Don't Forget: Cocktails in the Garden

As the summer winds down, there are a few weeks left of the fabulous Cocktails in the Gardens events over at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. I speak from many years of experience that these evenings are one of the best ways to spend a lazy late-summer evening with friends or loved ones! This has been one of my favorite no-brainer memberships to reinstate each year.

Buckhead Betty tip: Use your admission to go towards a year-long membership by stopping by the membership tables on your way out. You will pay for it in three visits, and the first one is already done! A dual-membership is even easier to pay off, and you get easy (and free) date ideas for a whole year, hooray!

Cocktails has been a PR Girls fav for years!
Note to self: don't stand next to the tall girls in photos ;)

The Cocktails events typically run through September, when they then switch into Scarecrows in the Gardens mode and serve up seasonal beers, instead. Equally as fun, but it gets cooler at night pretty quickly, so stop by in September in order to enjoy the last few warm evenings :)

Get more info for your visit here: http://www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org/ 

Note: I did not receive any compensation in exchange for this mention. I just love this place and want to share the info with you, reader friends! 

Park Central Party

Have you hobbled over to HobNob Neighborhood Tavern yet?

Located at Monroe and Piedmont in Midtown down the street from Piedmont Park and the Botanical Gardens, this place is a perfect after-work spot with their pub cuisine and high gravity beers. Don't live or work nearby? It's also a possible weekend brunch destination on Sundays after you get done with your walk around the Park.

HobNob has been open for a year, and they are getting ready to celebrate in honor of their big birthday. While it's not a free party ($15 suggested donation at the door or online covers you and a guest), they will be dishing up some complimentary appetizers in addition to the cash bar and DJ music pumping in for the party. But you can feel good about where that $15 is going, though, since all proceeds benefit the Atlanta Botanical Gardens (I'm a member - LOVE THAT PLACE) and the Georgia Restaurant Association.

Ready to get down with your bad self and throw back on a Monday evening? RSVP online here.

Books, Gardens, and a Giveaway!

Whoever you are, we all like to give back to the communities around us in some way. Here in Atlanta, some of you might be members at the High Museum. Or perhaps you are a contributing patron of the ASO, or a volunteer at Piedmont Park. Maybe you give your time and/or money to something in your suburban neighborhood, like an area school or church.

I talk about the Atlanta Botanical Gardens all the time, I know. But they just continue to impress me! They offer fantastic events around the holidays, feature some of the coolest new exhibits, and all summer long, they treat us to drinks and appetizers from the hottest restaurants in town. I am not only supporting their gorgeous gardens, but it's fun for us, too.

Well, today I got the e-newsletter about the July line-up of events, and I am just so excited. Yes, they are featuring fabulous restaurants like Pricci, TAP and Murphy's. Yes, they will have a full line-up of cocktails infused with things grown right in their Edible Gardens.

Most intriguing of all, though? They are going to have Emily Giffin there for a book signing on July 15th! You may know Emily from her much-read books Something Borrowed and Something Blue, but she is back on the circuit these days with her new book Heart of the Matter. Even cooler, she is an Atlanta girl herself, so you know she rocks. 

So here's the deal -- forget the admission price. I want to take one of YOU, my lovely readers, to this fantastic event with me! How do you enter to join me? Just leave a comment on this post about one of your favorite authors -- it can be anyone. Double entries if you also leave me the name of your favorite book. I will randomly pick the winner on Tuesday, July 6 at 5pm ET, so be sure to enter before then.

If you aren't a winner, I hope to see you there at the event!

Disclaimer: I in no way work for the ABG -- I am just one of their (many) vocal members :)

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Update 7/7/10: The contest is now closed! I am going to contact the winner, chosen by Random.org :)

Walking Through the Sky

One of my earliest posts here on Buckhead Betty was about finding ways to act like a socialite in the city while on a budget, and how the Atlanta Botanical Gardens is a perfect option. A Dual Membership to the Gardens is only $75, and gives you free entrance to the park for a full year. It also gives you perks like free entrance to special events, such as Cocktails in the Garden all summer. Last night, we were lucky enough to be able to attend a more unusual special event - the Members Preview Party for the brand new Canopy Walk and park expansion!

