Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Atlanta Snow!

We had our first flurry snowfall of the year in Atlanta today.  Now before all you Northerners laugh, just believe me that this little dusting (see deck floor in photo below) is considered snow in Georgia so I don’t want to hear any snickering!

I got Troy to take these photos so I could prove to you all that it snowed, but we didn’t stay out long because we were freezing. Our Georgia blood doesn’t do well with the cold. Wheatie, however, didn’t seem to mind the cold at all under his white, fluffy fur coat.

I almost didn’t post this photo because it’s not styled right – it’s obvious I’m freezing, my shirt sleeves look all wonky and there’s a crease running along the front of my top. However I wanted to include a better shot of the sweater I bought two weeks ago. Outfit details: H&M hat, sweater from Lilo boutique in Inman Park, American Apparel shirt, Ann Taylor pants, Frye boots and my new phone-friendly gloves!

I bought these gloves (please ignore all the dog fur) at Squash Blossom Boutique in Decatur. The little nylon bits on the thumbs and index fingers allow me to use the touchscreen on my phone without having to take my glove off every time I want to answer a phone call, text or look something up. I had seen similar gloves like these before, but I just figured they weren’t worth it. It wasn’t until I tested them out on my phone at the store that I realized how brilliant they are. I highly recommend a pair for anyone out there with a touchscreen phone.

Our dad’s birthday is tomorrow, which means we’ll be helping our mom make him a delicious meal and ending the night with a slice of ice cream cake (his favorite).

Hope you all have a great start to the week!

Atlanta/Decatur Tastes Real Good

One of the many, many great things about our Southern home is, not surprisingly, the food. Gawd, is it good! I know other cities have delicious food too, but one thing that makes Atlanta/Decatur greater is the price points. Up in D.C. I could never really afford to eat the really good stuff. Down here, high Zagat ratings or mentions of James Beard Awards don’t make my hands shake when I hand over my credit card at the end of a meal.

To break up a busy Saturday, my bf and I decided to finally try JCT Kitchen (in West Midtown) for lunch. So delicious – and we came in at about $30 for both our lunches (including a coffee and dessert). I can certainly swing that once a week (when I go light on the thrift shopping).

Potato dumplings:

Shrimp and grits (with a poached egg on top)

The most delicious coffee I’ve had in a long while:

Georgia fried apple pie with vanilla ice cream and pitcher (not shown) of butterscotch sauce:

Outfit details: thrifted camel coat, hat from Tarjay, boots from America Eagle (years ago), sweater from Old Navy, scarf (as belt) from H&M, nude jersey dress from Lila Boutique in Inman Park, vegan-friendly purse from Vivid Boutique in Decatur.

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In remembrance of Elizabeth Edwards, one of our heroes.

Wintertime Cleaning

In between holiday shopping, Tour of Homes attending, and Wren’s Nest decorating, I’ve been doing a little bit of cleaning on my desktop and found a few photos that I haven’t posted.

Around Town


Inside Belly General Store in Virginia Highland.


Stopped by Cacao in Inman Park yesterday with my mom. The shop interior is decorated in silver, white and blue and smells amazing. It reminds me of a smaller, modern version of the shop in Chocolate.


Lar in Nandina Home & Design in Inman Park.

Home

Shortly after I moved into my studio apartment in July I promised to post photos of my place. . . and then never did. So here’s few – finally. Above is my “dining room” in my kitchen and below is my living room/bedroom.

Fashion

My bf is loves making customized shirts for his friends. He made me this one that says “Asian Cajun Darth Vajun” and photoshopped a photo of me with Darth Vader. I love it.


Boo Radley trying on his Christmas sweater.

Tea Collection: Stylin’ Baby Clothes

A few months ago Tea, purveyor of beautiful clothes for children and babies, contacted us about styling some of their clothes on our blog. I did a little happy dance when I got their email because I had seen Tea Collection before and loved it. This is surprising because 1) neither Cath and I have children of our own and 2) I’ve just recently become comfortable around little people, and Cath is still working on her comfort levels.

