the summer heat is right around the corner but luckily the king of pops is back with his handcrafted popsicles! we stopped by the other day for our first ones of the season. we had the green apple lemonade and arnold palmer (sweet tea & lemonade), which were both awesome.

you can be find the king of pops in the highlands at the corner of north ave and north highland ave from 3 – 7 pm on weekdays and 12 – 7:30 pm on weekends. he also lists his daily menu on twitter. today’s menu is: orange basil, raspberry lime, pomegranate margarita, banana puddin’, grapefruit mint, chocolate sea salt and mango, papaya & lime.

– ryan & gub

king of pops

1079 north avenue ne
atlanta, ga 30307

our royal empress tree is blooming these days! the purple blooms are way up there though, so it’s hard to get any close photos. the royal empress is often billed as the fastest growing tree in the world and it totally lived up to its name. ours grew like it was in jack and the beanstalk!

– ryan

i recently found myself at the home depot in kennesaw, ga and spotted this amazing old rainbow apple sign! i’m not sure if there was once an apple store here or maybe just a computer shop, but the vintage sign is really awesome. i’m impressed and a little surprised the sign is still standing, way to go kennesaw! currently there is a chiropractor and hair salon in the shopping center. i’m sure they could care less about the cool sign towering above.

– ryan

the recent pains of being pure at heart & twin shadow show at the earl was super fun! twin shadow was a killer opening act and nearly stole the show. their debut album forget is really solid, you should check it out if you haven’t already.

the pains of being pure at heart was also awesome! i am a big fan of their s/t debut but hadn’t really listened to their latest album, belong, too much before the show. the new songs were great live though, i will definitely have to check it out some more. they played a good mix of new and old, making it fun for a guy like me!

– ryan

check out this great oversized construction barricade! it’s the entrance sign to the bo phillips co. on lawrenceville highway in tucker, ga. it’s the best of both worlds; a great roadside sign that is also ginormous! don’t you love oversized versions of everyday items?

– ryan

ps…i saw my first firefly tonight, how exciting!

i just tried strawberry harvest lager by abita beer out of abita springs, la. i’m not always the biggest fan of fruity beers, especially ones with artificial tasting flavors, but i can definitely go along with a springtime ale featuring a natural fruity taste though.

with bottle rocket brewing, we brewed an orange cream ale in the spring and a watermelon wheat in the summer with fresh pureed fruit. they totally hit the spot on warm afternoon and the results were always awesome!

so to say the least, i was intrigued by abita’s new beer brewed with fresh louisiana strawberries. in the end, i’d say it was just all right though. it didn’t knock my socks off, or maybe i just had high hopes. it was fairly mild, but not as natural as i thought. i don’t buy fruity beers that often, so i doubt i will buy it again. if i’m craving fruity, i’ll probably go with sweetwater blue, which really hits the spot.

– ryan

abita beer

21084 louisiana 36
abita springs, la 70433
985-893-3143

the varsity, an iconic atlanta fast food chain, has amazing homemade fried pies. they are along the lines of ones you find at mcdonalds, only way better. we tried the peach and apple pies during our last visit and loved them. they were tasty and definitely lived up to the hype!

the packaging for the pies is great as well! it looks like they haven’t changed the design since the varsity started serving them.

– ryan

ps…i succeeded in my goal to write a blog post every day this month!

a recent photo…

– ryan

the sebadoh reunion show last night at the earl was a blast from the past! they were touring in support of the bakesale and harmacy re-issues, so their setlist consisted of those albums and their singles. being that those are my two favorite albums of sebadoh, i was pleased as punch! on top of that, they sounded amazing at the earl, so it was a super fun evening. i have to say i was impressed at how great the songs still sounded 15+ years later.

gimme indie rock!

– ryan

the w hotel in midtown atlanta has a really cool chandelier that reflects the morning light throughout the lobby. i often work out of the hotel and enjoy this light as i head in for the day.

– ryan