Let's Try this Again!

Well, well…here we are! Has it been a year and a half already? Whoops! I guess I’ve just so busy jet-setting around the world, being invited to very important and very fancy parties, and giving significant speeches that I haven’t found the time to sit down and update you! Apologies! I promise it’s not just that I’m lazy and never in the mood to write…not at all!

So let’s start fresh. It’s the beginning of February and about 70 degrees here in Atlanta, and it just feels like a great time to restart this blog and update you on the craziness in the Barbour household.

Oh, did you hear? I’m 475 weeks pregnant with identical twin girls. I told you we’ve been busy!

Yes, the girls are due any day now, and I’m a combination of extremely excited, a little nervous, and totally in denial. It’s hard to believe that at any moment, Nathan and I will be the parents of two little girls…a family of four in the blink of an eye! We already love them so much, and can only imagine what they are going to be like…it cracks me up to even imagine two miniature combinations of me and Nathan! One thing I know for sure: they will have some fierce eyebrows. Just wait.

Let me clarify one thing, though! I am not becoming a “mommy blogger”. No Ma’am. I want to have a place to post pictures and brag about my children (naturally), but I’m not going to fall into that habit of ONLY talking about babies and feeding schedules and the debate over pacifiers. If I do start sounding like that, will one of you please come over, kidnap me, and take me out for a glass of wine? Because in my mind, that is a cry for help that I need to get out of the house!

Here I am a few weeks ago, about to tip over. More updates to come!

Bring. It. On.

Bee-doop-bee-doop, Bee-doop-bee-doop, Bee-doop-bee-doop, Bee-doop-bee-doop-beeeeee.

Chicki-bow-dow, Chicki-bow-dow, Chicki-bow-dow, Chicki-bow-dow, bee-doop-beeeeeeeee.

Baby in a Bucket

I mean, really. Look at this child! They don't come much cuter than this, do they? Nathan's parents, my sister-in-law Melissa and her husband Al, and our adorable, squeezable, happy little nephew, Jackson, visited us in Atlanta this past June.

I of course took a million pictures of Jackson, and yes, I just had to put him in our UNC beer bucket for a photo shoot. That is just what you do!

When I wasn't chasing Jackson around the house with my camera, we went to the Atlanta Zoo, where I continued to obsessively take pictures of him. Please note again the expert camera work:He did so well on his first big trip out of town, until...he got sick. Poor baby. He caught a virus that was going around, and had to take it easy for the rest of the trip. Also, Poor Melissa, Al, and Phyllis, who stayed up ALL NIGHT with him since he couldn't fall asleep.

Hopefully the trip wasn't too much of a nightmare for them, and that they will be back to visit soon (although it's definitely our turn to head up to NC). We will see you soon!

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this gem:

Warning: May Disturb Sensitive Viewers

I am the worst "blogger" in the world. I shouldn't even be called a blogger...what do you call someone who blogs only 4 or 5 times a year?

A BLAH-ger. (So says Nathan).

I'm going to record (because it's not really an update when it's months old and everyone who might read this already knows) what we've been up to. It's going to take a few posts, but that's good! It forces me to take some time to get it all down.So, first up, the Sprint Triathlon.

Yes, that's right, Nathan and I are Triathletes.

Now I know that when you visualize a triathlete, you probably picture someone a bit like Lance Armstrong. I'm not saying we were the MOST graceful people racing, but we finished! It was a pretty amazing day:

Nathan before the race, in the transition area. Looking excited! 172 is the number of people who will eventually pass him...
This is Nathan about 2 minutes after crossing the finish line. He survived! This is what he looks like after working out for two hours straight.
These are the arms that dominated Nathan in the swim.

We did it! It was a great experience, but if you want to know the REAL story, you'll have to have Nathan tell it to you in person. It's that good.

More April Fleurs

I spent last weekend at Joanna's lovely family home in CT, as part of a girls weekend get together. It was so nice to see my UVA ladies and do nothing but relax, walk around town, and catch up. I love that we still get together every six months or so, and I'm hoping that one of the next weekends will be here in Atlanta.

It's gorgeous here right now. Our garden is amazing, and every day a new flower starts to bloom. Tonight, Nathan and I plan to borrow our neighbor's outdoor furniture (she's out of town!), and eat dinner outside amongst all of our flowers. We definitely need some permanent patio furniture at some point.

Also, Nathan and I have been busy training for our sprint triathlon, which is now just about a month away! We've been good about doing a little running or biking or swimming every day, and I think (hope) that we are going to be fine. We just need to get Nathan comfortable enough with the swim portion so that he doesn't drown. Let's just say we have a little bit of work to do!