So how did I know about Tea in the first place? Well, their approach toward children’s attire was so unique, I had stumbled on to their site because their ads were so pretty. And for the first time in years, I wished I were shorter – so that I could fit into their clothes. In a nutshell, Tea is like Anthropologie for 0-12 year olds.

But as we all know, what is the next best thing to shopping for yourself? Shopping for the cute little bebes and children in your life that look way better in clothes than you do anyway. Cath and I are heading into the age of friends settling down with little ones, and now we have a place to go to get the cutest stuff (and stare enviously at how much better said little ones look in stripes and patterns).

Hope you guys enjoy the photoshoot below! Let me know what you think. I’d love to get my hands on more styling projects.

Stylist: Lar, AsianCajuns
Photography: Pam Crane, Pam the Nomad Photography
Model: Liam
Clothes: flannel, tee shirt, and pjs by Tea Collection. Other clothing items are model’s own.
Art Direction/Layout: Lar, AsianCajunDesign


Boys Clothes: Village Plaid Shirt


Boys Clothes: Tea T-shirts (shown tee no longer available)


Boys Clothes: Cityscape PJ set

Thanks for getting in touch with us, Tea! Pam, Esther and Liam, thank you for your help on the shoot!

p.s. Decaturites, Tea is available locally too- at Wiggle!

Animales and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Hello Dearest Readers!

Lar and her bf invited me and my bf over for Sunday dinner: roasted chicken, black eyed peas, collards and mashed sweet potatoes. And like all great Sunday dinners, this one ended in us wearing animal masks. That’s Lar in the tiger mask and me as a Zebra (just in case you couldn’t tell).

Wheatie wore his best GoldenDoodle mask:

I have no idea why Lar is laughing at me here. I mean, my zebra mask goes perfectly with my outfit: gray motorcycle sweatshirt from Walmart, H&M black turtleneck, Blank jeans and suede boots from Newport News years ago.

Lar is wearing her bf’s H&M shirt, thrifted belt, Blank cords and boots from Tarjay.

Our parents are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for 23, so we’ll be swamped this week with table settings, menu planning, Thanksgiving decorating, turkey and Peking duck preparing, and lots of last minute food shopping.

If we don’t get a chance to blog before Thursday, we hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sweet Auburn Curb Market

Sweet Auburn Curb Market is marvelous; right in the heart of downtown Atlanta and easily accessible by public transport. It doesn’t have the touristy gentrification of a place like Pike Place Market in Seattle, but in many ways, it’s better for it. People come here to actually buy produce, just-baked sweet potato pies for tonight’s dessert, and whole pigs for . cochon de laits? Oh and they also come here for delicious coffee and some of the best burgers in the city.

My bf and I stopped by Grindhouse (inside the market) for lunch. Two customized burgers, one hand-spun chocolate milkshake, and a basket of fries later, we rolled off our diner stools to start shopping: a huge batch of collared greens, sweet potatoes, 2 lbs of bacon, and freshly ground coffee.

The Sweet Auburn Curb Market’s neighbor is Grady Hospital. It made me feel better that the doctor sitting next to us was eating a large burger with no veggies and a great deal of onion rings. She was probably not a cardiologist, but if we clogged our arteries while chomping away at our lunch, we were just an elbow’s width away from medical service. Win, win!

In addition to burger grease, this is what I wore yesterday:

Hat is the bf’s, sweater is from my highschool years when I shopped at Wetseal, frilly tank thing is from Forever21, pink skirt is from Asos.com, boots are Target, purse is thrifted Coach.

I tried to meet up with Cath at the market to take outfit photos together, but we just missed each other. We’ll be eating lunch together today though- woohoo! She and her bf are due here in about an hour so I have to go get lunch ready: collards, mashed sweet potatoes, black-eyed peas and chicken. A solid Southern precursor to Thanksgiving- yummy!!!

Hope you all are having a wonderfully delicious weekend too!

AsianCajun Cuisine: There Really Is Such A Thing!

