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The Augusta Mural Guide
The (Un)official Guide to Augusta’s Best Walls Welcome to my double-tap inducing mural tour! This Augusta mural guide strives to be a comprehensive directory to our River Region’s most vibrant + colorful + ‘grammable walls. Many of these walls are more than just artsy-fartsy photo ops: some of them speak of Augusta’s history; some profess the affinity Augusta’s people have for her; and others proclaim the quirk + eclectic spirit of our fair city. And why not? Art-centric Augusta has lots of colorful love to share. This guide is dynamic, growing with our city’s art-explosive evolution. I invite you to check back often. WHAT YOU’LL FIND: photo(s) of the mural…
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Bourbon + Pecan Bon Bons
I am so excited to share this recipe with you. I am sure you’ll agree that when you put these earthly pleasures in your mouth, you’ll be tempted to sell your soul like Faust. Each bite explodes with bourbon-spiked pecan pie filling slathered with chocolate. Sweet, sweet magic in your mouth. And because they are so diminutive, they are practically guilt-free one-bite treats. Many of you know my mother’s family is Greek. What you may not know is my papou made chocolate confections. At any given time, there were vats upon vats of chocolate melting on the stove in his basement-turned chocolate factory workshop. Let that sink in. Imagine an…
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Limoncello
As a self-proclaimed connoisseur and purveyor of all things delicious, I was more than on board when Angela proposed a trip last to the Côte d’ Azur and Riviera (aka the tour de limoncello). I could talk you to all day about eating nearly a metric tonne of pasta and cheese, but I must share our story of limoncello. We drank ALL the lee-mohn-CHAY-loh. You see, while we were there, Europe was experiencing a treacherous heat-wave. We were compelled to stay cool by drinking limoncello. It became a matter of life or death. At each stop on our continental trek, we sought out limoncello. We would specifically ask for the…
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Sweet Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwiches
Masters Week has come and gone, y’all. Didn’t make it to the tournament to grab one of those delicious Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwiches? Or perhaps you can’t help reminiscing about those quintessentially southern treats you noshed on last week? No worries. I gotcha. Let me be clear, however: this is NOT the sugar cookie recipe used by Nashville’s Christie Cookie Company. Like most things that concern the Augusta National, that recipe is veiled in secrecy. But chances are these will hold you over till next year’s tournament. The recipes for these cool confections are oh, so easy: simply bake up a batch of sugar cookies and sandwich a big…
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Arnold Palmer & John Daly Sippers
It’s Masters week here in Augusta. Golf fanatics are landing here by the droves to follow those little white balls on their journeys across 18 holes at the Augusta National Golf Course. The Augusta National is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful golf courses in the world. The property is on a former nursery. The flora abounds, each hole taking its name from a signature plant. The grass underfoot has a certain spring to it. The long shadows of the loblolly pines offer respite on sunny days. The jays chirp out their gleeful songs. This tournament is much more than just the game of golf–it is a feeling. A magical…
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What is YOUR Hygge?
Yesterday I saw a commercial about making life more hygge. I watched and listened, and then I chuckled to myself. How ironic that someone chose to commercialize hygge. And how demeaning. Commercialization is the antithesis of hygge, I am certain of that. What exactly is hygge? It is a buzz word, for sure; I had been hearing it everywhere. But I wasn’t certain of its meaning. That is, until I discovered this gem on Alex Beauchamp’s hyggehouse.com: Hygge (pronounced hue-guh not hoo-gah) is a Danish word used when acknowledging a feeling or moment, whether alone or with friends, at home or out, ordinary or extraordinary as cosy, charming or…
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¡Viva la Cuba!
Ernest Hemingway: author, hunter, explorer, tippler. His life was rife with women—wives and inamoratas, those he loved, and those who loved him. But he was most loyal to one thing: rapture. He was exhilarated by that which was charismatic and dynamic, unbridled and intoxicating. That which could not be tamed or conquered. That which was voluptuous. She would be his one true mistress. Her name was Cuba. Hemingway loved Cuba so much that he considered himself a “Cubano Sato,” or “half-breed Cuban.” And who can blame him? I wasn’t there long, but it was long enough to be seduced by her energy, her emotions, and her beauty. However, I must…
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No Such Thing as a Common Raven
I refer to one section of my blog as The Raven’s Nest. Why? Because it is a collection of things I like, similar to a raven’s collection of shiny objects with which to line its nest. Actually, while that is an endearing thought, it is a misconception. Ravens do not hoard shiny objects. Regardless, I like the notion because I do hoard shiny objects–and dogs and seashells and books–to line my nest. Let me take this opportunity to share with you some truths about my spirit animal, the raven…
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Côte d’Azur—33 miles of heaven
Cote d’Azur. It sounds sexy just saying it. Where did you summer? The Cote d’Azur. Sexy. NICE, FRANCE Our first day here, we hit the ground running. We browsed the striped canopies of the Cours Saleya market on the periphery of Vieux-Nice (old Nice). Here we found an intoxicating number of vendors with cheeses, oils, artisan salts, breads, and fruits–the essentials for a picnic on the beach, or in our case, a picnic in Parc du Chateau. A bottle of sparkling wine in hand, we hoofed it to the top of the Parc du Chateau (Castle Park) for a…
eat. drink. bemerry. repeat.
