Eat More Thai Food

I am not a bold person. At least I didn’t use to be. The first time I met Salli, I was immediately blown away by her gutsiness. She was so confident and sure of herself. If it didn’t work in her favor, who cares? If you’re at all timid or shy when meeting guys, you need to take a page from her book. Actually, just take the whole chapter.

But last night! Last night I was gutsy, and loved it. And it actually worked in my favor! I was at a local Thai restaurant in Decatur called Noodle with an good friend/ ex. I’ve only been to noodle a couple of times, but both times, I couldn’t help but notice the pleasant selection of dream boats that work there. This particular night was no different. Our waiter was as spicy as my succulent noodle dish; lets call him Pad (See Ew). I knew that it looked like I was on a date of some sort, and I knew that this was pretty much unavoidable. Also, since I was eating with an ex, I didn’t want to be completely disrespectful and make a move in front of him. Right before we left, my full-bladdered friend made a trip to the loo. I took this opportunity to leave a note inviting Pad out with Salli and I later tonight, and left my number. Maybe you’re super bold and ballsy (and I would like to express my true admiration to you), but it was so exhilarating! After leaving my slightly charming note that contained ten digits with my signed check, I hustled out of the restaurant without looking back. While on the phone with Salli, trying to determine if it would be a Hand in Hand night or a MJQ night, I heard the familiar iPhone ding signifying an incoming text. It was Pad! Really—my heart fluttered! I could feel the excitement pumping madly through my veins. Not only had he received the note, but he texted me…ME! We ended up meeting at Hand in Hand after his shift. It was a familiar place that if anything did go horribly wrong, I would have the trusty and lovely bartenders to back me up. (Bartenders at Hand in Hand: You are amazing and I love you with all of my liver fibers.) Pad was absolutely wonderful, and had a lot of things surprisingly in common. He loved the note and thought that it was uniquely ballsy.

Bottom line: Girlies of Atlanta, boys eat that shit up. Do it. You have nothing to lose. What’s the worst that can happen? It’s aggressive without putting your pride on the line. Think about how many strangers we exchange smiles with, subtly flirt with and regretfully not pursue. This has to stop. This sounds cliché, but you’re special, and if you have a hunch, go with it. I don’t know what’s going to happen next with Pad, but if nothing else, I have a great new friend in a big new city. That’s what it’s all about right? Oh, and eat more Thai food.

Ballsy,

June

Have you met us??

(12/20 Post Fact Footnote: A randomly met guy could end up being your unique, personalized, and monogrammed knight in shining armor on whatever animal of your choosing, OR (spoiler alert) he could end up being completely pathetic and rude a couple of weeks down the road. Proceed with caution in every situation, but always be open to adventure and possibility. AKA THIS GUY TURNED OUT TO BE DANGEROUSLY MANIACAL. be careful, always.)

Sunday!

They call it Sunday Funday for a reason. And on this particular Sunday, I was wearing a particularly fuzzy sweater that may or may not have resembled a children’s WWF sweater (no, not the wrestling organization). On this evening, we hit up Hand’s $4 dollar pitcher night and dollar fish tacos (!!!) and then mosied over to Noche. Apparently older men love touching the fuzzy sweaters. One fellow found us, bought us a couple dollar XXs, touched the sweater and turned out to have a likeable personality. He had a solid job at a major media company here in Atlanta (you have one guess), a cheeky sense of humor, and although he was no Anderson Cooper (Anderson is pretty much Salli’s Harry), he had a trusting and kind face. Now, all of these characteristics are typically ideal and lovely in a fellow, but regrettably, he may have been about ten years too old for me. We’ve found Noche to typically be a haven for older men or classier couples that are looking to escape the typical bar scene…while still trying to be in the bar scene. And they have dollar XXs on Sundays…and $3 cocktails on Fridays and Saturdays.

Dollar beers may or may not buy cheap/ meaningful conversation,

June

Hand Cuffs?

Mondays are my hard days—I have my hardest classes that span from 1:30 until 9:30pm. To be frank, it blows. And I pretty much work my Italian tush off Friday, Saturday and Sunday, leading up to this tremendous Monday mother load of work. Anywho, Monday night? I’m hungry and ready to consume some sort of liquid that’ll probably eat away at my liver, slowly but surely. But hey, I’m young and I’m living on fumes. It’s wonderful. Salli and I first meet up at Smiths Olde Bar. If it’s not a Friday, Saturday or Sunday (go Steelers!), then it’s pretty much filled with older homosexual men. Immediately sensing the lack of potential male interaction, we mosey over to Hand in Hand, where the waiters know our drinks and our most absurd stories. You can’t go wrong at Hand in Hand. We take two steps inside the door, and immediately a young man approaches us, introduces himself and invites us to join his group. It’s his friend’s thirtieth birthday, and I’m having trouble detecting the amount of alcohol that had been consumed. It’s either not enough, or entirely way too much. After playing 20 questions to figure out what they do for a living, we find out that the whole lot of them are…wait for it, wait for it…Cops. These guys have forever changed my impression of Georgia cops, definitely for the better. After picking their brains about GA law, we relaxed some, and it became another successful S&J night. Of course, we ended up hanging out with Marion, Carlos and Matt, the beautiful bartenders at Hand in Hand.

