Beat The Heat – Carley Edwards, DC Student

Activities for everyone to enjoy in the atlanta area

Spring has arrived in Atlanta and with the warm weather comes lots of pollen. Luckily, it also brings an endless amount of things to do.

Atlanta has never had a shortage of good music and this summer is no different. On May 21 Paul Simon will be at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre. Also at Chastain, The Steve Miller Band on June 24. The Sick Puppies will be at the Masquerade on May 25. Phish is doing a two-night show at The Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre June 14 and 15. At the same venue, Further Festival featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir will be happening July 31. Country music enthusiasts can see Kenny Chesney at Aarons Amphitheatre at Lakewood on May 20 and Miranda Lambert on June 4 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.

Those in town for Memorial Day weekend can attend The Atlanta Jazz Festival May 28-30 at Piedmont Park. There will be a late night Jazz Jam at the Loews Hotel on Saturday at 10 pm for $20 and a Chastain Concert on May 30 starting at 7 pm.

Comedy fans can see Bill Maher at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center on May 26. For more comedy shows in the Atlanta area visit www.punchline.com and www.vortexcomedy.com.

It’s not hard to find high quality food in Atlanta and now students can get good food cheap. Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week runs from May 28 to June 5. Several fine dining restaurants will take place in this event. Simply show up for a three-course dinner ranging from $25 or $35 a person, excluding tax and tip. Some participating restaurants include Meehans, Social, Rays in the City, Legal Seafoods, Atlanta Grill, and Spoon. For a complete list visit www.atlantadowntown.com

The Atlanta Food and Wine Festival will be held May 19-22. Go online to choose your package and get the chance to see talent like Todd English and Warren Brown. Tasting tents and street carts start at $75 and weekend passes are available, but are more expensive.

Marietta Square Farmers Market runs from April 2 –November 19 every Saturday from 9-12. There are about 60 vendors to choose from selling bread, honey, pies, jam, vegetables, fruit, soaps, plants and even organic dog biscuits.

The Virginia Highlands Summerfest will take place on June 4 and 5 and admission is free. Enjoy great food and great art on Virginia Avenue. There will be a 5k race Saturday morning and a Kidsfest. There will be an acoustic street party on Virginia-Highland Island Friday June 3 from 8 to 11 pm and Saturday June 4 from 9 to 11 pm.

Baseball fans can see the Braves play the Mets June 14-16, and the Rangers June 17-19. They also play the Cubs and the Giants in August.

The Atlanta Botanical Gardens are open until June 30 and there are a wide variety of activities for couples, kids, and just about anyone to enjoy. Tai Chi in the Garden is every Saturday until June 18 and again July 9 to Sept 10 from 9:30 am to 10:30 am. Relax with Yoga in the Garden Tuesdays May 24 to June 28 from 6 to 7 pm. A list of more classes can be found on their website including Practical Beekeeping, Kitchen Herb Gardens, and The Basics of Jam Making. If you are visiting with the kids go see the kids garden, or take a date to the gardens at night and enjoy the skyline and a stroll through the rose garden. Cost is $18.95 for an individual adult ticket and kids aged 3 to 12 are $12.95 Children under three are free. Visit www.atlantabotanicalgarden.com for a list of what is in bloom for May and June.

So get up, dust off that pollen and get out and enjoy everything Atlanta has to offer. Have fun plans not mentioned in this article? Write about it and send it to submissions.vs@gmail.com

L’Thai – Carley Edwards, DC Student

The Only Organic Thai Food in Atlanta

Eating healthy in the Atlanta area isn’t hard to do, but when you’re a full-time student and parent, working two jobs, it’s hard to find the time to get out of Marietta. That’s why I was so excited to hear about an organic Thai restaurant close to school. After all, the daily lunch trip to Harry’s can get monotonous.

L’Thai prides itself on being the first organic Thai restaurant outside of Thailand.L’Thai’s mission is to be “Committed to health, vitality, and wellness of body, mind, and spirit for all people and of the planet.” This claim alone should be enough to entice any health nut wanting to experience something new. And beyond that, the Ministry of Commerce of the Royal Thai Government awarded L’Thai with the Thai Select Award for being one of the best Thai restaurants in the world.

