Florida Road Trip 2014: A Stop in Savannah!

Did you guys miss me? I didn't mean to be gone from the blog for two weeks! But I'm back and I have a ton to share with you! We just got back yesterday from an amazing 10 day vacation down to Florida and back! We went with our best friends, Crystal and Marc. I'm so happy I have some friends I can spend that much time with happily. They are like my family.

Here we are on our way down! We started our vacation in St. Augustine, Florida, by way of Savannah, Georgia. It's about 9 and a half hours from Nashville. Savannah is a fun place to stop to break up the drive.

 We also had to make a quick stop at Cashew in Chattanooga for vegan donuts (and a brownie). They are so good! I wish there was a place to get vegan donuts in Nashville.

We entertained ourselves on the long drive with Mad Libs. Hilarious almost every time! There was also a LOT of singing. From Crystal and I at least.

 Our first stop once we got to Savannah was a place called The coffee fox for soy chai lattes and vegan brownies. Yum!

 Then we went to a store called Paris Market. I was trying out a new site this vacation, Atlas Obscura. IT recommended this as an oddities shop. Which is wasn't really, but it was still really cool!

Look at how beautiful! It was a mix of a cafe, vintage shop, and specialty store. They had so much neat stuff! Like that big white deer!

There were lots of inspiring displays. I loved how they used the skulls and vintage photos in the bell jars. I might have to steal that idea for my house.

 

Across the street was this perfect photo op.

 On our way to our next destination we saw this little buddy driving along! 

 Our next stop was to check out Graveface Records and Curiosities. Can you see a theme developing?

 I was tempted by lots of things in this stop (I was thisclose to bringing home a vintage taxidermy armadillo) but I was trying to hold out on the souvenir front.

 Travis' favorite part was probably the free arcade games! Crystal bought a funny rolly eyeball here. 

 Savannah is a beautiful city. Lots of huge trees dripping with spanish moss and old houses lining every street. This was one of our favorites.

Before getting back on the road we stopped by Carlitos for mexican food. I had read they had an entire separate menu for vegetarians/vegans. Woo! I've mentioned it before, but Happy Cow is an invaluable resource for traveling herbivores.

 Travis and I both got spicy tofu tacos, and they were good! So spicy they made my nose run! 

After lunch we continued on to St. Augustine. It was the perfect little stop! The only thing we didn't get to do was tour one of the historic cemeteries. Next time!

Kentucky Finds

I brought home a few items from our trip to Shelbyville, Kentucky! Of course those reindeer came home with me, it wasn't even a questions! My collection is getting a little out of control!

Here are the two ribbons I picked! AKC Beagle ribbons! I didn't notice until I got home but one of the ribbons was won by a dog named Rose! That was the name of our first pug. It made me like the ribbon even more! I'm going to hang these on the wall with my vintage dog photo collection.

There was a whole wall of keychains, most of the rude sayings from Spencer's sort. But tucked in there was this cute little Kewpie one! I bought it for a friend, and we got that big Florida keychain for our spare house key. We're coming up on our trip to Florida and are a little crazy for the sunshine state lately!

 The baby name book isn't something I would usually buy, but when I was flipping through it, looking for my nephew's name (Ellis!) I found something I have NEVER seen! Not only did I find my name, spelled the same way I spell it, a little down the page was my mother's name! I have never see "Renita" in a name book! So since it was just a buck, I had to bring it home! It doesn't have a date, so I'm not sure what year it is from. But it does have the name Egbert in it. Which I love.

 One more shot of those deer! That is my first green one!

And last but not least, here is my audience while taking these photos. Oh Phyllis. You are the cutest thing I've ever seen!

Antiquing in Kentucky: The Ruby Rooster

Travis and I went up to Shelbyville, Kentucky this past weekend for our nephew's first birthday. We needed to get out of the house for a few hours so the birthday boy could take a good nap so my sister in law sent us downtown to the local antique shops! We spent almost the whole time in the Ruby Rooster! 

