Frazier and Bodin + Georgia's Best Sausage (Striplings)

Houses and Sausage?  The perfect combination! Let's start with the house.

I shot the coolest house the other day.  It's in Dunwoody and is listed by Cia Cummings and Jan Hart.  Address: 590 Old Cobblestone Drive.

This is a Frazier and Bodin home was originally built in 1939, and architect Stephen and Kerry Fuller has renovated it beautifully.

This foyer is breathtaking with the curved ceiling and beautiful floors.

The solarium, located through the foyer, is perfect and allows for so much natural light.

My favorite thing about this house is that it has all the historical elements, but the interior design is perfect for today... very modern.

This dining room is a perfect example of that...  loving the color choice.

Beautiful detail shot that really shows off the trim and the fireplace.

No joke, this might be my favorite room in the house.  It is the wet bar/catering kitchen that runs between the dinging room and the kitchen.  I really like the color of the cabinets and the countertops.  It feels very masculine.  I'm mad at myself for not taking a better detail shot.

Woah.  How beautiful is this?  I actually texted Jimmy and said it reminded me of his grandmother's kitchen (which is beautiful if you haven't checked it out).  I love: the arches, the island, the cabinets, the openness to breakfast room, the green cabinets, and the lights.

This view shows the archway into the kitchen and the base of the island.

And here you can see those green cabinets.  Aren't those to die for?

Can you believe it?  Octagon window cabinets!

How posh is this breakfast room?

Beautiful detail shot.

Here is a shot of the family room off the kitchen.  I'm loving that interior window at the top and the built in cabinets.

Does that rug have orange trim?  So cool!

Isn't this China cabinet a little jewel?  It reminds me of a Tiffany's box!

This is a photo of the hallway off the foyer that leads to the formal living room and the study.  Again, I'm loving the bold use of the green.

How great is this study?  The wood walls are magnificent.

And now we move into the formal living room.  Aren't the green accents amazing?  I think green and white is my favorite color combination.  For sure.

This is the hallway from the living room to the master.  This is such a peaceful photograph.  I really wanted to use this as the cover of "The Beacham Series," but couldn't get the crop quite right...

And finally we incorporate some blue in the master bedroom, which is nice.  I'm really digging the mirror over the bed.  It's the perfect scale... big bed, little mirror. :)

And we end here in the bathroom...  amazing!!!  How pretty is that light?

To see more photos of the home please check out the listing.  You won't regret it!

NEXT-

Striplings Sausage.  My mom has a lake house at Lake Blackshear, and we grew up going there.  One of the best parts about going to the lake is going to Striplings.  It's the best gas station/sausage store I've ever visited!

This weekend I took Jimmy to the lake for the first time (augghhh), and I INSISTED on us going to Striplings to grab the fixins for a pecan pie.  Jimmy LOVES coozies (I don't ask questions), and he was super impressed by the selection... you know what else they have a great selection of (transition?), SAUSAGE!

People from Atlanta are obsessed with it... literally.  Every time we go to the lake someone asks us to bring some back for them...

They have both ground and link sausage.  They als0 have mild medium and hot.  I have only ever tried the mild, but I hear the hot will almost make your head explode (which is a good thing for some people).

Here's a nice picture of Jimmy after we made our sausage selection.  1. I don't know why he put the sausage on the pie crust.... 2. I don't know why he makes that face.  Whatever, it's cute.

We also discovered this little gem!  Pork with Apple Cinnamon BBQ sauce!!!????!!!  Augh!!

And where else can you find 4 Whole Quail?  We would have gotten some if we weren't already having yummy deer meat and ribs for dinner.

There is also a really cool produce department where we grab stuff every time we go!  After this picture there were 3 less packages of asparagus up there.

And the best part about Striplings?  This is next door!

Happy Wednesday everybody!

Chicago (Architecture & Panic) + Showing a House = A Winner

To continue on my ADD rampage, today I am going to show you guys a few pictures of Chicago, where I went for Halloween weekend.

Jimmy and I went to Chicago.  Why?  Well, I'd like to claim it was for a romantic getaway, but that's a lie.  We went because Widespread Panic was playing there.  I had never actually seen Widespread before (YES, ok, I did go to UGA.... I'm just lame I guess), so we went up for the Halloween show.

What did I think?  It was really great.  I enjoyed the music quite a bit.  It reminded me of Allman Brothers (I can actually hear you groaning), which is a good thing in my book.

One of the reasons I liked the show so much was because we got to dress up.... awesome.  I've never been to any Halloween shows, so I was psyched for this aspect.  I was just going to be a regular indian until Jimmy told me about this Widespread song called Blue Indian.  No brainer (thanks to Adam for the sweet costume ideas).

