Well, let's see what all I've been up to...
Usually weeknights aren't anything too exciting, but I actually had a few busy evenings recently. Several co-workers got together for my friend Cathy's housewarming party, with food, wine, a game of "Apples to Apples", and of course seeing her new place! I joined some other friends to check out a comedy show at the Vortex "Laughing Skull" in Midtown the following night...I had never been to one before, so figured I might as well go. I saw Joe Mande, who actually is from St. Paul and went to Central High School, and now lives in NY and has been on Comedy Central and other big shows. He was pretty funny I must admit. That Friday I was able to get away for a sunny lunch outside with co-workers at a nearby cafe. I miss being outside while I have to work all day!
Comedian Joe Mande
My co-worker and friend, Cathy, at our sunny Friday lunch break!
After the full week, I needed that weekend to catch up on some sleep haha. I did venture off to check out a different trail close to the first one I found...it was okay, just short, so I had to do some extra exploring. I also enjoyed another beautiful day by meeting a new friend for lunch on the patio of Front Page News. That Sunday was Halloween "theme week" for kickball, and our team "Elephantitis" made it out in style haha...or should I say, with a case of elephantitis. It unfortunately was one of the least fun games we played because the other team was completely drunk on a Sunday afternoon and rather obnoxious/annoying/slow/rude...you get the picture. But we always manage to have a good time:)
Trail #2
Team Elephantitis
Our kickball team on a (slightly) more normal day;)
The next week I tested out a kickboxing class. It was pretty good...fun to try something different, although my shins took a beating from having to kick the bags! bruises:( We also had a mid-week happy hour to unwind at the restaurant Tap in Midtown. That Friday I finally was able to welcome my mom to Atlanta!! After a long day of travel (thanks to good old standby and a school holiday in MN creating lots of travelers), she made it:) I was able to give her an extensive our of my 700-something square foot apartment (it was tough to cover everything in such a short time haha), then took a little walk to get outside and pick up a few groceries and some Halloween socks for the morning. The socks were for our debut race that Saturday at the Run Like Hell 5k, beginning in the famous Oakland Cemetery. It was a lot of fun despite the incredibly hilly route...we got to see some great costumes, listen to some good tunes, visit the grave site of Margaret Mitchell (author of Gone With the Wind), and actually were crowned champs! The "trophy" was a really cool mini-version of the historic lion statue in the cemetery that stands over the grave of unknown soldiers. A chilly morning turned into a gorgeous sunny day, as we visited the Green Market at Piedmont Park (picked up a few heirloom tomatoes and persimmons - one of my favorite fruits from Spain!) and then grabbed a warm coffee at nearby Caribou that we took to drink on a bench in the park. We replenished with brunch at Parish in Inman Park...one of my new favorite places! I just love the atmosphere and character of the building (plus the food's pretty decent too;). We did a mini walking tour around the neighborhood after that, and then headed back to clean up and rest up....yay for naps haha. I heard about the Little 5 Points halloween parade and festival, so thought it would be interesting to check out. And boy, was it "interesting". Needless to say, I won't be going back...but at least now we know! A much better dinner experience followed at the restaurant Noche in the Virginia-Highlands, with some awesome tapas! A few shops and a nice walk to Yoforia for some dessert topped off the night quite nicely:) Due to the full flights that weekend, we decided to aim for an early flight back to MN to avoid mom getting stuck all day, and she ended up making the first one, so that worked out great! Short trip, but oh so fun:) Since I was already up, I made the early morning yoga session before heading home to take a long nap. Sunday followed with typical happenings like kickball, mass, groceries, etc, but I got an extra bonus with a skype call with Morah in Spain!
Lion statue at Oakland Cemetery
Persimmons! Soooo good
Halloween parade in Little 5 Points...it was crazy over there!
I put off my Sunday cooking for the week to Monday, and then enjoyed a great run with Nisha on Tuesday at Piedmont park! Wednesday I was double lucky to be able to get together with my friend Donna for dinner, and then other friends (the Steph's:) for food/drinks at Cafe Intermezzo...love that place! And such a great time catching up! Thursday brought about some last-minute shopping for a Halloween costume at a few stores in Little 5 Points...it was busy, but managed to get everything so that was good! I decided to be brave and go out BOTH nights for Halloween weekend...a rarity for me, but after years over never celebrating because of having the Big Ten cross country championships that weekend, I was overdue haha. Friday night featured a pub crawl in Midtown with friends, that took us to Ri Ra, Flip Flops, and Cosmo Lava. A little rain didn't dampen the evening, as it was a ton of fun! I got really lucky and actually slept in until 11:45 the next morning...that NEVER happens! I guess I needed it haha. That afternoon I got outside for a long walk on such a great fall day (can you tell I am liking the Atlanta weather?! haha) and went on one of my favorite loops around the Brookhaven golf course. That night was the BOOnanza party at the Buckhead Theater. I met up with friends JP and Nate beforehand, and then was so smart as to forget all my money and ID, so we had to make a little detour on the way to the party. I had never been to this venue before, but it was really neat. There was a big stage with live music downstairs, a dj and dance floor upstairs that we hit up for a while, and then another stage with music outside in a tent that played some great old school tunes! It was a pretty crazy party...lots of people, lots of awesome costumes, and lots of fun:)
Halloween pub crawl in Midtown!
First stop...Ri Ra
Pre-Boonanza...JP, me, and Nate
Getting in character at the upstairs dance floor haha
One of the impressive costumes!
The next weekend I got to experience even MORE fun, with the Boddicker girls reunion in MN:) This is when all 5 of my mom's sisters, my grandma, and several cousins all visit for a weekend of shopping, food, drinks, and hilarious conversation (following the drinks haha). I flew in late Friday afternoon and we had a delicious dinner at my aunt Renee's house. Saturday, I got to tag along with my sister Laura for a little early morning run (that what I do these days...just try and hang on!). Then Kevin had his State cross country meet, so we all headed out to cheer him on, and he did amazing! Got 6th in the entire state after never even being ranked all season. So proud:) We fit in a little shopping that afternoon before another big family dinner and of course some ice cream cake to celebrate the big race! I ended up catching an early flight out Sunday so I could fly nonstop and also get a few things done back in Atlanta before the work week started. And I was actually pretty productive, so it paid off! Plus the extra hour of sleep didn't hurt;)
Grandma and the Boddicker sisters
Fans gathering pre-race
Got to see my old teammate Molly Noel!
Kev's cheering squad post-race
6th place!
Proud fam:)
DQ Blizzard cake (the best:)
The young "Boddicker" girls
This past week, I had some wonderful visitors in Sara and Bud Dunn! We both had pretty busy schedules, but had a good time catching up in the evenings:) I also got to fit in another (almost) weekly run with Nisha and this time got a tour of the Georgia Tech campus because Piedmont is pretty dark with the time change now. But it was a great loop and always wonderful company:) Friday night we got to celebrate Sara's birthday and went out to dinner at Murphy's in the Virginia-Highlands. The food was terrific, and I tried out a new wine thanks to a recommendation from Sara (she is awesome and started her own wine importing business!), and picked up a few wine tasting tips in the process:) They headed back to Michigan on Saturday, and I took time to get some stuff done around my apartment...laundry, dishes, errands, you know...the fun stuff haha. But I also made mom's enchilada recipe, wrote this blog finally, and got to skype with Morah again, so not a bad day!
Til next time with love, Jennie
