I almost forgot about that. 😉

The month of September is turning into a “lost” month here. A lot of things have happened, but yet the whole month almost seems like a black hole in my memory.

We’ve been focused on packing up everything we own and all the other preparations that go into moving (we get the keys Oct. 1st.) I’ve been working on a personal project that’s taken away a lot of my attention. And, we had some urgent family business to attend to as well that has weighed heavily on our minds.

Before

After

I haven’t really been too busy to blog, but lack of time really hasn’t been the issue. I think lack of passion has been more the problem. I’ve joked to Jeff before that I tend to be passionate about different things only in short bursts. Lately, I’ve had a good burst of passion for my project I’m working on (which I’ll share more details on at a later time,) but mostly I’ve just been passionate about this move to a new house, which means a great deal more to us than just a change of location.

Moving to a single-family home marks the start of a new phase in our lives. Though we haven’t solidified plans for exactly when yet, I know that we will become parents in that house. We will bring our first child home to that house, and he or she will learn to walk on those floors and begin to grow into someone in that house. Just being in that house even before we officially start down the road to parenthood will fill me with a sense of hope and excitement for the future.

Also, I’m just really excited to not share walls with any of my neighbors any more.

Although I’ve been really focused on other things this month, we did manage to get out a few times and enjoy ourselves. Just this past weekend we got to watch fireworks in Decatur Square. The 4th of July fireworks got postponed due to rain, so we got to watch them after the last summer concert on the square.

We had stopped into Mac McGee’s beforehand to have a glass or two of scotch while the sun went down. Oban and pyrotechnics sure make for a good evening. 😉

We also made it back to Miso Izakaya for an awesome dinner with friends. Highlights include a super-soft soy egg…

Napalm-hot takoyaki…

Crispy-skinned duck in steamed buns…

…and mini donut balls dusted with green tea and sugar.

I love Miso Izakaya. Their sushi is of good quality however not that exciting, but the hot dishes are all incredible. Can’t argue with the huge list of sake and shochu either. We need to remember to go there more often.

Jeff and I did something else pretty cool earlier this month too. We checked out the Mini Maker Fair, which is a collection of attractions from various people in the areas of robotics, electronics, and any hobby that revolves around making things from scratch!

We saw lots of cool robots and gadgets…

Line-following robot

Solar-powered 3D plastic printer

Hexi-copter

Remote controlled skate board

Obligatory R2D2

There were tons of interesting and geeky craft items too. This fair was just a mini version of the original Maker Fare that has so much more to see. I hope the big Maker Fare comes to Atlanta sometime soon.

So, things have been happening around here, I just just haven’t felt compelled to share them lately because I’m in my own little world with thoughts on moving. Hopefully by the time we’re settled into the new place I’ll have gotten back on track with blogging, but I’m not too worried about it right now.

So tell me about you!…What was the most interesting thing you did in the month of September?

September 26, 2011 Alayna Discussion 12 comments

Not a whole lot of exciting stuff going on here lately.

I’ve kind of been in a bad habit of slacking off a lot. Not out of laziness, but rather because my mind is so consumed with thoughts of moving that I feel somewhat frantic even though I’m not. This constant busy feeling has kept me from tackling other projects because I feel like I don’t have time for them, but I absolutely do!

I’ve started slowly packing, trying to get a little done without forcing us into living out of half-packed boxes for this last month that we’re here.

I did manage to use up a few of those beautiful tomatoes we were given in a delicious tomato vegetable soup. It was so bright and flavorful with those perfectly juicy tomatoes in it.

And this past weekend Jeff and I snuck out for a little date at a new restaurant in Decatur called No. 246. It’s an Italian-inspired menu focusing on pastas, pizza, and lots of small plates for sharing.

Highlights of the meal were the toasts with 3 spreads: cannelini bean, pork rillettes, and lemon ricotta with pickled mushrooms…

Then, a tasty charcuterie pairing of coppa ham and a semi-soft cheese called Moses Sleeping, paired with a plum jam.

