Detroit! Part One!

Did you miss me? Ha! I feel like I haven't written a post in forever! Part of the reason is nothing was really going on. The other part is we were out of town over the weekend! We went up to Detroit for my cousin's wedding like I mentioned before. Neither of us had ever been to Michigan before so we get to add a new sticker to our travel map! Thank you everyone for all your suggestions! I'm pretty sure we did everything you guys said, except a few restaurants weren't vegan friendly, and one vintage store was closed. We ended up having a really great time! It'll take me a few posts to show you all the fun stuff we got up to!

 Our flight got in really late. The airport seemed really deserted and creepy! 

Detroit seemed like that in a lot of places. It felt totally different from home. 

I took lots of pictures of buildings. I'll just show you a few.

 This building was so creepy! Have you ever seen something so BIG abandoned with all the windows out of it! I'm sure there is a story that I could look up. I loved the big letters in front. We passed this place a bunch of times.

We used Air BnB for the first time to book our lodgings. We rented a two bedroom apartment and it was awesome! It was cheaper than a hotel and we had a comfortable place to stay, and a kitchen, and the girl who gave us the keys gave us lots of suggestions for things to do. I was so pleased by how it turned out, and I would totally suggest that site! We're going to use it whenever we travel now!

 Here we are, ready for the wedding!

Look at that black squirrel! We saw one every time we left our apartment! I got excited every single time!  I had never seen a black squirrel before! Isn't he cute?

 The wedding was on the 8th floor of a big building downtown.

 A bunch of my cousin's were there! We don't see each other very much so it was really fun!

 Our tables had so many glasses! The wedding was so fun, it went from 5 pm to 1 am! 

This photo makes it look empty but there were lots of people there! Lots of dancing (and drinking). My cousin and her new husband were so obviously happy and in love. It was sweet. I love weddings.

The best part was the photo booth! I wish these had been a thing when I got married! I totally would have had one! I love that they will print as many strips as you want so you can put one in the guest book and then take a bunch home.

And some more! Yep, Travis is shirtless in the middle one. I jokingly said he should take his shirt off and I'd write congrats on his belly. Then he did it! Of course.

So congratulations to my sweet cousin Ashley! I'm so glad we were able to make the trip up to see her get married to her awesome husband. They are going to be so happy!
And just you wait til you see what else we saw in Detroit! I'll show you some more tomorrow!

Grill out!

It has been so beautiful out the past few days! I was gone most of the week for a work conference in Atlanta and it is so good to be back home. We went to Franklin this afternoon to see a production of Little Shop of Horrors with my parents. That is my favorite play of all time! My dad sat next to a little old lady who told him "It was weird." When he asked how she liked it. Ha! 

After the play we kept trying to think of things to do so we could enjoy the day, but couldn't think of anything. So we decided to grill out! We have that very impressive tiny grill as you can see.

 Since we were in the side yard I made Phyllis come out on the chain. I'm too nervous when they aren't in the fence to let them run free. I bought that little chain at an estate sale, I had a feeling it would come in handy!

I made Priscilla stay inside since we only have one chain. But she got super worked up so she eventually ended up outside with us.

Where she tried to drink Travis' tea and eat charcoal and get the tofu dogs off the grill and just act a fool in general!

 Me and my ladies. I've been straightening my hair every once in a while. Usually it is because it is getting really frizzy and I don't want to have to wash it.

 Phyllis just wanted to hang out in my lap the whole time. 

Sweet baby.

We had tofu pups, baked beans, and grilled corn! The corn was so good! I'm so glad it is in season! I wonder how many times I'll be able to convince Travis to make it for me!

I hope it is nice in your part of the world! 

Knoxville!

On our way home from Nashville we stopped in Knoxville for lunch with our good friend Dana. We ate at the Bistro at the Bijou Theater which I highly recommend! I got the black eyed peas melt sandwich and it was awesome! We also stopped by the original Nostalgia as well. It was snowing a little big that day, can you see the little flakes? 

Cat in the window? That is a good sign! There is a pug named Napoleon there sometimes, but he wasn't in that day. 

Nostalgia specializes in Mid Century and vintage stuff instead of the usual antique mall mix. Dana warned us that it wasn't a great as it used to be (see our first visit in 2011 here!)

 Look at this tv fish tank! I love the idea!

 Love this horse gravel art!

 Look at this creepy brooch made out of a rabbit's foot!

I was trying to find some prices in these books,but instead I found this cute drawing. I hope "roden" means Robin!

Travis found me puzzling over this weird umbrella, and he knew exactly what it was. It is for holding over your dog in the rain! How freaking cute is that? He wouldn't let me get it though. I guess raincoats for the pugs are enough. 

We stopped by Dana's work and she took us on a tour of the big awesome house her office is in. There are all kinds of cool features but this teeny tiny kitchen way my favorite! I had to share. Travis is there for scale. This is tucked in the basement, which is big and has tons of space, I don't know why they would put the kitchen in like this.

 They are all metal, and look at those counter tops! 

On the way out of town we stopped at Earth Fare and got some vegan carrot cake for the road! Yum! I totally over ate all weekend and felt kind of terrible. But I needed one more sweet treat.

We drove across the plateau to get home, and it was so snowy! By the time we got into Nashville it was just a little flurry.

 We picked the pugs up from my parents house and went home! 

The Aquarium of the Smokies.

One more post about Gatlinburg! Since it was rainy we decided to visit the aquarium. We went a few years ago and enjoyed it. It isn't huge, just the right length I think. I can't remember what this fish was called, but it looks like it had been deep fried! 

 A lot of other people had the same idea! It was so crowded! 

I love the silly lips of a saw fish! I tried to get a picture of one with Travis when they swam by, but they moved too fast. The tunnel through the shark tank is always a fun exhibit.

There are some things you can't help by try and capture. Jelly fish are always so beautiful, and they way they are lit makes for great photos. They are such amazing creatures. I don't even understand how they can be alive!

 Travis is so cute. I love that he is down for posing in whatever silly way I ask. Someday I'll let him take pictures of me so I'll be in these trip photos too. There isn't even one of me from this trip.

 Horse shoe crabs.

 I am totally scared of sharks. There was this video screen where you could speed up / slow down / reverse all these shark videos and it made my stomach hurt! They just creep me out so much! Of course I still had to take a picture.

 And penguins are always cute. These had their names on their wing bands. I loved that!

 Travis and Mo Mo had a real moment.

 "Frank"