been around, I suggest you do so posthaste. They’re open until 6 p.m. most days, so if you don’t have time to swing by on your way to work you can always pick up some sweets in the evening for dessert at home.

Sublime Donuts 344/365 frosted croissant, yin yang twist, deluxe cinnamon twist and smores doughnut — photo by Robert Occhialini via the Sublime Doughnuts Flickr photostream

Sublime’s signature offering is the A-Town Cream, a chocolate-covered, custard-filled doughnut cut in the shape of an A for hometown pride. I’m not much for cream-filled pastries myself; my favorite so far has been the yin yang twist (pictured above, second from right), which consists of regular dough twisted with chocolate-infused dough and covered in a vanilla-honey glaze. So simple, and so very delicious. Other more exciting/super sweet doughnuts on the menu are Reese’s peanut butter cup, red velvet cake, chocolate banana fritter (which can be served “Elvis style,” with a peanut butter topping), dulce de leche, Oreo and strawberries & cream. Doughnut insanity!

(Note: if you are in Atlanta and have a doughnut-mad friend, you might want to look into Sublime’s birthday box. Sweet fancy moses, y’all.)

I’m gonna have to make a stop by Sublime soon so I can exorcise these doughnut demons from my head. Clearly that’s what the universe is telling me, right?

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Posted in ATL businesses, excellent munchables, gift ideas

la renard

Posted on February 4, 2011 | 3 Comments

Tonight I stopped by Young Blood Gallery & Boutique, my favorite store in all of Atlanta and my go-to place for gifts for any occasion, to pick up a few cards. After I picked those out, I took a look around the rest of the shop and happened upon the most awesome t-shirt in the history of t-shirts. Bonus! Check it:

I’m totally psyched about this shirt! Wayne’s World reference* aside,  it’s just plain badass: you may not be able to see it in the photo, but the design is made to looks like it’s knitted (see detail photo here).

If you’re not fortunate enough to live but a mile away from Young Blood (or in Vermont, where the designers are), you can find this and other hotness on Etsy in the New Duds shop. They’ve got a blog too if you want to learn more. Hooray for crafty brilliant people!

*Wayne, on Cassandra: “She’s a fox! In French she would be called ‘la renard’ and would be hunted with only her cunning to protect her.”

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Posted in ATL businesses, Atlanta, design, wearables