Bean Work Play Cafe & Morelli's

Today was such a fun family day. I love to visit fun new places, and today, we did just that.

The first place we went to is Bean Work Play Cafe in Decatur. Y'all. This place is so neat. My niece's 3rd birthday party was held there this afternoon. Let's just say, Layla was having so much fun that she didn't want to leave, and I was right there with her. I found myself promising her we could have her birthday party there in December.

Bean's motto is "the alternative to everyday work and play for you and your kids". I can hardly do the place justice by trying to describe it here, so look at the link if you have time. If you'd rather settle for my description, here it is: the coolest place I've been in a long time. A novel idea. A place where you can pay a monthly membership fee to go in and work (with access to desk space, wifi, phone pods, a conference room, coffee, snacks) while your kids play in the coolest play area with the coolest toys...or if you don't want to stay, you can just drop your children for a few hours while you run errands or have lunch with a friend or go home and take a nap. Or a shower. But it's not like a daycare at all. Like I said, it's the coolest place. In the off hours, they offer classes like baby signs, kids art, mandarin language and others. Too bad it's 30 minutes away, even longer in traffic. I seriously would consider opening one closer by just so that I could drop my kids there. Oh, and as a bonus, they just started hosting kids' birthday parties on the weekends. Definitely poke around their web site if you have time. If you think it's as cool as I do, call me, and maybe we can start a business together. =)

For what it's worth, I have been thinking for a long time that it would be so nice to have an upscale play place where moms could drop their kids for a few hours while they ran errands, went to a doctor's appointment, got a pedicure, went grocery shopping, etc. Bean beat me to it while incorporating a "work" option, which is genius.

Moving on. The second place I went today that I just have to rave about is Morelli's Gourmet Ice Cream & Desserts. It's in the Edgewood shopping center on Moreland Avenue, and oh my word. It is so good. The ice cream is homemade, and the flavors are so inventive. The featured flavors today are coconut jalapeno and maple bacon brittle. Did I try either of those? No, but don't they sound interesting? I did taste test krispy kreamier and salted caramel before ordering teeny scoops of oreo and praline pecan. The flavors are so strong that a small cup was more than enough. I definitely blew my diet today between the Morelli's and the chocolate covered caramel apples at my niece's birthday party. Yum yum.

If you're ever in the Decatur area, I recommend dropping your kids at Bean while you run some errands (there's lots of great shopping downtown Decatur) and stop by Morelli's for some delicious homemade ice cream. From what I hear, you have to make a reservation for Bean, so plan ahead!