Shopping in Louisville

One of our favorite things to do in Louisville is shop! They have tons of great little independent shops and tons of cheap vintage stuff! We usually start on Bardstown road. Hey Tiger has been closed every time we've been by (which is at least 10!) but we got to go in! They had lots of cute shirts by Sharp Shirter, so cute!

Notice something amazing in the window of Why Louisville? 

Gosh is he cute! I couldn't get a good close up because of the glare, but I would love to have this guy in my house! 

We tried a place that we've passed a bunch of times but never gone in. They have all kinds of asian inspired dishes and everything is vegetarian, and most of it can be made vegan. They even make their own tofu! 

We shared the vegan spring rolls, some fried rice, and a bowl of the spicy noodle soup. It was SO GOOD. That soup was out of this world. We are trying to recreate it at home. I loved the fried rice too. It wasn't greasy at all and tasted great with all the fresh veggies. Mmm, I wish this place was in our town, we'd eat there all the time. 

 We did some more antique mall browsing at a place we hadn't been before called Crazy Daisy. They had lots of great stuff there, but the prices were a little high (compared to lots of other places in town)

 I love aisles just bursting with vintage stuff to dig through!

 Oh how I want this big metal dog food sign! How cute is it? I really don't have a wall it would look good on though. All the rooms in our 40's house are pretty small and huge stuff just doesn't look right.

 I feel like if your dad was such a jerk, this towel would just make him madder! Haha, poor dad's who got this as a gag gift.

 Are you tired of seeing vintage Christmas stuff? I don't think I ever get tired of it. Look at this soaring centerpiece! I love the dogs playing poker too. My mom has a set of those that belonged to my great grandmother that I hope I'll get someday!

 This seller had a few booths full of great vintage clothes. I loved the signs they made!

 That owl is a radio! How cool!

 I like the trashcan, and the rubber dog. 

If we have a kid, and it's a boy, I would consider the name Buzz.  

 Before we headed out of town we stopped one more place to try out their vegan offerings. It wasn't a great idea, since we hadn't even had four hours since lunch, but we were excited. This time it was Vietnamese. I enjoyed the summer rolls with the peanut sauce.

 And had my first Pho! It was a little under-whelming, after the spicy noodles at lunch, but I'm excited to try it other places and learn to make it!

 We listened to podcasts all the way home. My favorite is Who Charted? Do you have any recommendations? We listen to How Did This Get Made, The Nerdist, Ronna and Beverly, Doug Loves Movies, and Nocturnal Emotions already.

Roadside America in Louisville

I am so excited that there I finally have a Roadside America app on my phone! That is the site I use most when planning out trips for us, and having the app is great. I have also been using the Happy Cow app to find places for us to eat when we're on the road and it is totally worth the 2.99. We've been vegetarian for a few years and could usually find something to eat at most restaurants, but going vegan last month has made it a little harder. I heartily recommend that app to fellow veggies out there. 

We found a place to have breakfast that was somehow out of all their vegan options. So we ended up with oatmeal with fruit, which is fine with me! I liked the cute little splay of apple.

 Right across the street from this cafe was this great yard full of statues and junk, owned by a guy named Jerry. We stopped by a few years ago with Travis' family and Jerry was there and talked to us for a long time. He even gave Travis a Billy Beer can.

 There is so much to look at in there!

 I love the gorilla holding the ice cream cone.

 And ET of course.

 Poor Travis. I neglected to bring a jacked and it was COLD. He was gallant and insisted I wear his, so he froze the whole time. I tried to keep our visit to Jerry's junk short.

 Cool old signs. 

 The coolest stuff in Jerry's collections is inside the buildings! You can peek through the windows and see piles and piles of cool stuff! I wish you could take tours of it or something.

Jerry is very proud that he made this Nixon statue of Liberty.

 After that we took a drive through an old cemetery in town. We used to do that a lot, but haven't in a while. I love seeing all the beautiful old graves. Colonel Sanders is actually buried here, but we visited his grave on a previous trip. Some people leave chicken legs or honey packets there!

