The weather in Atlanta has officially lost its mind – it never got above 75 this week. I have had to constantly remind myself that we are in the middle of August and not the middle of October or November. With the extremely unseasonably cool weather this entire summer, Jes and I have had to come up with different things to do keep ourselves entertained. In summers past we would have just sat by (or in) the pool and relaxed as we sipped on summer cocktails and talked or read, but that hasn’t really been an option this summer. On Sunday we were in a mood to try something new and Jes suggested we check out the new Beer Growler store that is next to our butcher. For those of you that haven’t heard of this concept, the idea is that you can get a sealed 32 or 64 ounce bottle of beer directly from a keg, which means you are not limited to the standard beers that are distributed to grocery stores and the like. For those of you that don’t know Jes, she has never been a huge beer fan, so it was a pretty big surprise that she made this suggestion. As we walked in a bit confused over how the entire process worked, the guy at the counter explained a couple of the beers he had available in much the same way a wine expert would describe the flavor profile of various wines. We each eventually settled on a beer that we liked after sampling a couple and let me tell you, I don’t think I will ever buy “standard” beer again. The growler concept is so simple and the beer you can get is so good, there is no need to drink the flavorless swill they sell at grocery stores anymore.
The other thing that we were able to knock off our “new things to try” list this week was going to a local bar called The Ivy. The Ivy has always been known around here as a relaxed place to guy and hang out, so we’ve always been interested but never had a reason to go. Last night we were making plans to hang out with Jes’ friend Caroline and her boyfriend Charlie and they suggested going to The Ivy. Jes immediately jumped at the opportunity, but it got even better. Little did we know, but The Ivy lets people bring their dogs to the patio area, so we decided to make it into a doggie date as well and brought Radar along to meet Caroline’s two wonderful dogs. We’ve been searching for a place that we can go and relax, but also bring the dogs on a nice day, and I think we’ve found our spot. The fact that it is only 2 miles from the condo makes it that much more convenient, I just wish we had made it a point to go sooner.
We have some big plans for the rest of the weekend, so bathroom work will have to be squeezed in around those. We are going to the Braves game tonight with Ron and Kate and going to Caroline’s house tomorrow so our dogs can play in their yard. It feels a little like cheating since the dogs will get their exercise without going on a walk, but it allows us to fully pack the weekend and not feel guilty about ignoring the dogs.