Oh yeah, I also performed in this year’s Emory Drag Show. So that was a thing.

So, I may still be playing Christmas music on loop in my (fixed!) car, but this weekend managed to cheer me up at least a little bit. This was due in no small part that I (hold on to your hats, here) went to a street festival over the weekend–Cabbagetown’s own chili cook off/excuse for bluegrass, the Chomp and Stomp.

Though I didn’t partake in any of the chili, I was in the minority. The way the festival was set up, interested folks paid $5, bought a spoon, and walked around to any of the kajillion chili booths to receive a cup of whatever they were serving. One street had restaurants serving up their versions, and another had individual competitors. It would have been impossible to try everyone’s without exploding, I think–there were easily 40 booths on each street.

Since I passed up the chili, I snagged some cheese tamales from my family’s favorite Mexican restaurant in town, Mi Barrio, allowing me to continue the weekend food theme of cheese ‘n carbs. Most of the Mexican food in Atlanta can’t hold a candle to what you can find literally anywhere in Oklahoma, but Mi Barrio is certainly a contender. Plus, it was $5 for two large tamales, which is pretty much the best thing.

The rest of the festival was filled with the usual set of festival things, which was fine by me. Multiple dog rescues made an appearance, and so I got to coo at various fluffy sleeping animals. Sopo Bike Collective–a great organization focused on communal bike repair and advocacy in Atlanta–made an appearance, so I chatted with them for a minute. My favorite local startup, Mailchimp, was out in their full marketing force and was giving out free (!) hand-crocheted mail chimp hats. Their weirdness and fun of their marketing strategy continues to astound.

Several of the homes in the neighborhood were hosting house parties to coincide with the festival. It was fun to see the neighborhood enjoying hosting, rather than just tolerating it. My favorite one of the bunch, though, was a little girl who had set up a stand selling sodas and milk and hot cider outside of her parents’ house in the neighborhood. She had a sign up saying that the money was going to the Red Cross. I like disaster relief and I like cider, so my path was clear. It was delicious.

Nothing else stood out about the festival, really. It was just a really lovely morning sandwiched in an unexpected break from Atlanta’s recent cold snap. Hopefully the trend continues.