Spring Stay-cation

We spent Spring Break in Atlanta and it's been a very restful week. Oh, we've been busy - no lollygagging for the Knitternall family.

We spent Monday at the Georgia Aquarium (thanks to a tip from John Heneghen, our tickets cost just $15 each!) and the World of Coke.

I worked half-days Tuesday through Thursday, so we did some adventure-dining for lunch. Happy Sumo and the World Peace Cafe were big hits, and the lunchtime prices were satisfying as well.

Friday was movie day for the guys and shopping for the gals.

Today, the teen and I hit the trails at Kennesaw National Historic Battlefield for his next 10-mile hike (almost there - just one more hike and the Scout badge is DONE). It was a beautiful morning, but the incline was brutal. Straight up. Straight down. Up to the summit of Kennesaw Mountain, across Little Kennesaw Mountain, Pigeon Hill, and Cheatham Hill, round and back to the Visitor's Center via an access road. Note to self: next time, take fancy hiking poles because the branches we used were evidently declasse. The hikers we passed (and who passed us) were well REI-d for the day. Not that our branches didn't work. They just weren't COOL.

We also passed throngs of volunteers working on the trails. To get to their posts, they had to climb the same rigorous incline we did. The assigned jobs involved pickaxes for breaking rock, moving 25-30 pound rocks to build water breaks on the trails, and hauling fallen limbs and undergrowth to gathering spots along the trail. Mulching the trails at Dunwoody Nature Center is a cake walk in comparison.

Spring Break has been nice. We're refreshed and ready for the insanely busy time between now and school's end. I have Preschool Phonics classes to wrap up, summer schedules to finalize (how did the teen get old enough for driving school?), and a never-ending to-do list at work.

Meanwhile, it's good to be home. It'll be wonderful to celebrate Easter at church in the morning. And I look forward to tinkering with the vegetable garden in the warming weather ahead.

But I don't want to see another mountain trail. Anytime soon, anyway.

Let the love continue

It's fun to see how many people read my Dunwoody bits. While most visitors come from the knitting world across America, the fact that I'm a dyed-in-the-peach Dunwoody Townie certainly colors my blogs.

So it was with yesterday's "faves." I had quite a few friends call and email with their own. I can't believe I forgot some of these!

Favorite breakfast, part 2: Goldberg's in Georgetown Shopping Center. OMG, the cinnamon rolls are sinfully ginormous and yummmmmm.

Favorite Dunwoody Courtesy: people letting you "in" when traffic is bumper to bumper on Mt. Vernon Road.

Favorite Icecream Place: The fact that you can hang outside Bruster's on hot summer nights makes it the perfect gathering spot to catch up with friends and neighbors.

Favorite Pimento Cheese Sandwich: World Peace Cafe (okay, it's in Sandy Springs, but it's close enough to count!)

Favorite "Desserty": Intermezzo Cafe, for fantastic, indulgent desserts and flavorful coffee.

Favorite Shoe Store: Nordstrom's at Perimeter Mall. If you're fitting a wriggling kid's foot, the staffers in the children's department are amazingly patient and adept. And semiannual shoe sales for grown-up feet are the way to go if you don't want to wince (too much) at designer shoe prices.

Favorite Shoe Store when Reality Hits: Target!!!!

Favorite Designer Boutique: Goodwill. Yep. From Abercrombie & Fitch for your "all that" teen to outrageous designer labels, you CAN find it there. Yes, it's in Sandy Springs. Yes, it's worth the hunt.

Favorite Pharmacy: Walgreen's. I've been to several of the others and this one gets my meds more promptly and has them stocked more often than the others. Plus, there's less turnover!

Favorite Place To Get Your Eyes Checked and Find Cute Glasses: Briggs Eye Care. Wonderful place.

Those are just a few of the places my friends said I forgot. So there!

Knitting with your slip hanging out

Having my first pattern linked with Knitting Pattern Central is feeling a bit like walking around with my slip hanging out (I'm dating myself). I'm thrilled, excited, breathless. But I'm also anxious that I wrote the pattern accurately and clearly. Here's hoping! The Felted Tote is making its rounds. So now I have to just sit back and wait . . .

The staff at the Nature Center headed to the World Peace Cafe in Sandy Springs for a Christmas luncheon. Delish, to quote Rachel Ray. Our gathering was small, but our enjoyment was immense. Mushroom strogonoff, carrot ginger soup, mozzarella/basil/tomato sandwiches, and homemade pimento cheese sandwiches. Yum! We shared sweets we'd each made for taking home.

World Peace Cafe is a fascinating place. The wait staff was all volunteers! This was my first time, and I really love the ambiance and philosophy behind the food. This Buddhist restaurant has homes throughout the world, specializing in locally grown, organic food. I highly recommend it to Sandy Springs and Dunwoody readers . . . it's worth a trip for you ITP knitters as well.

(ITP: Inside the perimeter. OTP: Outside the perimeter. In the traffic horror that is Atlanta, there is a definite demarcation between inside I-285 and outside I-285 dwellers. There are those who SWEAR they will NEVER cross that line, no matter what. I happily hop across with careless abandon, but only between the hours of 10 and 3. Those of you who live here know what I mean.)