Miami (Mee YAH Mee)!

We spent Easter weekend in Miami with Mahbod, and it was wonderful. I was desperately in need of some time near the ocean, so this was just what the doctor-and my ghostly pallor- ordered.

Corona Advertisement!

The view from my Uncle's balcony...literally on top of the ocean!

I believe a twice yearly trip to Miami is in order.

A Little Bit of Style

It's starting to warm up here in Atlanta, and the anticipation of warmer weather and sunshine suddenly has me craving lots of color. While we are directing most of our extra money right now to the house (we are in serious decorating mode), what does it hurt to compile a little wish list? Just looking at this stuff makes me happy!

Trina Turk dress...how perfect would this be for any summer weddings we attend?:

Webster's Pictorial Dictionary. The pictures look gorgeous, and I can just imagine looking through this with Nathan, who loves learning new facts. About anything and everything:

Aquamarine and Turquoise earrings from Bounkit. My favorite colors. I imagine wearing these to some lovely summer party in a grand house overlooking the ocean. and I will be tan when wearing them. Just waiting for the invitation...
The Lemon Book! I don't know what this book is all about, but if it involves any Old Wives Tales (which I am a big fan of) then I'm on board:

Stella McCartney Sunglasses. I like these because they are not all white, which was a recent trend that I didn't think I could pull off...I think the black details keep it feeling classic. Plus, I think these might be JUST big enough to cover my eyes and my eyebrows, which is a feat:

This Elva Fields necklace is wonderful, and it reminds me of something my mom would wear...orange and happy!:

This was so fun.

(btw, all pics come from Mrs. Lilien Styling House, which is one of the most fun blogs to spend time on: http://blog.mrslilien.com/

Snapshots from the Garden - March: It's ALIVE!

After a full winter of Nathan complaining that I killed every single thing in the garden (seriously, it did look especially brown and pathetic this winter), I am thrilled to report that we have signs of life! Actually, in the past week, parts of the garden have exploded in bloom and it's just so pretty.

I'm trying to figure out what kind of vine/climber we have over our fence. It's leaves are green year round, and suddenly last week it started blooming hundreds of little white flowers. It's gorgeous:

Here's a close-up of the flower:

The trees surrounding the back of the house are also in bloom. Here's a picture of my next door neighbor's guest house (ha! sounds fancy!) with some flowering tree branches:

We also have some daffodils that are in bloom, which are pretty. The rest of the garden looks like it's starting to emerge, and I'm excited to see how it all turns out. I will keep you updated!

Eideh Shoma Mobarak!

Happy Noruz!

I spent the Iranian New Year in Boston with my cousin Gigi and the rest of my family, including Arya, who came up from DC. What a wonderful weekend! Not only was the weather in Boston freakishly nice, (70 degrees in March? Unbelievable.) but I somehow mustered up the energy to do nothing but celebrate for three straight days.

Staying with my family in Wellesley is always so nice...we just like being around each other, telling stories, eating (and drinking) well, and DANCING.

Here are some pictures of the Haft Seen (the traditional table you decorate for the new year, each item represents a hope for the next year: Health, Prosperity, Happiness, Beauty, etc.)


Here's a picture of the cousins outside...it was the first really beautiful day in Boston in awhile, and you can tell just by looking at us. Doesn't it look like this is the first time any of us has been in the sun in AWHILE? Who knew Iranians could get so pale?

Holidays 'N Such

I want to finally add a few pictures from Christmas in Smithfield and New Years in DC. And OF COURSE, I have to show you pictures of our nephew, Jackson. Is it possible for this child to get any cuter? No. It is not.


I miss him already.

Thank you to the Barbours and Andersons for being so generous and getting me so many wonderful gifts! I truly am so lucky.

Now, on to New Years in DC. The Blackleys and Bacigalupos hosted an amazing black tie event to benefit Friends of Penyem, and it was such a lovely time. Joanna came down from Hopkins, and Arya and his cute girlfriend joined us for the festivities. Honestly, to have a fancy party with an open bar, great food, a DJ and your friends on NYE...what more could you ask for?

Oh, yeah. And there were masks!


My handsome men:


It's been a nice couple of weeks back in Atlanta. Work is busy, but it's good to be back on a schedule. Oh, and our living room remodel has begun! Stories and pictures to come...

2010

I am back in Atlanta today after Christmas in North Carolina and New Years in DC. It was a lovely Christmas, but I unfortunately got some very sad news on the 28th of December from my dear friend Alexandra (whom I've known since we were 12!). Her two sisters, Victoria and Elizabeth, were killed in a car accident in Fairfax on the 28th. So, it's been a week full of ups and downs. A fun New Years with Arya and a bunch of business school friends, followed by several very sad days with Alexandra and her Family.

