There's a crazy energy in Atlanta - and I like it!

This has been another good weekend in the ATL. I've filled the past two days with driving and walking around and not spending that much time at home! I've found a new coffee shop (ChocoLate Coffee) where the people are nice, the music is good, the coffee is better than Starbucks and the furniture is comfy; all necessary components for a good cafe!

Yesterday I drove about 20 minutes northeast of Atlanta to The Mall of Georgia. Wow. This place was huge, but while it was lacking an Urban Outfitters and Forever 21 (which can be found in other malls here), it did have two Victoria Secret's and two Bath and Body Works...yeah...I http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifdon't know why you need two in a mall..one's enough. Seeing as how I drove all the way out there I wanted to make my time worthwhile so I bought a ticket to watch Cars. I was VERY impressed with the movie! Who knew you could get so caught up in a story entirely about...Cars! It was great, go see it.

Today I decided to check out a church I've heard about called North Point Community Church. This was another 20 minutes outside of Atlanta in a town called Alpharetta. If you've ever been to Hoffmantown Church in Albuquerque then imagine a church that's about two or three times BIGGER than that. Yeah, it was crazy but really, really good. I didn't meet anyone new - didn't really try to actually because going to a new church is intimidating on its own. I might go to their College group thing on Tuesday.

Again, since I was already out there I decided to hang out and see the town. It's cute and has a very homely vibe. I didn't see any white-picket fences, but they should have been surrounding every house I saw. ...I went to another mall. I know, it seems that's all I do, but I enjoy watching people (I'm turning into my dad! - happy Father's Day by the way!!!)

I'll shorten this entry up. Fast forward a few hours and I'm driving around town with two separate directions in my hand on how to get to Piedmont Park, Atlanta's "Central Park." Well, both of my directions were wrong (surprise, surprise), but I ended up finding it. As soon as i got out of my car I felt this crazy energy surround me; I felt alive. I started walking around and I saw all sorts of walks of life having a nice Sunday evening in this gigantic park. There were blacks, whites, children, grandparents, gays, lesbians, dogs of all sizes and lightening bugs - all outside enjoying the perfect weather at dusk.

There was a lake that was so clear it reflected the huge trees and bridge surrounding it. Next to the lake were big 'porch swings' - I claimed on and read part of my book then decided to walk around some more. That's when I saw little flickering lights out of nowhere in front of me - lightening bugs! I called my grandma and told her they had them here and the proceeded to give me a story about lightening bugs when she was a little girl :)

...I made it back home and once again decided how much I love this city and how alive and happy it makes me. Maybe it's because for the moment this is MY city. I don't know anyone who's been here before and for the most part I'm finding things out on my own, driving around and getting lost, but seeing neighborhoods on the way that blow my mind. I feel very grown up in this city and when I drive by restaurants, bars or cafes around town I imagine myself there with my friends. I do the same with the homes/apartments I see. They're all great big Victorian style homes with huge trees and green grass surrounding them. Even the small houses look big!

Sorry this was so long...but it was a busy weekend - I even left part out! Time for bed, I've got work in the morning :)