And a spicy garganelle pasta with braised rabbit and broccoli rabe.

We also had delicious cocktails and a chocolate tart with sea salt and olive oil.

I almost never order chocolate desserts. I do like chocolate, but I don’t swoon over it like so many women do. I always prefer creamy desserts or warm fruit crisps, but something was telling me to go for the chocolate tart and I’m glad I did. It was so rich and the fruity olive oil really did add something wonderful to it.

All in all though, we were not in love with No. 246. It was much too expensive for the quantity of food we received and though this may sound like a weird complaint, the acoustics in there were terrible! It was so uncomfortably loud that Jeff and I could barely speak to each other and had to yell our orders to our waiter. Not exactly the kind of atmosphere I like to eat in. Also, the bread was painful to eat. It was so crunchy and hard, like eating shards of broken glass. And as you can see above, we had a lot of it to crunch through.  Anyway, I’m glad we tried it.

Now, back to packing!

August 30, 2011 Alayna Discussion 6 comments

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

We had a bit of an unusual one. On Saturday we attended a yo-yo competition!…….

We heard about it online from someone that was hosting it and decided to drop in and see what it was all about. It was at PushPush Theater near downtown Decatur and was basically several hours of competitive yo-yoing! We got there towards the end so we got to see about an hour of competition and the winners announced.

There were kids of all ages with some pretty impressive yo-yo collections…..

One kid even won a $200 yo-yo! I didn’t realize there was such a thing as a $200 yo-yo, but apparently there is.

The competitors twist and flip the yo-yos so fast that I couldn’t even snap any photos of the action. It was pretty amazing to watch and I’m so glad we took a chance on checking out this unusual activity because it was a blast to watch and the music was rockin’.

I almost bought a yo-yo while we were there but I restrained myself.

That night we went out on a little date to a restaurant I’ve been hearing rave reviews about from so many people – Escorpion.

This place is known for their tacos and ceviches. But first, they started us out with an amazing salsa, you could tell that the ingredients in it were roasted and charred, very interesting.

The cocktail menu was too good to pass up. I got a drink called the El Chamuco that had tequila, blackberry and cassis in it. It was fantastic! So often drinks like this can be thick and syrupy, but this one tasted fresh and crisp. Jeff got a cocktail infused with rosemary. It had just a hint of herbal flavor without hitting you over the head.

The first thing we ordered was the tuna and watermelon ceviche with serrano chilis and smoked sea salt…

Isn’t it beautiful?!?!

This was incredible. We were both unsure of how the watermelon would go with the tuna, but combined with the sour and salty brine it was the perfect balance of flavors.

Then we got three tacos to share. Clockwise from the back these are goat, grilled shrimp, and beef tongue.

Unusual, right?

The goat had a flavor like it had been stewed in milk, very flavorful. The shrimp were perfectly bouncy and you could taste the slight char from the grill. The tongue was my favorite. If you’ve never tried tongue you are missing out, it is one of my favorite meats. It is meltingly soft and has a buttery flavor, delicious!

We also shared a pork tamale. Sadly, this wasn’t wonderful. Usually tamales have the problem of having too much masa and not enough meat. This one had the opposite problem, it was almost entirely a giant slab of flavorless overcooked pork with very little masa to balance it out. It wasn’t awful, just a little dry and heavy.

We were having such a good time that we ended up ordering two more cocktails to chill out with. Jeff got the traditional margarita which was easily the best margarita I’ve ever tasted, mellow and not too sour. I got a drink called La Dahlia that had hibiscus syrup in it. I felt like such a girl with my sweet pink drink. 😉

Overall, I was knocked over by how awesome Escorpion was. We will definitely be back!

A weekend of yo-yos and tongue tacos, definitely a little different. 😉

Do you have any unusual hobbies?

July 25, 2011 Alayna Discussion 3 comments