Looking Up & Looking Back

There's a new belle at the ball!

Writing this particular bit leaves me weeping tears of joy and happiness as I tell you that, last Tuesday at around 12:30 am, Sweet and Ben Dupuy welcomed Florence Virginia Dupuy into this beautiful world. Despite a very impulsive and decadent almost unignored whimsy to hop a plane to DC and drop into the hospital for a visit, I have not yet seen Florence in person . . . but I have seen pictures. She is . . . hmm, as a writer and perfectionist I find myself at a loss to adequately describe her! Simply perfect will simply have to do for now.

Sweet has been my friend since before I can remember. I even caught the bouquet at her wedding (which, now that I think of it, I have been meaning to speak to her about.) And I knew that Ben was for her when I saw the precious initials that were meticulously stitched onto his shirt . . . BAD. For me, such a sign sealed their marital fate - that and the fact that he was so highly amused by my tiara habit. I am so happy for them, so eager to meet baby Florence and so, so, so curious as to whether she will be a ballet flat or a peep-toe girl.

Thursday afternoon I drove out to Walnut Creek. The sun was shining, a light breeze whispered in my ear and the most beautiful (we’ll have to get some tips from Deidra) daffodils greeted me when I arrived at the Stewart Manse. I guess that right about now you are imagining me sitting poolside, overlooking the lake and sipping a glass of Sun Garden or a Bud Light. Well, guess again – I was taking a delicious dive into a new product. All five calories of Sparkling Ice are Mmm, Mmm, Mmm. I tried the Orange/Mango and the Strawberry/Kiwi. This tall drink of artesian water is a lightly carbonated must-try. I’ll let you know when, and where, you can get one for yourself.

The next day I was Raleigh bound! (A bit of trivia: Raleigh, coincidentally, is from whence the new Telegraph Publisher comes - The News & Observer, to be exact.) Sans anyone who would be tortured enough to see me leave that they might drive me to the airport . . . I rode Groome, a single girl’s best friend and far more posh than the ride that I got home - but we’ll get to that later.

Note: The candy shop at the Hartsfield has Sour Power!!! If you don’t already know what this is – PAY ATTENTION! Sour Power is a straw-shaped confection that my mom used to buy for my friends and me at the Hello Kitty Store. We would eat it out of the box until our tongues were raw. It is a part of my childhood . . . and now . . . a part of my semi-adulthood. I suggest that you make it part of yours.

Raleigh, and my mother, were both wonderful. The Tom Kha at Taste of Thai (I know – the Olive Garden-esque name of the restaurant caused me to set my expectations low but I was pleasantly surprised) . . . as I was saying, the Tom Kha was wonderful and I found a recipe so I may give it a whirl. Also not to miss is Dilly Dally, the most precious store ever! I found many things that I wanted to buy for darling Florence.

Sunday I U-hauled it home with quite a loot. My mother loaded me up with hand-me-downs . . . a term that I use loosely as most of what she sent can’t even be described as gently used. And what-do-you-know, I rediscovered another (albeit a bit less innocent) part of my childhood. The Mick Jagger, Wandering Spirit Album, brought back memories of unauthorized lake parties and trips to Atlanta for fake ID’s. Those were the days my friend.

Kisses!

aS

Hot This Week!

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Step Right Up, Get Your Tickets Before They Sell Out . . .

Diamonds to Denim
Benefit Concert
Saturday, April 5th at 7:30 pm
The Grand Opera House

The benefit, sponsored by The ARC and The Middle Georgia Association of Realtors, will open with Shane Bridges and include the "diamond" Edward Eikner and "down home denim" Ronnie Milsap. Tickets are $50 (Gen. Ad.) and $100 (including a preview party) and may be purchased at http://www.thegrand.mercer.edu/

A Tale of Two Cities

Meanwhile, back at "the ranch" . . .

Early last week, I reconnected with an old pal. Ben and I were “reunited and it feels so good” to shoot a promo for the upcoming United Way Luncheon, a toast to Administrative Professionals Day which will be held at Idle Hour Country Club. I could tell you more about it but I much prefer to tell you that you’ll simply have to keep your television tuned to 13 WMAZ and your eyes peeled for our debut. Later that evening – my eyes were the ones being peeled and High School Reunion did not disappoint. Oh swoon, j’adore! Ancient drama and impending bed-hopping, those who have evolved and those who have devolved, scars that even twenty years cannot erase . . . who could ask for anything more?

Friday was a hot mess herself! I started the day at Bright Blue Sky with a Blue Bird-shaped cookie and a press conference during which I clung desperately to every word that precious Mr. Albert L. “Buddy” Luce, Jr. spoke. Said clinging was due to a certain elected official who not only managed to fit a campaign announcement into his words of praise but also seemed to be doing a bit of fundraising judging from the nerve wracking and incessant jingling of change that reverberated from inside his suit pants. Never fear, though, you can read all about everything that the jingling kept me from hearing . . . compliments of Phillip Ramati.

