Culture Shock: Halloween Parade

Yesterday, we hit the Halloween parade in Little Five Points. For the last several years, we've been going to the Village Halloween parade in Manhattan. Let me just give you four little reasons why Atlanta's parade is WAY better than Manhattan's (at least for us).

Here's what Atlanta's Halloween parade has going for it:

1 - The Atlanta parade is in the day time - and it is NOT on Halloween day.

2 - In Atlanta, they throw CANDY at the parade (err, they also throw condoms and other assorted things - but the point is - you get takeaways!).

3 - In Atlanta, you can actually SEE the parade.

4 - At the Atlanta parade, there are sanctioned beer vendors.

In Case You Were Wondering...

Organic Whole Milk combined with Target Authentic Genuine Real Faux Leather-ette produces an odor that would likely be considered...unpleasant...in many social circles.

P.S. Used bath water does not help the aforementioned odor. At all.

New Career Ambition

Just a small sample of Carter's newest talent...photography. While we were playing on the deck and I decided to get a few photos of the cuteness, he couldn't not participate and actually took the camera, held it to his face and tried to press buttons. These are a progression of his attempts (with me attempting to hold the camera steady so he could actually press the button, which he did!).


And since photos of my face are not exactly why you are reading the blog, here is me showing off my talent with the camera (though it could never compare to Elizabeth's).

Carter Likes Moving

Can you find the ring in the photo?

We were most distressed last weekend, when newlywed Patrick misplaced his wedding ring. We turned the house (and many cardboard boxes) upside down looking for it. We retraced our steps. We kept asking Patrick (apparently frustrating) questions like "When do you usually take it off?" and "Where do you usually put it when you take it off?". Patrick's unfaltering response was "I don't KNOW. I've only had it for a WEEK!"

After Patrick & Kirstin returned to NY, Thomas found the ring. Right out in the open. As Kirstin put it "the easiest thing we never found."

The ring is really very cool. It's made of wood, and they plant a tree for every ring you buy. We sure are glad he didn't lose it!

Silly Girl Pics

Since Joo asked for them, here are some "silly pics of us girls" the night before Patrick & Kirstin's wedding. Really, how hard is it to take a decent picture?

More Wedding Pics

The bride and groom!

Wedding Pics

At long last, here are some wedding pictures!!

Culture Shock: USPS

I had to go to the post office this morning. Upon entering the vestibule, I spied the Automated Postal Center (always a blessing in my NYC post office experiences), and I thought to myself, "Excellent! If I am lucky enough to find the kind of envelope I need inside, I can prepare my package (with the pen I brought for myself), dash back out here and skip the (likely) huge, before-work line, assuming that the Automated Postal Center is working, which is probably 50/50!"

Then, I stepped into most clean, well-lighted post office I have seen in a very, very long time. I marveled at the well stocked forms and envelopes, the clear signage, the complete lack of lines, the post office supply store (tended by a cashier!), the lovely (also empty) passport office with chairs for the customers, and the incredible helpfulness of the employees.

Best post office experience ever.

(On another note, one day this weekend we were tempted into stopping for ice cream by a restaurant that was hyping the frozen treat on their signage. We realized upon exiting that the other side of the sign also advertised gizzards as a tempting option...)

To Tide You Over...

...until we get our camera up and running: click here to see pics of Patrick and Kirstin's visit to Atlanta this weekend! Yes, they did spend the first weekend after their wedding visiting us and helping us unpack. We are so grateful! It was really fun to see them and to explore our new town with them. Although, they can probably attest that you shouldn't really trust your hosts directions if they've been locals for less than a week...