East Side Solstice Party!

My good friend Marissa, who runs Novel Creature, hosted her first event this past Saturday on the solstice! There was a craft show and food trucks and bands all day. I'm so proud of her for putting it all together! I thought it went great too, even though there was a bit of rain. I was planning on taking tons of photos to send her but I was feeling shy for some reason. So here are a few:

 My best friend Crystal had a booth of course! 

 Olivia Frankenstein!

Her stuff is so cute. I'm supposed to be finding a Spock picture for her so she can make me a cute Spock wallet.

 I don't really need another make up bag, but I LOVE the Rocky Horror one. And the dog faced boy!

 The event was right next to I Dream of Weenie. I got a delicious veggie dog. 

 I would love to have hot dog flower boxes on my front porch!

 Here is a selfie, pretending to run the booth while Crystal was gone. 

 One of my purchases was a beautiful art journal from Kitty Cat Stevens! I didn't take photos of it, but you can see tons of her work on her website. I have big plans for my journal this summer, hopefully I'll follow through! I also found out about the Skillery, since Jenna is teaching a class there soon! I hope I can take a class there soon! I would be all over the Crafting with Beyonce class if I didn't already have plans this weekend.

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I bought this perfect Nashville shirt from Project 615! One of Nashville's defining landmarks is a sky scraper downtown that is known as the Batman building, because it us, looks like Batman. The company is pretty great, they hire people from Set Free ministries, who works to help get people out of homelessness, to work in their shop. They have this shirt in neon yellow too!

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And I didn't buy anything from Straw Castle, but you better believe I'm waiting for this design on a shirt. If I had any room on my walls I would have snapped up this print in a minute! I already have a few of this prints and I LOVE his style!

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100 Books 2014: 36-44

We're about halfway through the year and I'm a little past the halfway point with my reading goal! I'm pretty sure I'll make it! Here are some of the books I read in May and June!

35. Horns by Joe Hill I'm working my way through all of his books this year and this one starts off really strong.The protagonist wakes up with horns sprouting out of his head and finds that whoever he is around starts telling him their darkest thoughts and desires. It is creepy and a little terrifying! There is a murder mystery throughout that takes the whole book to solve. I didn't feel like the ending was a good as the beginning, but I still really enjoyed it.
36. The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson The parents of the Fang Family are performance artists that have included their children in their work from the moment they are born. The book focuses on the kids as grown ups and how they have had trouble in "normal life" after living in the public eye as children. Their parents are planning one last piece and the kidshave to decide if they will participate. I loved the way the story unfolded and it goes places I wasn't expecting.
37. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause I love YA supernatural stuff, I'm not going to lie. This is the story werewolf girl coming of age and is all about growing up and star crossed love and finding your place. I love how powerful Vivian is while she is finding herself. Totally recommend if you like that kind of thing.
38. Sold by Patricia McCormick "Each year, nearly 12,000 Nepali girls are sold by their families, intentionally or unwittingly, into a life of sexual slavery in the brothels of India." I picked up this book after seeing it on a summer reading shelf at a local bookshop. It is the story of a 13 year old girl taken to the city because she thinks she will get work as a maid but really she is sold into a brothel. It is told is little vignettes, which was interesting. It is pretty bleak, obviously, but the kind of story that should be told because it happens everyday. 
39. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green I can't believe I waited so long to pick up a John Green book.I loved this book and read it in just two days. The way he writes about disability and young people with a fatal diagnosis is really interesting. It isn't all inspiring moments and seeing the best in every moment. Augustus (the boy) can be a little MUCH, a little too perfect, but if I was a teenager reading this I would have eaten that up! The ending is so sad, which you expect about 5 minutes into reading it. I thought it was better than the movie (every book is) and I'm looking forward to reading more of his books this summer.
40. Stolen Innocence:My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs by Elissa Wall I am very fascinated by Warren Jeffs and his cult so I devour any book about it I can find. I didn't like this one as much as Escape by Carolyn Jessop but it is still a very interesting look into a world I can't even imagine. Elissa Wall turned out to be  the woman who testified against Jeffs and was instrumental in getting him in prison.
41. By Blood We Live by Glen Duncan This is the last in Glen Duncan's trilogy that started with The Last Werewolf. I LOVE these books. They are grown up versions of that YA supernatural stuff that we all love. This book switches back and forth between a werewolf and vampire werewolf and takes place in modern times where the supernatural element is becoming more visible and humans are reacting. I love Glen Duncan's storytelling and kind of hate that this is the last one in the series.
42.Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat I kept wanting this book to get good so I finished it. It is the story of people in Haiti and every time a story line would start to get interesting the narrator would switch. I was actually the most interested in Claire, the titular character, but she was barely in the book.
43. Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block This book is so stupid. I have been wanting to read it for a long long time and I think if I had read it during high school I would have been obsessed. Weetzie Bat is this beautiful damaged weirdo who lives in a cool house and everyone has weird names and there is a witch baby and a baby with three dads and I don't know, I hated it. If it hadn't been so short I probably wouldn't have finished it.
44. Longbourn by Jo Baker Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books of all time so I couldn't wait to read this book. It is the same story but from the point of view of the servants at Longbourn. A lot of the reviews I read didn't like the way this book treated the characters from Pride and Prejudice, but I found it fascinating to know what it was like to be a servant in regency England and fell in love with these new characters.