When visiting places with a menu longer than a Harry Potter novel, you can expect the food to be about as healthy and delicious as a Whopper, but not at L’Thai. The menu is extensive, but includes dishes made with grass-fed beef and organic brown rice. In fact, 95% of the produce used is certified USDA Organic. L’Thai takes pride in the fact that no MSG is used in their dishes and the chicken is antibiotic free. There is even organic pork on the menu.

I consume a diet of mostly organic food, but I do enjoy an adult beverage on occasion, and if I can find affordable organic wine, even better. There are several organic beers and organic, sulfite-free wine on the menu and even organic vodka. Of course, the usual domestic beers, like Budweiser and Coors, are offered, but if that’s what you’re looking for, I suggest you take a trip up the road to Applebees.

The dessert menu has unique options, like fried organic bananas in rice paper with homemade ice cream, and tropical jackfruit served with organic sweet black rice and coconut cream. I opted for the mango and coconut ice cream. The coconut was to die for.

You’d think after a plate of beef, rice, and ice cream, you’d spend the rest of the evening on the couch unable to move, but this was not the case. The food was satisfying, without the side effects of typical Asian cuisine loaded with chemicals.

L’Thai is also open for lunch, and with spring arriving soon, their outdoor seating makes this the ideal meeting spot. There is an east location in Tucker, Georgia, and a west location in the West Village in Smyrna. The scene at L’Thai is upscale and modern, but the dress is business casual, so it’s the perfect place for a night out with friends or an intimate date. And if you’re looking to spend the night in, but want something appetizing, L’Thai even offers take-out.

For more information visit www.lethai.org.

Where to Meditate in Atlanta – Carley Edwards, DC Student

Unwind, de-stress, and get away from it all

Most students are stressed out on a regular basis with tests, clinic, part-time jobs and family responsibilities. A breakdown is certain every quarter around weeks six and ten and break never seem to be long enough for full recovery. Practicing meditation has been shown to reduce stress and boost immunity. Studies have shown meditation can eliminate headaches, relieve hypertension, asthma, GI and skin disorders and reduce premenstrual syndrome symptoms. A study done at Harvard Medical School used an MRI to visualize parts of the brain involved in memory and attention. After only 20 minutes of meditation, those areas of the brain became more active.

The Shambhala Meditation Center of Atlanta, located in Decatur, offers free meditation instruction. Shambhala is a Tibetan form of Buddhism. The center includes Shambhala training, yoga, and programs for family and children. The center offers meditation instruction every Sunday from 10 to 11:30 am followed by open discussion for 45 minutes, which is free of charge. There is also meditation instruction from 7 to 8 pm on Tuesday nights with open conversation until 9:30 pm also free of charge. One Saturday per month there is a three-hour class on how to meditate. The cost is $50 and includes a book. The next class will be held February 12. Childcare at the Shambhala Center is in the works and should be offered soon. For more information visit www.atlanta.shambhala.org

The Kadampa Meditation Center Georgia (KMC) in Sandy Springs offers lunchtime meditation every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 12 pm. Tuesday is for advanced meditation and Wednesday and Thursday is for beginners.  Each class is $5. Kadampa is also a Tibetan form of Buddhism particularly famous for their practice in Dharma. A new class at KMC is called Prayers for World Peace, held every Sunday at 10 am.  Free meditation classes are offered every first Saturday of the month. A one-day class with American Kadampa Buddhist teacher Melanie Boyd will be held on Saturday February 12 from 11am to 4 pm. This class will contain a discussion on the benefits of cherishing others and how to solve life’s problems and increasing happiness. Its main focus will be the power of love. For more information visit www.meditationforeveryone.org.

Monday evenings at 7 pm, free Sahaja meditation is offered at the Mountain View Library in Marietta. Sahaja began only a few decades ago but is practiced in 90 different countries. It is based on self-realization and helps a person to become more moral and balanced.

Most yoga centers in the Atlanta area offer meditation classes and can easily be found online. No one has to be Buddhist or advanced in meditation to attend any of these centers. Anyone is welcome no matter which religion they follow, if any at all.

Please let Vital Source know where you mediate by commenting here or visiting our Facebook page.