I will update on the Holidays soon, but in the meanwhile, here is the news coverage:

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/1209/691282.html

Restaurant Review: Woodfire Grill

Have any of you watched the most recent season of Top Chef on Bravo? Top Chef is one of my favorite shows, which I have watched since pretty much the first season (years and years ago). This season was completely out of control. There were so many talented chefs, most of whom already own and operate their own restaurants. Some of them have worked with pretty big names in the culinary world, already proven, in a way. I was especially into this season, as it had THREE contestants from Atlanta competing for the title. One of them, Kevin Gillespie (Beardo), is the executive chef and owner of Woodfire Grill, which is just a 5 minute drive from our place.

Anyone who watched the show will agree with me that Kevin was THE BEST (except my friend Asheley, who has a thing for the Volt Brothers). Kevin consistently won challenges and had such a great personality, it's no wonder he won fan favorite over and over again. It makes me so MAD that he didn't win the whole thing. As Nathan would say, It was a TRAVISHAMOCKERY. Aw, Kevin. You are so great. Let's be friends.

Now, I'd been to Kevin's restaurant, Woodfire Grill, with the girls several months before the season started, and really enjoyed it (we all got the tasting menu), but after watching him throughout the season, I knew I had to go back and try it again (and this time pay more attention). The restaurant is obviously completely packed at all times now. We got a reservation for last night (Saturday, at 8:30pm) THREE WEEKS ago, and I think we got it because someone canceled right before we called. For those of you not in Atlanta, it's RARE to need to make a reservation for a restaurant more than a day in advance, so, let's just say that a reservation at his restaurant is a hot ticket these days. Reservation. Restaurant. I can't stop typing these words.

We got to the restaurant slightly hungover after our super late night on friday (ugly holiday sweater party!), but super excited. I had a fantastic glass of sauvignon blanc in the bar area and Nathan had a Dogfish Head beer, while we waited for our table to open up. By the time we sat down for dinner, we were feeling less hungover and more hungry.

The menu overall was fantastic. I got the three course tasting menu, and Nathan ordered one item from each course: The arugula and walnut salad, The Diver Scallop and mushroom second course, and the Berkshire Pork Loin.

The salad was fantastic, it had a yogurt dressing that we are going to try and recreate at home. The Berkshire Pork Loin was great (and you have to have pork at Kevin's restaurant, for goodness sakes!), but let me take a moment to talk about the scallops.

THE SCALLOPS WERE THE BEST THING EVER. Nathan nailed it when he said "This is the best thing I've ever put in my mouth." Everyone in Atlanta, get yourselves to Woodfire and try the diver scallops. First, they were cooked perfectly. Seared on the top, and not rubbery at all. Second, here's the description of the rest of the dish (from the menu online):

hedgehog mushrooms. sweet corn. roasted garlic. scallion. foie gras jus.

Doesn't that sound amazing? The combination was unreal. I'm going to dream about this dish. If he had cooked this dish in the finals, he would have won it all. Do you hear me, Tom Colicchio? YOU MADE THE WRONG CHOICE.

Okay, this is quickly turning into the longest post I have ever written. God, I love good food.

Next, on to my tasting menu. First, they brought me a scallop over arugula pistou and cauliflower, and I loved it. The flavors were all mild, but went together well and I sopped every last bit of it up with bread. My main course was a piece of pork belly and a half a quail, with a garlicky sauce and a mixture of collard greens and other greens, in vinegar. I'm not a huge quail fan, but it was cooked really well and the pork was divine.

The only thing we didn't like were the veggies accompanying Nathan's pork loin. They were SO SALTY, and it definitely seemed like a mistake. But that was it.

For dessert, they brought me a chocolate crepe filled with cake batter, on top of a latte pool, with creme. Nathan got the pumpkin flan, which was terrific (better than mine, but I'm just not a huge crepe-for-dessert fan.)

The only bummer of the night was that Kevin was not there himself and cooking in person. Our waiter said he was home with Pneumonia, but we'll be back to see him.

I need to give him a high five. Go Beardo!

Our First Christmas Tree: Part Two- Decking the Halls

Last night Nathan and I decked the halls while rocking out to the Charlie Brown Christmas CD (which reminds me of when I lived with Ris in NYC, Hi Ris!). I'm quite impressed with our decorating skills. My mother in law was so sweet to send us home with tons of Christmas decorations last time we were in Smithfield, and I think she'll be impressed that we put them all to good use!

