recent cheap finds

i'm always on the lookout for free stuff to do in atlanta or really cool places that have insane deals on good stuff (usually food). here are some recent discoveries:

garrisons in vinings jubilee has a $5 hamburger for lunch. price includes a side dish. i didn't order the burger, but my friend got one and it looked good. huge. and apparently this place also has 2-dollar yuenglings every night. this is quickly becoming one of my favorite restaurants, but dinner is a bit out of my price range. the place has a houston's-like atmosphere.

georgia state school of music gives free concerts. andy and i went to one at the rialto on valentines day. it was really good. and free. i know georgia tech usually charges for their shows, and they aren't as good. but beware, free concerts have all the annoyances of a free concert, ie. people who know nothing of concert etiquette. only other drawback is that parking rates downtown are usually higher on the weekend.

ever notice the coupons on the back of your receipt from kroger? right now they print good ones for subway and doc green's. i used to go to doc greens every now and then for the buffalo chicken salad, but if you get a drink you end up spending close to $10, which is not a good value in my book. the coupon is buy one entree and two drinks, and get 2nd entree [of equal or lesser value] free. andy and i went there last night and i spent under 12 bucks. and the one for subway is two regular footlong subs for 8.99. this beats the pants off the 5-dollar footlong deal because the turkey breast doesn't qualify for that deal but it qualifies for my coupon.

just some random thoughts

• what is the deal with q-tips? the box says "a variety of uses." and there are graphics on the back illustrating a few examples, none of which include cleaning the ear canal. this is funny because most people i know, myself included, only buy q-tips for the purpose of cleaning ear canals.

• perhaps you've seen the signs near downtown atlanta pointing to different neighborhoods and districts. for example, a sign might have arrows to sweet auburn, cabbagetown, etc. i'm familiar with most of the names, but the one that always gets me is "SoNo district." perhaps you've seen that particular sign at the I-75/85 offramp to north ave. and thought "what the hell is soNo?" i've lived in atlanta for almost 10 years and i've never *ever* heard anyone throw out "soNo." fo sho.

• there was a really awesome radio station that andy & i listened to while we were in durango, colorado. "four corners rock" out of farmington, new mexico. beats the pants off project 9-6-1. they didn't play any shinedown, nickelback, or janes addiction, and we heard chevelle, some lesser known papa roach, and some other good stuff. i was hoping that they would stream music online so i checked for a website. here it is - http://www.krwn.com. so...i guess that's a "no," right?

• an arrangement of shops in a strip mall from right to left: my friends place (sandwiches), subway, soup garden (soup & salad bar), honey baked ham store, jenny craig, lane bryant. humorous.

winter x games

the winter x games 14 went down last week and if you didn't catch any of the snowboarding events then you missed out on some awesome stuff. sorry i can't embed the videos, i tried it earlier and it wouldn't work properly.

halldor helgason big air:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4873682


and if you didn't see shaun white's insane run (and major bust), then here it is:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4871381

even mary ellen was pumped over the games. i was watching a bit of womens superpipe then decided to take a shower since i was exhausted & grody from a day on the slopes (more on this vacation later). unfortunately i missed the finals, good thing mary ellen texted me to tell me that my "bff" gretchen won. andy & my mom like to joke about her being my bff. thing is, i've actually met her a few times - and by "met" i mean "scanned her lift ticket and said hi." i did chat with her for a minute when she was here in atlanta three yrs ago for peter glenn's winter expo. she signed my poster "anne, hope to see you sometime on buttermilk!" i was giddy for days. i secretly want to be her bff and/or follow-cam.

while i'm on the subject, check out this photo from 2007 when i was working at buttermilk in aspen.

some flying tomato action