Go to Hand in Hand, befriend the staff, and you will be happy forever. 

love,

june 

and have you met us?

Boo!

On Halloween, you’ll meet all sorts: KISS’s drummer, strong man, bananas, the kid from a Christmas Story. I happened to meet Wolverine. I’m not really a fan of Marvel comics, but I admired his hand made claws, and we chatted about physics. I’m not sure if he remembers me, but his lips were quite aggressive. With an ex-boyfriend within eyesight, I was trying to keep it civil. He was really quite cute, and I hope to hear from him.

It’s always Hand in Hand isn’t it? These bartenders know all of our secrets, adventures as well as things that I’m not even sure we know. I’m so thankful it’s become our local watering hole.

Pancakin' around,

June :) 
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TFLN S & J style (in my opinion, they are in opposite order of importance..HAH)..

J:“I called so many people whose numbers I don’t know.  I woke up in some stranger’s bed.  Don’t know his name.  Lost my bra, id, credit cards, camera, etc.  Fml.”

J: ”Please tell me you’re alive somewhere.”

J: ”Okay—should I be concerned? I think I need to be concerned.”

J: “Hey! Are you hungry?”

P.s.—June is still pissed about the bra..

Hungover and yes, June, I am hungry,

Salli

Green Guy's Jock Strap at Hand in Hand

Points to jock stap, laughs. (Salli would know that there is no difference between a jock strap and athletic cup.)

Note from Salli: Hey! I date athletes..of course I know what a jock strap is.

Hope your holiday was just as adventurous and awesome as ours!

Boo!

June

have you met us?

Happy Halloween lovelies!

Salli and I are going to be hitting up the Highlands (surprise!). Maybe we'll see you around Hand in Hand, Dark Horse, Noche, Atkins, or Moes and Joes. Look for Salli's lack of proper bottoms and my wrongful holiday attire. 

Vodka tonics are the talkative-side-of-the-brains best friends. 

Happy Halloween!

June

Hand in Hand

Hand in Hand is a medium sized, intimate bar located on prime real estate, right on the corner of Highland Ave and St. Charles Ave. It’s a modernized English pub, with an ideal patio. The patio’s filled with large picnic tables that could easily fit ten people, and beer barrel high tops. The inside is well constructed and laid out that allows for both easy and intimate conversations. The bar is located centrally, allowing you to sit on any of the four sides, depending on how central and social you’re feeling. AND the bartenders! The best you’ll find anywhere. 

The best part of Hand in Hand is that soon as you walk in, people are inviting you to chat. Just this first time we were here, we met two guys that had overlapping histories with both Salli and I- small world, eh? They were nice gents hittin' the sauce...hard. 


June


Have you met us? eh

Being called 'Ronnie' from Jersey Shore is NOT a compliment.

Unless you live in Jersey Shore or if you’re really into juiced up, drunk guys, being called Ronnie is not a compliment. Also, attempting to force kisses onto girls in public on a Sunday evening is also probably a sign that you need to put down the spiked juice box. The Hulk and his friend, Mellow Guy, invited Salli and Coley, a mutual friend, to join their table. In my defense, I worked until about 10pm that night, and was told to come to Hand in Hand because of the ‘interesting’ people that my counterparts had been met. I assumed this was a good interesting, not a ha-ha-look-at-the-drunk-guy-that-could-easily-crush-us-with-his-eye-ball-muscles interesting. Once there, I knew we had to jump ship, or rather, patio table. Conveniently, next to our table was a table with three handsome intriguing looking men.

