Frames from three cities

I am linking up with Irina again this week on her Frames From the Weekend series.

In lieu of the "weekend," I'm tweaking the link-up to share photos from the last two cities that I've visited, plus some local shots from Chicago.

1. Georgia On My Mind

This past weekend, Adam and I went to Atlanta to visit Vanitha and Asheesh. It was so great to see them and catch up with them! We did lots of hanging out, talking, cooking, and eating. I really enjoyed getting to experience a glimpse of their lives in Atlanta.

Other activities included checking out the Coca Cola Museum:

Left: V and me, plus a giant Coke-themed art bottle
Middle: Adam and I trying one of approximately 3,000 different types of Coca Cola beverage samples (thankfully there were lots of bathrooms nearby).
Upper Right: Adam and me with Coca Cola "pop"-culture displays
Bottom Right: Asheesh, Vanitha, Adam, and me donning cool 3D glasses for a 4-D Coca Cola movie. We are stylin'! (Do people still say that!?!?!?)

I rarely consume soft drinks. Therefore, I've never given Coca Cola much thought beyond noticing some of their unique advertisements. But visiting the Coca Cola Museum made me realize the magnitude of the Coca Cola empire and all the science behind its products. Wow!

The four of us also met up with Chetan and Noreen (who were so great to meet!) to attend a Braves game at Turner Field:

Left top: The outfield and scoreboard at Turner Field
Left middle: The playing field
Left bottom: Watching the Heavy Hitters drumline performance
Right top: Chetan, Noreen, Adam, me, Vanitha, and Asheesh in the Turner Field Entertainment District
Right bottom: All of us in our game seats

Turner Field used to be the Olympic Stadium during the 1996 games, and was since converted to its current ballpark build. I've only been to a handful of ballparks in my lifetime, but I thought that Turner was a very nice stadium. The weather was absolutely gorgeous for an evening baseball game. I reveled in wearing shorts for what might be my last opportunity in a very long time. =)

Here's a compilation of various other scenes from Atlanta:

Upper left: We sampled some amazing frozen treats from the King of Pops
Bottom left: Unique beverage displays at Two Urban Licks, where we had dinner on Saturday
Upper right: Sunday brunch at Radial Cafe
Lower right: Exploring the Beltline, a former railway corridor which is being converted to trailways

The weekend in Atlanta went by so quickly. Thanks again to Vanitha and Asheesh for being such wonderful hosts! I absolutely can't wait to get together with y'all again! (How's that for attempting to channel my inner Southerner?)

2. There's more to Anaheim than Disney

I've been involved with NAAAP for over a decade, and have attended the annual NAAAP National Convention for 12 consecutive years. (In case you were wondering, it was definitely scary for me to do the math on that!)

As I mentioned before, this year's convention took place in Anaheim. The timing coincided perfectly with the Disneyland Half Marathon, which took place the prior weekend. I've obviously shared a ton of photos from the race, but nothing yet from the convention. So even though this is ridiculously delayed, let's remedy that right now:

Left bottom: The convention delegates from Chicago
Left top: After the Saturday night gala with Ben, Petula, George, and Rose, with Tim lurking in the background
Right top: Epic selfie/photobomb courtesy of Dominic, with Marynka, Tamara, Cynthia, Kelly, and me in the background
Right middle: Ben is one lucky guy - he's at dinner with seven women
(Cyndy, Sarah, Rose, Tamara, Marynka, Cynthia, and me).
We are giving him the thumbs up because how could we not?!?
Right bottom: Check out the sweet ride that Tamara got from the rental car company.
We are once again giving Ben the thumbs up because again, how could we not!?!?

3. Here Come The Hawks

This past Monday night was the unofficial kick-off to NHL hockey season in Chicago... Blackhawks Training Camp Festival at the United Center!

Left: Divvy's bike sharing system is releasing five Blackhawks-themed bikes. Here's me in front of the Patrick Sharp bike!
Middle top: Player warm-ups on the United Center ice
Middle middle: Fans started lining up outside of the UC starting at 8:30 AM (the doors opened at 5:00 PM). There were four lines, one at each corner of the UC. Each line stretched 3-4 blocks long.
Middle bottom: The United Center decked out in preparation for the festivities
Right: A feathery long-time friend came by for a visit!

The crowds at the UC were packed in and everyone was completely fired up. I am amazed at how the Blackhawks' popularity still continues to soar to new heights with every passing year. (I may get kicked out of the Hawks fan union for saying this, but I actually think that their popularity has begun going overboard. However, that's a whole other topic for another day.)

It always feels good to see hockey starting up in Chicago each fall. I am looking forward to a great season!

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Things in the office are going to get crazy for me starting this weekend. I'll be working to catch up on all of your blogs before then.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is having a great week!