Greetings from Atlanta! Brandon and I left my grandmother’s yesterday to spend a couple of days in Atlanta with my parents before heading back to Charlotte.

I have pretty much been living in a perpetual state of cold since Christmas. I just cannot warm up. Waking up to this yesterday at my grandmother’s did not help (although it was pretty).

A dusting of snow in middle Georgia! Rather than bundle up for a run, I opted to stay inside and enjoy breakfast and conversation with my family.

I wanted something on the lighter side after all of Saturday’s eats. I opted for fresh fruit, toast and vanilla Greek yogurt.

After dressing and packing up, I made a sandwich before getting on the road.

Freshly opened, just stirred, drippy almond butter, honey and banana on honey wheat. Perfection.

We made the easy 90-minute trip to Atlanta in pretty snow flurries and I promptly made a cup of hot tea when we arrived.

Brandon and I had grand plans of attending a yoga class yesterday afternoon but the yoga gods were not shining down on us. The first studio we called was closed so we decided to try a class at Decatur Hot Yoga. I was soooo ready to be in a hot room and finally feel warm. We were extremely disappointed to arrive and find a big crowd and very unaccommodating staff. The studio did not anticipate having so many students wanting to practice the day after Christmas and only scheduled one class for the entire day.

They had reached their max for the class but said they could let a few more people in. Brandon and I went in the room and tried to get a spot but NO ONE would move their mats over…and there was tons of room. With a little help from the teachers they could have easily squeezed 10 more people in the room. Brandon and I ended up just leaving. I came home, Tweeted that I missed Y2 Yoga, did some sun salutations and called it a day. Boo.

My parents told us about this authentic Chinese restaurant they discovered on Buford Highway (Atlanta’s mecca for ethnic cuisine). Brandon was dying to give it a try so we set off for Chef Liu’s for dinner.

Chef Liu’s has been named to many “best of” lists and I knew when we walked in that we were in for something good. We were immediately served a pot of hot tea.

Between the tea I made at home and drank at the restaurant, I must have had seven cups of tea yesterday. So warm and comforting! 🙂

My parents insisted that we had to try the Leek Pie and Hot Steamed Buns appetizer.

The Leek Pies were incredible.

The filling consisted of green onions, glass noodles and egg and it was all wrapped in a delicious pastry.

The steamed buns were also very good. They had a ground pork filling.

We ordered three dishes for the table.

Smoked Duck.

Pork, peppers and mushrooms.

And the dish that I ordered after I announced that I wanted a “big plate of vegetables” for dinner.

Sauteed mixed vegetables with tofu. I put quite a hurting on this along with some steamed rice.

We had a fun dinner at Chef Liu’s. It was fun to mix things up after all of the holiday eating.

I agreed to forgo blogging last night and watch a movie with my family. They picked out the new Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and I will admit that I was a bit skeptical at first but ended up really enjoying it. I’ve always had a thing for Robert Downey Jr. and I thought he did a great job with his character.

Of course, the 14-layer cake was calling my name during the movie.

Obsessed. I ate it layer by layer.

I was up early this morning for a yoga class at Agni Power Yoga. Overall, I enjoyed the class although it was a little slow for my liking. Also, the studio is in a loft space and it was pretty chilly in there. I could never really warm up and never super open. Agni Power Yoga is a new studio in Atlanta. The owner actually left Decatur Hot Yoga to open it. I enjoyed talking with him for a bit after class. We talked a lot about the lack of yoga interest in Atlanta. It’s crazy to me that yoga is not bigger here. While it’s nice to visit other studios when I travel, I’m always so happy to return home to Charlotte – the land of hard, hot, sweaty yoga. 😉

I’m hitting publish and then off to meet a friend for lunch. This afternoon we are going to check out the High Museum of Art with my mom.

Hope you’re all having a great day!