Today, we went to the ADAC Sample Sale. It's an annual event where the public can shop at the normally "designer-only" Atlanta Decorative Arts Center, while benefiting a charitable organization. This year's charity was Camp Twin Lakes, which is how we found out about the sale. Even though we didn't make it to the sale until the last few hours on the last day, we still managed to find two items that we loved and desperately needed to continue our slow, but steady progress towards furnishing our house. Determined not to go into debt to fill up the space that is 3 times the space of our old small apartment, we've been adding as tax refunds, bonuses and other extra money comes in the door. The new buffet for the dining room and chest for the master bedroom gets us 90% complete!
Enough about the story of how we've finally learned to somewhat manage money (still not perfect, but much better than in our 20's), and more about the sale. It's held in the garage at ADAC, which is tucked into the secluded Peachtree Hills community. Over 15 showrooms participated, selling furniture, art, carpet and other interior design items. Delivery was available for a very reasonable price, and we even got ours the same day. Camp Twin Lake volunteers handled the checking-out process, where you could "round-up" to support the cause. In case you aren't familiar with Camp Twin Lakes, it is an organization that allows children who have special needs to experience camp and feel like a "normal" camper. Some of the special needs campers include children who require daily kidney dialysis, who have received heart transplants, who have sickle-cell anemia, and many others. It's a great organization with many ways to get involved, if you are looking for a new area of community service.
Although we were anxious to get the sale, it was a requirement to get some food first. Our experience with brunch in Atlanta has been more disappointing than rewarding, so we were not expecting a lot for a place that just happened to be around the corner from ADAC. Treehouse was a pleasant surprise. The menu and the restaurant were not fancy, but the service was wonderful and the food was fresh and thoughtfully prepared. My husband wasn't feeling too well after overdoing it a little at the Taste of the Highlands yesterday, so he wanted something light. The usual eggs and toast breakfast wasn't on the menu, but the answer was "absolutely" when he asked if he could order it anyway. My frittata was bursting with broccoli crowns, in contrast to the cheaper stems some places serve, and the salsa served with the home fries was better than what you get in most Mexican restaurants. Top this all off with a nice surprise when the bill came - $21 for a frittata, the eggs and toast plate, and 2 mimosas. We'll definitely be back, even though it's not really on our normal weekend route.
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Sunday, July 29, 2007
The Good Stuff at Lenox Mall
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.
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.
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