she's 18!

Eighteen years ago today, I became a mother. I will always remember bringing that tiny baby girl home and wondering how in the world I would know how to take care of her. Well, she has seemed to have survived:)

We began our celebration last Friday with a trip to Atlanta. Lauren chose our lodging and activities. She decided we should stay here. Yea, I was feeling a little like The Jeffersons, we were 'movin' on up to the east side'. So, that is where we rested our weary bones after a day of shopping. It was a trip...very unlike our usual travelling digs.

We arrived into Atlanta at lunchtime and headed straight to The Varsity where we enjoyed a yummy, and definitely not low-calorie, food. So much for my diet. Oh, I forgot, I am not on a diet. Following lunch we headed toward the Virginia Highlands area to stop by a few boutiques that Lauren had requested we visit. It was a successful endeavor:)

We checked into the hotel around 5:30 and Dan mentioned an italian restaurant he had read about, but we weren't sure how it was even spelled. So, I decided to take advantage of the concierge and gave him a call. He said he would take care of it and called back shortly with a 7:00 pm reservation at Pricci. Yep, a concierge...feeling pretty special about now, ya' know. We were seated soon after we arrived and started with a delightful yellow fin tuna carpaccio. First of all, I had never even heard of such a thing, but Dan has taught me some of the finer things in life, so I thought I would give it a go. I am soooo glad I did. If I could use only two words to describe the course I would have to choose tender and delicious . Lauren and Desi had pasta while Dan ordered the Ossobuco braised veal shank with Saffron Risotto and Fresh Lemon Gremolata. I ordered a special that included shrimp over a yummy crab and cheese handmade ravioli. It also had a name as creative as the others, but I don't remember it! But, I will always remember the taste...in three words this time: to die for.

Following dinner, Lauren and I headed back to Phipps Plaza for some last minute shopping. Dan and Desi decided to walk across the street to the Ritz to swim instead. Unfortunately, even though the plaza's brochure stated hours of operation until 9:00 pm, most of the stores were closed, or in the process of closing, by the time we arrived at 8:15. So, Lauren and I walked around and made plans to return the next morning. We picked up Dan and Desi on the way to dessert. Dan told us that the hotel had left a gift for us while we were gone. More on that later.

By the time we returned and crashed it was close to midnight. I knew then that we would not be starting out as early on Saturday as I originally planned. Oh, back to the gift. When we returned, Lauren checked out the gift bag, embossed with the Ritz-Carlton logo of course, and found a pink leather baggage tag with the same logo and immediately asked "can I have it, mom?!". I pulled out the card and saw that it was expressing congratulation to LAUREN on her 18th birthday! Now, that is service.

We checked out by 8:45 am just in time to stop back by Phipps Plaza for a little more shopping before heading over to the Georgia Aquarium (Desi could not wait!). One last stop for me at Teavana where we found a cozy cast iron teapot and picked up a few canisters of tea. That place will cause addictions.

It was time to head over to the aquarium where Lauren and I headed over to get tickets while Dan parked the van. There was 1.5 hour wait for reservations, so we took a 3 pm ticket so we would have time to walk the 6 blocks to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. It was a good thing that I checked online earlier in the week and signed up for priority seating. When we arrived we were told there would be a 20-30 minute wait, but as soon as I told them we had priority, we were the next group seated. Yay! We were pretty hot and tired from the walk (uphill) so we weren't that hungry. Des had french fries (go figure) while the rest of us shared an order of potato skins and each had a side salad. We had just the right amount of time to eat and walk back (downhill this time!) to the Georgia Aquarium. It was still a hot wait in line before we were able to enter. We ended up spending about an hour inside checking out the different areas. I think the Chattanooga Aquarium was probably more fun for us, but maybe I was just tired.

We got on the road around 4:30 EST and arrived home around 6:30 CST. Mom and Sandy had arrived with Marshall and Max a few hours earlier (they had spent the week in Macon with Deanna and Paul and their boys, Alex and Daniel).

On Sunday, we sponsored the altar flowers in honor of Lauren's birthday. And today, she decided we should take the boys and drive to Birmingham for a day at the McWane Science Center.

Happy Birthday, Lauren!