The Sweet Life: Sister Time in Atlanta!

So every couple of years, Kat and I try to get together for a much-needed girls' weekend. We live in separate parts of the world and are in super different phases of life, so we really cherish our "just us" time. A couple of years ago, Kat moved to Atlanta, and I had yet to go visit. So in May, we made it happen! And holy cow, I can't really express through the written word just how much fun we had. We laughed (hard), we ate (gobs), and we did a ton of sightseeing. And a big shout-out to my awesome hubby, he took a couple of days off of work to watch the kiddos so that I could stay a long weekend (love you!). I flew into Atlanta late on a Thursday night, so starting Friday, here's what we did!

We went to the Atlanta Aquarium (super, duper cool). That place was monstrously huge! And I mean, talk about a bazillion different kinds of fish and marine life. Check it out!

This big guy is a whale shark. They are absolutely huge.

Look at this thing! It's a sea dragon or something crazy like that!

Aren't these crabs the absolute creepiest? They are like spiders of the sea. Seriously, they give me the heebie-geebies.
UPDATE: My husband just told me crabs and spiders come from the same family: arachnids. That is so gross. Next time I eat crab, will I feel like I'm eating spider...?

And here we are in the aquarium gift shop, acting like the total mature adults that we are. :) Doesn't Kat look good?

Ha! We are such nerds chillin' with the mermaid.

I should mention, before we went to the aquarium, Kat took me to some really yummy BBQ place that is famous I guess. Of course, I can't remember what the name of it was, but we went there and met her boss for lunch, and I ordered myself a rib sandwich, where the sandwich was served with the meat still on the bone (does anyone else think that's weird?). That is also where I began my love affair with sweet potato pie.

Okay moving on. After the aquarium, we decided to go to the mall because Kat wanted to see if she could find some boat shoes like mine. So we went to this fancy, upscale mall and walked around a few stores, and then we stopped at Nordstrom where we managed to 1) buy some amazing salted-caramel chocolates, and 2) book ourselves makeovers at MAC the following day (LOVE girls' weekends).

Then that night, we went to this fabulous little deli and had not only a yummy turkey sandwich but also pretty much the most amazing chocolate cake on the planet. (Kat wanted to take me to all her favorite places to eat).

The next day, we took our time getting ready and then went to Nordstrom for our fabulous makeovers. After our makeovers, Kat off-handedly mentioned she wished her eyebrows were fuller, so then of course I grabbed her hand and led her directly to Anastasia's to talk to the brow consultant. Ten minutes later, she was armed with a serum and brow pencil and I'm pretty sure she will forever be converted to Anastasia's eyebrow counter at Nordstrom. Oh, and before we left the mall, Kat had ordered her a fun pair of boat shoes.

Afterward, we went to Maggianno's for lunch and met Kat's boyfriend Brian there. I should mention, by the time we finished our lunch it was like 5, so everything was on delayed-time that day. So anyway, after "lunch," Kat took me to the botanical gardens in downtown Atlanta. They were beautiful!

See how beautiful ~~our makeup is~~ the botanical gardens are?

These are made entirely of plants and such, and there was one representing each of the four seasons.

I just thought this flower was so exotic and beautiful.

After the botanical gardens, we went to this phenomenal seafood restaurant (again, can't remember the name, but man alive, I had the best cedar-planked salmon EVER!).

Wow. Can I just say, isn't my sister gorgeous!

Check out this dessert, people!

Okay, moving on to Sunday. Sunday morning, Kat was nice enough to accompany me to sacrament meeting at a ward there in Atlanta (actually the building was right next to the Atlanta temple). Those Southerners are especially friendly, I tell ya', because as we were walking into the chapel, a man said to us, "Man, I could stare at ya'all all day!" And then as we were leaving the building, another guy said (practically to himself, but we heard), "You girls are pretty!" Ha!

After Church, we went to a jazz brunch because Kat's roommate Lisa was doing a jazz vocal performance. She did great! It was super fun (except for the sad songs she sang. Kat and I are both sympathetic criers and holy cow, we were disasters after a few of her numbers!).

Here is her cute roommate!

After the brunch, Kat dropped me off while she went to a salsa practice so I could get a head start on making dinner. We both love to cook and thought it'd be fun to make a meal together for Lisa and Brian. Here's our yumminess!

What is not pictured here is the awesome sweet potato pie we made for dessert, which we HAD to make after having it at that BBQ place.

Oh man, Monday came fast. We woke up and got ready early because Kat wanted to take me to a fun breakfast place where I had -- you guessed it -- sweet potato pancakes. Had to get all my sweet-potato-lovin' in before I left this beautiful Southern state.

Not sure why I have on my coat and Kat's in a tank top. I think I'm the weird one.

After breakfast, Kat and I headed to the World of Coca-Cola, the headquarters of the world-famous beverage. It was super cool.

The vault where the supposed secret Coke formula is kept.

The room where you can taste all the different flavors of Coca-Cola throughout the world. I liked most all of them except for those on the African continent. No thank you.

This happened while waiting in line for a movie about the company. We were trying to do a "serious" pose when the glasses slipped off my ear. Ridiculous, I know, but I had to include it.