La Fonda Latina

We decided to not grab some goodies at Fresh Market tonight but save that treat for tomorrow. Instead we dined at another recommendation........La Fonda Latina. ( Fonda is the spanish term for boarding house or small restaurant). The menu is a blend of Latin, Cuban and Mexican fare. It was a beautiful night in Atlanta and we sat on their patio to have dinner.

We sat down and were promptly served a bowl of house made chips and salsa. The salsa had a very fresh flavor and a mild spiciness to it with a chunky texture. I ordered the Bocadillo Latino ( cuban sandwich). A perfectly flattened and grilled sandwich with thin slices of pork, ham and pickles with just the right spread of mayo and mustard combination. I can't recall having had a better cuban sandwich even after living in Miami. Brian had the chicken enchiladas topped with cheddar and queso blanco and a red chile sauce. The sauce was excellent. It had a true chile flavor. Both meals were served with black beans and yellow rice. The black beans were seasoned perfectly but the yellow rice was somewhat bland and nondescript. Overall the meal was excellent. This is another great find. I can't wait to go back and try their paella.

Scouting Atlanta

Today was a "free" day for us. We had nothing to attend to so we took advantage of the time and drove around the city and our new neighborhood scouting out and evaluating grocery stores and visiting the nearest Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Publix and Krogers. I decided that the Kroger on Roswell Rd. was the better of the conventional grocery stores for weekly shopping. The Whole Foods further up in Sandy Springs was really nice and offered several islands for that quick lunch or stopping off from work to pick up dinner. The Fresh Market was nice as well. In fact, this is where we are grabbing dinner tonight to bring back to the hotel and eat.
Last night we ate at Sweet Tomatoes. I have heard of this soup and salad buffet restaurant but have never tried it. There is one near the hotel so I suggested we try this. I loved it. The salad bar begins with 4 of their pre-made salads. This month they were offering ceasar, oriental chicken, greek, and one other which escapes me right now. The highlight for me is the endless row of salad ingredient selections to customize your own salad of choice. First you build a base with a selection of romaine, spinach or iceberg or a combination of any of the three, move on down the line and help yourself to about 30 different add on ingredients from tomato to jicama. I was in heaven. You pass by a selection of pasta salads, potato salad and broccoli salad (which I love). The last stop in the line are the dressings. Selections are standard such as blue cheese, ranch, 1000 island, french. I bypassed all these and opted for the tray of flavored vinegars and oils and made my own.
We sat down at a table and traveled over to the hot items which included a buffet of six different kinds of soups, foccacia breads, sweet and russet baked potatoes and three kinds of pasta. If you still have room after nibbling on all these selections there is a dessert bar with fresh fruit, brownies, tapioca and soft serve ice cream. I tried a small scoop of tapioca since I have never in my life tasted it. It wasn't bad. What a deal for $9.99 per person........all you can eat. This will be a regular eating haunt for me.
Back to our day. We drove down Peachtree Rd through Buckhead, Midtown, and downtown. We spent some time touring the Midtown area and Piedmont park. I found a Flying Biscuit restaurant on the corner of 10th and Piedmont. I've been told this is a must try place for breakfast. We ended back at the Perimeter Mall so Brian could pick up some new pants for his first day of work on Monday and we found a nice bag for him to carry his computer in but he didn't buy it........maybe this weekend.
As we were checking out at Macy's, the sales clerk asked for our zip code. It was so nice to say 30342 instead of 80466 like I've been accustomed to saying for the past 4 years.

