welcome, weekend

I’m so glad the weekend is here.

Seriously, y’all…like, so glad.

Yesterday, I placed an order for one of these:

I had a Staples Rewards certificate for $89 that I actually had trouble spending. I couldn’t figure out what on earth to buy, so when I saw this flash unit (that I wanted to buy anyway) I figured it was a good way to knock $89 off my price. So I can’t wait to get it! I might just try to make one of those DIY bounce/dome thingies sometime…that would make for a fun project.

A week ago I got a call from one of my oldest, dearest friends, ACB. She has just returned from a week in what sounded like a very cool place in Mexico with her boyfriend. And guess what? Yep, she got engaged! Congrats, ACB…I cannot wait to help you guys celebrate.

This week I went to Seeger’s for dinner with JH. Seeger’s is Atlanta’s only five-star restaurant and one of those places that you think you might try “someday.” When the restaurant was recently saved from a tax-related death, JH asked if I’d be up for checking it out since it had been one of his longtime personal goals to eat there.

It was a lot smaller than I expected. We were first seated in the lounge area, where we were served beverages and canapés, along with popcorn with sea salt. The très French bartender took our orders in the lounge, and soon we were shown to our table by our very enthusiastic Polish server.

The meal was divine. We did the four-course tasting menu, which consisted of a cold and hot appetizer, entrée, and dessert. I had Georgia white shrimp, soft shell crab, pork chop, and pear glace with a fois gras cake. Everything was delicious, but I was especially blown away by one of the amuse-bouches—a steamed egg with maple syrup, some sort of fish, and vegetable consommé. It sounded pretty terrible, but the taste was out of this world. Seriously. It was mindblowing. The flavors were so intricately intertwined and perfectly complementary. It’s weird to say that the best thing about a fancy meal was a steamed egg, but in this case, it’s true.

All in all, it was a neat experience. I would definitely recommend a visit to Seeger’s, especially with some of the more afforable menu choices. You don’t have to spend $300 per person there, but if you did, I’m sure you’d enjoy an excellent meal.

The rest of my week was okay. I had dinner with an old friend on Thursday, and last night I went out with some serious blasts from my past. MCS and I were best friends in middle school and during our freshman year in high school before I left Hunstville, AL for El Paso, TX. We recently reconnected and I found out that she lives right here in Atlanta! Her little sister also lives here, as does her best friend from high school. So we had a little girls’ night last night, which was fun. We went to dinner at Fuego for tapas and drinks, and we ended the night with improv at Whole World Theatre. I hadn’t been there in forever, and I had forgotten how funny it can be. The four of us are going to try to do the girls’ night thing once a month, and I think our next outing is going to be dinner at Medieval Times. When CR suggested that, it totally cracked me up because it was the third time in four days that the place had come up in conversations with friends. Maybe it’s a sign that I’m supposed to go.

Maybe I’ll meet my knight in shining armor there.

Heh.

No, really…I know that my chances of being whisked away on a white horse by some really hot guy brandishing a sword and shield are pretty much nil. There’s nothing better to teach me that than the lackluster round of dating I completed over the past few months. I met lots of really nice guys…some of them were actually great guys, but nothing much came out of it. I still stand behind online dating as the easiest way to meet someone new, but my profile on hiatus at the moment. It’s just so much work. There’s the whole administrative side of it—responding to winks/drinks/smiles/whathaveyou and e-mails—as well as the production side, or the actual dating. I think there comes a point when you think, I’d actually rather stay home to watch something on my TiVo than spend an hour getting all dolled up for the possibility of meeting someone I’ll probably never see again.

I don’t mean to sound entirely negative about it all. I’m actually kind of in a weird, in-between place with someone I met nearly a year ago and recently ran into again. It’s the kind of thing where we’re not really dating per se but we like spending time together and have great chemistry. I have no idea where it will end up, and I’m feeling kind of out-of-body about it all anyway because he’s been out of town this week which means I haven’t seen him at all.

Meanwhile, the ex-boy is spending the evening with the girl he’s dating…and her entire family. Not sure why that bugs me, but it does. I guess there are actually several reasons why it bugs me, but I won’t go into them here. Really, the most important thing to me is that he and I are able to maintain some sort of friendship…preferably a close one. I think it will be hard—for both of us—for a while. Apparently not many people are able to pull off what we’re attempting…the whole “friends with your ex” thing. But I think we’re both willing to try really hard to make it work.

Speaking of “make it work” (and forgive the abrupt change of topic)—but I love me some Project Runway. I’m rooting for Michael although I’ve heard rumblings that his collection might not have gone over so well.

I feel a nap coming on. I just might indulge in a teeny one before heading to the Braves game tonight with LS.