Girl Meets City: Athens, Georgia
Girl Meets City: Athens
Oh Athens, the Classic City. This is the city that first really taught me to love fashion, when I worked in my first independent boutique. (McColly’s on College Street, now, sadly, closed.) Athens is one of those towns that you can’t help but to love.
And then, to top it off, it’s the home of one of my favorite football teams: the Georgia Bulldogs. A team that I always return to love, even if the season before left me in tears. Aside from football, even if you cheer for the Bumblebees (i.e.: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets), some kind of odd red wave (i.e.: Alabama Crimson Tide), or even that adorable Tigger-looking creature (i.e.: Auburn Tigers), Athens is one of those towns you just have to love.
So come along and take a journey with us as we show you Girl Meets Athens!
Flirt Boutique
Flirt Boutique: these are my spirit animals here. Ladies who love fashion, food and culture. Not afraid to live the good life, they insist on dressing the part and adore helping others to do the same. The blush pink, East Clayton boutique is always filled with genuine laughter, fabulous fashion, and a staff that makes you feel like you’re not so much shopping at a retail store as playing dress up in a super fashionable friend’s closet. They’ve become something of a home away from home for me whenever I’m in Athens. What better way to re-discover the Classic City then than thru the rose-colored glasses of the Flirt girls. Jen Tello, their creative director and in-house stylist, styled all of the outfits for this piece and served as our tour guide on this adventure through the staff’s favorite places around the city. And frankly, I know of no one better to help us see the sights of Athens.
Indigo Hotel Athens
The Indigo Hotel is beautiful- and “is the first LEED® Gold Certified hotel” in the Intercontinental Hotels Group. Pretty cool stuff, right? A large part of being fashionable is also being smart about our environment.
“Bohemian Brunch”
cream lace inset midi skirt $56, ice chai latte mixed print top $48, wrapped bangles in navy and marigold 5 for $15, model’s own Coach sunglasses
Coffee coffee coffee!!!! Coffee is a must, and they serve the Athens-based Jittery Joe’s coffee, of course! Their cake is called “Chocolate Cake For Breakfast”- an open invitation to eat cake for breakfast – not sure how I managed to avoid that. We also ordered the Salmon Cakes Benedict- eggs cooked absolutely. I appreciate this as I’ve had plenty of Eggs Benedict that were less than perfect.
“The biscuits at Mama’s Boy are something of a local legend. That raspberry jam didn’t suck either,” said Jen.
“Coffee House Coquette”
white Mink Pink shorts $72, electric coral cascade cami $30, inky floral kimono with fringe detail $68
Frontier- just steps away from Flirt, and where you can find all kinds of locally made items such as soaps and paintings and more. I’ll need to return over here for my Christmas shopping!
Georgia Theatre and Rooftop Bar
“Georgia Theater is a one stop shop for live music, gourmet bar nibbles from The Branded Butcher, and some of the best view of the city,” as Jen let us know.
“Walker’s is actually my Flirt favorite. From the exposed brick & garage door style windows, to the hunky baristas who always make a mean caramel latte, the vibe at Walker’s has this city kid feeling right at home.”
This is the perfect place to stop in for coffee or a beer, with large booths to easily fit your whole group or to hide away with a book and laptop to study. In fact, I made sure to go back by there after a return trip to Athens to round out some work I needed to do before getting back on the road.
Love Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Prada, Chanel and more? Ha of course you do! Check out this store to find all of these brands as well as some super cool vintage finds. Airee, the owner & Flirt friend, also offers layaway. Do you know of anyplace else where you can place designer good on LAYAWAY?! Well, now you do!
Lunch here was fantastic- we met with Hannah Smith of the Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau. She made many suggestions, but when she mentioned that Trappeze Pub does these half pours (of beer) at lunch- score!
Jen is originally from New York City. Yes, Flirt imported an actual stylist from New York! And she says that falafel is a northern street food very ,very, dear to her heart. She also admitted that the falafel at Trappeze trumps any she’s ever had in the city that never sleeps.
Speaking of Jen and Flirt…. we had to take another shopping break, of course! After all how else could we go all over Athens, Georgia without the proper attire?!
There was soooooo much to choose from- I swear I would be so stinkin broke if I lived here. Actually, I was pretty much broke all the time when I lived here before. Food and shopping. That was where all of my money went! But gosh- you will continue to see why:
“Garden Party”
cream dress with chinoiseri meets tribal blue tonal embroidery SOLD OUT it was $160
Need a place to take a quick escape? Walk over to the University of Georgia’s campus and saunter along the Founder’s Garden. (Special thanks to those working there who let me take a respite from the intense heat in their office!)
