Oh, what a wonderful weekend!

For the holiday weekend, I actually had three whole days off of work so it was off to Atlanta for me. I went with the darling husband, and butt cake roommate for the annual LJ tradition of running in the Peachtree Road Race. Here is the recap:

Day 1:
Totally slept in past noon (I love vacations). We had lunch in midtown at Shipfeifers, my favorite Greek restaurant, and did some shopping with the in-laws at REI. Wow, I love shopping in Atlanta. There are just so many choices. Then, we kids headed to Wall Crawler rock climbing gym for the evening. That was fun until I got tired. I am so out of shape.

Day 2:
RACE DAY!
Yes, that includes getting up at 5:30 am in order to take MARTA down to the race start. It was overcast and humid and honestly pretty cool for Atlanta in the summer - not bad running conditions at all. The saddest part of the day was that I lost Mark at the first water station. I ran over to the side to grab a cup, then when I looked back he was gone. I spent the rest of the race glancing at every male in a grey T-shirt and black shorts. I think 1 in 3 men had that outfit on. I never did find him till I'd finished the race. Next year, BRIGHT GREEN SHIRT. Oh well, it was still a good race. I finished in a little over an hour, which is not bad time for me considering the crowd of 55,000 people and the fact that I had done virtually no training. I made it all the way back to the rental car parked at the MARTA station before I got sick. Sadly, me throwing up after the race is almost as much a part of the tradition as the actual run. What can I say?, I have a weak stomach. I'm used to it.
Race picture:
David Tulis/AJC

The rest of the day was spent resting up and gorging with family on Christy's awesome bar-b-que. It was the classic american meal: ribs, pulled pork, beer can chicken, baked beans, potato salad, and Nana's peach/rhubarb cobbler. I was in heaven.

We ended the evening by heading back into the city for coffee and desert at Cafe' Intermezzo. Yeah, I needed desert after all that food. Ha. Of course, the cafe did not disappoint and left me longing for Pensacola to have anything nearly so cool. Our only afterhours options are Waffle House or Denny's.

Day 3:
I went shopping for my birthday present with Nana and Christy (Mark's mom and grandmother) at an awesome yarn store just around the corner from their house, an antique quilt store in Atlanta, and Crate and Barrel. Mark's sister, cousin, and cousin's baby girl all met us at the Cheesecake Factory for a very delicious girly lunch. BTW, the cousin's baby is quite possibly the cutest child I have ever encountered. Her name is Elizabeth, and her favorite blanket that never leaves her clutches is, ...drum roll, the one I made her. Yes, hearing this made my week. Yarn stores and shopping in Atlanta, yay! and a really cute baby, yay! I had so much fun. I did not want to ever leave. Unfortunely, that was our last day there, and we drove back that night.

I love Atlanta, and I love food. It was a much needed awesome vacation.

-more pictures to come