Category: Atlanta

Things I’m doing around Atlanta

Snapdragon is DANG good

Atlanta, Dining Out, Eateries, Uncategorized

I grew up eating Maruchan Ramen. The saltiness was soooo good to me when I was a kid. I tried so many flavors, but the beef flavor is hard to get over. The way that I make the maruchan ramen is to never use the whole flavor pack and always pour out the water before eating. In my opinion, the only thing that the water (which would be broth with the flavor pack, if only I’d known that then) was good for, was making the noodles consumable (now, as an almost 40 something, break the noodles in the pack and toss them on a salad, akin to croutons).

I, for sure, survived pretty heavily on the microwaveable noodle variety in college before learning to cook. And by that I mean, learning to cook better. I knew how to cook a lot of things already. It is hard to get over the flavor of those at home ramen packs. I’m probably going to review a few Ra Myun (ramen) spots in Atlanta on this blog, but that is for another time. Enough about ramen, in my adulthood, I moved on to pho.

There is an amazing Pho spot out in Smyrna, but now that I use public transport, I can’t make it out there as frequently. In this absence, I have resorted to SNAPDRAGON and PHONOMENAL (a vegetarian option). These could be considered cup pho. I think that their flavors are divine, and though the broth of these two pho leave a bit to be desired, (especially if you have had the pho from Pho Hoang Long on Pat Mell road), they are still quite good and satisfying. If only I could have that lime soda too! IYKYK. Pho Hoang Long is such a hidden gem over in the Marietta/Smyrna area.

The noodles are standard rice noodles, the flavor packs are really quite good, and the bowl size makes it easy to slurp the end of the dish right on up. The pho also comes in packs similar to what many are accustomed to seeing on shelves, almost like the ramen packs but slightly larger. Just so you know, I’ve also tried the Annie Chun flavor and it didn’t rest well with my pho loving soul.

Give these a try to switch up a thrifty lunch, a lazy dinner night (cook up some baked crispy wings and top with garlic chilli crisps), and sip on some bubbly water or a nice cold Pepsi. You will not be disappointed, at all. I love adding some extra cilantro and garlic for flavor. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

This PHO is definitely NELLIEL APPROVED. Thumbs up.

Renovation Dreams

ATL, Atlanta, Enhancements, Renovation

I am so excited about my continuing renovation. I recently purchased an AKDY tub from Home Depot and I keep imaging what that new tub will look like in my home. I also need to get the updates completed on my kitchen – I’m anticipating a new, large window for the kitchen and I want to update my counters. I’ve been taking my time with looking at items but I still have not found stone counters that I have fallen in love with. I don’t want to do bright white but I might go with that – I have a lovely farmhouse sink to compliment the space. The reflective lighting will be so beautiful.

here is a list of things I’m doing this year:

  • Sourcing countertops
  • purchasing new windows
  • getting pismo door knobs
  • add more solar lighting to trees outside of home
  • replace my dewalt lawn mower with a robo lawn mower
  • knock down some walls in the laundry room and guest bathroom
  • install privacy fence
  • install parking patio

There is still so much to do but I love the house God gave me 🙂 I think the roses and the natural privacy hedge have turned into my favorites thus far. I have recently requested to join the Amazon Affiliate Program and Home Depot Affiliates. I’ll try to link to the items when I can. 🙂

Cain Culto

ATL, Atlanta, Lupe Fiasco, Uncategorized

I’m really into this. I found him on TikTok a few months ago, nice to see that he is doing well. Made it on Colors. The beat is really hittin’. I’m pretty sure that he is a possible super producer in the making. Love the violin. I’ve listened to some of his other work, but it doesn’t resonate as much as this song. He has a really interesting background… I do kind of fear that these lyrics might be somewhat sacrilegious, so I may not continue to listen. I’m very open-minded, however, I do tend to steer away from listening to things like that. Check out some background on the song here.

Interesting that I like Lupe Fiasco so much, isn’t it? He is a well known Muslim…. he tends to be respectful, at least with his lyrics. 😉

Anyways, just wanted to share. I hope that Cain releases more with up beat tempos.

Here are a few more artists I like on Colors.

Btw, I said I would mostly just share about my love of @Lupe Fiasco and @Pharrell and @MichaelBJORDAN

But I do like Cain.

Here is one of my fav one shots from Lupe:

Pharrell just cause – music Sundays.

xo,

Nelliel

PayaThai.

ATL, Atlanta, Dining Out, Eateries, Uncategorized

Just spent a portion of my afternoon dining at PayaThai. This restaurant has only been open for a few months and is based in the WestSide Provisions district. I cannot say that I’m a big fan of the food, as of yet, however, I do think that the space itself is beautiful, the waiters friendly, and the Thai tea, decent. The egg fried rice and the blanket wrapped shrimp get a passing ok from me. For the more adventurous eaters, give some of the other items on the menu a try, you might be quite happy with the food.