The Parentals Visit ATL

I can't believe week 6 is here! That means I'm halfway done with my internship come Friday...(assuming I have the math right) Atlanta has been a blur and I think time is speeding by quicker these days. My project at work is moving slow, which I suppose is expected with the amount of data through which I am sifting. But to make these mediocre days that much better, my parents decided to visit this past weekend.

Ever since I moved from California, I don't see my parents nearly as much as I did. Indeed, living down the hall facilitated a lot of interaction. I still talk to them on a regular basis. I'm not sure if that is habit or because if creates some balance in my life. Mom mentioned that she wanted to come visit and given my upcoming schedule, I thought - NO WAY do I actually have time, except for 3 particular weekends. Two weeks ago, they booked tickets. They arrived from SF on Friday, just in time for me to miss the bulk of rush hour traffic and take them to my trendy Tapas Restaurant, Noche. It helps that I also get 15% off the food seeing I love the place. They had margeritas, I had sangria and the adventure began. Then, I turned in early after dinner in preparation for Saturday.

Saturday, I picked my parents up at their hotel and we had breakfast at Flying Biscuit. I think we were discriminated against. While I'm not sure if it was a friend thing or something else, but I did ask the hostess why a 4-top, who arrived after us, was seated before the 3 of us. She tried to explain that there were 3-tops finishing up within the next 5 minutes, otherwise we would have been seated first. Sure enough, we sat at a 4-top. Ironic. Afterwards we headed North to the outlets. I swear the world is on sale and I'm happy to partake. I got some cute clothes to freshen up my closet as the weather gets increasingly hotter here. Dad picked out a couple shirts, mom got a new pair of shoes. All in all, a successful trip. I returned mom and dad to the hotel, only to go home, change and pick them up again. We ate dinner at Aria and I invited a classmate. Impeccable service, decadent food and an absolutely fantastic night!!

Sunday morning we had breakfast at Murphy's and showed dad what he would be doing that afternoon - painting pottery - to later be kindled. His initial reaction was one of "really?!? Likely not." However after breakfast, he picked out his doggy bowl and quickly started designing. It was seriously cute!! We don't get the pieces until Thursday after they've been cooked, yet it was an excellent afternoon. Talk about a great date place too - and it's BYO everything (including alcohol).

We wrapped up Sunday night at Park Tavern with my friend from college joining us. We laughed, listened to a little live music, ate and had some more cocktails. It was another perfect ATL weekend. Hard to believe I'll be gone for the next four.