I thought this one was especially beautiful. Look at the anchor at the top! And the ship near the bottom. Really gorgeous. 

 Cute hobbit hole crypts.

 The reason we had made a detour here was to see this unusual grave, which has been affectionately nicknamed Jesus is my swing set by the people on roadside america. I love it!

Louisville Flea New Years

At the last minute Travis and I found out that we were both off on the first and second! We decided to take a trip to Louisville to visit his brother and his wife. As we pulled into town we saw a billboard for a special new years flea market, so of course we had to check it out! I liked that they had all the antique and vintage stuff in one area, so you didn't have to sift through all the stuff you weren't interested in. Like bamboo and diabetic socks. 

There was tons of cool stuff! And the prices weren't too bad.

 I loved these Elvis with Santa cards!

 I love digging through boxes of stuff like this.

 Look at this great picture! To bad it was part of a whole scrapbook that they wanted too much for.

 Can't resist!

 I saw these outfits from across the room and had to rush over to check them out. How wonderful!

 I really loved this little pitcher! But I don't need one so I resisted.

I'll show you what I ended up with tomorrow! 

 On our way out I had to take a picture of the ferris wheel where we got engaged! Yes, we got engaged at six flags. Haha, it's the thought that counts. Here is a phone picture of that special moment.

 We went to a Vietnamese market next to find some rice crackers for Travis. Look at this cute candy bag! I have been being more adventurous with my eating lately. We were going to get Nigerian for dinner, but the place was closed.

Cute quails.

We went to see This is 40. It was funny and Paul Rudd was super cute as usual, but watching people fight in movies makes me uncomfortable and is not enjoyable. Also, it is hard to have empathy for people who are supposed to be having financial problems but live in a huge amazing house with expensive things and throw big catered parties. So it was disappointing. Did anyone else see it?
I like the idea that the way you spend the 1st sets the tone for the rest of the year. We spent it traveling and visiting some people we love and vintage shopping. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the year!

A Simple Resolution.

Oh man, the end of the year really got away from me! Usually I like to do a big recap post of some sort (my favorite ever was my "what I ate in 2011" list) but I just didn't get around to it. I'm pretty excited for 2013 though! I just found out someone I love is having a baby, and one of my best friends got engaged on New Years Eve! Here is a grainy photobooth picture of us right after midnight. We rang in the new year with lots of Just Dance (Travis gets the high score EVERY TIME!) and sparkling apple cider. 

I kept my resolution simple last year, and I feel like I was pretty successful. I'm much more confidant and I really can't say I'm shy anymore. Part of that is my job. Talking to vendors has given me a lot of confidence somehow. This year Im keeping it simple again, and not making a resolution that makes me feel guilty or bad about myself. I saw this print a little while ago, and I just love it. I'm going to buy it and put it on my dresser so I can see it every day. I can be really unsympathetic when it comes to others, and especially when it comes to me. So that is what I'm going to work on this year! 

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We have been doing GREAT with our lifestyle change and I'm still feeling amazing. I've got a little recipe round up to share with you guys sometime soon. It is amazing the amount of energy I have, and even how my mood has been affected. I can't wait to see how I feel after a few more months. We made it through the holiday season, so I think the rest of the year will be a breeze!

Success!

 I'm sure I've mentioned before that I have TERRIBLE luck with plants. I shouldn't say luck really, usually I over-nurture them until they die! I picked up a few little cacti when we were at the World's Longest Yard Sale, then I cam home, read a book about succulents, and have tried to leave these guys alone for the most part. And not only are they still alive...

My cactus has a little flower! I am probably way happier about that than I should be, but it feels like a real accomplishment! I have a bunch of hens and chicks in a planter by the back door that I have completely ignored and they are thriving too! Maybe soon I'll get something leafy for the house. Dream big!

Kitty Appreciation

I feel like the kitties haven't gotten much love in a while. On the blog at least. 

 Scout has gotten much braver lately and hangs out with me more. She is still TINY. 

 I got a new lens and I'm not very good focusing/aiming it yet. Sometimes this is what I get.

 But sometimes it works! What a handsome boy!

Now if only I could get her to look at me!