Lenox Mall (like most malls) is one of those places where you have to sift through a lot of crap to get to the good stuff. However, there are a few bright spots.
Club Monaco is one of my new favorite stores. I know that as a girl, I'm supposed to love shopping, but it's really just a necessary evil. The problem is that my taste has gone up, but my income hasn't quite kept up with my style. The clothes at Club Monaco seem to be made well from quality materials, they fit, and they don't cost an arm and a leg. It's a good store for basics if you have a hard time paying full-price for Theory, real Calvin Klein (not the sub-standard label in the department stores) or Elie Tahari, but you don't want to wear Banana Republic and end up wearing the same shirt as 5 other girls in your office. Of course, I don't like everything there. Today, as usual, I tried on 1 skirt and 5 shirts, but only left with 2 shirts. 2 classic cap sleeve t-shirts - 1 black, 1 black and white stripe = $50.
One of the big problems I have with blouses, especially button-downs, is my chest. Actually, the problem is not my chest--it's the proportion of my chest to the rest of my upper body. My shoulders and waist are sized for a small or xsmall, but my chest is a medium. A couple of years ago, I discovered why my 36C bras weren't comfortable--I'm actually a 32E! I know, you didn't even know that size existed. Neither did I, but finding out my true size was a dream come true. Finding clothes still isn't easy, because I'm not really into wearing a shirt to work that gapes at all of the top buttonholes or a shirt that is falling off my shoulders and ballooning at the waist. With the popularity of surgical enhancement, I can't believe more designers haven't taken this issue into consideration. Unfortunately, I didn't choose this fate, but I have to live with it. Sorry, I'm rambling, but the point of all of this was to say that the Club Monaco white shirt ($69) did not meet expectations, but the Theory white shirt ($185) at Bloomingdales fit perfectly. Welcome to my life!
After waiting for me to try on 6 items in the dressing room at Club Monaco, Derek deserved a break, so we headed down to the Clubhouse for a break. I was happy to get a bloody mary with real horseradish in it, and the bartender asked what kind of vegetables I wanted in it. While the veggies weren't very creative (olives, celery, cucumber), it was the thought that counts. Derek had a couple of greyhounds, and the bartender gave him the second one on the house and invited us to Sunday brunch for $10 bottomless mimosas sometime. It was a nice gesture, so we'll probably go back.
Third bright spot at Lenox Mall--the Apple Store. Even though it's crowded, it's a great store because you can check out fully-functioning computers, ipods, iphones, etc. without being accosted by salespeople. Also, I had a great experience a few weeks ago at the Genius Bar. One morning, my computer wouldn't boot up completely, and I tried everything I knew to fix it. Derek made an appointment online at the Genius Bar for the next afternoon. I was fully expecting to leave the computer, and either pay a large fee to have it fixed or to find out the hard drive would have to be replaced. We arrived at the Apple Store and saw on the huge screens at the back of the store that we were #3 in line for the Genius Bar. We looked around a little until my name was called, and then went back to see what was going on with my computer. The "genius" said he thought my directory was corrupted and that he would take it into the back to fix it. 10 to 15 minutes later, he came back with the computer, completely fixed. He told us the problem and how to fix it if it happened in the future. I asked what I owed, and he said "Nothing. Let us know if we can help with anything else." For this reason, we went back today to buy a case for my ipod and consider it a great store.
The final bright spot at Lenox is the Bloomingdales' parking deck. Lenox has turned almost every parking lot into a "VIP" pay lot or valet lot, so being able to park close to any part of Lenox is a treat. I don't think there are too many people reading this blog yet, so I'm giving away the secret to great parking at Lenox.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Saturday Night Korean BBQ
There are very few things that entice us to go outside the perimeter (unless it's by plane), but Hae Woon Dae is one of them. Derek took me to this Korean BBQ restaurant on Buford Highway on one of our first dates, and it was just as good tonight as the first time. A little background for those who haven't been to a Korean BBQ: you sit at a table with a hole in the middle of it. A brave young man places a catchpan, a pail with glowing charcoal and a cover that looks somewhat like a hubcap in the hole. Your order is cooked on the grill at your table while you snack on the 7 or 8 side dishes (called hanjungsik). Once the meat is done, you create lettuce wraps with bean curd, hot peppers, garlic, the meat and a dipping sauce.
Tonight, we started with a couple orders of the dumplings, which were delicious, but ended up being way too much food with our main courses. It was a little disappointing initially when they stopped serving Cass, but we found that the alternate Korean beer, Hite, is just as good. For dinner, we decided on the shrimp and the beef (we tried ordering just one dish to share one time, but it was discouraged). Derek threw a few of the garlic cloves and hot peppers on the grill (a technique he learned from the server/cook on our last visit) to spice up the lettuce wraps.
Although the meats are wonderful, I would be completely satisfied to just order the hanjungsik. The side dishes tonight consisted of the usual kim chee, marinated turnips or radishes, potato & carrot salad (probably my favorite), some sort of cooked green leafy vegetable and bean sprouts. We also had a couple of new dishes: broccoli with spicy sauce, scallion cakes and some sort of unidentified crunchy, spicy vegetable.