What do you think?

Our First Christmas Tree: Part One

Thanksgiving was so wonderful! We did nothing but hang out with the family, eat, and drink. It was the first time Nathan and I stayed with Arya in his new apartment, and it was great...Arya did such an awesome job of furnishing and decorating. And how many 22 year olds have a nice apartment with a fireplace? I was impressed.

I've been unusually spirited this Holiday season. I think it must have something to do with the fact that this is our first Christmas in the new house, but I've been irrationally excited about getting a Christmas tree, decorating the house as much as possible, baking holiday cookies. I'm out of control.

Our neighborhood's elementary school has a Christmas Tree sale every year to raise money for the PTA, and we swung by last Friday to buy our FIRST TREE.

My camera is horrible, and the battery was about to die, but here is a picture from our tree buying adventure. We offered to pick up our next door neighbor, Susan's, tree as well. Two big trees on Nathan's poor car!

A Few Things Before Thanksgiving

Did you all enjoy Nathan's rant? I'm giving him an assignment to recap his thoughts on the season finale of Mad Men, because I thought it was incredible, but I'm sure he'll find something to rant about regardless.

We're heading up to DC for Thanksgiving next week, which makes me so happy, since I've already started craving my Aunt Lis' Grand Marnier Apricot Stuffing, and the entire family will be there, including Gigi and the gang from Boston. So fun.

Last night Patricia and The Payne's, minus Carson, decided to have a BIG NIGHT. We started with Pizza and cocktails at the house while the Tar Heels played (and lost). Then we headed out to the bar at JCT kitchen, then back to the house for more drinks and some Cranium.

And guess what? The LADIES WON, suckas! Da Da-Da, de doo, De Da Da DA DAA! (That's me singing while doing a victory dance).

Need a visual? BOOYAH.

Mad Men Rant - Volume 1: Draper's Anatomy

Welcome to the first installment of the Mad Men Rant...brought to you in stunning High Definition by the fine folks at Maidenform. This feels right! This is Leila's charming, witty, handsome (and humble) husband, Nathan, and I'll be your guest columnist for periodic musings on Leila's favorite show. I know that Leila's faithful blog reader(s?) signed up for her, not me...but that's tough. Given that Leila's blog output has crawled to about one post a month, it is obvious that she is starving for some content. Plus, she's not allowed anywhere near the laptop after a Sunday evening session with Jon Hamm -- drool tends to muck up the keyboard, you know?

On to Mad Men.

I'm pissed. The first few seasons were so great because of the wonderful dialogue, in depth character development, and - especially - Don Draper doing his thing in the conference room and the bedroom. I swear the man had me craving some Lucky Strikes and a slide projector. In Season 3, the writers have turned a wonderful dialogue-driven show into nothing but a glorified soap opera that relies on cheap surprises and cheesy hook-ups for "excitement." Child, please. Peggy and Duck? Barf. That State Government douchebag that Betty digs? Groan. If I wanted this garbage, I'd watch Gossip Girl or The Hills or some of the other tripe that's on TV these days. I have almost given up on the show. I literally stopped watching about 15 minutes into the show two episodes ago and went to bed. I would have been done for good if Leila didn't convince me to give it another go. "That guy Betty's in love with is gone," I heard. Well, last Sunday night I watched the rest of the episode I walked out on and caught the new episode. Garbage, soap opera bulls***. I averaged about one eye roll per scene. It would have been more, but I didn't want to upset Leila while she was watching her "stories."

I think entertainment awards are irrelevant. Most movies that win Oscars suck. The musicians that win Grammys are usually no-talent ass-clowns. The Emmys are no different, but they get things right a little more often than others (gotta put a plug in here for the best show in the history of television...The Wire). The Emmys got it right early on with Mad Men, but I don't care what the award folks say now...Mad Men just isn't good anymore. Sure, the costumes and sets are still spot on, but the writers are pissing me off. From now on, before the writers submit any new ideas, they need to RUN IT BY ME. Here are four simple steps to make Mad Men worth watching again:

1) More time in the office. Seriously, 90% of the time should be spent at Sterling Cooper. I'm not interested in living in the 'burbs in real life...I'm sure as hell not interested in seeing it on TV.

2) Once we bring the action back to Sterling Cooper, how about a little...uh...you know...ADVERTISING talk. More Don Draper ad pitches. More Peggy Olson in the office. More Ken Freakin' Cosgrove. More Roger Sterling. More, more, more, more.

