We had houseguests

Justin's parents visited our home for the weekend. They planned to arrive around 7:00 p.m. Friday and leave sometime Sunday afternoon. Due to awful northbound traffic (evil spring breakers!), they didn't arrive until 9:30 p.m. I wasn't far behind them at 10:00 p.m. It took me four and a half hours! It was just horrible!

After inhaling some food from Mint, Justin and I chatted with his parents and then everyone retired for the evening. It's amazing how sitting in a car for a few hours will wear you out.

The next morning, we got ready and headed out to indulge in some of Atlanta's offerings. We hit Flip Burger Boutique for lunch. There was no wait and it wasn't crowded at all. I had the shrimp poboyger, again. Justin enjoyed the mushroom & swiss burger and shared some french fries with me. The fries are served with ketchup and smoked mayo. I don't know how they make that mayo, but it is delicious. Justin's parents shared the philly burger, which is a beef burger that is served with caramelized onions, green peppers, ketchup, and cheese foam (this was pretty neat). They also enjoyed some fries. After our meal, Justin and I split a krispy kreme milkshake. Heaven.

We then ventured down the road to introduce his parents to the wonder that is Ikea. I love Ikea. It was a little crowded, but still fun. His parents are about to begin kitchen renovations and got some really good ideas from Ikea's kitchen department. I've decided I'm going to move into Ikea. I've picked out a spot with a fabulous view. They have food, furniture, and bathrooms - everything I need.

We then drove through Atlantic Station and headed to Brandsmart, Target, and Lowe's. We stopped by the house to rest for a few minutes before heading out for supper.

We planned to eat at Gladys Knight & Ron Winans' Chicken & Waffles, but there were about thirty or more people outside waiting for tables. We were kind of hungry so we hit The Book House Pub instead. It is probably not our first choice, but Justin really wanted to eat here, so we obliged. I previously ordered the grilled cheese here, but they changed their menu and no longer served a grilled cheese. I was disappointed, but ordered the sweet potato wrap with sauteed spinach and parmesan and sour cream. It was ok. I did enjoy the fries. Justin's mother enjoyed the chicken salad sandwich and his dad enjoyed the hangar strip steak. He said it was ok, but not exactly what he generally likes. He did say the carrots that are served with that steak were excellent. Justin devoured the book house burger. For dessert, we shared a funnel cake. Yummy!

Sunday for brunch, we decided to visit a restaurant we've never visited before. Ria's Bluebird showed up on a "best of" search Justin did and I mentioned that one of my favorite bloggers recommended it. We arrived to a forty-five minute wait, but killed that time in the cemetery. The Historic Oakland Cemetery is across the street from Ria's so we wandered around there for a while. It was actually a very beautiful place. There were lots of trees so it was shady and cool and the flowers were lovely. I definitely want to spend more time there.

Our table was eventually ready and we were famished by that point. I had the french toast special. All I can say is YUMMMMM! Justin had a goat cheese omelette with a sweet potato cake, biscuit, and soysage. It was all delicious, especially the soysage. I've never had soy sausage before, but this tasted like the real thing. Justin's mother had the roasted beef sandwich with skillet potatoes and his dad had pancakes with skillet potatoes. Everyone seemed to really enjoy their food and our waitress was really nice. We'll definitely dine here again.

We wandered around Bed Bath and Beyond for a little while and headed back to the house. His parents left around 4:30 or 5:00. Justin and I spent a little while replacing one of my headlight bulbs. Those things are expensive. We hit Moe's for supper and then I headed south. The drive down was so much more pleasant. The northbound traffic still looked awful. Florida has to be completely empty now.

Justin and I had a nice weekend with his parents. I hope they did, too. We hope that unidentified animal that woke up everyone at 6:30 a.m. Sunday didn't scare them off. It sounded like a child crying and then a cat being killed. We think it was a small deer "crying", but we're not sure. Justin saw it when it brushed against the fence outside our bedroom but couldn't identify it. Definitely bigger than a dog or cat. I promise we live in the city. Who knew cities had possums, deer, huge hawks, and huge snakes?!