Grace Kelly-esque seaform organza dress with diamond shape cutout detail at neck $60
“ Literary Lovely”
casual black and white striped Mink Pink dress with cutaway straps $80, geometric gold necklace studded with faceted matte red stones $28, models own glitter brogues
While here, my photographer Gillian ran in to an old friend from high school! Small world. And a small bookshop- but big with personality. Comes complete with reading nook for children and or pets. I may or may not have decided to camp out there, myself.
“Athens is studded with hidden gems, Avid is one such jewel. They have a thoughtfully curated selection of books, and have a whimsical hot air balloon reading nook for the young (and young at heart.)”
Because of course no trip anywhere would be complete without yet another coffee stop, and donuts. And me stuffing my face with them. Just call me “Grace”, y’all….
Here we would stop in quickly because the intense heat killed my curls, and we found a sale! And I also found more friends, I’ve since been back to visit with Shayne and will go back again soon to experience this amazing facial that Stephanie does- I SO can’t wait!
“ Epicurean Evening”
“Athens only James Beard award-winning spot. Ash and Tim literally eat here at least once a week. It is the pinnacle of a Flirt favorite.”
So, I’ll be honest: I had to recruit the aid of Executive Chef, Jason Zygmont, to later identify everything. This is because I was being a bad journalist and having too much fun chatting with Ashley and Tim as well as eating this amazing food.
Upper left- pimento cheese and bacon marmalade; Upper right- Ashley and I discovered we were wearing the same lipstick from M.A.C.! #greatminds; Bottom left- Charcuterie board: Pate Campagne, fennel sausage, garlic sausage, grilled pepperoni & bratwurst. 5&10 pickles, pickled mustard seeds, yellow mustard, stout mustard; Bottom right- myself in black BCBG inspired dress $40, beaded clutch also from Flirt
From left to right- Shrimp & grits: Grilled wild gulf shrimp, red mule grits, roasted mushrooms, okra & carrots with country ham dashi; Wild GA Blue Catfish: Braised fennel & fairytale eggplant, smoked shellfish broth, shaved squash salad, carolina gold rice & bronze fennel; Roasted Gulf Redfish. Elliot pecans, charred peppers, petite potatoes, grilled scallion, oregano & yogurt; Smoked Anderson Farms Pork Chop, sorghum glazed belly, burnt eggplant puree, charred squash, tomato marmalade, fried manchego stuffed squash blossom & pea shoots; Potato gnocchi, urfa chili, ricotta cheese, fried peanuts, cherry tomatoes, parmesan & flowering dill
I’m pretty sure these pictures speak for themselves but: oh. my. God. If you have never been to 5&10 you need to get there in a hurry. Before you can’t get in at all anymore.
So, here you have it folks: Girl Meets City: Athens, Georgia. I’ve seen been back to Athens on multiple occasions, and will continue to visit. Athens is one of those places that once it gets in your blood, it just doesn’t get out. And while I will not be there this weekend for the kickoff of football season, I will be there in spirit. Be sure to check out my tweets as I honestly tweet my elations and frustrations just as I think Larry Munson would if he could have taken his words and succinctly placed them in 140 characters.
And be sure to visit Athens, Georgia for yourself sometime. I can guarantee, you will leave just as permanently smitten with the place as I have been for the ten years it’s been since I left.
Also, I just have to add this in, it’s my own personal favorite UGA Larry Munson moment:
And while Thursday night I’ll be at the Mercer football game, cheering for my alma mater (and the team that *ahem* didn’t break my heart last year), on Saturday I’ll be in my red and black- as I always am for Georgia games. Whether I’m in Athens or not!
GOOOOOOO DAAAWWWWWGGGGSSS!!!!! SIC EM!!!
If you ever want to check out more fun things in Athens, feel free to take a look here but also check out the new e-magazine The Broad Collective, they’re doing some really cool things over there and I hope to be a part of it soon!
( Oh and another note: *I* me myself and I was the one who taught my daughter how to say “go dawgs.” And I have the video proof….)
Love to all y’all,
Molly
Special Thanks my photographer Gillian, who not only worked this event but also drove up there and back- could NOT have done this without you! To Hannah at the Athens CVB- someone who is still a valuable resource and I highly recommend if you’re ever planning an Athens trip. To Ashley and Tim Becker of Flirt Boutique in Athens, y’all are just amazing to me, AND they came down to Macon for one of our pop-up boutique events! I still owe y’all a tour of Macon. And of course to Jen Tello- a young lady who has become a dear friend and who I knew as soon as we met that we spoke the same language of fashion. I’m so blessed to know each of you and to count you as my friends! Let’s plan round 2 soon 😉
Beautiful as always doll… great write up on a great city!
Thanks dear!
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