Foodspotting: Instagram for Your Belly

Just because nobody on Facebook gives a shit what you ate for lunch, doesn't mean I don't give two of them.  Turns out someone smarter than me made an app for that.

Foodspotting is like Instagram for your face.  Yelp without all the wanna be foodie critics begging to attend their first UYE ("Unofficial Yelp Event", I'm admittedly jealous).  #foodspotting if you're of the Instagram variety.

It's a happy place for you and all your photog-contortionists-at-the-table friends to share each other's meals with the world.  Complete with voting, badges and the ability to "Want/ Tried/ Love" the dish.

[Side note: I just realized I talk like Anthony Bourdain in my head while I type this crap.]

The app compiles dishes per restaurant, is pretty good about not duplicating dishes and let's you group sections of dishes into specific Guides.  For instance I saw an "Atlanta: Bahn Mi" Guide that a girl put together of... suprise!  Bahn Mi dishes around Atlanta.  

Follow me and my delicious dishes: rachunkie

My Travel Makeup Arsenal

I'm still reeling from a long and fabulous weekend in Charleston with my very best girlfriends. True measure of a successful bachelorette! I can't wait to post pics of all the gorgeous details my MOH put together (well, not allllll!).

In the meantime here's what I'm packing in my super sweet Kate Spade travel makeup bag these days. I swear by some CVS style makeup like that Revlon 24 Hour foundation and cheapy mascara! And my face wash is Bliss that I totally stole from a W hotel!

And those hair ties are my typical bracelets, and a nice way to blend in with the teenagers around town :)

Cucina Asellina

This past weekend we ended up in Midtown and stopped by Cucina Asselina, an Italian modern/industrial-claiming-to-be-rustic spot by the One Group (of STK ownership).  P was actually the project manager in charge of building both restaurants, and while we've been lucky enough to eat at STK on several occasions this was our first time at Asellina.

Lucky for us, it also happened to be the Oysterfest weekend in Atlanta just down the street, which meant a nonstop flow of absurd and awesome people watching.  

The food was pretty good, small plates with big flavors - we were definitely there at a weird time (who eats at 5pm?  hungover people like us, that's who) so I don't think they were rocking their A-game on the cuisine side.  However, we learned a new shot, thanks to some teen-somethings next to us, and for that, we thank you underage drinkers of Atlanta.

The Breakfast Shot

2/3 Jameson and 1/3 Buttershots

Orange juice chaser

Pancake Shot!

Tastes like a McDonald's pancake.  No joke.  You don't even need the OJ, and I freaking hate Jameson/all brown liquor, but I'm telling you - amazearama in your mouth.  Screw Bloody Mary's and PBRs, this is the way to go.

Aforementioned teens had 4 of them back to back on Sunday at 5pm.  Oh unemployment, I do miss you occasionally.

Until the bill comes...

Oh yeah, the food:

Saffron Strozzapreti with shrimp, spinach and butternut squash (front) - could've done without the tiny little uber briny shrimpettes - totally blew out the saffron flavor I was really hoping for.  Strozzapreti is exactly like German Spaetzle if you've ever had that.  Super dense.

I can't remember what the one in the back was, but it had some awesome little lamb meatballs and was otherwise forgettable, apparently.

Stock the Cellar!

Last weekend a few of our good friends in Atlanta threw us a gorgeous twist on the typical "Stock the Bar" shower - a Stock the Cellar!  I adore wine, and have transformed P into something of a snob as well, so this was right up our alley.  And everyone knows I really only abide by one food group - cheese.  Glorious cheese!  

Ali is always the perfect hostess, but I have to say she outdid herself on this one!

Go see photos on her precious blog: 
http://howtosurvive20.blogspot.com/2013/02/cheersa-wine-cheese-party.html

We had a blind wine tasting and a trivia game (ohmygosh was I terrible at both!  So much for my secret sommelier ambitions!!!), there were wines and cheeses galore gorgeously labeled on a chalkboard table runner (what?!) and she had all kinds of fun things for us to take home, including a beautiful wine cork wreath and monogrammed beer & wine coozies she made herself.  GORG!

She's also a budding photog, so go peek!!!

Spring Springith!

My tulips are so close to opening! I can't wait for them to say hello!

And with all this ridiculous rain we've been having (60 of the last 70 days apparently!) the adorable umbrella ring holder from my little brother seems like a perfect window ornament!


I can't wait to break out my fun dresses and wedges! Hopefully in time for my bachelorette NEXT WEEKEND!!!

DIY: Lantern Wall Display

While perusing Pottery Barn for some wedding registry ideas and came across this awesome wall hanging of lanterns.  

It was styled a little busy, but gorgeous just the same.  Too bad PB style costs my mortgage, that bad boy was almost $500 worth of lanterns and curtain rods!

I rounded up the lanterns at a Kohl's sale for $12-$20 each, the curtain rod at a Hancock furniture sale for $15 and hit up Lowe's for some really thick fisherman and spent a goofy Saturday morning trying to figure out what the hell to do with it.

I found a great guide online, that shows animated how-tos for each of the knots at AnimatedKnots.com.  Here are some we picked out... mostly due to frustration with the purty ones. Monkey Fist?  Right.  Just after I build my own yacht to tie it with.

This was a joke.  Now I know why people on Etsy charge like $20 for a mini one.
Fist fail!

Initial styling.  Ha!  The radio is for my pup, who likes to jam out to Bieber and a little One Direction, if she's feeling frisky, while we're at work.

Here they are all lit up.  Style just ain't my thing with this idea.  I need help, big time.  

