Eek, eek and more eek! I cannot wait for Sunday so I can see what’s going on with Rick, Shane, Laurie and the rest of the post apocalyptic gang on The Walking Dead.

There are two hotspots in town set up for viewing.

Atlanta, Ga. (February 7, 2012) – Join Bottle Rocket for the mid-season premiere of AMC’s hit show, The Walking Dead. Not only are we showing the mid-season opener, but we’ve got one hell of a pre-party set. We will be raffling off some super limited edition Walking Dead goodies to benefit Arts in Castleberry.

Production members from Walking Dead will be in attendance signing autographs. We can’t disclose all the details, but we do have two autographed Robert Kirkman posters to be raffled off! Make up artists will be giving zombie makeovers! So bring out your inner zombie –prize awarded to the best-dressed zombie.

Who: Walking Dead Fans, Zombie Aficionados
What: The Walking Dead Premiere Party
Where: Bottle Rocket, Castleberry Hill, 180 Walker Street, Atlanta, GA 30313
When: Sunday, February 12, 6pm – 11 pm
Sponsor: Whynatte
Cost: Free admission

No Bottle Rocket event would be complete without our delicious bites. We can’t tell you everything we’re cooking up, but our Pupu platters with items like Octopus Skewers, Chicken Tulips and Pork Short Ribs are fast becoming part of our Sunday night tradition. We’ll also have special Bacardi “Zombie” drinks and Whynatte cocktails too.

Tweet it: Zombie Apocalypse party + #TheWalkingDead premiere @bottelrocketatl on Sunday, 2/12. Zombie makeovers, autographed goods + more.

Check it out – the party is on WALKER Street – could you just die?

Today blogging to The Cranberries – Zombie

As many of you know, I have started a business teaching etiquette called Dazzling Manners. It’s tons of fun, and every once in a while I like to bust out and have a little more fun. Sometimes not in the best of taste, but I can’t always be sitting around with my elbows off the table.

Expecting the family for the holidays? Setting a table for the Little Monsters? Take a look at my article on Best Horror Movies about manners with monsters. It was so much fun to write and I hope you get a kick out of it!

Which fork to use for brains?

A million thanks to Don Sumner, editor of Best Horror Movies, for letting me join in all the horrible fun!

xoxo, Patti

Today blogging to Queen – Killer Queen

Down Carroll Street

The outside of Lisa’s Place

Look, Ma, I made Pork Tacos! Yum!

Have you ever cooked with someone in their kitchen? You feel like a neophyte. All of a sudden you can’t remember how to chop cabbage.  It took me about an hour and then I felt at home in Lisa’s kitchen, but boy, that hour trying to find your way around sure makes you feel like you have never held a knife or made cole slaw before.

In the end it was a great day with great friends, old and new. Can’t wait to go back and have fun before Halloween. Lisa and I are cooking up some swell treats for her patrons.  More on that story later.

Friday night after working all afternoon, I decided we needed a very easy dinner. You know, caveman easy.  I opened the pantry and what did I find?  Oh, the joy!  Pappardelle and Boar Ragu. Ok, not everyone has this in their panty, but you could. It was the perfect combination of swanky and embarrassingly easy. Boil the water, cook the pasta, pour the ragu in a pan, heat it up. Cut up some bread you might have about and call it dinner.  It looked and tasted fantastic on our chilly Friday night at home.

Hanging about in the kitchen waiting for pasta to boil

10 Minutes Later….

You need a quick meal when there is Wii to play and Zombies to shoot. This filled the bill. I got all of the ingredients at our local Italian Import store, Toscano and Sons.  If you don’t have a purveyor like this in your town, you can always order online. And think how surprised drop in guests would be if you served them this on the fly.  Always the host with the most, you are!

