Decatur, GA: Alan and Margie

We headed back into Atlanta on a Sunday morning, so the traffic wasnā€™t nearly as bad this time around! We made our way to Marietta first, so we could stop at Life Grocery and CafĆ© and enjoy some raw goodness. They have a cute little raw cafĆ© attached to the coopā€¦and they also stock a nice cold case of raw eats as well. They had just opened for the morning, so it was just us in there. We enjoyed a little family time before we headed to Alan, Margie, and Lillianā€™s house in Decatur.

We arrived and as we were parking in the church parking lot behind their homeā€¦Lillian came out with Margie to greet us. Even though Bella and Lillian have never met, they greeted each other like long lost friends. It was hilarious! They were both excited to have a new friend to play with for the next couple of days. It didn’t take long before they were unloading toys and dress up clothes…chatting happily along the way.

Margie and I have been in touch since the beginning of the tourā€¦because she was working on writing a special environmental education grant to bring us in to do a demo at the Oakhurst Cooperative Preschool, where Lillian attends. It was approved, and Decatur was added to the tour schedule! We set up at the preschool on Sunday evening for the demoā€¦and had a fabulous turnout. There were TONS of kids, interested parents, and members of the community. We chatted with so many cool, like-minded people that night. There were several families who were making strides towards living more simply…in serious ways. One family quit their jobs and left the comfort of a big paycheck to homestead and live off the land…it was encouraging to see their passion and dedication. The kids had a great time playing in Bella’s toy room (aka The Bed). :)

Alan and Margie moved back closer to the city after living in the ā€˜burbs for awhileā€¦and they couldnā€™t live in a cuter part of town! I LOVE there home and the area. Just down the road is a cute little ā€œvillageā€ area with restaurants, coffee shops, and retail storesā€¦as well as a community garden. Just a little further down is the Dekalb Farmerā€™s Market, which is quite possibly one of the coolest things on the tour so far. :) Itā€™s a HUGE indoor market with every type of food you could ever imagine. Every type of exotic fruit and veggie (there were so many I had never heard of!)ā€¦even durians! Fruits and veggies by the caseā€¦dried fruit, oils, etc. in bulkā€¦I was in heaven. It wasnā€™t just fresh produce eitherā€¦there was a fresh fish/seafood market, prepared food bar, packaged goods, spices, etc. The sad thing is that there is no photography allowedā€¦I was so wanting to show you all! Check out their website to see how truly huge it is!

On Monday and Tuesday morning while we were there, I had the opportunity to take class photos and individual photos at Lillian’s school. It was a fun shootā€¦and I enjoyed meeting all of the kiddos and their parents too. We ended up staying parked at the church where the preschool is located for our entire stay…it was a nice, private spot with a cute little trail up into the trees that Bella loved.

Margie is a fellow foodie and we loved chatting about raw foods, cookbook obsession, and juicing! She whipped us up an amazing Asian soba noodle/raw veggie delight and I brought my famous balsamic salad dressingā€¦and we talked and talked over delicious food. Bella and Lillian dressed up like ballerinas and danced endlessly to the Nutcracker Suite (cranked up as loud as they could get it before we would tell them to turn it down). For dessert, we got busy on some Magic Carrot Juice and enjoyed every last drop.

Our time in Decatur was a blastā€¦we loved the area and the people (just not the traffic!) :)

Photo album here.

1 Comment »

  1. It sounds like you guys are meeting SO many awesome people…I’m pretty jealous I have to admit. I love checking up on you guys through your blog and through your flickr website since I can’t get you on the phone! : ) Just kidding….I know you guys are super busy. But if you get a chance, call me!! Love you!

    Comment by Laura O — April 18, 2008 @ 8:38 am

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