Hellooo! I hope you all enjoyed the weekend. The weather was beautiful, but I didn’t experience it in my hometown. Let’s recap my weekend since I thought it was eventful 🙂
My weekend began early on a windy Thursday afternoon. I was flying to Georgia with my mom to attend a graduation. (Exciting, right?!) I’ve been looking forward to getting away from Dayton for a while. That day, I came straight home from work and went straight to the airport with my mom… (okay, I lied. I didn’t come straight home from work. I wanted to get some last minute items from the store *lol*) I thought that I was going to be late coming home, but I beat my mother home! Once we made sure that everything was packed, we headed straight to the airport to catch our flight.
Once we got to the airport, I was curious about how heavy our suitcase was currently. We shared a big suitcase and it was a bit heavy when I tried to take it out of the house. I’ve been joking with my mother about it since she loves to over-pack (as do most women). During the process of checking in our suitcase, we realized that it was indeed a heavy suitcase and considered overweight for the flight. It cost some unexpected money that almost put a damper in my mom’s mood. Nevertheless, we didn’t allow it to manifest throughout our weekend.
So let’s talk about this flight… HONEY! This pilot thought he was flying a Nascar in the sky! He was going so fast and the strong winds didn’t make it any better. We experienced some turbulence (I think) and rumbles! We were very relieved that we landed safely on the ground at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. (If you have not been in their airport, then know that it’s HUGE and it’s an adventure to get out of *lol*) We got a rental car for the weekend through Thrifty. We’ve never heard of the company before this trip; so our expectations were high. Overall, it wasn’t too bad. It was very affordable, and we got to choose a nice car once we arrived at the rental car place! After that, we headed straight to our hotel in Lithonia, GA, which was supposed to be about 20ish minutes from the airport (based on our phones); but it ended up being about 40 minutes due to traffic [insert sarcasm here] and that was soooo unexpected!
Our hotel? We weren’t looking for anything too extravagant; just a place to lay our heads without poor customer service and bed bugs. We got neither of those things at this hotel, so that was a plus. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Lithonia, GA and it was nice! After getting settled in and changing my shoes, we decided to travel back to Atlanta to see the Lenox Mall. (I was tired of covering my feet at that point.)
The Lenox Mall was how I expected it to be since I’ve been twice before in my lifetime. It’s a very nice mall (a lot better than the malls in Dayton actually), but the “wow” factor has dulled down. Plus I’ve been up since 6:30am at that point, so I was sleepy. We walked around the mall, which felt like an hour, and we left with semi-workout gear at Macy’s *lol* For dinner, my mom and I ate at The Cheesecake Factory. Of course dinner with just me and my mom is always cool since my mom is pretty cool. (Don’t tell her I said that *lol*) I got pasta and she got steak w/ two sides. Then of course we had to get cheesecake! I got the Tiramisu cheesecake – the bomb! After the adventures of tackling the Lenox mall, we traveled back to our hotel and I crashed for the night.
Friday – The next day, was Graduation Day and I woke up at 7:35am… what?! Normally you’re supposed to sleep in while you’re on a somewhat vacation, but not I. Anyways, I chilled in the bed until it was time for us to get up and start our day. I had planned to just eat and get ready for the graduation, which is 2 hours from where we were staying; Augusta, GA to be exact.
The drive down to Augusta wasn’t bad… long, but not bad. I’d compare it to driving from Dayton to Bowling Green: lots of trees and green scenery. We even drove past a pretty big lake, called Lake Oconee (I believe that’s the name). The graduation was nice. It’s always good to watch your friends/family graduate from college and begin a new chapter in their lives. You’ve seen their growth and noticed how majorly blessed they are!
After leaving the graduation and taking the 2-hour drive back to our hotel, we walked to another mall by our hotel called the Mall at Stonecrest. I’d say it was a mixture of the Salem Mall and the Dayton Mall, only it had stores that we’ve never heard of. It also had a movie theater and an arcade. This was a plus for us because it made the trip to this mall a lot more interesting. We planned to meet up with my friend that evening so we didn’t have a lot of time there. We planned on going to a restaurant called Arizona’s, which I heard was really good. However, it was super packed; so we settled on Smokey Bone. (If you haven’t been here, then know that the food is good. I particularly love the fried pickles.) After spending time with my friend, it was a bit late. So we went back to our hotel, but before that we went to go get another suitcase.
Saturday – The next day was the day of my friend’s official graduation party. Before we journeyed to her party, which was a lot closer to our hotel, we went back to the Mall at Stonecrest. (Don’t judge us! Again, we didn’t have a lot of time when we went the day before!) We walked the rest of the mall that we missed. I’d say that we’ve gotten more stuff from this mall than our trip to the Lenox because we saw stores that we really don’t have in Dayton or near our city. (However, in my opinion, the Lenox Mall is still better though. *shrugs*) There was an African store that had clothing made from Ghana and African skin care products. I got some dope shoes from another store that I think is in/near Dayton, but I never went in it before. After the adventures of the mall we went to my friend’s party. I was already pre-warned that it will be a mixture of a graduation celebration and the introduction to her new business venture called “Major Blessings.” Don’t you just love to see your friends and family flourish?! I sure do! So be on the lookout for it on my Facebook page.
After the party we went back into Atlanta to visit my uncle and his girlfriend (my aunt pretty much). They took us to a different part of Atlanta that I’ve never seen before. I was very Afro-centric, unique, and quirky! It gave me vibes of SZA, Daniel Caesar, Tyler the Creator, Black Panther, H.E.R., Dawn Richard, and My Black is Beautiful and Golden. It’s definitely a side of Atlanta that us outsiders didn’t know existed. Normally we think of Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris, people from Love and Hip Hop and Growing up Hip Hop, and this city being the new black Hollywood. It also reminded me of the Oregon District in downtown Dayton. My mom and I were also treated to this bomb pizza from Little 5 Pizza. It was so good! I wish that I could tell you where this neighborhood is, but I don’t remember which part of Atlanta it was *lol* I think it was called the Little 5 Points. Just know that it was pretty dope to see!
Sunday – We checked out of our hotel and headed home. The flight was not as bad as our arrival to Atlanta, but it wasn’t the greatest either due to the weather. It was pretty depressing to come home to some cold weather. We experienced some feel-good heat down in Georgia 🙁 Bipolar Ohio just can’t get it together!
Overall, the trip was a success. My mom and I experienced a lot of Georgia hospitality when we were there. I mean a lot! Despite their driving skills, almost everyone we came into contact with were very nice… 🙂
I can honestly say that some people are very important to me if I am willing to make a trip beyond the borders of Dayton to come to a graduation, a wedding, or to come spend time with. (If I can make it of course!) I was Godly proud of my friend and little sister. She doesn’t know this, but she has inspired me to try my business venture again! (Yes, I took a major pause on my crochet business. I’ll explain later in a different blog.) I was also inspired to continue striving for greatness and achieving my goals.
I’ve learned this year that not everyone is going to support you and approve of what you do. However, their approval doesn’t have anything to do with you! It shouldn’t even concern you!
I’m going to continue to be dope because I believe that God made me this way.
In conclusion *lol*
I can’t wait to trip some more this year!
Enjoy your week everyone!
~Live Laugh Love~