Arrived

We pulled in around 1:00pm. We checked into the hotel, unloaded the cars and headed to Fellini's for lunch. This is one of the many restaurants on the lists that people have sent me that either live here (Mary Jane) or CPBer's gave me before we left Colorado. I need to organize a list and check them off as we try them out.
Fellini's is not far from our new home. It's a pizza joint. Brian and I each had a slice of the Fellini's Special. A single slice is huge, topped with mozz. cheese, black and green olives, mushrooms, pepperoni, italian sausage, onions and meatballs........WOW! All this yumminess is baked onto a nice firm buttery crust. We also each ordered a house salad. Each salad is a mixture of iceberg and romaine piled high with mushrooms, green peppers, green and black olives, tomatoes and mozz. cheese. I had mine with a balsamic vinaigrette. This was a big lunch. We could have easily split a salad and one slice of pizza and been satisfied. I brought home one of their take out menus so we can do a carry out when we don't feel like cooking. Splitting one slice of pizza at $3.95 a slice is a real bargain for a meal.
The driver delivering our furniture called today and said he would be delivering our furniture on Wed. I'm so glad. This means only one more night in a hotel before we get to begin assembling our new house and life can start getting back on track. I've already located the Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Fresh Market and Publix grocery stores, so I can begin fresh with stocking the refrigerator. This will be such a fun shopping trip. I'll have to make sure I go alone so I have free reign to fill up the shopping cart with everything I want.
I'll try to visit a new store every week. I already have Harry's (Rachel and Jim shopped here) on my list of recommendations and the DeKalb Farmer's Market. So much to do and see I'm already feeling overwhelmed.
Brian's car situation has all worked out. His dented car is arriving next week and will go into the shop and the moving company's insurance agency will be billed directly. In the mean time they are paying for the use of the rental car until Brian's is repaired..........however long that takes. One little dent has escalated into a huge financial obligation for this company.

Almost There

We made it through Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky and have stopped 20 miles west of Nashville to spend the night. The final leg of our journey happens tomorrow and should take us about 4 hours. We'll arrive in Atlanta around lunch time.
Chris has been extremely good on this trip. She sits in the passenger seat quietly and sleeps most of the way. She's adapted to the routine of crawling into her carrier when it's time to exit the car to check into the hotel and sleeps on the bed with us as if she was at home.
It's been an interesting journey seeing the terrain and landscape change from mountains to desolate plains to greenery and seeing spring coming to life with trees budding out and flowers blooming here and there. The closer we get to Atlanta the more the Spring season will show it's magic. I'm loving it.
It makes me smile to think that I could actually buy some tomato plants next week and actually start a garden if I choose to. The worst is behind us and now the excitement of moving to a new city can surface.

Goodbye Colorado

Last night was our last in Colorado. We headed out this morning on Interstate 70 through the plains east of Denver into the desolate, moonscape, and eery Kansas plains. That drive is unlike any other. It's a bit scary to me. You can drive for miles and miles and see nothing but land..........no towns, trees or civilization.
As trying as this week has been and jumping hurdles, overcoming obstacles and dealing with the Spring time wrath of Mother Nature spewing Her wet and icy snow on us for the third time in one week, She dumped another 7 inches of snow last night for our farewell departure. Not a big deal considering the rest of the state was pretty dry. I thought I had escaped the extreme weather Colorado has to offer until we came upon Limon, CO about 60 or so miles east of Denver where the wind gusts were approaching 50 mph. CDOT posted high wind warnings on the Interstate. It was tricky driving 70 mph and the wind gusts shoving the car over to the shoulder, but we made it.
We drove about 11 hours and have stopped to spend the night outside of Kansas City, MO. It pretty much rained all through Kansas. It actually was a nice change to see rainfall instead of the usual precipitation this time of year......snow! After we checked in and situated Chris, we headed out for dinner. Since we are in the land of BBQ, we headed over to a recommended place by the hotel staff. We dined on BBQ ribs, sweet corn and BBQ beans. The waitress asked if we wanted "sweet tea". What lovely words to hear as a suggested beverage. There's some kind of connection about areas of the country where sweet tea is a staple on a restaurant's menu and the sincere kindness of strangers. I am embracing the return to the land of sweet tea.

