Library 2012 Wine Tasting Dates

Cory and I have enjoyed attending a few of the monthly Library Wine Tasting events last year. While we were hanging out at Library Coffee Co last week, we noticed the 2012 wine dates and themes posted and thought I would share so you can get them on your calendars!

• Wednesday, February 8th: Old World Classics, Feauturing wines of Tuscany, Rioja, Champagne, Mosel, and other benchmark winegrowing regions of the world
• Wednesday, March 14: Pinot Night: Noir, Blanc, Gris, & Bubbles (who knew there were so many?)
• Wednesday, April 11: North Coast California, Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino Classics
• Wednesday, May 9: Iberian Peninsula, Featuring Spain and Portugal

Brookhaven Preschools + Guest Blogger

Yes, loyal(ish) readers, you read that correctly- we're posting about Brookhaven preschools! No I am not pregnant (mom), but we do have an exciting new contributor to the blog! Meet Anne and her son Carson (isn't he adorable!)- Anne is a Brookhaven neighbor and friend of ours that recently moved to Atlanta from Virginia. She has her own blog Licensed Professional Mom, but shes also been doing a lot of research on things going on in the Brookhaven for children and families since she's new in town. Because Cory and I know next to nothin' about babies, we will let Anne handle this arena.

Hopefully we can get some regular posts to the blog about these topics that we haven't discussed in the past. So get super excited! Below is Anne's first contribution regarding preschools in our area. Who knew that you had to worry about stuff like this before your babies first birthday! Carson is only 7 months old and already enrolling in school... craziness. Hope you enjoy reading!

Alerting Brookhaven Mommies!
If you are considering putting your child in pre-school or a mothers morning out program this fall registration deadlines are fast approaching. Here is some brief information about a few programs in the area:

Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church Preschool:
Location: 3016 Lanier Drive
Director: Beverly Moon
Tours: Available - contact school to make an appointment
Website: http://www.opcbrookhaven.org/preschool.php

St. James Methodist Preschool:
Location: 4400 Peachtree Dunwoody
Director: Sue Hardrath
Tours: Available - stop by anytime between 9 am and 11 am M-F
Website: http://www.stjamesatlanta.org/programs/our-preschool-loving-place-learn

Wieuca Baptist Day School:
Location: 3626 Peachtree Road NE
Tours: Given Wednesday mornings at 11
Website: http://www.wieuca.org/dayschool/article115199.htm?body=1

Peachtree Road United Methodist Preschool:
Location: 3180 Peachtree Road NW
Website: http://www.prumc.org/

Brookhaven United Methodist Preschool:
Location: 1366 North Druid Hills Road NE
Director: Mira Black
Website: http://www.brookhavenumc.org/message2.php?topicID=1072&

Publix Curbside... No Longer!

We received this email (below) in regards to the Publix Curbside service... Not-so-long story short, ALL Publix's offering curbside will be canceling that service on January 28th, 2012. It's a sad, sad day for those busy professionals and parents with 18 kids. Instead of spending 30 minutes online shopping, you'll have to spend 30 minutes inside a Publix store... terrible!  In my opinion, curbside was a pretty neat service, but just tough to execute well. We tried it out when they first started last summer, and it's pretty cool to just pull up and have someone load all your groceries into you car, but just doesn't really warrant spending extra time online and extra money ($8). Plus I really enjoy going up and down the aisles looking at all the food and buying way more than I actually need.

See below for the notice to customers.

Dear Curbside Customer,

We appreciate your household being a customer of our Curbside service. We regret to inform you that as of January 28th, we will no longer be offering our Curbside service in our 3 Curbside test locations. January 27th will be the last day to place an order for pickup on Saturday, January 28th.

Before we approve a new product or service at Publix, we establish an expectation of financial, as well as customer service, results. While our Curbside associates have created many loyal Curbside customers, the number of consistent customers who chose to use this service was considerably less than required to meet our predetermined expectations. The majority of our customers love their Publix and still prefer to have the interaction with our associates. It's part of the customer service expectation we have created and the family environment we have fostered in our more than 80 years of service.

While we understand that you may initially be disappointed, we also know that your local Publix and Curbside associates look forward to serving your needs and making shopping a pleasure for you inside the store.

If you should have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact your Store Manager.

