Kid-free Week

What do we do when our kid isn't around? Restaurants and shopping apparently. 

My parents wanted to have Stella for a few days this Summer so the plan was for her to stay at Lollipop's for a few days, then stay at Nini and Grandaddy's for a few more. I left Worth County Friday afternoon and arrived in Mableton around 5:30. I showered and got ready to go out for the night with Donald. 

He took me to Opa Greek Village Taverna where we had drinks and shared the Lemon/Oregano chicken with potatoes and green beans. 

After dinner we walked next door to Creatwood Tavern. This is Smyrna's only rooftop bar. Definitely a cool atmosphere. We had more drinks on their rooftop bar and played a giant version of Connect-4, Jenga and cornhole.  I lost at all of the games, but had fun so I suppose it doesn't matter.

Saturday morning we awoke to rain. Anyone else love that? Donald decided to clean out his closet. Then he moved on to his drawers. Something I'd been asking him to do for months. Like 9+ months probably. I'm happy he FINALLY did this, but considering I'd been gone for an ENTIRE month, I thought his timing could have been better. But whatever....moving on.

Saturday we intended to have lunch fare at Dolly's Farmhouse Restaurant, but they only serve breakfast on Saturdays so we had a Southern breakfast instead. 

Afterwards, we rode out to Hiram to go to Academy to search for new swimsuits. We ended up at Hobby Lobby too. Oh and at the grand opening to some new-to-Georgia store called The Club Store. Basically they get the overstocked and returned stuff from Costco, Sams and BJ's. Then Donald had a bocce game at 5:30 up at Siracusa's. We hung out there for a few hours drinking Crispin on tap, running our mouths with other locals trying to decide what to do for supper and the rest of the evening.

We had big, fun, adult, no kids plans for that night, as in The Cheetah, but both confessed we just weren't up for it. Last time we did that we stayed at the hotel next door for free (with hotel rewards points) so we didn't have to worry about drinking, or not drinking or paying for an Uber. This time we were planning on coming back to our house and we just didn't want to pay to Uber, but mostly we didn't feel like showering, actually fixing my hair (just me), make-up (also just me) and the process of picking out dressy clothes. Major first world problems. 

So we decided on our favorite authentic Mexican restaurant in Mableton, El Solecito and sat there for a few hours watching Hispanic folks sing songs mostly in Spanish. It was actually more entertaining than it sounds. Oh and Donald ordered me my first pina colada. It felt necessary to have one given the circumstances. 

Sunday we slept in and I went old school. As in pre-Stella. Which means I had breakfast on the couch while watching Food Network. I used to sit for hours watching Food Network. I knew the whole weekend line-up and would dream up our menus for the week.  I can still do this with her present, but it's not the same.

We had Pho for lunch from Scott's Eats and Sweets. Now I know what you are thinking-this is the perfect name to let your potential customers know you serve authentic Vietnamese food. Right?! Yeah, same here. The food is great, but their service is totally hit or miss. The girl waiting on us seemed like she could barely manage to tie her shoes much less take our order. Afterwards, we went clothes/swimsuit shopping (again), then went to the farmers market on Austell Road which just so happened to be their 1st anniversary. We bought $100+ of stuff, but 95% of it was all meat/seafood and fresh produce. Donald ordered me an Instant Pot on Prime Day for my birthday and he grabbed some green peanuts to boil in it. We also got some goat meat to make a goat curry with. 

We had supper on the porch which was so nice, but also surprising considering we mostly eat our meals on the couch in front of the TV when Stella's isn't around.

That evening Donald put 5 lbs of peanuts into the Instant Pot and boiled them in 80 minutes. We were sold! In the past I've cooked them in the slow cooker, but this is a nice option, especially if they are a last minute purchase and want to bring them to someone's house.

This is the most low-key (?, not sure this is the term I want) weekend we've probably ever had since having Stella. Usually we try to take advantage of our free babysitters=grandparents and do something wild and crazy, but nope. Not this time. We were total adults with our clothes and food shopping. Ok, this may read boring and I guess it could have been, it was just nice to not be interrupted or asked "When are we leaving?" or wonder "where is my damn kid hiding in the store?"

Monday, I got a massage at 10:00 am. I met Donald at the movies at 4:30 to watch Guardians of the Galaxy 2 then we had a yummy Southern supper of thick-cut smoked pork chops from Carroll's Sausage in Sylvester, fresh field peas with smoked turkey legs and grilled sweet potatoes.

That night I gave Donald an hour long massage on our barely used massage table complete with candles, essential oils and spa music. This was so relaxing, even for me and I quite enjoyed doing this for him. 

Tuesday, I was thankful for a few hours to wash, peel, cut and can fresh peaches from Lane Southern Orchards. I'd stopped there on my way back to Atlanta and was excited to can a few jars with a spiced honey syrup from one of my favorite cookbooks. I am glad I do not have to can out of necessity as it's sooo time consuming, which means irritating and unsafe with a small child running around, but I do find it relaxing to put up a few jars here and there.

The two blue jars on the left are flavored with honey, cinnamon and clove. The two on the right are flavored with honey and vanilla.

After I finished this I stopped by Lynn's new home to visit her and the girls in their new house. Being a southern lady, I shared homegrown tomatoes, grape salad and a bag of boiled peanuts with them.

Then I picked up Donald and we went to SunTrust Park to take advantage of his company's Delta 360 Club tickets. We got there around 5:30 and Laurie met us there sometime after 6.  It was a good thing we had free tickets that included free food and drink considering the game never took place while we were there. A small storm popped up out of nowhere and camped out over the stadium for hours. The originally first pitch was at 7:35, then 8:05, then 9-something, then 10:05. We left just before 10 but enjoyed the time to catch up with Laurie, people watch and stuff ourselves.

Wednesday-our last complete day of freedom. I swung by Donald's place of employment to pick him up for lunch at the delicious Cuban Diner in Marietta, then that night we went to Krog Street Market.  We had both the pork belly and Korean beef bao from Suzy Sui Baos. I haven't had too many baos. They are a bit weird for me. I like them, but the sweet flavor of the bun and the texture is strange and something I'm getting used to. I preferred the pork belly one the best. Then, we sampled the 2014 Food Network winner for Best Dumplings at Gu's Dumplings. Oh goodness. I could eat these everyday. Next, we shared the hot chicken mac and cheese and the jalapeno creamed corn from Richard's Southern Fried. The mac and cheese was good, but I hardly spotted any chicken pieces and didn't taste anything remotely hot. Now, I was actually picturing a chicken breast atop a bed of mac and cheese and this is NOT how it comes. We did order the side though so perhaps the actual main dish does. The corn was excellent.  The end our meal we both ordered ice cream from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. I had the goat cheese and red cherry ice cream in a waffle cone. I heart goat cheese in nearly any way it's served so, of course I had to get this flavor. Donald had almond brown butter brittle ice cream in a cup. This was our first visit and while I loved it, we both remarked how it seems weird that both KSM and PCM close at 9-10 pm. 

So, if you are counting we ate and/or had drinks at 12 restaurants. This includes the four food stalls at KSM and SunTrust Park. Six days, 12 restaurants. Yep, that's how we do kid free week. I cook enough during the week. We want someone else to cook and clean for us when it's just the two of us.