There you go! Ten more books to check out! You can always see what I'm currently reading on my Good Reads page! Add me if you are on there! I love looking through other peoples lists for recommendations!

Adventures in Taxidermy

Don't worry, there are no graphic or bloody photos in this post!

As you guys know I have a little collection of vintage taxidermy here at camp Say It Ain't So. I just love it! I think it reminds me of campy dioramas at the local science museum when I was a kid. I had toyed with the idea of taking a taxidermy class at my local oddities shop, but the class I was signed up for got cancelled. My best friend Crystal, and my new friend Ashley both took classes though. Ashley got some rats that died from a woman who sells feeders to feed snakes and offered to bring them over so they could teach me how to do it. Here are some notes from my foray into taxidermy. I know most people aren't into this stuff, so it won't hurt my feelings if you skip this post. 

The rats were frozen and were pretty pee covered so first order of business was to wash and dry them. I  thought this might make me sad because I used to have pet rats and loved them but it really wasn't. These guys were destined for pet food, and once they died they would have been thrown away. Look at how cute mine is!

 Crystal got a black one.

 Ashely's was the cutest! This was the first time we've hung out in person, which might seem a little weird. Haha! But we met on instagram because of the taxidermy classes!

 Ok, so the first order of business is to separate the skin from the body. It took a REALLY long time for us to get through it. Hours and hours. I'm pretty squeamish and had to take a few breaks and go outside but I'm pretty proud of myself for getting it done. I'm not going to lie, it was really gruesome. I actually had nightmares because of it. I'm not going to go into the process, but if you are interested, we used this website for tips, along with what they learned in the classes. I'm not going to link the classes they took because the instructor is apparently pretty awful, but I've heard great things about Afterlife Anatomy, who also travels around teaching classes!

 You also have to create a little false body to go inside the rat. The eyes are just regular black beads. It's weird how realistic they look once they are in the skin.

 Here we are working hard! As you can see it is now dark! We worked from about 4 until almost midnight! With a little break for tacos.

Ashely demonstrating how were were all feeling about 6 hours in. Haha. So over it. But wanted to finish! Look at how cute her rat looks!

 Really, the worst part was all the skinning. I gave up once we got to the head and Ashley finished it for me. Bless her. Stuffing it and posing it wasn't bad at all. 

You wire the arms and legs into place, and try to make the tail look ok. I'm not sure how well I did that part, we'll see.

 Here is my little gal all done. She looks ok for my first (and probably only) try I think. We'll see how sh looks in a few weeks. Crystal took mine home so it could cure in her basement, away from curious cats.

All in all it was an interesting experience and I'm glad I did it. I know it seems weird for a vegan, but I really like taxidermy and feel like it honors the animal in a way. Do I expect everyone to agree with me? No. But that's ok. I hope you found it interesting at least!

Instalife

I haven't done one of these posts since January! Instagram is my favorite social media thingy and it kind of kills my desire to take my regular camera out all the time. But I love how I'm able to capture life quickly and share it. My user name is Raesock if we aren't friends yet! Here is a little of what we've been up to lately. Life has been busy and fun!

The biggest thing going on right now is our purchase of a Stella Fireball for Travis. He has been riding the bus since January and has gotten tired of the hour and a half commute each day (we live only 4 miles from his work). So we are buying a scooter from a friend for him to ride. I'm sure you'll be seeing more about it soon.

 Summer is upon us here and I'm trying to get out on the lake as much as I can! My team at work went on a team build last week to clean up an island and rented a pontoon boat! It was the best!! And wasn't as expensive as I expected. I'm hoping to get a group of friends to pitch in and rent one later this summer We also went out with another friend on his little boat recently. Here's hoping it happens more this summer!

