Chloe!

we dont' have internet at home right now and it's killing me!! i am being very over dramatic about it pretty constantly. but i think we're going to get a new service next week. so i guess i'll just have to tough it out. so here are some pictures. i have a ton i need to post!
the other day i got to dog sit for a friend from work. he has a sweet little dachsund named chloe.



it was awesome. she is totally calm and really good. travis says he likes dog sitting much better than fostering because he can relax and not worry about them peeing everywhere. she and phyllis got along really well too. check out this photobomb:



i might like getting taco salads better than a burrito now. i actually had my first taco salad ever in one of those crispy shells two days ago. i don't know how i went so long. it was amazing.


we're still obsessed with sweet cici's. i'm so glad frozen yogurt is so trendy right now. we went the other night before we went to one of the "retro" movies at the local theater. can you guess what movie we were seeing by this picture?


probably not. here's a hint: dr. grant.

South Pittsburgh

on the way home from unclaimed baggage we kept trying to use the GPS to find somewhere fun to eat. it didn't work (as usual!) so we just drove through a town called South Pittsburg. it was pretty cute.




hmmmm. we should come back for this....

we ate here. i thought i took a picture of the other sign but i guess i forgot. it had a leprechaun on the sign. very appropriate for an italian place. haha. our waitress told us to wait 15 minutes to order, because the "good chef" would be there soon.




we played rummy. i'm not very good at that game.

we taught travis how to play "B.S." he was terrible at it! so funny. he ended up with almost the whole deck. i ended up winning, and by chance didn't have to lie the last few rounds. 

this was a HUGE cheese calzone for so cheap. it was really good. i could only eat half.

mmmmm. ziti.

too bad everything was closed!

it was a cute little street.


this horse was throwing travis around so much. cute.

Unclaimed Baggage

Have you heard of unclaimed baggage before? apparently it was featured on oprah. we've been talking about going for a long time, and finally made time for it during our little vacation. It's a place that buys big lots of unclaimed baggage from airlines, then sells it. so like a thrift store, but with tons of nice stuff because instead of being the stuff people want to get rid of, it's the stuff they want to take on vacation.



we went with crystal and marc, of course. it is about two hours south of where we live, in alabama. notice the "trick" unclaimed baggage in the background. as if you would think it was in that old building instead of the huge nice new building across the street. nice try dude.



they have some of their best found treasures on display inside the entry way. this is a hoggle puppet from labyrinth! that has always been one of my favorite movies so it was pretty cool to see. they've also found lots of expensive jewelry and antiques and stuff like that. they have really good deals on digital cameras if you are looking for one.



examples of some of the fashions found there. they have quite a bit of designer stuff. like louboutin shoes for about a 3rd of the regular cost.





crystal and i have decided to be brave and try on anything that even kind of strikes our fancy. our motto for the day was "it doesn't hurt to try." it was very fun. crystal tried on those high heels and wore them all over the store. it was very glamorous.



our shared cart. look at all that awesome stuff! too bad most of it didn't fit me. but it was fun to try. i'm so sad that feather patternish dress was too small. there was all kinds of cool vintage and weird "international" stuff.



when we were ready to try on you could only take 5 things into the dressing room at a time! that put a bummer on our dress up montage dreams.

but we did get rooms right across from each other. here are some of the things we tried on.

sadly this didn't fit either of us. perfect space casual dress.

bought this of course. 6 dollars!

and this. and a cardigan for 1 dollar! and another dress. hmm, i thought it had more dress up photos.

crystal's yes stack. two dresses, a cute button up, a paul frank shirt for 1 dollar, and those sweet heels.

it was SO FUN. i want to go back again later in the summer. they had a HUGE selection of dresses in my size, which NEVER happens. sadly, travis and marc both came home empty handed. which is weird because they are both really into thrifting and shopping. just not their day i guess.

Mary Mac's Tea Room

here is the rest of our second day on vacation. after we left the aquarium we were really hungry. we like to go to places we can't go back home, and this book is an awesome resource:



the couple that wrote it are on NPR all the time and review the kind of restaurants we like to eat at most. they have a site too, but i like the book a lot. i like to highlight the places we've been and make notes (nerd alert). our goal is to go to all the nashville places by the end of the summer. but anyway, the book directed us here:




mary mac's tea room. the we had to cruise the parking lot 3 times for a space. a good sign at 3 in the afternoon. i picked this place because it was supposed to have an extensive selection of sides. the only thing that kind of stinks about the road food book is it doesn't give tips on vegetarian eating. so there are quite a few hamburger joints we will be skipping.

i didn't any pictures of the interior really but it was pretty cute. and you got to write down your order! so fun! if it's your first time they bring you a free bowl of "pot likker" and cornbread. but it wasn't vegetarian so we didn't partake.


"table wine." or really sweet sweet tea. you can have buttermilk too. which sounds horrible with lunch!

m veggie plate. luscious whipped potatoes, creamed corn, some delicious crunchy fried okra, and that sweet potato souffle was AMAZING. perfectly spiced with a little bit of marshmallow on top. mmmmm. my mouth is watering just thinking about it. travis had some of the best mac and cheese i've ever had, steak fries, cole slaw, and a cheese and vegetable souffle. corn bread was good, the yeast rolls were blah.


and cobbler for dessert. blueberry for travis, peach for me. we should have split it. i couldn't even finish my lunch.

they had a wall of signed photos of people who had eaten there. this was my favorite.

then we went to ikea! the main reason for our trip! i'm determined to finish my craft room and actually be able to use it so we were mostly looking for stuff for that.

travis really wants to buy a new light for the dining room. i can't decide what kind i want.

he wants a metal light like that. but red. i just don't know. the little old lady lamp that is in there now has grown on me. but i would like something that gives off more light.

thank you ikea, for hanging the two kinds of fabric i wanted the most together so i could decide which would make better curtains in my craft room! can you guess which one i picked? (the room is woodland themed by the way)

what a sweet little husband. i feel like i don't brag on him enough. he really is good to me.

first time picking up actual furniture (probably my 5th time here)! usually we just fill our cart with a bunch of little random stuff. but we were on a mission.

mmmmmmm. three hours of shopping makes you need a cinnamon roll. i'm bummed they aren't selling the jelly rats anymore though.

our cart! i was worried it wouldn't all fit in the car but it was fine. then we had an uneventful four hour drive home. can you believe i didn't take any picture of the road? haha.
crystal's sister went and picked of phyllis for us so she wouldn't be alone in the house for 14 hours. she took this cute picture of our little baby:

speaking of phyllis. i just took her on a two block walk and she is PASSED OUT in my lap, snoring the loudest i've ever heard. i love this little gremlin so much.