Winter Storm Hits Hotlanta – Carley Edwards, DC Student

City shuts down, flights cancelled

When news of the potential snowfall began airing, southerners lined up at grocery stores all over metro Atlanta. Hardware stores ran out of supplies on Saturday January 8^th while grocery stores couldn’t keep their shelves stocked. However, most people took the warning lightly, even up until the snow began falling Sunday evening. Vehicles were abandoned on interstates as people underestimated the effects of the storm.

The Atlanta area got two to three inches of snow on the Sunday evening before the first day of the quarter, while some areas in the Georgia Mountains got five to six inches. Add to the snow a layer of ice and Georgia was placed in a state of emergency by Governor Sonny Perdue in coordination with Governor-elect, Nathan Deal. With only ten pieces of snow removal equipment in the entire metro Atlanta area, chaos was inevitable. Fifty-eight pieces of equipment were on the roads by Tuesday evening to clear snow. In the end 115 trucks were needed. In some areas mail delivery completely ceased and parts of interstate 285 had to be completely shut down. Temperatures didn’t rise above freezing until Friday afternoon.

Over a thousand flights were cancelled at Hartsfield-Jackson airport. Airlines didn’t hesitate to cancel flights as early as 8 pm Sunday night. Delta cancelled 330 flights Sunday and another 1400 on Monday. Airtran Airways cancelled flights in and out of Atlanta with flights still limited by Wednesday as the storm made its way to New England. Several students couldn’t get flights back to Atlanta until the end of the week.

In conjunction with other schools in the area, Life University cancelled classes and all activities for the entire first week of school. Most students felt having the week off from classes was bliss, while some were infuriated by the end of the week. Students who didn’t receive direct deposit were stressed about not having access to their living expense checks while bills were piling up. Luckily some generous staff members came in Friday to hand out checks from 1-3 pm. Dr. Sheres was available on the Martin Luther King JR holiday for a few hours to help students with registration. Club day was cancelled altogether and students could just feel the pounds accumulating as the Wellness Center remained closed until Tuesday January 18.

The academic schedule for the winter quarter had to be revised without shortening the material to be covered. Details for each college is available on the Life website. Many students were concerned about OSCE testing not being pushed back. This meant less time to prepare. DC classes were scheduled after 1 pm on both OSCE days instead of being cancelled altogether. Clinic hours have been extended until 3 pm every Saturday for the remainder of the quarter and interns are given until the first day of spring quarter to finish requirements.

How did the winter storm affect you? Vital Source wants to know. Share experiences here or on the Vital Source Facebook page.

 

Muss and Turner’s Deli – Carley Edwards, D.C. Student

Sophisticated food in a casual atmosphere

Are you looking for a new place to eat lunch that’s close to school, affordable, organic and supports local farmers? Muss and Turner’s, located in the Vinings, does all that and offers an extensive beer and wine list too.

Muss and Turner’s was voted one of Atlanta’s top 16 beer bars by Atlanta Cuisine, best brunch 2009 by Atlanta Magazine and best deli by Atlanta City Search. They are in the 2010 Zagat Guide and also featured in Creative Loafing and Gayot.

Over 25 wines are served by the glass with beers served from all over the world. Fresh roasted coffee is also available.

Todd Mussman and Ryan Turner wanted to ensure quality food, so no heat lamps or microwaves are used in the preparation of their food. Included on the lunch menu is the burger and sloppy joe made with grass-fed beef and local organic pork is served for the BBQ pork sandwich.

Other things on the menu include tilapia, tuna, egg salad, fried chicken, a Reuben made with corned beef brisket, a pastrami sandwich, duck, a turkey sandwich, organic salad, soup and vegetarian options. For dinner, appetizers range from beef tartar to fried shrimp salad made with Tybee Island shrimp. Dinner entrees change regularly. Sandwiches, soups and salads are also offered for dinner. To view the full menu, visit www.mussandturners.com.

Most of the sandwiches are less than ten dollars and salads range from six to ten dollars. Lunch is served Monday to Saturday 11:30am to 5:30pm and Sunday 11:00 am to 5:30. Dinner is served Monday to Sunday 5:30 to 9:00 pm. To make reservations call 770-434-1114 or visit www.mussandturners.com. Mussman and Turner are opening a new restaurant called Local Three this fall. Be sure to check out their Facebook page under Local Three Kitchen and Bar for updates.