Afterwards, I stopped in at Ginger Michelle for a decadent pair of chandeliers and skipped on down to Molly’s for lunch with Amy and Charlie Hellis. (I better sit down, my head is beginning to spin.) After lunch I grabbed my red cashmere wrap and headed to the theatre. 21 Years . . . Dying and Living with A.I.D.S. was just wonderful! I especially enjoyed performances by Kate Long, Aiden Carter and Caty Hulsey and I was able to visit with “Grandmother” Betty Sweet Simmons (whom I adore as if she were my own.) One more stop, at the Shamrock, to enjoy a Shane Bridges serenade, and this midnight train to Georgia was homeward bound.

Needless to say, the only energy that I gathered together on Saturday was for my weekly stroll to Fountain of Juice – which I took in the car, enough said?

And Sunday . . . ahh . . . Sunday was a day to energize and detox. I energized at Kim Sandefur's house with a round of shots. Drinking during the day - on a Sunday - how decadent! Slow down - Shots on the menu were Aloe, Greens & Essentials by Univera. Leave it to Kim to bring us Wellness in a shot glass. Call her (319.0314) , she's got the scoop. After that I had an Ionic Foot Detox at Allyson's. Dawn Hammack (747.3102) is a delight, and she brings pedi-therapy right into your own sunroom.

"The fact is, sometimes it's really hard to walk in a single woman's shoes. That's why we need really special ones now and then to make the walk a little more fun."

Carrie Bradshaw

And a nice, long soak doesn't hurt either.

aS

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Go Green . . .

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Step Right Up, Get Your Tickets Before They Sell Out . . .

Bon Jovi at Phillips Arena!

And you simply must stay at the Ellis Hotel. It's a triple threat: luxury, location and low rates. (And not just relatively speaking -$124.00 and it is across the street from the Ritz Carlton darling! )

Get On The Bus

Last week, Nancy Drew style, I managed to solve a mystery – The Clue at Cherry and MLK. The mystery to be solved was – just how long could Ashley Smith go without having a “Forget About It” from Luigis? Mystery solved . . . far too long. If you haven’t had this man-hunk portion of turkey burger, then you are missing out my friend. This lunchtime-only treat combines my true love for convincing myself that what I am eating is healthy with my first love of eating food that is not. The fact that the patty is made from turkey and topped with a generous portion of rich, green, vitamin packed spinach allows one to overlook the more calorie-laden fact that the patty is smothered in ooey-gooey cheese and the spinach is tossed in a decadent paste of all things fattening. This illusion of health consciousness is so complete - in fact, that even when you invite the tater tots (best in town) in on the action, you still leave feeling like you have done something good for yourself. And you have! It's faux guiltless decadence at its finest. 

By some divine twist of fate, I got a flat tire on Friday. Flat tires are my forte and contribute to my “Driving Miss Daisy” policy. This policy is simple. When I drive . . . bad things happen . . . so I don’t. Even aside from the three different state troopers who have told me that I should not have survived three different wrecks, there are the small infractions. I’m on a first name basis with the entire staff at Raffield Tire Master. On Friday, it became (my co-worker & all around savior) Josh’s responsibility to aid this damsel in distress. Long story short – I ended up spending the day alone at my Grandmother’s house (waiting for a repaired tire) eating bon bons, napping and watching the “stories.” Ladies and gentleman the writer’s strike is over and I am a Desperate Housewife.

O.k., ok. – I’m getting on with it! Friday night I went to see Josh Carson play at Shamrock. Josh and I carpooled when we were little and ever since that morning that my mom left without him and Josh set the alarm off and almost got run over on PioNono – well – ever since then I’ve had a soft spot for Josh. Plus he’s just so divinely adorable. Anyhoo - - the Shamrock was packed! Thanksgiving break style. Josh sounded better than I have ever heard him sound before and I saw some faces that were overwhelmingly exciting to see Grace, who is one of my angels and Angie, who is the most effervescent person I know. It was a wonderful night and I was home before my coach had time to go pumpkin on me.

Saturday I walked up to Fountain of Juice and upped the ante on the “packed house” theme. The place was slammed! Among MANY others, I ran into Carrie McElreath whom I shared Beth Tucker’s bachelorette weekend and Holly Arnold whom I share a birthday. Amidst my chatting and gushing I became too overwhelmed to make decisive menu selections and ended up leaving with a bag full of goodies that would feed me well into Sunday. Hunkered down with enough food to get me through what remains of the winter . . . I decided to do some spring cleaning. I emptied 2 closets, filled one big green trashcan and dedicated an entire secretary to beauty products. Keep an eye out next week for a list of my favorites.

I spent Sunday with Patrick McDreamy Dempsey (Can’t Buy Me Love), Lucy Spiller (Dirt), Bridget, Holly & Kendra (The Girls Next Door), and Bret Michaels (Rock of Love 2.) Reality t.v. is truly undervalued. Kisses!

aS

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Step Right Up, Get Your Tickets Before They Sell Out . . .

If you have tickets to attend the weekend activities at Atlanta Motor Speedway, I am pea-green-with-envy jealous of you. I am a girly -girl who loves high heels, frilly dresses and little bits of rubber in my margarita.

I love horsepower, and big wrecks and Kasey Khane. And I will not let the fact that I gave my tickets away (in a moment of stubbornness and passion - both of which I have in spades) make me bitter.

I will simply tell you that, if you have never been to an automotive race - you need to get your tooshie in gear.

Get your tickets . . . and a true adrenaline rush!