Loading the Truck

Yesterday was one crazy day. It all began the night before with a snowstorm slamming us with over a foot of snow. When the packers arrived around 9:30 Wed. morning our driveway had been plowed but there was still a nice layer of icy snow pack. To make a long story short their truck slid on the icy surface and slammed into Brian's car, denting the driver's door. Brian didn't witness the accident. It was my job to deliver the news that would turn him from a person of sanity to a person, oh let's say reminiscent of a killer bee whose nest had just been bashed by an adolescent prankster and is seeking revenge by imbedding it's stinger of poison in the first living thing that it encounters.
Not to worry, their insurance company will make things right. They've put their best offer on the table of getting Brian a rental to drive to Atlanta while his car is being repaired and then will ship it to our new home address once it's ready. Can't beat that.
Also yesterday while the packers were finishing up their job, I was busy shoveling snow and chopping ice from the walks so the guys loading the truck would not be slipping and falling. This was a full time strenuous job which I was loathing throughout the day and cursing Colorado every minute. As the sun heated up our snow packed roof, the 12 plus inches kept sliding off in big chunks. As I cleared one walk it would fill up again with that dreaded heavy wet snow that clumps together like cookie dough. I don't think I have done so much manual labor in my entire life!
The day ended with us packing our clothes and Chris cat into the car to spend the night at the downtown Nederland Best Western. It's really a nice hotel. I had no idea looking from the outside that the inside was so nice. Our room was really nice size for a small hotel with a king size fluffy bed and a pot bellied gas stove which really put out the heat. The window overlooked Boulder Creek and the shops on First Street. They advertised a "hot" continental breakfast. I expected the "hot" to be oatmeal but I was mistaken. We dined on scrambled eggs, sausage and whole grain toast.
The movers are nearing completion loading the truck. I'm so glad this chapter is almost done. Tomorrow I meet with Stanley Steemer to clean the carpets and I will give the house a nice once over to make sure it's in showcase condition for that buyer that will be coming to look at it.........soon I hope.

Packers Packing

The packers arrived this morning around 8:30. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning. As the morning approached the noon hour the sky turned cloudy and a few flurries began falling. Brian and I drove to downtown Nederland to have lunch at the Indian restaurant. They have a small but yummy all you can eat lunch buffet that includes that perfectly seasoned tandoori chicken and creamed spinach...........very yummy. They also deliver a basket of freshly fried naan for the table. It's way too much to eat for a mid-day meal but since this is probably the last time I'll get to visit the Kathmandu restaurant, I had to gorge on as much Nepali cuisine I could squeeze into my stomach.
After lunch we stopped at Bella delicatessen to pick up lunch for the three girls packing up our belongings. As we were leaving the deli, Brian asked me if we were treating the girls to lunch. I said of course, anything we can do to keep the flow moving and entice them to brace the winter storm and come back tomorrow to finish up the job is well worth the cost of a couple of turkey sandwiches in my eyes.
I finished up the scheduling of services for the new home........ Gas, electricity, phone, cable and garbage. I'm so excited to get back on a curbside recycling program. Even though Nederland doesn't have recycling pickup and all residents have to bring their recyclables to a central location and sort it out themselves (big pain) we still did our part and made a trek once a month to help Mother Earth out. Mainly Brian did. It was a sort of choice for him to pack up the recycling and drive it down to the center instead of mopping the floors. It worked out fine because I would rather mop the floors.

The Last Punch

Springtime in Colorado is not your typical storybook event where the trees and flowers begin to bud and the grass turns green. No, it's more like a few days of beautiful gorgeous weather when everyone is eating lunch on an outdoor patio and basking in the glory of how wonderful Mother Nature is and then She reminds everyone that Her powers rule and She delivers a punch to deflate the elevated moods that springtime delivers.
Today was one of those glorious spring days but tomorrow the punch comes with a winter storm. This will be my last dealing with a foot of snowfall...........I can't wait to never have to deal with this again. It's just poor timing since the moving crew is coming tomorrow to begin packing up the house. I just hope this doesn't delay the process because I hear another storm is coming to sucker punch us again this weekend. I just want to be on the road Sat. morning as well as our belongings to avoid another winter event. I just want to drive, drive and drive more until we reach an elevation where the snow will turn to rain and never look back.