The Canopy Walk is set to open tomorrow, May 1, in all it's amazing glory. It hangs 40 feet in the air, suspended by these massive cables from a reverse suspension bridge. It gives an unique view of the gardens from up there, and an amazing feat of engineering.



This new area adds 15 acres to the Gardens -- doubling the amount of ground you can explore when you come visit.



Because we have been to the Gardens so much, we skipped over some of the areas we had visited before to continue checking out what was new. The next stop was the Edible Gardens. This place has serious event-space potential.



Full of herbs, flowers, fruits and vegetables, this space was amazingly a parking lot before becoming a natural garden fully ready to eat.



These were my favorite -- walls of herbs! I wish I could do something like this on the wall of my porch!



And don't forget the Outdoor Kitchen. This space is fantastic. It features a full Viking Range (hello client! I had no idea!), and will be featuring cooking demonstrations with Atlanta's top chefs all summer long. Last night, they sampled gazpacho shooters, yum!

As part of the Garden exhibits for the summer, they have Blown Organics: The Glass of Cohn-Stone Studios featured throughout the plants. It is very similar to when the Chihuly exhibit was there -- what at first appear to be huge fruit are actually beautiful blown glass shapes! That picture above has Cohn tomatoes strung along the top of the planters.

All in all, I can't emphasize enough what a destination the Garden is for everyone. Parents can bring the kids to explore nature from a whole new angle up in the air. The Cocktails in the Gardens events are perfect for a group of girlfriends, or for a date night -- they have complimentary appetizers and a cash bar. They even have a Concert Series during the summer for everyone, too. Daily admission prices are reasonable, though the best deals are through membership.

Have you been to the Gardens? What are you looking forward to most about the Gardens this year?

Love in the Gardens

I am so so so excited. I get to go out for a date night on Saturday for Valentine's Day - and I just had to share it with you ahead of time in case you are still looking for a fun (and budget-friendly) date night in the city, whether its with your significant other, your bff, or your mom!

The Atlanta Botanical Gardens is debuting their Orchid Daze exhibit this month, which will run through April 11. One of the events they are hosting around the Daze is "Valentines in the Garden" - an evening complete with dancing, a dessert bar, and live music! Since I am "... on a Budget," I am a gal always on the hunt for a good deal. I hate that Valentine's Day on the town typically means prix fixe menus for $100.

With the $30 admission to the event (cheaper if you are a member, which I totally recommend doing because it pays for itself after 2 visits and you get in free for all sorts of other events), you get full range of the Gardens, including the Orchid Exhibit. Plus you can try all the elegant desserts including white chocolate covered cheesecakes, ganache brownies, red velvet cakes, passion fruit tarts, whoopie pies, and gelato (I know what I am saving my WW points for this week!!). Everyone also gets a glass of pink champagne as you enter the event, too. Adorable. They will have a cash bar for other drinks, if you so desire.

I can't wait to wear my new party dress and hit the town for a cute date night. What are your V-day plans?

An Evening in the Gardens

I think this year I accidentally came across one of the best ways to feel like an urban socialite without having to spend all the cash to accompany it. As a huge fan of Piedmont Park, and having visited the adjoining Botanical Gardens before, I had heard of and attended their "Cocktails in the Gardens" event once before. Held each Thursday in the summer, they have a new creative theme each month featuring the seasonal plant and the month's drink special - one of my favorites that I heard of last summer was "Boxwoods and Bloody Marys." The current one for July is "Passion Vine and Pina Coladas."

After paying for admission, you are treated to "light bites" from a different hot area restaurant each week - this is my favorite part! Recent places have included Craft (amazing!), Market, and the greek restaurant Zaya. These are restaurants that are out of my usual price range, but at the Cocktails event, they offer up a number of appetizers, almost enough for a light meal. Add to this the cash bar, live DJ, amazing plants, and cool scultpure exhibits like the current Moore one, and it instantly becomes quite the swank place to be on a Thursday evening in Atlanta for the young professional crowd.


The one downside of this event is that you have to pay for entrance if you are not a member. Being my curious self, I checked into the membership deal one day this spring - and it turns out, a Dual Membership pays itself off in only 2 visits, and lasts for a whole year! So that means you can attend these Cocktail events, and then come back in the fall for the next sculpture exhibit, and come at the holidays for the lights - all for free once you have visited two times. I highly recommend it, as do the few people that have come along with me as guests!