Jimmy was the Gingerbread man.  I was hesitant about that at first, but once I saw how much everyone loved it it was really funny.

Another reason I liked the show so much was because it was in the Chicago Theater.  It was such a cool place.  It reminded me a lot of the Fox Theater.  See the window behind us in the first picture?  You could see the stage through it.

I took this photo from the upper balcony looking down to the lobby.  That chandelier was amazing.  The whole place had such a cool feel.

I stole this photo off the internet, but I wanted you to see what it looked like.

Im sure you recognize the sign from the play/movie.  Great night.  Great band.  I will for sure see them again.

We got to stay at the Ritz Carlton there.  It was an amazing hotel with truly exceptional service...  they delivered me a cappuccino in the business center and knew us when we got out of the cab.  I was extremely impressed.  The Ritz Carlton Chicago is managed by Four Seasons - so it is actually a Four Seasons Hotel rather than a Ritz.  Jimmy works for the Four Seasons, so we get to stay there for free.  Yes, I am really enjoying that girlfriend perk.

The VERY helpful concierge told us about this cool wine bar in the basement of the Seneca Hotel across the street.  Jimmy and I went over after we got in on Friday and had a glass of wine. I could not recommend it more highly.  It is in the basement of Francesca's.  I loved the feel in there, especially the exposed brick groin vaulted ceilings.

We also went to Garrett popcorn shops.  Go there.  You will not regret it.  I dont even really like popcorn, and we had to stand in a small line.  SO WORTH IT!  Go!

Sunday we went to RL, which is Ralph Lauren's only restaurant.  Jimmy and I both agree it was the highlight of the trip.  The food was fantastic and the people were beautiful.  No kidding, every person in there looked like a model.  There was black and white photograph everywhere, and the interiors were spectacular.

See?  Thank you so much to Linda Williams for recommending!

And finally... it's not like I could leave Chicago without the architecture boat tour down the river.  Yes we were sitting in freezing rain cupping hot chocolate, so no I did not get out my notepad and take down the names of all of these buildings...  you should be happy that I got any pictures at all!  I thought I was going to lose my fingers to the frostbite.  If you know what these buildings are I would love you to leave a comment at the bottom ant tell me so I can fill them in.  I know I could spend hours researching that, but it's Friday afternoon and I'm running out of time, so help a girl out, will ya?

These corn cob looking buildings are my favorite ones in Chicago.... I know most people hate them, but I don't.  So there.

Here is a picture of them from Saturday night.

I think they are parking decks... which isn't really that cool, but whatever.

It was a really great trip.  Chicago is my favorite city other than Atlanta, so I was happy as a little clam there.  Did you know they have a TopShop there?  They do, and it's amazing.  I'll be back soon.  For sure.

NEXT TOPIC: Showing a house.

Linda Williams, who recommended RL to us, is absolutely phenomenal at showing houses. She recently made a video of her showing 515 West Paces Ferry Road, a listing she shares with Glennis Beacham.  The house is stunning, and Linda does a great job showing it.  Do yourself a favor and watch the video.  You'll love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_Z03Fu-EwrI

Doesn't she do a great job?  I'm really proud of her and this video!

NEXT TOPIC:

It's time to choose a winner in the Melissa Payne Baker painting giveaway!

Ok, I am going to find a random number generator...

Congratulations Emily!  You won the Itty Bitty!  I will be in touch to sort out the details with you.

See you guys Monday!  Have a great weekend :)

Flocking to the Gorge...

The Gorge rocked.  It was better than I could have ever expected!  Camping?  Great!  Phish?  Awesome!  New friends?  Sweet! The Gorge?  Amazing!

We flew into Seattle and met up with our friends Dani, Ryan and Graham.  We rented a car and started the trip to George, Washington (where the Gorge is located.)

We stopped for a casual grocery store run on the way.  Dani (that's her on the right with her phone) and I thought we had the car packed pretty well, right?

Clearly the boys didn't think so....

Ha ha ha.  After they got it all fixed back the way they wanted we were back on the road.

We passed this beautiful windfarm on the way.  I have never seen one this close before, and it was beautiful...

I took this photo on the way into the Gorge on my phone.  I've never seen anything like this in my life.  It was so cool to look out and see all the boats (not in this picture).  I spend most of my time on Lake Lanier and Lake Blackshear, so this was very different :)

On the way in we stopped at this amazing hotel/winery.  It was called Cave B and was breathtaking.  It was about a mile and a half from our campsite.  I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the winery to the campsite.