Lease Arrived

Our Atlanta Realtor sent over the lease on our new home this morning!! The place is officially ours. Monday I will get a cashiers check made payable to the owner and FedEx the signed lease and check to her for a Tuesday morning delivery. I'm so excited. I asked her today if it was okay to start setting up utilities, phone, etc. She said by all means go ahead. I've ordered electricity and phone. Tomorrow I will set up the cable and gas service. I am coming back to cooking on a gas stove..........even more exciting.
As the time approaches and little jobs are completed the worries and stress seem to be lifting. I feel like I'm home free with this relocation. I guess the worries will creep back in once we get settled and we begin growing impatient about our house selling or not selling. Our Nederland Realtor said there are seven properties in the area on the market and ours has had the most showings. That's encouraging.
We received a card from the staff at the Vet Clinic that all had jotted a little note with their condolences about Bitsie. That was very nice and thoughtful as well as the paw impression they made for us with her name etched in it. Tomorrow Brian will pick up her ashes and we'll keep them with Mattie's and maybe one day when we buy a house we can place them in the ground side by side.
Our kitchen is pretty bare and scarce of food. I'm roasting the last of the fresh veggies I have and then I suppose we'll begin grabbing a sandwich at the deli or something. I told Brian that it's feasible for us to have some grilled chicken that we prepare ourselves within two weeks in our backyard with real green grass and trees in bloom.

Our New Home

We have a new home!! We settled on a Townhouse just north of Buckhead in the Sandy Springs area. I'm so glad this is finally done although it's not ours yet until the owner of the property approves the application and the lease is signed. Hopefully this will all happen by Monday.
We arrived back in Colorado yesterday after leaving the 70 degree, sunny and spring in bloom heaven of Atlanta to a cold snowy winter storm blanketing the Denver metro area. I hope this is the last snowfall I see until next year. I think I will embrace and welcome the threat of snow in Atlanta considering that events like this constitute a "snow day" and the city shuts down.
Now the clock is ticking until the movers arrive on Tuesday to begin packing our belongings and load the truck to deliver our goods on April 1. I feel there is so much to do and not enough time to do it, but it will get done and soon be over and our new life will begin. Today is the first day of spring, where new life begins, trees begin to bud (except here) and a fresh start happens. This is perfect timing for us coinciding with the new season.

Goodbye Bitsie

Yesterday we began our day early looking at rental houses that Realtor #1 lined up to show. None of them deemed worthy enough for us to consider. Most had been vacant for a while and had a musty smell and appeared the owners just didn't have the want or desire to maintain the property. Realtor #1 had the house that was for sale with the option for a lease before purchase option as the last stop of the morning. As we were about to enter the house the scent of fresh pine filled the air (the yard crew had just laid fresh pine mulch in the flower beds) I received a call from the Vet telling us that Bitsie was in kidney failure and needed to be put down.
The rest of the day was miserable. Brian took this news extremely hard although he managed to pull it together to finish the day touring more houses with Realtor #2. This second tour of rentals was no better. At the end of the tour Brian finally agreed to look at townhomes which he previously rejected as a temporary living situation. We looked at two which were very nice and up to the standards which I found could make the transition to Atlanta a comfortable jump.
This morning we are looking at five more townhomes plus I believe Brian wants to check out the corporate housing apartments that BBDO recommended.

Atlanta arrival

We arrived yesterday afternoon at ATL after flying almost 3 hours on an overbooked flight. I remember when flying was such an adventure but these days it feels more like a nuisance. We picked up the rental car and headed north on I-85 about 5pm, just in time for rush hour traffic. I was prepared to do the stop and go crawl as we neared downtown but surprisingly it wasn't that bad.
When we arrived at the hotel I called both realtors to confirm our meetings for today and then we headed out to Buckhead for a nice dinner. Brian really wanted to eat at the Houston's on Lenox Rd. I think Houston's is his favorite chain restaurant. I have to admit, it is pretty good all the way around........service, food, and ambiance. As always it's packed and on a wait but we were in no hurry.
This morning we are meeting Realtor #1 to see about 8 rental properties and then this afternoon we are meeting Realtor #2 for another 7 or so. My goal is to choose one of these 15 or so houses and sign a lease tomorrow morning, maybe tonight if I can convince Brian to make such a rash decision.
The weather is a bit cool but there are lots of trees and greenery. I hate that about Colorado. There are no trees and everything is brown, unless you live in the mountains. For about 5 months of the year the landscape is white with green only popping out when the sun's rays deliver the melting effect that gives everyone hope that winter is only temporary.
It's nice to be back in the south and in a big city. I have truly missed the urban lifestyle.