Not from Jersey,

June

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Hand in Hand quickly became our Sunday mingling watering hole, and we were never disappointed with the stories we came away with.  One particular Sunday, we met an interesting group of guys at the table next to us.  They consisted of a bunch of nice looking, older southern gentlemen, and one Super-Juiced King of the Douches.  It was an intriguing combo, so naturally, when they asked us to join them, I obliged.  The decent guys slowly peeled off, and we were left with one decent, but older one.  And then there was the Hulk Man.  
I tried being sarcastic to the point that he would be either give up and walk away, or his head would explode (I was secretly hoping for the latter, although I wasn’t keen on the idea of being splattered with mush and hair gel).  But OF COURSE that didn’t happen.  He became head over heels obsessed with my quick wit and ball-busting comebacks, so enthralled that he continuously tried kissing me.  I kept insisting that I don’t (I mean DON’T) do P.D.A., but he kept trying to push himself on me.  Finally, I went to the bathroom and abandoned the situation. 


Not impressed with your forced slobber,


Salli


...Have you met us? 

Beards & PBR

At the time, we thought the facial hair made them dark and mysterious, but in reality they were just hidden repetitive and dull conversationalists. (Topics including: PBR, mustaches, being friends with minorities, and beards. Alas, we met our first Atlanta Hipster friends.*) Nevertheless, we were intrigued. We’ve met drunk frat guys, muscley 500 lb guys, professional Buckheaders, emo ‘philosophers’ and had been losing interest. We used the facial hair dudes, lets call them Mr. Mom, Cat and Bullwinkle, to wean us off of the Hulk. One of the great things about having Salli as your wingwoman, is that we are almost never attracted to the same guy. Before approaching the beards, we had already decided which ones we were physically more attracted to; I to Cat and she to Mr. Mom. We all hit it off as a group, and once Hand in Hand closed up fro the night, we ventured to Universal Joint. U Joint’s a fun place nestled in Decatur that has ridiculously amazing hours. 
We actually made arrangements to hang out again-- maybee something'll materialize from this. eh

*They would go on to deny this accusation

Junee

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Earlier in the evening, June and I had noticed a table of scruffy, hipster boys sitting behind us.  Amongst the crazy creep-o table’s happenings, we had kept our eyes on the hipsters.  We took advantage of ridding ourselves of the Juice Box man, and sat down with the bearded boys—Cat, Bullwinkle, and Mr. Mom.  They were quirky, fun, and multi-faceted, just like us.  It was refreshing, the first real group of guys we had met in Atlanta.  We could have talked to them all night.. and we almost did.  It was a really great night for us.  We met a ton of people that night, and a couple that would likely stick around in our lives, at least for a week or so. HAH…

None the wiser,

Salli

Dollar Beers are the WD-40 of Sunday Funday

This was my first time at Hand in Hand and I knew that I would be back probably more often than I should. A fellow with two of his buddies asked us to loan them a dollar, and in exchange, they would purchase shots for Salli and I. I first thought it was a pick up line, and then tried to humorously negotiate with them (how about 50 cents?), but Salli, being the more forward and curious one, without hesitation gave them a dollar. It was a good deal. They joined our table, and we both liked them right off the bat. At this point, we were still used to the concept of meeting a ton of people while out. These guys seemed cool and of good quality, and they did approach in a forward, confident manner. It was refreshing. 

We invited them out to Park Tavern. During the summer, every Sunday evening, there’s free live music on the patio. Park Tavern is an upscale bar/ venue. The drinks are bit expensive, bottled beer started at $4, while well drinks started at $5. People were always fancy and dressed up, which was a nice change. In a cotton summer dress with airplanes on it, I felt a bit underdressed. (One of the guys had asked “Are those Frank Lloyd Wright airplanes on your ass?" classy.) 

and to you, goodday

June

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In Atlanta, there is an awesome little English Pub called Hand In Hand.  Their rendition of Sunday Funday consists of dollar PBRs and dollar fish tacos every week, all day.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I attended my first Sunday with my dear friend Coley.  It was a tame first Sunday, we had a couple beers and called it a night.  But the next week, June, Coley and I attended and we had not prepared ourselves for it—Sundays would never be the same again.  


Walking in the door, we were stopped by a group of very handsome guys who immediately struck up conversation.  I believe we came off a little unfriendly, but we were just so caught off guard by how easy it was to meet people, and we were only 3 minutes into our Sunday Funday.  We held a brief conversation with them and then found ourselves a table.  Shortly after, we were approached by a different group of guys.  Their approach was unconventional, as they needed just one more dollar for cigarettes, and they bribed us with shots.  Decently good looking and clearly outgoing, I was intrigued, but the other girls were apprehensive.  They extended the invitation to us for a really cool outdoor unplugged concert at Park Tavern that they were going to later that night.  We jumped at the opportunity to be entertained by them for a little longer, and going somewhere we had never been before was not to be passed up.  It was a fun concert, and we parted ways with the boys, with amorous pbr-fueled promises of future encounters.  But..looking onward..

Endorser of frivolity,

Salli

..have you met us?