Last weekend I hoped a flight to Atlanta meet my new baby cousin, Alexander.
It was a family reunion of sorts. My great aunt whom i hadn't seen in nearly 20 years and my cousin, were visiting my other cousin, Alex's father, whom I hadn't seen in more than 5 years. (That sentence is confusing but the bottom line is...I hadn't seen my family in forever).
I wanna take the time to say that I hate and love United airlines. Because my dear, sweet father has been working for them for as long as I can remember, I am able to fly with them for next to nothing but there's always a catch. The flight was late departing, we sat on the tarmac forever. When we arrived, they wouldn't let us off the plane for like 30 mins. On the way back, I missed one flight. Nowadays, there's rarely a time when I'm not sitting in the airport for hours waiting for a seat on someone's plane. This time was no different but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
I am sooooooooooo grateful for having this rare opportunity to see my family all in one place. It was nice hanging with them for the weekend even if it was in an un-air conditioned house. But of course, since I am not a proponent for sleeping in a tropical environment, my thoughtful cousin purchased and blew up the air mattress for me and I slept in the only cool room in the house with him. Bless his kind little heart.
Saturday morning I met Alex for the first time....he's absolutely adorable. I am completely and hopelessly in love with his sweet little face. He came to me like he knew I was his big cousin....the cutest and calmest baby ever.
After some bonding time with the baby (I fed and burped him all by myself! go me!), and brunch prepared by aunt and cousin (I love my Cali family...the way they cook is so delightful), I decided to get dressed and my cousin and I got out of the house b/c we couldn't stand the heat. We drove over to visit my friend, chatted with her and her daughter a little while, and then set out in search of drinks in a well air conditioned establishment.
Atlanta has changed alot since the last time I was there. Unfortunately, I wasn't blogging and taking as many pictures back then so I can't remember when that was exactly but it was definitely over new years and my friend and I partied like a couple of rockstars and then slept on the floor in our friend's apartment like two bums. Oh yeah...I also met a narcoleptic gentleman who fell asleep on the toilet while we were having a late night snack at Gladys Knight's restaurant. That's all I can remember. Prior to that trip, another friend and I visited Atlanta like 5 times in one year (2007)....we were the queens of Atlanta that year as far as we were concerned (as far as we're still concerned).
Since the Housewives and the Love & Hip Hop culture has infiltrated the city, there isn't much of a draw for me anymore. It's funny, I could sense the difference as soon as I arrived, actually, I could sense it on the plane ride over.
Anyway, the baby was scheduled to be picked up around 4:30pm so my cousin and I chilled, people-watched and had drinks until then. Our evening plan was to drive to Alpharetta to try this restaurant that my cousin had heard about in San Francisco called Blaxican. In the spirit of adventure, and since we had nothing else better to do, we all piled in my rental and drove the 53 mins, stopping at Dunkin Donuts on the way for a caffeine pick me up.
So, Blaxican is a take out restaurant that started out as a food truck. in Atlanta As you can deduce from the name, the cuisine is an infusion of Soul Food with Mexican. Anyway, the place was supposed to close at 9pm that night so we thought we were good until we got there at 7:45 to find a sign on the door stating that they were closing at 8pm b/c of Father's Day. O_o
But it was 7:45 and we had driven all that way....so we politely urged the guy to go ahead and serve us and he begrudgingly obliged, dishing up whatever he had leftover to appease us. Then, since he felt as though the food was not up to par with his normal standards, but he had to serve us under the circumstances, he discounted the meal. We were grateful. We tried to leave a tip but he didn't have that option available so instead left the restaurant so he could finish closing up. I think that might have been the best tip he had gotten all day.
We sat in the car and ate....I had sausage tacos which was basically BBQ sausage links inside a flour tortilla with BBQ sauce on it. My cousin had pulled pork tacos with a pineapple topping, my other cousin had chicken tacos and my aunt had fish. We all had a side of jalapeno mac and cheese.
I would love for this adventure to have a happy ending and tell you that the food was so awesome and so worth the hour drive. I'm sorry....but I can't do that. The food was just alright and it was kinda cold...but it was adventure and I'm always here for those.
Later I found out that my family had driven an hour to try this place the previous weekend and got there after it was closed. So, in an effort to salvage the journey, they went into the Turkish hookah bar in the same strip center.
So, after we ate, we decided that drinks would be good. So we went back to the bar for a few adult beverages with a side of belly dancing. But first, and since my aunt was running from my camera all weekend, I decided to steal a few car selfies.
Must be hereditary b/c my cousin was running from the camera too.....no worries tho him and his muscles couldn't run far.
These people are certainly related to me...lol. (Edges on fleek! haahahaha)
Inside the Turkish bar, where my fam had already made friends with the waitresses, we ordered drinks and hookah and pretty much just enjoyed each other and it was grand.....grand, I tell you. Apparently its been nearly 20 years since I've seen my aunt. yikes.
On the wall, on the way to the bathroom, there was a quote that read, "In the house of lovers the music never stops - the walls are made of songs and floor dances." ~ Rumi. dope quote huh? I liked it...that's all that matters.
The next morning, baby Alex came back over to visit. My cousin blew up the baby pool and filled it with water, rubber duckies and chucky cheese balls and we had baby's first dip in the pool....cutest. thing. ever.
All this cuteness cannot be contained in this single photo.
My weekend went by way too fast. Not enough time with the family, not enough time away from work...just not enough time in general. But I'm appreciative of whatever time I did have..... Plus, my family is small so I like to spend time with them when I can. You should all do the same.
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