 Speaking of summah I got to meet one of my favorites, Howard Kremer! He co-hosts my favorite podcast, Who Charted, so I was stoked that his comedy tour was coming through town! He opened for Brody Stevens. I'm so happy I got to meet him, he was so nice! He knows all about my new summah suit. Remember, don't start this summah in last years suit!

 I'm kind of addicted to Simpson's Tapped Out on my iPad. And I love that little three legged dog!

Here were are at the Schermerhorn! Travis' parents are part of the Nashville Choir and were able to get us free tickets to Les Miserables at the Symphony center downtown. They sang in the chorus. The show was AMAZING. Lots of the cast had played the roles on Broadway or national tours. I loved it so much, and cried at least 5 times! The photo on the right is from when I cleaned out my backseat. I might have a problem when it comes to Life Factory bottles. I think I have 12.Geeze!

I went with some friends to Tribe to see the season finale of Rupaul's Drag Race. As you can see, I was team Adore! I was ok with Bianca winning too. I'm sad I have to wait until next February for the next season.
Travis got a pass to go to a restaurant supply store. We bought a new frying pan, and a giant bottle of his one true love, Frank's Red Hot. I got a case of San Pellegrino Blood Orange. The BEST!

 We're still doing taco night once a week. It is my favorite night! 

My favorite cake, and a beautiful wedding cake at a friend's wedding! She got it from Whole Foods! Can you believe that?

 I was going through some files recently and found Scampi's adoption papers. Travis picked her out at Happy Tales Humane 8 years ago this week! She was three then so that makes her 11 years old! I love that sassy kitty.

He refused to pull his shirt up for a photo. Haha! 

And then a couple shot on our 6 year wedding anniversary. 

We got to hang out with our nephew this past weekend. Look how big he is! And look at that cool dude look on his face. Also check out my new karaoke machine! We went to a barbecue recently and the lady of the house said I could have this karaoke machine that someone had given to them. Mine is on it's last legs so I'm pretty stoked! It also came with a BUNCH of new cds! I've got over 1000 songs now! Maybe I should start my own karaoke business.

 If you follow me on instagram you saw this recent drama. I took Priscilla to a new vet for her yearly check up and she had a bad reaction to the vaccine. This is at a stop light on our way back, her face blew up so much more! It was red and scared me so bad. The whole visit was weird, I had to ask the vet to check her teeth and ears. Shouldn't that be standard for a check up? I know that the vaccine reaction could happen anywhere, but I probably won't be back to that office.

 Speaking of my pug angels, they are just as cute as always.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what else this summer brings!

Movies!

There are finally movies out that I want to see again! It felt like there was NOTHING to see in March and April. We've been going a lot lately, and I love it! Here is what I've seen: 

Finding Vivian Maier: I feel like everyone has been talking about this documentary, and they should be! It is about a woman who took THOUSANDS of street photos that she showed no one. A guy bought the negatives at an auction on a whim and they are incredible. I actually teared up when they started showing the photographs. The start in the 1950's and are so beautiful. the documentary is fascinating and while it leaves you with LOTS of unanswered questions (the more I thought about it, the more unsatisfied I was!) the film is wonderful and fascinating and totally worth your time.
Le Week-End: This is a film about an older couple spending a weekend in Paris for their anniversary.  It is funny, sad, uncomfortable and moving in turns. The two main actors are really good and I recognized things from my long term relationship in theirs. Totally recommend if you like character driven movies.
Belle: I feel like I've been waiting forever for this to come out! I LOVE Regency period movies and this one is based on the true story of a mixed race woman raised in an upperclass white household. It started off kind of choppy and I was a little disappointed but it evened out and I ended up loving it! The costumes! The sets! The acting! The romance! Some things weren't period accurate (I ranted about it to Travis after I saw it, and I'm sure he could care less, haha!) but I still really enjoyed it. I'll watch it again. I went to see it the first showing it was available in Nashville, and it was me and about 30 senior citizens. My crowd for sure!

Neighbors: Another one we've been waiting to see for a long time! Finally another really good comedy! Travis and I both laughed out loud during most of the movie. Some people have been complaining that Rose Byrne, who plays the wife, wasn't given much to do but I was actually really pleased with how their relationship was portrayed. Finally a comedy where the wife isn't portrayed as either a total shrew or as the straight woman to her bumbling husband. Also, I never thought I would find Zac Efron to be attractive but DAYUM. Another one I'd see again.