Sincerely,
The Publix Curbside Team

January 2012 DeKalb Trash Schedule

We're getting a lot of hits for this, so here’s the Dekalb Sanitation schedule for the first week of Jan 2012

• No pick up of any kind on Monday Jan 2.
• Yard waste will be moved from Monday to Tuesday Jan 3.
• Regular trash will be moved from Tuesday to Wednesday Jan 4.
• No recycling pick-up for the entire week.

As we previously posted, Christmas trees can be put on the street for pick-up on yard waste days (Tue Jan 4 this week or Mon Jan 9 next week) if all decorations are removed and tree is cut into sections that are a maximum of 4 feet long.

Total 2012 Sanitation Dept holiday schedule is not yet available from the County.

Pier 1- Moving!

The Pier 1 at Lenox (across Lenox Road from Macy's) is moving down the street to Piedmont/Peachtree area. Their relocation has sparked a Moving Sale! Everything is now 20-40% off- so if bold furniture and tacky housewares are your thang (I kid...) then hit this sale up. Of course you could always wait about 4 weeks until everything is 50-70% off and really get some deals...

Old Brick Pit BBQ

It has been a very long time since we've posted about any restaurants on here.  Believe me, it's not because were not eating, in case you were worried.  Sadly, we've been a bit less adventurous and have really been sticking to what we know (ie. Panahar and El Senor Taco have been frequented many times in the last couple months).  Either way, a goal for 2012 will be to bring to light more restaurants in the Brookhaven area (new & established) that you may or may not have eaten at already.  Not that we are experts on the matter, just because we like talking about what we eat and taking pretty pictures.

I don't know if you've ever driven down Peachtree Street heading up to Chamblee (chances are you might have) and noticed this restaurant that looks like an old barn named, Old Brick Pit Barbeque (actually, the sign just says "Bar-B-Q").  Well I've passed it for years, always curious about the quality of barbecue it produces.  It flies relatively under the radar as far as barbecue in Atlanta goes, but still I felt that we should talk about it since it's been in Brookhaven since 1976.  They close around 7pm and I don't work in Brookhaven to grab lunch there, so it hasn't ever been a destination for us to try.  But being home this week, I happened to be passing by and decided to give it an impromptu visit (hence the crappy phone pictures).

Overall, the menu was pretty simple as far as barbecue goes and frankly, I feel that's the way it should be.  As far as meat goes, they offered regular chopped pork and pork ribs (and chicken apparently - I missed that).  I opted for a half slab of ribs (above) which were excellent.  Very tender and spiced just right - the meat pretty much melted off the bone.  The sauce is a vinegar-based sauce which, if you classify your barbecue by state, would make it North Carolina style, which isn't my favorite.  But I will say that it wasn't too runny which is usually what I dislike most about vinegar-based sauces.  Below is the BBQ plate that a friend let me snap a picture of.  Apparently the Brunswick stew was excellent - enjoyed by everyone at the table except me so I was upset I missed out on that.  

I can't say it was the best barbecue I've ever had but it definitely will cure a craving now and again - especially being so close.  I'm glad I finally got a chance to try it as I've been passing it for years, always wondering how it's still there and no one ever seems to be there (I apparently never passed it during lunch, it was extremely busy!).  People are always particular about what kind of barbecue they like or how they think it should be prepared so every place is worth a visit in my opinion.  

DeKalb Christmas Tree Recycling

Merry Christmas! Hope you are all having a great holiday. As the kiddies start to calm down and the trash starts to pile up, its time to think about what to do with that darn Christmas tree. Keep DeKalb Beautiful has brought back their "Bring One for the Chipper" event Monday, Jan. 2 - Saturday, Jan. 7. again this year. DeKalb residents receiving sanitation services can place their tree at the curb for pick-up on regular yard debris collection day.  

Trees should not exceed four feet in length for curbside pick-up. The recycled trees will be chipped into mulch or used as wildlife habitat. Mulch is used for public beautification projects and is free to DeKalb residents (stay tuned for a review on this service for our spring landscaping project!). 

If you do not receive curbside sanitation services, Christmas tree recycling drop-off locations are listed below:

Drop-Off Locations

• Seminole Road Landfill: 4203 Clevemont Road Ellenwood, GA 30294 (Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Saturday, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
• Home Depot: 2295 Lawrenceville Highway Decatur, GA 30033
• Home Depot: 4343 Tilly Mill Road Atlanta, GA 30360
• Home Depot: 4325 New Snapfinger Woods Drive Decatur, GA 30035