We were pretty much full by the time the meat was done, but I still managed to eat 3 lettuce wraps. I burned my tongue with the hot peppers, but not to the extent that Derek did. I think he is still recovering hours later. The grilled garlic added a lot of flavor to the wraps too. Grilling it definitely cuts down on the strong flavor (and smell--the first time we ate here, I insisted that Derek have a clove of garlic so I could eat one too ;)).
The meal ended with a couple of slices of watermelon and an easy-to-swallow bill of $53 (before tip). I can't remember the last time we went out for dinner for less than $80, and the meal is not usually this good. Why can't all restaurants be this good? If it wasn't so far away, we would add it to our regular stable of restaurants (which you will hear about in later blogs). Actually, it's probably a good thing, because now it's a special treat to go.
Oh, I forgot one thing: the watermelon wasn't the finale. Each visit to Hae Woon Dae ends with a trip (in the car with doors locked) to the end of the strip center, which houses an adult movie theater (yes, by adult, I mean porn). We check out the movie-goers, then make the loop around the cars to check out the steamy windows, hoping to not be flashed by headlights. Who says there's nothing fun to do in Atlanta on a Saturday night?
Tonight, we started with a couple orders of the dumplings, which were delicious, but ended up being way too much food with our main courses. It was a little disappointing initially when they stopped serving Cass, but we found that the alternate Korean beer, Hite, is just as good. For dinner, we decided on the shrimp and the beef (we tried ordering just one dish to share one time, but it was discouraged). Derek threw a few of the garlic cloves and hot peppers on the grill (a technique he learned from the server/cook on our last visit) to spice up the lettuce wraps.
Although the meats are wonderful, I would be completely satisfied to just order the hanjungsik. The side dishes tonight consisted of the usual kim chee, marinated turnips or radishes, potato & carrot salad (probably my favorite), some sort of cooked green leafy vegetable and bean sprouts. We also had a couple of new dishes: broccoli with spicy sauce, scallion cakes and some sort of unidentified crunchy, spicy vegetable.
We were pretty much full by the time the meat was done, but I still managed to eat 3 lettuce wraps. I burned my tongue with the hot peppers, but not to the extent that Derek did. I think he is still recovering hours later. The grilled garlic added a lot of flavor to the wraps too. Grilling it definitely cuts down on the strong flavor (and smell--the first time we ate here, I insisted that Derek have a clove of garlic so I could eat one too ;)).
The meal ended with a couple of slices of watermelon and an easy-to-swallow bill of $53 (before tip). I can't remember the last time we went out for dinner for less than $80, and the meal is not usually this good. Why can't all restaurants be this good? If it wasn't so far away, we would add it to our regular stable of restaurants (which you will hear about in later blogs). Actually, it's probably a good thing, because now it's a special treat to go.
Oh, I forgot one thing: the watermelon wasn't the finale. Each visit to Hae Woon Dae ends with a trip (in the car with doors locked) to the end of the strip center, which houses an adult movie theater (yes, by adult, I mean porn). We check out the movie-goers, then make the loop around the cars to check out the steamy windows, hoping to not be flashed by headlights. Who says there's nothing fun to do in Atlanta on a Saturday night?
Weird things I've seen lately
I like to take pictures of things that strike me as strange, so here are some from the past few weeks...
This is one of my favorites. It is on a car parked in the parking garage at my job, so I see it almost every day. Apparently, God is gate!
I took this in a convenience store somewhere in Georgia. The men's room also had a sign that read "men only!!!!!". I have to assume that they've had a problem with this!
I don't know if you can read the label, but it says "Garbanzo Beans". At least they were the right color.
I found this gem in the parking lot of a Kansas City BBQ joint. Yes, the design is lace! Need I say more?
This is one of my favorites. It is on a car parked in the parking garage at my job, so I see it almost every day. Apparently, God is gate!
I took this in a convenience store somewhere in Georgia. The men's room also had a sign that read "men only!!!!!". I have to assume that they've had a problem with this!
I don't know if you can read the label, but it says "Garbanzo Beans". At least they were the right color.
I found this gem in the parking lot of a Kansas City BBQ joint. Yes, the design is lace! Need I say more?
My First Blog
This is my first blog entry, so I'm not really sure what to write. I was googling "club monaco alterations" to find out if it was really free to have my pants altered at Club Monaco, and I ended up at a blog created by a sub-5 feet girl who took the time to talk about the things she liked. The information was exactly what I needed and saved me a trip to the mall, so I impulsively clicked back to my gmail account, clicked on blogs and here I am. I would guess this blog will end up covering some of favorite things (like good food or good organizing tools), some of my frustrations (my job and finding decent clothes that don't cost a fortune), some of my husband's strange wonderfulness (like his addiction to the Tour de France and selvedge jeans) and various other ramblings. Derek came up with the name, and originally I didn't like it, but I typed it in and thought it was cool enough to keep.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