I think I need to pull the lanterns up a bit?  

Disaster.  Suggestions, please.

Wine-O Wednesday: Cune

P and I lucked out and got a surprise phone call and visit from a super good friend in Greenville who was in town for a conference.

She was staying in downtown (as in downtown, downtown since you have to specify in Atlanta) and we picked a great place to scoop her up and go to dinner in the area that is super gluten-free friendly, which is always difficult for her to find.  Luckily Alma Cocina is great about it and has an entire menu, almost the size of the regular, that she could choose from!  And it's Argentinian, which is where Jessica celebrated her honeymoon just over a year ago!

Jessica is a wine lover too, and we picked out a Rioja we hadn't had before, got a taste and two bottles later I think this may be a staple in our house!

Cune (C.V.N.E) was founded in 1879 by two brothers and is still run by their direct descendants in Northern Spain.  We sampled a 2009 Crianza, which is 80% tempranillo and totally velvetted (is that a word??) out by 10% granacha tinta and 10% manuelo (which I've never heard of).

From Winex.com: dark ruby/purple color, loads of fruit (black currants and cherries), licorice and forest floor notes, a supple texture, medium body, and considerable flavor authority as well as character.

I really did find it velvety and fruity, with almost no spice or tannins, which I love.

Hosting: Stock the Bar Party

A couple of weeks ago I co-hosted a Stock the Bar for a couple getting married a few weeks after P and I are due down the aisle.  I've talked about how fun it is to have someone I can bridezilla my heart out to, that totally gets the ridiculousness of negotiating over linens and flowers and such, trying on dresses multiple times to get the right alterations, feeling up a hundred kinds of paper and design to find "the invite"...  It's been crazy but so nice to have a partner in crime!  


I couldn't have been more excited to play a part in throwing the happy couple a little shower to get them started on stocking their house and bar and kicking off the multitude of festivities coming their way!

My co-zilla has the cutest color combo picked out - yellow and gray, super chic and trendy yet classy.  

It was a lot of fun finding fun ways to incorporate their colors into the party, starting with the shower invite I DIY'd here.

My co-hosterita and I went through a bunch of ideas to find fun gifts and favors, which ended up including a traditional bar set, paper goods and these adorable Mr. and Mrs. glasses: 

For food we kept it really simple and toothpick/finger friendly:
Slow cooker meatballs
Pulled pork from the bride's fav spot: Fat Matt's
Spinach dip
Rotel-velveeta dip
Salted caramel cheesecakes (I made mini ones in a mini muffin pan!)

We toasted the future newlyweds with some really cute and fun S'mores Shooters:

Wish I'd had my blowtorch to light up those mini mallows!

DIY straw flags (in Word!)

Paper straws, dishwashable stadium cups and cocktail napkins featuring
the new couple's monogram (all from Etsy)

A chalkboard welcome!

Balloons floated around dangling the couple's engagement photos at eye level 

Signature mojito cocktail and water jugs
Why do lemons float and not limes?!

The spread!

The adorable happy couple opening their gifts!

Wine-O Wednesday: Terra Valentine

In the theme of the week - this Wine-O is reserved for a delicious, yet ridiculously defined wine out of Napa.  Rated 92, this cheesily described bottle is full of deep chocolate tones and a dark, fruity finish.  This cab is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petite Verdot. The wines were bottled August 2011.

Perfect for a bad ass, juicy monster steakeroni and some good old potatoes and roasted veggies.

straight cheese-tasticness to the face

Clean(er) Eats: Scallops with Sauteed Spinach & Shrooms

I adapted this recipe from some cute little Brit and made it American.  How?  Bacon.  Bacon fixes everything.  And because how exactly am I supposed to measure a knob of butter?  What is that?

But this looked super yummy, and a good ice-breaker into convincing P to get healthy with me (ie stop tempting me with those delicious pints of ice cream and bags of Doritos):

So I doctored it up with some extra goodness.  Bacon is totes paleo, which I count as a win.  We're not going paleo, per se.  We're not going Whole30, per se.  We're just making healthier choices and cutting out unnecessary carbs and dairy when possible.  (Wine doesn't count, duh.)

So here we go.

Ingredients for 2:
10 large sea scallops (don't season!)
1 piece of bacon, chopped
8 oz. fresh spinach
4 oz. mushrooms (I always go with a fun mix)
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp lemon juice
Olive oil
S&P, garlic powder, red pepper flakes

• Saute the bacon over medium-high heat until crispy
• Remove bacon to a paper towel, but keep the drippings in the pan
• Throw in the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes
• Throw in the spinach leaves, season with spices, and stir to wilt for an additional 5 min-ish
• Remove mushrooms/spinach and drain into a small saucepan 
• Keep heat at medium-high, add oil then unseasoned scallops - don't move them for 3 minutes.  No touchy!
• Season scallops with S&P and flip over to sear for an additional 2-3 minutes (light brown crust)
• Add butter and lemon juice to saved spinach/shroom juice and stir over low heat to make a sauce
• Plate: layer spinach/shrooms, top with scallops and crumbled bacon and drizzle with sauce

Seriously, this was 4 ingredients and some seasoning

Mmmm bacon bits.  Do they sell this smell in a diffuser?
Pottery Barn, I found your next scent.

Spinach 'bout to get all wilty!

My shroomy drippings... I clearly need some extra lemon/butter to pull off any kind of sauce...

Unseasoned little suckers.  One has a little suntan...
You can't season or the salt draws out the moisture and turns them into that nasty
leather-faced lady from Something About Mary.  You know the one.

Crusty never looked so good.

Tah dah!