Saturday came very early as I had made a pinky swear to Miss Crystal I would get up and go to the Annual Grant Park Yard Sale with her.  We jumped in the Jeep and took off.  It was a day filled with treasures for me. Crystal bought one thing. One. Cheeky monkey. While I spent money like a drunken caveman.  I picked up a set of glass nesting bowls for $3, a BBQ set from the Sharper Image for Eric for $5, a couple of blankets (one red wool, the other a precious quilt for my guest room), binoculars, a tripod for $1!!  We also rescued a worn, heavy rattan chair from the side of the road (free!) which I will recover and repaint for the guest room as well.  It was so much fun! But we had to head home to get ready for the Annual Little 5 Points Halloween Parade with more friends and neighbors.  Here’s where the pictures get really good.

Men in Tights!

More Men in Tights.

Mr. and Mrs. Beelzebub

Something for the guys…

Here come the Zombies!
and someone very special…..

Even Zombies love beer

Captain Sisko and The Dude
Halloween brings everyone together!

Edward Scissorhands
Try drinking beer like that!

It really is all about the kids

One of my favorite friends, John Charles

Queen Dawn and Princess Megan

Best buddies, including yours truly (in the center)

This was the most spectacular costume of the day

Giant Puppets. Aren’t they cool?
We really loved the beer hall girl

(click to enlarge photos)

All in all, a perfect day. A very cold (48F) day but a perfect day nonetheless.  After the parade, Eric, Crystal, Teague and I all headed over to Manuel’s for a bite and a beer. It is one of Atlanta’s institutions and they serve comfort food to warm your soul and your tummy.  Then we went home to shoot zombies.  Let me tell you, shooting zombies works up an appetite, so I went into the kitchen and whipped up some beignets. They were so good.

Not too long after, Teague and I agreed that the first really cold day was much like the first day in the sun when summer comes. It just wears you out.  By 10 p.m. we were finished. Worn out. Time for sleep. But in the best possible way, after you have spent the day having nothing but fun with the ones you love.

Hug your besties today and tell them you love them. It’s always the right time.

xoxo, Patti

Very Special Note: New follower, MPB1204…it took me exactly 3 seconds to guess who this was. Hi, Parri!

I love the weekends. Mostly, Mr. Eric and I try to spend it together, but sometimes you need time with your buddies. Sunday was one such day. Eric spent the day with Teague and I got to spend the day with Crystal. I think our girls’ day was the winner.

We started out with pedicures at Cure, with Kim and Cheryl. Although our appointment was at 1:30 p.m., we got started a little late and didn’t finish up until 4 p.m. We were supposed to meet Miss DeVore at Oakland Cemetery to shoot zombies for real (with the camera!), but the zombie walk started at 3 p.m., so we didn’t think we could catch them (which, in retrospect, is funny, since zombies are notoriously slow walkers – or lumberers, as Crystal put it..). After our tootsies were done, we dashed to the car and drove to Oakland Cemetery and saw a few zombies. Finally, we met a zombie who was very helpful and told us to drive to Underground Atlanta, where they were all headed. We were richly rewarded with tons of zombies taking to the streets of downtown Atlanta. God bless Crystal, who has a morbid fear of zombies, hanging out of my car window and snapping shots of the undead. She only screamed when they stuck their ghoulish heads in the car. I was so proud of her! Here’s a couple of our favorite shots from the day.

Crystal and I both reasoned that it was fine to post the zombie pictures here because they were looking for something to eat and this is a dining blog. So there’s my rationalization for steering off course. To see some killer professional shots, click here for photos shot by Josh D. Weiss, an amazing talent who works with Crystal.

Chasing zombies in the car works up an appetite, so Crystal and I headed over to Shaun’s to wrap up the evening in style. Chef Doty has a $12 menu on Sunday with salad, pasta and dessert. It was wonderful.

Because I thought I was starving, we opted to start with an appetizer of chopped chicken liver – it was gigantic! And one of the tastiest things ever! Funny, that we started with a body part after chasing zombies – seemed appropos to me.

That was followed by a lovely salad with buttermilk dressing and then the pastas. Rigatoni with a chicken bolognese for me and the lemon ricotta ravioli with pesto, green beans and fingerling potatoes for Miss Crystal.

Dessert was rich, chocolate ice cream, which I am embarrassed to say I gobbled up before realizing I had forgotten to get the shot. Oops…

I hope your weekend was as zombirific as mine was!

Happy Monday!

xoxo, Patti