X-Men: Days of Future Past: Travis LOVES Wolverine so we always make it out to X-Men movies. I really enjoyed First Class last year, and this one was pretty good too. I thought Jennifer Lawrence did a much better job as Mystique in this film, and I'm always down for Michael Fassbender as a young Magneto. The time traveling aspect was cool and I loved the new character they introduced, Quicksilver. The kitchen scene in the Pentagon was awesome! I kind of wish we had seen it in 3D, and I never say that! I'm looking forward to the next one.
The Fault in our Stars: I read this book last month (I really need to update my reading list!) and I LOVE a sad movie so I couldn't wait to see this. I went by myself with tissues ready but didn't cry at all. I'm not sure if it was because the girls next to me were crying SO LOUD or because it was just TOO much. I don't want to spoil it but you probably know what is going to happen. It was kind of fun to watch, but it wasn't as great as I was hoping. I was happy that the guy they picked to play Augustus was much cuter in motion than in the stills that have been posted.  (Is that weird to say? Haha, I just imagined him much cuter than the stills looked.) If I was a tween I would probably be OBSESSED with this movie.
Godzilla: I'm pretty sure I said it before, but I thought Godzilla was awesome! A fun summer action movie with great effects. Godzilla looked so cool! And I loved seeing it at the drive in so I could scream with my friends.

I can't wait to see 22 Jump Street next week, and Gardians of the Galaxy! Have you seen anything good lately? Is Maleficent good? I can't decide if I want to see it or not.

Two Days in Atlanta!

We used Air BnB again when staying in Atlanta. I love that site! We stayed at this listing and it was amazing! It was in Midtown but in a residential area with old houses. The host was super nice too. I kinda hated that we were only staying one night!

 Have you ever stayed somewhere using Air BnB? Basically people can rent out their spaces, sometimes a room, sometimes a full house. We rented an apartment in Detroit last year the same way and loved it. You can stay in some cool places for a fraction of what it would cost to stay in the same area in a hotel. We're using it for our beach vacation this summer too!

 Loved that lamp!

We got to Atlanta on Sunday and after the puppet museum we went to dinner and then out to a drag show at Burkharts. I was worried there won't be any going on Sunday night (the drag scene in Nashville is pretty dead Sunday nights) but the show was really funny and we had a great time. I didn't take any photos though. 

We went down to the five points area because I remembered liking the store Junkman's Daughter a long time ago. They charge to park down their now which is kinda lame. This pizza place is cute though! They didn't have vegan pizza though. Dang. 

 I want that neon pizza sign for my front window!

 Junkman's Daughter wasn't as great as I remembered. But the paintings on the building were awesome.

On the drive down it felt like we saw those little sticker families were on every car. Travis and I kept pointing them out and laughing, and then we saw these cutes ones! Best ones I've seen!

 We went to a place called Soul Vegetarian for dinner and it was SO GOOD! It was cafeteria style and it was hard to decide what to get since everything was vegan. Travis got lasagna AND macaroni and cheese! It turned out to be a great choice because both were delicious! Look at that gooey cheese!

 Those sweet potatoes are the best I've ever had. Mmm I want some more right now!

 On Monday we had planned to go to some antique and vintage stores. But somehow every year I forget it is Memorial Day and everything was closed! I was especially bummed about this place! Doesn't it look amazing??

 I would take that sign with the ice cream cone for the front of my house. 

 I LOVE that huge wonder bread sign!

 This one looked awesome too. Oh well, next time.

 Look at this place! Can you read the window writing? It is a store that sells "Needlepoint Dog Accessories and Stuff." I wish I was still open! Phyllis and Priscilla need some new accessories.

 Since everything was closed we ended up going to see X-Men: Days of Future Past or whatever. It was pretty good! That young Magneto, Yowza! After the movie we headed back home, with a stop in Chattanooga for our favorite sandwich in the world! That's right, we went to Sluggo's to get the vegan club. Oh man it is always so GOOD!

 Those pinto beans!

 We also went by Cashew in Chattanooga because I can't resist those donuts! Travis got an oreo brownie, which you can see on the left. Ah!

 Some place in Nashville needs to start stocking vegan donuts. Or maybe I should try to make some. The lemon is my favorite!

IWe had a great little trip to Atlanta, and it made me really ready for our longer vacation. Just six weeks away!