A new patisserie in town

i really wish i had a green thumb. i always have great ideas for how beautiful my yard can look, but never seem to follow through or making the right choices. i was determined to have a big patch of zenias for cutting this year. but the place i chose was really close to our fence and the shrubs grew up and covered my little zenia patch. but one flower bloomed! i was overly excited about it. and i left it outside for a long time before clipping it and bringing it inside.

maybe i'll have better luck next year.
on another note, last week i went to a new restaurant in downtown franklin called marcia's patisserie with my friend brittany. i have never been so irritated that i didn't have my camera! it was very cute and the dessert case was AMAZING. the girls working there had really adorable uniforms too. i will be back soon. i had a caprice pizza for lunch (that was delicious) and we spent most of our lunch time talking about what desserts we would get. and gossiping of course. that is what ladies do when they go out to lunch at a cute cafe.
when i got home of course i took pictures.

i brought travis a banana split cupcake, a lemon one for myself, plus a lime macaroon and an almond eiffle tower cookie.

i had never had a macaroon! it was so good! someone i didn't relize it was crunchy like meringue. what a pleasant surprise! and the lime flavor was great.

i went into the other room during my photoshoot and when i came back SOMEONE had taken a little nibble of my cupcake! and i'm pretty sure i know who it was.

i see you back there scampi!

phyllis wanted to be sure i knew it wasn't her.

The Elvis Vigil

So here is the main reason we went to memphis in the first place, the elvis vigil! this year was the 34th anniversary of elivis' death. every year they close off elvis presley blvd. in front of graceland and thousands of people come out and participate in a candle light vigil.

before we left for graceland travis made us fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. they are an elvis week staple but i can't stand to spend 5 bucks a piece at a restaurant. they are so good though.

we watched some tribute artists in graceland plaza. they called this guy "the voice" because he sounded so much like elvis. but it is kind of easy to sound like elvis. i mean, even i can do it.

one of the few crazy elvis outfits that i thought was actually cute!

that is his elvis face.

then we looked through all the gift shops. they have elvis EVERYTHING. and there are probably 15 shops FULL of just elvis stuff.


like bingo markers.

and yatzee. but i couldn't find a new pair of elvis finger nail clippers. dang. i just got some post cards (that i forgot to send) and a TCB decal for my car.

the actual graceland tour is awesome but it is really expensive so we don't do it every year. check out the jungle room! you expect some extravagant mansion but it's really dated (and awesome)

once it gets dark we head out to check out the tributes people are putting together.

one year i want to make a shrine! but we actually don't have much elvis stuff.

then we lit our candles for the service. fan club members give speeches and play songs. this year the theme was "the 12th of never" so they played that song, and if i can dream. and people cried.


then we all lifted our candles high in the air and sang "can't help falling in love with you." i love it so much! i love being in huge groups of people geeking out about something.

i had to get SOMETHING to eat at Rockabilly's, the restaurant at graceland.


there are "tribute artists" EVERYWHERE. from little kids to old men.

mmmm. root feer float...

i love that he takes me on trips like this. nerds forever!

we went out to sign the wall of course. we do that every time we go to memphis.

i love to look at all the funny drawings people do.


the line of people walking up the drive way to the grave site. they moved elvis to graceland because the graveyard he was in was getting torn up by all the people visiting. for the first time ever we decided not to walk up to the grave. it is about a 4 hour wait (if it moves fast) and we were so tired from walking around all day. the press estimated 15000-20000 people were there. next year for the 35th anniversary they are estimating that they will have 75,000. so we aren't even thinking about going. that is just too huge of a crowd for me. maybe we'll have an elvis night!

as soon as i said "i haven't seen anyone doing elvis drawings on the street..." we walked past this guy. haha. awesome.

Beale Street

We started off this day in Memphis trying to go to Mud Island but of course it was closed on monday. On every trip i plan at least one place i really want to go has to be closed. So i was glad this time it was mud island, because i've been there a few times. So we just continued on down to Beale Street.



i am always excited to go down to beale street, then once we get there i remember that it isn't actually that cool. if you are into bars and night life it is probably really fun (in a touristy way) but we're not really into that. but we always make a trip anyway.


schwab's is the only remaining original business on beale street. last time we went all three floors were full of crap (you feel like some of the stuff for sale has been sitting around for 30 years) but this time it was only the first. of course they had the voodoo section that all good beale street stores must have.






i love anyone who goes out in costumes during the day.

we stopped by the Center for Southern Folklore which was really just a shop and the lady behind the counter made us really uncomfortable by saying "what can i help you buy?" the whole time we were there. so we left.


then we rode the trolley!


yes, that is a tattoo of a flaming manatee.

we ate lunch at the arcade! a great little diner i found on the road food site. another resource i love to use when i'm planning our trips. this place is the oldest restaurant in memphis that is still open. it is so cute!




this pizza was crappy/awesome. it reminded me of the pizza i would get at the cafe at the gymnastics camp i went to when i was little. mmmm, i want another piece now.


then we went to the civil rights museum.

that is the balcony that dr. martin luther king jr. was assassinated. they have made a museum behind it. it is free on monday afternoons for tennessee residents. i was glad we didn't pay because it really wasn't a great museum. almost all the exhibits were HUGE blocks of text hanging on the walls. it would take you an entire day to read everything. it just wasn't great design. after the first few rooms we just looked at the pictures and watched the videos. it could have done with some editing.


then we walked back to the car. you can park at the visitor's center right by the mississippi river for free! the sign says 2 hours only but the guard in the lot told us that is just to deter local people from using the lot. if your license plate is from another state/county you can park as long as you want. the trolley is just a dollar so it is an easy way to get around.