3) Less Betty. January Jones is hot, but Betty's a bore. Less Peggy outside of the office. Less douchebag Henry. Less Connie Hilton (he's the infuriatingly irrational male version of Betty). Finally, take Duck's air time and cut it in half. Then take that half and flush it down the toilet.

4) To whoever wrote Joan out of a regular role: screw you. Seriously, I hope you get H1N1 or something. I don't want you to die, I just want you to suffer. Bring her back. For reals.

It's that easy. I'm going to give it a shot tonight, but I'm not getting my hopes up. PLEASE no more cheesy soap opera drama. I'm half expecting a character to get amnesia or to "die" only to find out it was a dream. Stop the laziness, writers! Get back to the snappy office dialogue. NO MORE DRAPER'S ANATOMY!


Rant over.

September

September was a busy month. Not only did I have a fun little birthday, I spent 4 days in NYC for some work, and a lot of play. I stayed with Margot and Ziggy at their FAB new apartment on Wall Street, and shared a bathroom with their toilet trained cats, Keggy and Klaus. You heard me. They use the toilet...or rather, are being trained to use the toilet. It was adventure, but they are so so cute and so so funny. (Margot, Ziggy, and the Kitties.)

When I came home to Atlanta, it was raining. I didn't think much of it, even though it had been raining for the past few weeks pretty much non-stop. Turns out, a normal rainstorm had turned evil and freakish and literally would not pass over the City. It stayed in one spot and rained and rained and rained...more than it's rained at one time in Atlanta in over 100 years.

The city flooded, and so many people lost their homes. The Chattahoochee flooded, all the little creeks nearby flooded. It was a big, soggy, mess.

We were lucky to only get a few inches in our basement, and we're thankful it wasn't worse, but it was still a big pain in the butt. Observe:

Before (regular finished basement carpet):

And where we are now:

Oh, and you aren't mistaken. That IS a Cowboy themed room in our basement. Unfortunately, we don't think it's going to make it through the renovation. I know, it's so so sad.

Our housewarming party is coming up on Saturday!

Summer Roundup

I found the cord to my computer (yay!) and realized that I have a million pictures of things we did and people we saw this summer, and there is just no way I'm going to get around to posting separately about each and every thing. So, I bring you the summer roundup!

Part of my birthday resolution is to be more diligent about updating this blog. I mean, there are 3 or maybe even 4 people who read this thing! You four are demanding updates, and I could never deny you!

So here are the highlights:

First, we bought a house, and we love it.

We went to Charlottesville for Sahar and Sam's amazing wedding at Keswick. Rocking chairs on the lawn...so cool.

The next weekend, we flew to NYC for Libby and Chris' wedding. It was a great time, and we clearly love hanging out with our business school friends. Here's Brian, Danny, and Nathan. Aww...THEY'RE BEST FRIENDS!

Our nephew, Jackson, was born in July, and we visited him when he was 11 days old, and then again last weekend. He looks like Nathan and Melissa, which is just the cutest thing.

On July 26th, we celebrated our first anniversary.

We were invited to the Beach on the Gulf Coast for a few days in August, and it was just lovely!

Brent flew down from NYC to spend a weekend with us in Atlanta. He is the best. We went furniture hunting, drank a ton of wine, hit up the High Museum, and made a kick ass Greek Feast for dinner on Saturday night. There was no way that weekend could be anything but fun.

UNC FOOTBALL IS BACK! Hide the kids!!

And that brings us to now. I have a few busy weeks ahead of me, as I'm turning 29 (yowza) and have a bunch of celebrating to do. But I promise to keep pictures and updates coming. See you later!

Oh, and today is 9.09.09. As Nathan told me earlier:

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!

No New Pictures

So, I can't find the cord that transfers pictures from my camera to my computer. I have a million pictures from all of our recent adventures, and I want to show you, but...I'm having problems.

It's been a crazy summer, filled with weddings and babies and visiting friends. Oh, and house stuff. I can't wait to show you what we've done with the place. I'm impressed with our work! We are at a place where I feel comfortable just letting things be for awhile, which is nice.

Pictures to hopefully come, but for now, here's another (older picture) of our nephew, Jackson.

Baby Jackson has Arrived

We went to North Carolina over the weekend to see our amazing new nephew, and we fell completely head over heels in love with him. He looks just like Nathan and Melissa did as babies (who looked identical to each other), and it's just so funny to see a little Nathan look alike, especially when he makes faces like the one above. We all could not stop laughing about that one.

Here's Nathan holding Jackson for the first time, and a few more darling pictures:

Melissa and Al are amazing parents, which comes as no surprise. It was great to see them, and of course we can't wait to see everyone again soon...Love you guys.