Another showing

Another realtor wants to show the house tomorrow. This will be two showings before our realtor has even listed the house on the MLS. This is great.
Brian and I were de-cluttering, vacuuming, dusting and cleaning this morning. He left for work and I stayed home "working from home" and cleared the snow off the deck and stairs and driveway that had fallen last night. It's not my favorite thing to do but I look at it as a form of exercise.
Now the house is all cleaned and looks nice for the next showing tomorrow morning. Our realtor will be back from vacation on Saturday and hopefully will get some feedback from the showings this week and let us know what these potential buyers had to say. Today was overcast which was a bit disappointing, so the views didn't appear as spectacular as a sunny day would bring. You can still get the idea of how amazing the views are anyway.
As the time neared for the realtor to arrive this morning, I scooped up Bitsie, who was sleeping soundly, and put her in my car and drove around town so the buyers could have privacy to look around. Brian will stay tomorrow and take Bitsie for a ride while the next realtor shows the house.

First Showing

We got an email today from our Realtor who is actually on vacation in Florida at the moment. A colleague of his has a client looking for a mountain property and knows that our house is going live on the MLS this Saturday and wanted to know if he could show it tomorrow morning! Not bad getting a showing before the house formally goes on the market. His colleague also stated he may have another client interested in seeing our house next week. I sure didn't expect any activity until after we had moved.
Now I need to straighten things up and vacuum the carpets tonight. It would be amazing if this showing was it and a contract was put in even before we left Colorado.

Movers are set

Today the moving company confirmed the days to pack up the house and load the truck to transport everything to Atlanta to hit a delivery date of April 1. The loading date is March 25. Everything is in place except for a new address to have our furnishings delivered to, but we'll take care of that next week.
As the time grows closer it seems to be moving at an accelerated rate. I just can't wait for it to be over and living in a new house in Atlanta.
We have about a dozen rentals to look at on Tuesday of next week............so we'll have to choose one of those and sign a lease so I can begin the process of having the utilities turned on, mailed forwarded, and everything else that goes along with setting up a new household. Is relocating ever anything that anyone ever loves to do? I can't imagine so. I keep telling myself it will all be over and done with in a few weeks.

Contract in Place

The official contract to sell the house has been signed and delivered to our realtor. The house officially goes live on the MLS listings on March 13. Our last day of work is March 12. Brian felt more comfortable having the house go live on the 13th, which is fine for me. Having to keep the house in perfect order for showings is a big pain. I've always found housework to be a tedious task, but having a house that isn't clean or in order makes me an emotional wreck. I can't even fall asleep at night knowing that the house has past it's prime of cleanliness.
Many times I have left baking pans in the sink to soak overnight and the first thing I do when I wake up (even before my first cup of coffee) is to wash them, and if I left a load of clean dishes in the dishwasher overnight that has to be put away as well before the first sip of freshly brewed coffee meanders through my body to start my brain functioning and kick my senses into a new day. How could days ever begin if there was no coffee?
Along with the contract to sell the house, we also completed the seller's disclosure. Just your typical disclosure except for one added thing. I'm wondering if this is added by Colorado state law because in Florida and Louisiana this one line item was not part of the disclosure when we sold houses there in years past.........maybe times have evolved and I'm just not aware that this is such a problem that it is now included in seller's disclosures.
Section M, Line 5 states:
"Property was previously used as a methamphetamine laboratory and not remediated to state standards."
I answered no of course, but the way it's stated, does that mean I could have been using this house as a meth lab as long as I have cleaned the house according to state guidelines? Are former meth lab houses abundant on the real estate market? If you see a house with a selling price too good to be true -- beware!!

Competition is On!

