Atlanta is POPPIN’ this summer, my friends. (Who still says poppin’ besides Sway from MTV?) So many cool places have opened and many more to come. Here are a couple I’ve visited recently (one in particular I’m freaking out over) and one VERY MAJOR beauty boutique opening this weekend. Also….summer date ideas.
The Painted Pin
Hold onto your balls, y’all; this place is incredible. If you’ve ever walked into Brooklyn Bowl and thought, Ok this is perfection and I want to live in here (like I did), your New York dreams have become a reality in Miami Circle. It’s a swanky (but not pretentious) bowling alley with live bands and DJs on the weekends, killer food, and one of the best drink menus I’ve seen this side of the equator. Moscow Mule slushie, WHAT? You can booze at the humongo wraparound bar, dine in a booth, lounge on comfy couches (I love lounging), bowl, play bocce, shuffleboard, or give skeeball a whirl on a vintage machine. And if you’re wondering if it’s stupidly expensive like Ten Pin Alley (what a disaster that was), it’s not: $25-$35 per hour per lane (up to six people per lane).
It’s a foolproof date place, made for groups (duh, I’m having my #Forever31 birthday bash here), AND I especially love the bathrooms for their soulmate-meeting potential. You’ll see what I mean when you wash your hands. Because you should always wash your hands after you’ve been playing with balls.
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Bluemercury
Beauty junkies, get ready for a lady boner. The fast-growing, wildly popular luxury beauty store and spa is open in Buckhead and having a PAR-TAY this weekend (I’ll get to to that). The store part: Find brands like Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown, Trish McEvoy, REN, Caudalie, Oribe, and 80+ more that have been hand-picked by owner Marla Malcolm Beck (who has a Harvard MBA, btw). Also, pick up Bluemercury’s exlusive skincare line, M-61, touted as the world’s first highly technical but natural cosmeceutical brand. Didn’t know cosmeceutical was a word? Me either, but it’s in the press release.
The spa part: It’s totally full service, offering oxygen facials (game changing), glycolic peels, waxing, and microdermabrasion. There are also makeup stations throughout the 1,724-square-foot space so you actually never have to leave.
As for Saturday’s grand opening soiree (10 a.m. – 8 p.m.): There will be cupcakes, makeovers, mini facials and treatments, AND the first 100 guests will get deluxe gift bags with products from NARS, Bumble and Bumble, etc. so get there early before you start day drinking.
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Bar Amalfi
We went here Saturday night after a charity gala where I drank approximately 80% of the venue’s wine, so my review might be a little skewed, but I think it was cool. This beachy bar all the cool kids are buzzing about is courtesy of Antico owner Gio and right next to the famed pizza place.
Photo courtesy of @GinaMarko on Instagram
You can sip the best of the best limoncello (as well as beer, wine, and liquor) on the loungey white couches (remember I love to lounge) and feel like you’re on the Amalfi coast (minus the actual coast). Since I was drunk when I was there, I consulted my friend Ellen who went this week to watch the World Cup (USA! USA!) and she loved it. Thanks, girl. I also hijacked your Instagram photo.
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BEST DATES IN ATLANTA
If you’re a master swiper on Tinder and going on dates all the time, you might want some fresh ideas in addition to those mentioned above. Our pal Trey put together an #EPIC list of Atlanta summer date ideas for you lovers to peruse, and here are some of my favorites:
Underground Atlanta and The Sundial:
Head down to Underground Atlanta (during daylight and carrying mace) and the two of you buy some fancy outfits. Then walk over to the Sundial for dinner and drinks in your new outfits. Remember to bring a camera (and a taser, the APD, and matching bulletproof vests).
Raft the Chattahoochee: Raft this sanitary river in one of those giant hamster ball things. Send me pictures and take antibiotics.
Fernbank Museum: They do martinis and IMAX and if you are smooth, you can steal a dinosaur bone and sell it on eBay and buy a Honda Prelude.
57th Fighter Group Restaurant: Watch airplanes take off and explain why you can’t afford one.
Barcelona in Inman Park: Hit this place on Sunday afternoon and watch Ashley Hesseltine consume 15 bottles of wine and hit on all the bartenders. It will amuse your date and you might make it into her blog, which goes out to a trillion people.
Wait, what?
To read the rest of these idiotic amazing ideas, head on over to ASocialMess.com and sign up for their dumb newsletter so you can get Trey’s life advice and misspellings delivered to your inbox weekly (and also hear about fun parties).
I’m headed to Miami this weekend to party in the city where the heat is on will melt your skin off, so follow my Instagram @AshHess for #boats, #blessings, and #YOLOs.
LYLAS,
Hess