on the dancefloor

in ,

=)

So, today was the first time that Adelle and I headed to a nightclub on our own. We first stopped by Zuma Sushi up in Highland Avenue which definitely fulfilled my sushi craving. It was a nice little quaint place that was filled with deep reds and black decor throughout the restaurant. Authentic you would call it with the Japanese Anime on the LCDs flickering away and a full Japanese staff behind the counters. The food was excellent but any place that wants to charge $5.50 for Edamame is insane. The sushi was a little expensive but it was filling and prepared well. I would go there again, but not until I earn a little more of a paycheck.

On the way to dinner, an old friend who came to Atlanta a while back to attend attend Emory University gave me a call and told us that we should meet her at a new bar / dance club. Of course, Adelle and I said yes and it was probably the first time for me in about 2 years that I did this going to a club and all. I mean, we went around in Fort Lauderdale, but walking into a place on your own is a little weird for me. Turned out to be really fun once we met up with our friends. We had some drinks, danced and ended up meeting new friends. Oh yeah, the place was called, Lotus Lounge. I have to say that the place itself is rather large but it does constrain you to only the downstairs portion unless you are VIP / or some type of "member." The initial reviews that I read on citysearch weren't that positive at all so I ended up not having any expectations. When I entered inside, I felt back at home in San Diego. The ambiance shouts high class, but the dress is business casual with nice jeans and all. Cover is $10 after 2200 for guys and then $10 after 2300 for girls. Not that bad at all, but the drink prices is where they get you. I bought a Coors light and a Rasberry Martini (originally ordered as a Mojito but the waitress didn't get it correct) and it cost me $17.00! I was shocked a little bit, but I guess that's normal for some places.

I definitely have to come back sometime with my guy friends. The ratio was definitely tipping in our favor. There were so many ladies just walking around and I was quite surprised by this. I also have to point out that it was very multi-cultural which was completely different than my past experiences around this town. You'll probably find more interesting information on the citysearch link above that I provided ya.

...to resist the contagious laughing syndrome

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Today's itinerary included waking up early and heading out to see some of the sights in the city. We first headed to the Georgia Aquarium. That was rather cool at first, but it was more of a little playground than anything else. I have seen better pet shops really that were more entertaining than this! Even Sea World beat the show hands down, no question. I'm not sure if I just wasn't feeling it, but I can't say that I would hit it up again anytime in the near future.

The CNN Center was really cool! No, I'm not some extreme leftist or anything, but the fact that it was fascinating was awesome. I didn't really want to see it because it was CNN, but rather because I wanted to know what happened behind the scenes and that's exactly what happened. It's really cool what goes on inside it all and seeing the live broadcasts being taped and how there were no actual camera men in front of the news anchors but instead joystick-controlled ones were amazing. One news anchor even used a foot pedal for controlling the speed of the teleprompter while using a clicker to change stories or whatever. They control their own taping!

At the very end of the tour, we had a chance to purchase a recording of ourselves in the Headlines Newsroom Mockup and my two friends did just that. They got to have a DVD created for them and I upped it to YouTube for your viewing pleasure. I'm probably going to have to edit it because it is too long (4:29 minutes) but the end is good. I didn't get to record one, but I will one of these days. Enjoy! Overall, I was pleased with the day. Watch the video till the end!

...to resist temptation

in

I'm not sure if you noticed yet, but as the blog is entitled "the battle," I'm going to try to make each entry somewhat related by completing the thought in the title. e.g.: the battle to resist temptation

Walking around the mall today with Adelle, I'm come to realize that my shopping habits have greatly been modified with me starring at prices over $19.99 for a shirt or pair of pants and just dropping my jaw. Finally, after many years of being a brand whore (still am for quality though), it's amazing how much you can actually spend on just a couple of items. I think that I am set in my wardrobe for quite a while as a lot of my close friends have told me. I still lack a couple essential items such as multiple pairs of khaki pants, a pair of black slacks (shocking huh), some deep colored jeans and a light pair. Back to prices, Lacoste sells polos for $76.00!!! That's awesome that they last that long, but my Gap ones lasted just as long and look good after the wash fade. Lacoste, not so much but rather, they look like they came out of my dad's closet. So, as this blog is titled, I'm resisting the temptation to buy outrageous priced items as long as I know that I have something already available to me at home or somewhere in my homes (San Diego or Florida), or the basic fact that I probably don't need it.

I did spend some money though, but it was on a long sought for pea coat. Over the last few months or maybe even years, I've been trying to find something that wouldn't make me look like a midget, a man wearing a dress and just feel good after I put it on. Every department store in the US is having a blowout sale of winter coats, and after looking online, I finally headed to the mall to purchase one. Banana Republic had a good one that was $50 off the original $198, but it looked like a mini black dress when I put it on. Macy's had a couple but they didn't finish right. But Gap actually had one that when I put it on, it felt right. I did take about 30 minutes of taking it on and off to finally just decide to get it. I couldn't make the impulse buy because of my recent monetary complications and setbacks. It was meant to be though. It rained for a good portion of the day which probably swayed my decision to finally just drop some cash on one and the fact that I have been wearing a particular black waist high jacket for years, I needed to mix it up a bit. The Gap coast was priced at $148 down to $99.99. Then at the counter, it rang up as $79.99 and the manager gave me a 10% damage discount for the thread that was hanging out all over some of the seems. Basically, the damage to it was some thread was left over in the seems. Nothing much, but hey, I got the extra money off! It was at a very reasonable price and its going to be the last purchase for a while.

I've been updating the trelijah blog quite a bit lately. You should definitely stay up to date on that if you dislike reading.