I loved the displays they had in the front windows. You could walk through them and shop from the windows! These little deer were the first things I picked up! Its like they were waiting for me! And on sale!

I was tempted by this Fruit Stripe bucket.

 This tiddledy wink box is so cute! The tiddledy winks inside were just cardboard though. 

 I was tempted by these building blocks too! How cool would they look set up on my mantle?

In the back was a booth FULL of vintage summer stuff! All kinds of swim caps, beach bags, and swimsuits! It was all so cute!

I really love that bag in the bottom right. But Travis reminded me I already have one just like it. That plaid picnic basket is pretty great too!

This felt appliqué hat was killing me! If it had come even close to fitting my big noggin I would have bought it!

This lady both fascinated and repelled me. Something about it makes me think of Pee Wee's Playhouse. It is a Penny Poodle toy!

I found this commercial for her on youtube. It is such a weird toy! Now I kinda wish I had bought it. Or at least made it walk and bark! It was pretty cheap, I think 14 dollars. 

 It wouldn't be a Southern antique mall without a selection of Civil War books.

 Dreamy. This booth was FULL of vintage formal dresses, and jewelry, and bags! It looked like it was run by the same person who had all the cute vintage summer stuff.

 A perfect pastries carrier!

I was so excited to see this! A whole pile of 1950's dog show ribbons! I saw some at the flea market last year but for some reason the woman selling them wanted to sell all of them (over 100) as a group for $500 dollars! I was happy to bring a few of these guys home!

Another booth had a whole bundle of novelty liscenses. The shotgun wedding was my favorite, or the hunting license!

 I alos loved this beautiful old calendar. 

I'm so happy my sister in law told us to check this place out! We'll for sure be back when we are back in town to visit her family! I'll be back tomorrow to show you what I got!

Vegan Taco Night!

 For the last few months Travis and I have been totally obsessed with making tacos! I don't know why we never did it before. We make the same thing pretty much every time, and I thought I would share our favorite taco recipes!
"Meat": As you probably know, we're vegan. I have never been into fake beef crumbles. The soy ones are just "meh" to me. But that all changed when Beyond Meat came out with these babies. They are SO GOOD. I like the feisty variety the best, and we add more Frank's Red Hot to make it extra spicy! I buy mine at Whole Foods.

Guacamole: Sometimes we just put plain avacado on our tacos, but usually we make guacamole using Alton Brown's recipe. It just as delicious as you would expect. I forget to buy a jalapeno pepper every single time, but the cayenne makes it hot enough!
Salsa: I like to make our own fresh salsa! It is so much better than jarred! Here is what I usually put in it: 1 mango, 1 large tomato, 1/2 orange bell pepper, 1/2 small onion, and the juice of one lime. We dice everything pretty fine and add some salt and pepper to taste. So easy! So good!
Beans: I use a healthy ish recipe for refried beans that I got from OhDearDrea's Mise en Place Cleanse e-book. You just have to mash up a can of pinto beans, the saute it in a pan with coconut oil, a diced tomato, a few cloves of garlic, cumin, chili powder, and a little water. I love that cleanse E-book. I knew a lot of the healthy eating info, but I have used so many of the recipes! Every single one I have tried has been really good! She is working on a cookbook right now, and I'll be first in line to order it!
Shells: I don't know how common these are, but these are the best taco shells I've ever had! We buy them at the little corner grocery store down the block from our house. They are super thin and crisp and only have four ingredients!

So there you have it, add a little Herb Alpert and you have a guide to the perfect vegan taco night! I have made all this stuff for non-veg friends and they have all loved it and come back for seconds!

Rock Island Fourth of July!

I love the fourth of July! This year we celebrated by going with some friends to Rock Island State Park. It is about an hour and a half from our house. I thought we had been recently but looking back it looks like we haven't been since 2010! Which is a shame because it is amazing! Look at this place!