This is a picture of the main building as we walked in from the parking lot.  I was immediately drawn to the roof line.  I did some research and found out that the hotel was designed by Olson Kundig Architects. Huge props to them.  The hotel had a very modern yet organic feel to it.... as if it belonged in the side of the mountain, but was still cutting-edge.

I grabbed this image of the view walking in through the vineyard from their website.  Do you love?

There were these very cool cliffside houses.

We of course walked up to the hotel to check it out.

I saw this very cool chandelier inside, which I would describe as industrial organic.  Sorry for the terrible picture.  I did not want to take all my camera equipment, but was impressed by how well my Canon Powershot preformed.  This being the one exception.

Then we walked over to the winery for a wine tasting.  Doesn't everyone do this before a Phish concert?  Ha ha.  I thought so.  It was such a great deal... we got 10 tastes for $6.  It was a great way to spend an hour.

Before we head over to the campsite I want to take a moment to tell you about Dani (as I always say... it's my blog so I can do that if I want.  You thought you were coming here to look at houses?  he he)

Dani is the girl on the right.  She came with her awesome boyfriend Ryan, and we had a blast hanging out with them.

Dani has the best style ever!  I was totally obsessed with the necklace she had on at the tasting.  She owns an hip boutique in Boston called Flock. I really want to go to Boston just to shop there, but I am afraid I would come home with no money.  I love her website and her style.

If you know about my bird obsession you may be able to figure out why I like her style and the name of her boutique. :)  So if any of you guys are from Boston please go check out her store.... and then report back and make me jealous!

Back to the story of the Gorge :)

We went over and picked out our campsite, which was toward the back and fairly quiet (luckily)....

This was the view in front of us.  Not bad, huh?

After we set up camp it was time to walk to the Gorge...  which was actually a pretty far walk....  and after you just didn't want to walk anymore you crested this hill and saw this...

Can you believe the view?  I have never seen anything like it.  Ever.  It's hard to get a sense of the scale because the stage is at the bottom of a huge hill, but the stage is massive.

This shows the perspective a little bit better.  :)

I love this picture.  For those of you who suffered with me through what to pack, what do you think?  Good choice?  It was a fairly painful packing process, but I was pretty happy with what I chose.  I even rocked those feather earrings, which is a fairly bold choice for me, but I thought it was appropriate.  :)

Saturday afternoon we hung out at the Cave B pool and just relaxed before the show Saturday night.

Both shows were absolutely amazing.  If you are into Phish at all I highly recommend downloading the shows.  Some of the best I've ever seen.

Thank you guys so much for putting up with my totally personal posts :)  You won't regret it!  I'll be back with an amazing house later this week.  Until then you can occupy your time on the Flock website...

Phish- The Gorge- Help me Pack!

Hi guys!  Guess what time it is?  It's time for another personal post.  Yippie!

So about a month ago I wrote about going to see Phish in Charlotte and Raleigh...  remember when I discovered the perfect kitchen?  Well... I am going again, but this time I am flying across the country to Washington.  I'm so excited.... so excited.

I'm going with my boyfriend, Jimmy.  (I know... he's so cute!)  I was telling my mom the other day that I don't think I have ever been this excited for a trip in my life, which is saying something because I LOVE going on trips.

I am excited about this trip for so many reasons.  First, the venue is supposed to be amazing.  There is really nothing behind the band... it just sort of drops off into the gorge.  I've seen Phish at a lot of different venues but never anywhere like this.  I might go to see it even if Phish wasn't playing!  I've also never seen anything like this period. I've never been to the Grand Canyon or even spent much time on the West Coast... so all very exciting.

Second, we are camping.  If you know me at all you can go ahead and stop laughing.  I know.  It's funny.  I am very much an inside girl.  About 6 months ago I decided I wanted to get into camping.  I haven't really camped since Discovery at Westminster, and that was kind of a disaster.  I enjoy things like washing my hair and sleeping in a bed.  I decided I wanted to get into it as a challenge to myself.  It's always good to do things that make you uncomfortable in order to grow as a person.  Well, camping makes me a little uncomfortable.  I have been talking such a big game though that I couldn't pass up the opportunity.  (plus the phish aspect.  duh)

Apparently what I am going to do is less camping in the tradition sense (see the serene picture I used at first) and more like a big party.  When I was searching for pictures of camping at The Gorge I came across these amazing photos by Matthew J. Van Deventer on his blog.  What a talented photographer, and I think the pictures really tell the story.  I thought I would include a few so you can get an idea and just because they are so pretty!

I included this picture not so much because of the feeling, but more because it's just so beautiful!  Isn't it?  Can you believe the feeling portrayed in that shot?