We viewed three houses in our neighborhood yesterday after work within the same price range that we will be listing our house to see what kind of competition we're up against:

House #1 - Located on our street a few blocks away. This house is nice, a bit smaller than ours, minimal view and situated on a part of the street that is thick with trees and covered in shade all year round. This means higher heating bills and the snow falls and never melts. This is the third time in the 4 years we have lived in this neighborhood that it's been on the market - No competition here!!

House #2 - Located on a street which overlooks the town. Nice north view and a view of the lake. Floorplan is okay if you have a family and the kids spend all their time downstairs and Mom and Dad don't want to be bothered and like to keep secluded in their 3rd floor master suite -- which has the better views. How many adults with kids stay in their rooms? The electric burner stove top is on an island in the middle of the kitchen with no counter space surrounding it -- total turnoff for me. I need counter space by my stove to keep the prepped items at hand so my momentum is not interrupted and a spice cabinet within reach of the cooking area. Also, this house is situated in yet another shady area of the neighborhood so this means once again snow in your driveway and yard from Thanksgiving to late April or early May. -- Minimal competition here.

House #3 - Located on street which looks onto a wooded cluster area with a minimal view. This floorplan was very unique, but in a way that could seem confusing. The first floor had no bedroom, the second floor had one bedroom and some type of banistered catwalk that jetted out over the living area. Perfect for those wanting to relive their drunken days on a Bourbon Street balcony tossing beads to the people below. I don't think I ever found the master bedroom. There was more of the house in the finished basement (I guess it was down there) but the basement was pretty much underground with no window wells to allow light in. -- No competition here!!

So, overall our house is pretty good. Compared to the three other houses, our view is far superior - we overlook the lake, you can see the town, the Eldora ski slopes and the Continental Divide. Our driveway faces southwest so the snow melts quickly. We never have lingering snow in our driveway. We get plenty of natural sunshine beaming into the house if you choose - if not you can lower the new pleated Bali Blinds we had installed last year. Oh, and one more thing our driveway is asphalt which prevents the rain eroded ruts from forming when we get those occasional downpours in the summer. The others don't have that.

I'm feeling a sense of accomplishment everyday that a new task is done. We have our flights and hotel confirmed for our trip to ATL on the 15th. This weekend we'll go through all the rental listings and send the realtor a list of what we would like to see. Most houses are ready to move in on April 1, so our plan is to sign a lease while we are there and schedule the movers to have our furnishings delivered to the new address by the first week of April. I love it when things just fall into place!!

Planning The Descent

The true descent will not happen for a few more weeks. My descent will take me from 8,248 feet to a comfortable and manageable 1,050 feet..........from Nederland Colorado to the Peach of Georgia -- Atlanta.
I know folks in Georgia all feel their community has claim to being the "peachiest" as part of the 4th state admitted to the union ( and one of the original 13 colonies ) but since I am not familiar with any part of Georgia and Atlanta will be my new home, then I am claiming Atlanta to be my Peach until I discover another community that can hold this title more deserving.
Things are rolling pretty quickly for me and Brian. Our house goes on the market sometime within the week. We have the moving company coming to the house to survey our furnishings on Saturday.
The last of the touch up to "beautify" the house will be complete today..........thank goodness. We haven't been able to access the house through the garage and I haven't been able to use my bathroom or sleep in my own bed. I've had to camp out upstairs in the guest room since Sunday night and use the guest bathroom. It's been okay, but Chris , my cat, is wondering what's going on and why she isn't allowed to sleep in "her" bed.
Today after work our realtor wants to show us the three other properties in our area which will be our "competition". He's already given us a heads up to expect a possible year until the house sells .........Yikes!!
Anyway, preparing and planning a move is always something I dread, although the excitement of moving to a new place I've never lived makes it all worth it. Knowing that my descent will happen sooner that I can blink makes it even more exciting.
Our last day at the current company we are employed ( I won't dare mention it's name or the more commonly initialed letters it's more commonly called ......at least not until I leave) is March 12. From that point on I can put all my energy and focus into the relocation and starting my new life at the 1050 Affair.