It actually wasn't as crowded as we were expecting for the holiday. It was PERFECT out! About 85 degrees and sunny, 0% chance of rain. It was probably the best day I've had all summer. Here is a little bit of a photo overload. Crystal came with us, and she has a really cool waterproof digital camera!

The best swimming hole is to the right of the main trail. It is a pretty treacherous hike to get down there. Especially with a cooler!

We found an easier way on the way back, it just involves a short period where you have to walk through waist high water. We brought two other couples with us, and happened to run into some more friends in the parking lot!And look at Travis carrying that cooler. Bless him.

We found the perfect spot right down by the best rock jumping area. The lady in red is my new friend Ashley! She is the one who did taxidermy with us recently. She brought her husband Justin and her friend Christina.

Summer nails, summer cider, and my Sharon Needles coozie! 

Here is the spot everyone was jumping from. Not me! I'm too much of a chicken! The water is so cold and clear, and you can't even touch the bottom!

Marc in mid air! 

I spent most of the day floating with my Super Noodle! I love that thing. I've already gotten my three bucks worth out of it!

Crystal enjoying her float. Look at that beautiful light! It really was a perfect day.

Here is another less scary place to jump from. I'm still not into it.

Here is a view of the rock you jump off of from out in the water. Scary!

And here is where we were hanging out right next to it. It was great, there are tons of ledges to sit on, and some under the water too so you could sit in the water without having to swim.

Travis in midair!

I hope we can go back at least once before summer is over!

100 Books 2014: 45-48

I'm trying to catch up to where I really am on this reading challenge! Lately I've read a few bummer books in a row, I need to get back to some young adult fiction soon I think. Here are 8 more of the books I've read this year:

The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure: I REALLY loved the little house books as a kid, I read Little House in the Big Woods and On the Shores of Silver Lake so many times! Somehow I never knew that Laura Ingalls was a real person and the Laura stories were based on her life. This book was super fascinating to me. Wendy McClure rediscovered the books as an adult and went on a journey to visit all of the "Laura sites" in a year. There is a whole world of Little House enthusiasts, many of them go on the same pilgrimage that McClure goes on. Even if I've not in a fandom, I really like reading about other people who get super into things. After reading this I bought a vintage set of the books at the flea market and I plan to read them this summer.

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See: A few years ago I read and loved Lisa See's book Shanghai Girls. This book is a sequel that focuses mainly on the daughter of the women in the first book. At the beginning of the book Joy leaves home in California because she thinks things will be better in Red China. I didn't know much about this period in China before reading this book and I was completely enthralled! It is pretty bleak at times but the storytelling is wonderful.

Man Up! Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence by Ross Mathews: You probably know Ross Matthews as Ross the Intern on late night tv. I have always thought he was really funny and Travis checked this audiobook out for us when we went to Atlanta last month. I don't know if I would have liked reading the book as much, because Ross's signature shrill voice makes this book! It is full of stories from his childhood and gossipy Hollywood stories. I totally recommend the audiobook!

Austinland by Shannon Hale: This book was made into a movie last year and I couldn't WAIT to see it. I love anything Jane Austen of course, and Bret McKenzie (from Flight of the Conchords) was starring in it. The movie was cute and when I found out it was based on a book I put it right on my library hold list. The story is of a woman who loves Pride and Prejudice and is too hard on men because she is waiting for that perfect "Darcy." Austenland is a vacation destination where woman are immersed in a Regency England experience with promises of romance! It is definitely light reading, but never crosses into romance novel territory. If you've seen the movie you aren't in for any surprises, but it was just different enough and I liked the protagonists voice. I'll probably read the second one if I can get my hands on it.

We're going to the beach in just a few weeks and I'm making a little list of books too take. Do you have any recommendations for some light-ish books to read? I've recently been reading about child soldiers and the FLDS and serial killers and I need something a little more fun!