I love this picture too... just hanging out before the show.  I am very intrigued by this photographic process.  It looks like HDR to me, but how could it be?  In HDR you combine 3 images, but if he did that the jumprope would be moving.  I wish I could figure it out because I think it would be ver cool to use on some of our listing photos.

I love this picture of this girl brushing her teeth with the bottle of water!  1. it's AWESOME, and 2. it seems to give a pretty good idea of what it will be like.

I don't know if you guys do this too, but before I go on a trip I spend so much time in my head trying to figure out what it will be like.  Especially this, since it is so far out of my comfort zone and so far beyond anything I've ever done.  I think these pictures give a great idea of what it will be like, but at the end of the day I am still having trouble imagining it.

Allow me, if you will, to be totally self-indulgent for a minute.  Well, I guess it's my blog, so I can do what I want....  but I am having this problem with packing.  There is so much going into the decision.  First, there is the thing about us actually being outside the whole time (not to mention is should be 90 in the daytime and 60 at night), so you would think fashion was not a priority... but then there is the whole "first trip with a new boyfriend have to look super-cute thing."  Stressful!  ha ha.  (I know, what a life, right?)

I really want to bring this necklace.  You know I like birds a lot, plus it's durable... so that's good, right?  You never know what kind of dancing I might be doing :)

I am going to bring this one too.  Birds.  I know.  I have a problem.  What about clothes?

I love this dress so much.  I got it on my trip to Venice when I was 17.  It is so lightweight that it would be perfect in 90 degree heat.  The only problem is that it is white.  Do you think it will get too dirty?  I guess it can always be bleached.  (do you love my mirrors?)

I love this dress.  I got it from Rachel Farmer after she daughter ordered the wrong size for prom.  Lucky me!  It is orange (brand=T-Bags), and I was thinking it would be great to wear on the plane with a cute sweater (you know it gets cold on those planes!).  What are your thoughts?

This shirt is awesome.  It is silk and the straps are braided.   I wore it to the Furthur show the other night and was impressed with how roomy and breezy it was.  I got it on sale at Anthropologie if you're interested :)

And finally I want to bring this awesome shirt!  This is the back.

And here is the front.  I literally cannot say enough nice things about this shirt!  It is from my friend Dana Spinola's store Fab'rik. If you have not been to this store, GO!  I love it.  Amazing finds that won't break the bank.  It is definitely my new favorite boutique in Atlanta.  I have gotten so many of my favorite summer outfits there... including this shirt.  I wore it hiking the other day and it was so great.  Of course it was about 100 degreese, but the open back was so nice and kept me cool.  I am looking forward to breaking it out in Washington (plus, who doesn't love an american flag shirt at a concert... duh.).  Again, go to Fab'rik.  You won't be sorry. :)

So... that's all I have so far.  What do you guys think?  To much?  What should I leave behind and what else should I bring?

I leave on Thursday and I am so excited!  To see the play by play you can always friend me on facebook (Blayne Beacham).  I will upload pictures throughout the trip, but I will also write a post about it when I get back home :)

Wish me luck! :)

And remember to enter to win Wicked tickets!

Phish... and a kitchen?

I'm sure you guys were longing for a more personal post from me considering my recents writings have been strictly business.  Ha ha.  I'm kidding... kind of... This was one of the most serendipitously awesome weekends of my life.  Yes.  I said that.

Phish has been my favorite band since 2000.  I love them in a way I have never loved any other band.  I am not talented enough at writing to really explain why other than to say that they provide an entire community experience/language with their music... either you know what I mean or you don't.  If you don't then I would suggest listening and trying to figure out what I'm saying.

Side Note: This weekend I decided I'm in awe of people who can write about music.  They are equally as talented as the musicians.  It reminds me of the kid in Almost Famous.  I wish I could channel his talents for just a moment, but I guess I will have to just stick to writing about houses... at least you guys humor me by reading that :)

After two great shows in Atlanta last week, I was super bummed that my Phish concerts were over for the summer...

But to my great delight, I got the opportunity to go see the next two shows in Charlotte and Raleigh.  Did I want to go?  Duh.

The Friday night Charlotte show (click the link to see a video) was hands down the best show I've ever seen (click here to check the set list).  I am not sure if it was because we were so close I could see everything/everybody (usually there are a lot of tall people in front of me and I have to jump up and down and check the giant screens), or if it was because IT WAS SO AMAZING, but either way it was something I'll never forget.

Again cue the fact that I don't know how to write about music other than overusing the words awesome, amazing, cool and other lame adjectives.

