Conferencing in Atlanta

My company sent me to Atlanta for the weekend to get all I can out of a very-cool technology in education conference.

A weekend away by myself. To be an adult and "working professional" instead of weekend Mom? Sure I'll go!  With the bonus of maybe being INSPIRED about my job and how I'm contributing to this ed tech movement. (Not to mention, the chance to see a city I've never been to.)
Centennial Park in Downtown Atlanta
So, I'm having a pretty good time. There's some networking going on. I met up with an old coworker who works at a competitor. Jotted down some professional research to share with my team. There's so much to do and see. I'm making the most of it.

My challenge has been finding good food. Sure, I could eat at Arby's or Quiznos (even though I never would at home), but I have some time to be picky. And I'd rather eat REAL food.

Saturday I hit the jackpot and found a fantastic coal-oven pizza place just as it started to rain (Max's). And, as luck would have it, the last seat at the bar in front of a TV showing the Brazil game. Perfect.

On the Expo Floor
Sunday morning, I went looking for a grocery store for fresh fruit and organic yogurt to have in the room. No luck. But I did stumble upon a sweet little French bistro run by a Frenchman. I was the only customer for awhile, so I ate a scrumptious salad and watched the Netherlands play. And enjoyed some World Cup chitchat with the owner. Delightful!

On Monday, I ended up in my room most of the morning working. And spent the afternoon chatting with vendors on the Expo floor. I had picked out a German pub around the corner to watch the Germany game -- and even invited a co-worker to watch the game and compare notes on the conference. But when we arrived, they turned us away because of a private party. I was so bummed. We found another place, but not as good.

In the evening, I tagged along with the math group to a place called Miller Union. Local, sustainable and creative cuisine. Super yummy.

It's Tuesday and I'm ready to head home. We've heard the weather is causing delays all over the place. So let's hope I get out without drama. Fingers crossed!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The $80 Kitchen Pantry Update

Image
It took two days and about $80 in supplies, and now our kitchen pantry is REBORN! Here's a quick review of the project in pictures, starting with the BEFORE pictures: My main issue with the wire shelves were bottles or anything "thin" would tip over. And with my commitment to bulk, I wanted to store glass containers in here but knew they wouldn't be "safe." I foresaw broken glass at some point. Plus, it's a great space, so I knew I could add more storage space if I was strategic. Last, wire shelves are ugly. So then I demo'd the pantry and painted the walls (which was just primer) with leftover paint from the rest of the house. It's called Polar Bear. I paid an electrician to install an outlet at "counter height" in the pantry, so I could move the dumb microwave off the counter. (The electrician did a slew of other small jobs around the house, not just this outlet, including a motion-activated light in this pantry. Tres Fancy
Keep reading »

Family Calendar Improvement

Image
 Made a quick improvement at the start of the school year that I'm pretty excited about.  And yes, I'm probably the only one excited about it, but here goes ...  Here's our "command central" in our kitchen. This is a good landing spot, and a central place to all look at the family calendar ... it's that huge wipe board in the middle of the photo. All our activities are supposed to be written on here and our electronic family calendar on Google.  (Brief aside: my family is the WORST at writing their plans down in either calendar and Dave still doesn't share his events on our Google Shared Family Calendar consistently, which makes me nuts. And they all ask me "what are we doing today?" instead of looking at the calendar, usually directly behind me. But, that's another post.) I went to so much trouble putting this little area together and that huge calendar with wobbly writing was really killing the sophisticated look of that space. PLUS, we don
Keep reading »

Basement Shiplap Project

Image
The guys left me all the unused shiplap from the bathroom and I've been trying to think about where to use it. I had so many ideas but not a lot of shiplap, so I eventually settled on this corner of our basement. It's where the exercise mats and treadmill live, right behind the sofa. And also where the Marvel-themed bathroom with shiplap is located. So it made sense. It took much of a rainy Sunday to cut and nail up the new boards ...    I even had enough to do on the "backsplash" of our little kitchenette in the basement I've been slowly building out.  Next up will be to patch all the nail holes and calk around the edges for a clean look. And then the best part ... picking out paint color. Since this is a "free" project, I'm hoping I can find a color in my paint cabinet.  I'll keep you posted. 
Keep reading »