We’ve had a stir-fry and a bowl of gumbo in the same sitting, but I’m not sure if that counts as AsianCajun cuisine. I didn’t actually mix the bok choy with the roux. The two cultures have remained segregated: a bowl of stir-fry, chased by some gumbo. Such a shame. Luckily we have Serpas; a relatively new restaurant in the Old 4th Ward in the ATL that blends both cultures in one dish. Chef Scott Serpas channels his Louisiana roots and adds a dash of far east spice to create AsianCajun cuisine. We likey. Alot-y.

(ps- above: I’m trying out a new blogger pose. It’s called “grimace-at-poison-ivy-on-wrist.” Kate Moss invented it).

Doesn’t Cath look gorgeous? It must be the post-beignet consumption glow. I would have had it too had I not insulted them and said they were so cold. Isn’t her dress wonderful? I completely forget where she got it. We’ll have to ask her.

My absolute favorite dish we tried at Serpas was this shrimp salad with perfectly ripe avocado and butter-leaf lettuce. nom nom nommmmmmm. To be completely frank, the beignets that were served before the salad were a bit of a let-down. They were served cold (le sigh) and seemed indifferent to their deep-friedness. Parish still has the best beignets in town. (Locals, let me know if I’m wrong. I’m always up for a taste test).

That’s Cath sipping her mimosa. This was a fashion brunch: models walked around in teeny clothes while we shoved powder-sugared beignets in our mouths, and all the proceeds went to Komen for the Cure! Pretty much a perfect morning if you ask me.

Lar: blue dress by Rodarte for Targarte, belt by J.Crew, ring from my lovely friend E via Urban Renewal, boots by Frye.

Cath: errr. Cath, I have no idea. Where you get yur stuffs?

Local Love

One of the best things about blogging is getting to meet so many talented people in the Atlanta area. Lar and I have been following Atlanta’s  2secondFloor blog for a while now and were so chuffed when Mr. B3rtrand asked to do a feature on us. Not only is he super sweet, we had a fun afternoon taking pics with him at my apartment a few weeks ago. Check out the whole post here.

I’ve been meaning to give this shout-out for the past month: In the November issue of Atlanta Magazine Fidie Ramli includes AsianCajuns as one of her inspirations. Thank you Fidie!!

And last, but not least, June Shin and Jessica Swift’s collaboration that we mention on here is officially on line! Boys, this is your Christmas shopping done. You can thank us later:

June Shin’s Etsy: Treasuring Collection

Fighting the Monday Blahs

You know the Monday blahs. They start creeping in Sunday night (right now for me). The dreaded beginning of the work/school week. The only way I know to combat it is to ask my trusty luchadora to put up a good fight. The luchadora says instead of thinking about the work waiting for you tomorrow morning, daydream about the weekend delights. Great idea, luchadora! (Luchador mask from Mingei!).
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Cath and I worked on a mini-photoshoot. The signs above will make sense with time (upcoming blog post will feature full-length shoot).
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Leaves and fall and whatnot (if you haven’t seen the vlog below. well, it’s pretty much the same thing).
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Cath standing outside (in her new Frye boots) of Ria’s Bluebird.
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A delicious brunch burrito at Ria’s. Atlantans are serious about their brunching.
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I opted for the fluffiest pancakes known to humankind. The New York Times says they are the best pancakes in the world. When I said serious, I meant serious. Like NYtimes serious.

So do you guys daydream about weekend pancakes and luchador masks when you are combating the MBs? Tomorrow will be a particularly painful Monday for me because I’m going to the dentist for the first time in five years (my teeth hurt every time I say that). I think it might take more than just memories of pancakes tomorrow. I’ll have to stop by and eat the real thing once the novocaine wears off. Gulp.

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P.S. Some of you asked about the nail polish color the last time I had this photo up. Color: OPI Lucerne-Tainly Looks Marvelous (does that mean something to you guys?). I love the sparkly, but not too sparkly gun metal gray. The ring is from Shopbop.