On Saturday we drove from Charlotte to Burlington, NC (which was an hour from the next show in Raleigh).  We were staying in my friend Jimmy's grandma's house.  It was beautiful.  Burlington was a nice town, and the house was located in a quintessential Southern golf neighborhood.  I was impressed by the house as we drove up, but was ill-prepared for what was inside waiting.  We went into the house through the side door that opened to the most beautiful kitchen.  I was in awe.  How is it that in the middle of the greatest music weekend of my life (bold) I happened upon a magazine-worthy kitchen in North Carolina?  My two favorite things at once!  Coincidence?  I don't think so.... I think the universe was just trying to get me to write about Phish on my blog!  ha ha.

Please let me preface this part by saying I did not bring my camera.  Unlike most people who break out their cameras on vacation because it's something new and different, I spend 90% of my life with a camera in my hand and like to use my vacations as a break from hauling a camera.  Thank the lucky stars (or the universe again) I traveled with my ipod and used it to snap a few pictures.  Please don't judge me on the quality of these.  I wouldn't have posted, but you guys NEEDED to see this kitchen.... so look past the cell phone-iness of them.  Thanx.

Additional side note:  You may notice my writing change once we discuss houses (I'm such a nerd).

Here is the view as you walk in the side door.  Blue and white is obviously one of my favorite color combinations, so I'm already sold.  Also, you can't beat natural light, and there was a huge skylight (top left corner).  I want to mention the floors too.  Today there is such a trend toward dark floors, and while I think they are beautiful, the lighter wood here adds a certain warmth that ties the whole thing together perfectly.

Here is a better shot of the skylight, but it also shows the French door leading to the patio.  This kitchen has ideal flow for a dinner party where the guest could mingle on the patio and in the bar area while the host works in the kitchen.  This openness is something I lack in my own kitchen, so I am hyper-aware of it when I see it in others.

Here is a little bit better picture of the eat-in bar.  It's such a nice height, and I like that you can fit three stools there comfortably without feeling cramped.  Going back to the party, this would be an ideal place to set out appetizers, or you could take the stools away and let people set their drinks there as they chat.

I wanted you guys to be able to get a closer view of the marble.  I'm not sure how much you can tell from the photo, but it was intricate and beautiful.

This is the area to the right of the eat-in bar.  I took this to show the brilliant use of under cabinet storage.  Again, this is something I lack in my own home and covet in others.  I took the liberty (sorry Jimmy) of checking out the storage situation, and there was room for several medium-sized appliances.  Thus we can affectionately use the term "cook's kitchen" here.  One more thing I wanted to point out was the use of glass panes and glass shelves in the cabinets, which were filled with glasses.  The whole thing created a very pretty visual and created the feeling the glasses were floating.

This bar was to the right as you walked in the side door.  Can you see the backsplash tile?  It is so pretty... white with veins of gray.  It looked to me like the same marble as the counters, but with more of a highly polished finish.  I could be wrong about that...

This door hardware is great.  It reminded me of a suitcase latch :)  Take a moment to check out that glass on glass action.... almost like an optical illusion... you can also see me lamely standing there with my ipod... brilliant.

This is a closer photo of the island and range.  There are a lot of things I love here.... firstly, I like that the ovens are in the corner and out of the way.  There are also two ovens, which is always nice!  The diamond pattern of tile on the backsplash is also worth noting.  It breaks it up and adds interest without distracting.  So classic.  And finally, I may be in the minority here, but I adore an electric range.  I have an electric range at my house, and it is so easy to clean and gets hot really fast.  I cook a lot, and it's nice to be able to just wipe up when you're finished.  My mom has a gas range at her lake house that I cook on a lot.  It feels more substantial to cook on it, but I always spill something, and it's a pain to clean.  So for me, electric>gas.  :)

And finally we have this view from the other side of the kitchen.  I am not sure it shows us anything new, but maybe gives a better idea of the space?  This is a huge kitchen, and that is coming from someone who walks into 2-3 kitchens a day.  I will also say it's the most awe-inspiring kitchen I've seen in a while.  Honestly, can anyone even remember the last time I did an entire post on one kitchen?  This may be a first.  Jimmy told me his aunt made all the choices for the kitchen, and I want to say she did a fantastic job!  So thank you to Jimmy for inviting me, thank you to Jimmy's grandma/family for letting me stay there, and thank you to Jimmy's aunt for having great taste.

For those of you who are interested, the Saturday night Phish show in Raleigh was AMAZING (ha ha... I did that as a joke... but also because I could not think of what else to say... remember, we are back to talking about music).  But honestly, it was a great show, and they played Ester, which I am told is a rarity.  Great weekend.  Great music.  Great kitchen.  Can it get any better?  For me?  no.

Hope you enjoyed the personal post :)

Love ya! BB