DC Treats

Red velvet cupcake from Baked & Wired.  More than one person told me to avoid that bakery from the TLC show and go a few streets over for these.  Wise advice!

A few days later I had a chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream from CakeLove.  This one was from Tysons Corner, but they have locations all over the area.

I also enjoyed a cookie, some brownies, and candy from various institutions, but the other standout was an insane piece hunk of chocolate blackout cake from Serendipidty 3.  It took four days to eat.

 

I'm not kidding.

Mr. Specs Went To Washington

Let me just say that I had an excellent trip to DC, thanks in large part to my high school friend Scott (who lives there now), his girlfriend Wendy, and blog friends Thomas from My White Shirt, Jenn from Dear Heart, and Suann from Simple Song. 

I did not do tons of tourist-y stuff, but that was by design.  Mostly it was about the sweet treats and shopping.  Oh, and a Joel Osteen spotting at Barney's.  Here are the results of my main tourist thing, which was a trip through the excellent Hirshhorn Museum.

You know I loves me some stamps.  This sculpture by Tony Cragg is called Subcommittee.  Clever, no?

My jury is still out on whether some of this is actually art, but it's subjective.  I get that.  This is a row of blue fluorescent lights.  Untitled (to Helga and Carlo, with respect and affection) by Dan Flavin.

The Tragic Comedians by Walt Kuhn.

Composition with Blue and Yellow.  Piet Mondrian was not one to mince words.

Neither was Alberto Giacometti.  Tall Figure.  Go figure.

I'll do another DC post in the next few days, so stay tuned.  Since that trip each weekend has been filled with family events, and the weekdays seem to be flying by.  I've been hitting up the treadmill and clearing out the DVR, so the plan is to get back into blogging more consistently very soon. 

Thanks for checking in!

Austin!

Let me just say that I had a great weekend in Austin.  My pals Melanie and Joe were wonderful hosts, and we had a brief but enormously fun tour around the Texan capital.  Our first stop was South Congress (locally called SoCo) at the store Uncommon Objects.



I don't know what it is about taxidermy that alternately fascinates and terrifies me, but this baboon definitely fit the bill. 

Along those lines: doll parts.

Now we come to what was arguably my favorite part of the trip.  Hey Cupcake! is a company of Airstream trailers that have been turned into mobile cupcakeries.  Yum.  I ate four.

Here we have a red velvet and "the standard," which is a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  I also got another standard and a Michael Jackson.  That would be a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting.

Parts & Labour was a recommendation from my pal Dawn.  It's a really neat shop where you can find things like Burt Reynolds pillows, complete with felt mustache, and hilarious postcards (see below).

One of our last hoorahs was a trip to The Oasis at Lake Travis.  It's a nice restaurant overlooking the lake, where we were able to snag a balcony table and eat some delicious TexMex as the sun set over the Lonestar State.

One night we also went to Esther's Follies, which is a wholly unique experience.  It's a show that combines music, magic, and political satire--almost like a scaled-down (funny) version of Saturday Night Live.  If you're ever in Austin, I recommend all of the above.  I think it makes a great destination for a long weekend, and we didn't even go to a concert, which is the heart of the city.  The mind reels at such prospects.

I am already planning a return trip next year.

To The Victor...

I feel like the trip to Atlanta was a whopping success.  Although my resolution had to be put on the back burner, as it were, much fun was had by all.  I also spent monies at Ikea and Young Blood Gallery.  Here is what I bought:

The frog print is by Ryan Berkley via Young Blood Gallery (also available on Etsy), and the frame is from Ikea.  I just love how it came together.  I also love the caption that came with the print:

This unassuming frog is a high school math teacher. He also coaches the mathlete team who have gone undefeated under his leadership. The students like him for his laid back attitude and his "Fractal Fridays" slideshows.

This artist has tons of options for different animals in spiffy outfits.  Kermit meets Mr. Rogers was the vibe I got from this one and had to have it.  The prints come in different sizes, and some are even made into magnets.  (Shhh...I may have bought one of a doe that says "Best Eyes," yearbook style.)

Just Peachy

I spent a nice, long weekend in Atlanta with my pals Samantha and Jonathan, a fun married couple.  We went to Paper Source, Yeah! Burger, CB2, Lotta Frutta, Youngblood Gallery, Highland Row Antiques, The Beehive, Richard's Variety Store, and IKEA. 

I had a blast.  Here are some pictures.  :)

I want two of these stools.  Bad.

Cool succulents at CB2.

Random antique-y goodness.

The Beehive is really neat.  It's like an in-person Etsy.  That's how Samantha described it--spot-on.

You know I always have my eyes peeled for specs.

Here Samantha is chilling with her imaginary wine in a 67-cent glass.

We had an excellent time together.  Thanks again, Samantha and Jonathan!

A Sunday Adventure

One weekend ago I enjoyed a mini-field trip to the Adventure Science Center here in Nashville.  My pal Ashley and I went on a Sunday, when it was free.  And what fun we had.  It made for nice memories, especially when I was on call for work this past week and weekend.

Here are some pictures.

Birthdays, Bananas, and Blue Bells

This weekend my cool pal Ann Marie came to town.  Guess what.  It was her birthday.  And we had a really fun time.  It started out with an Italian dinner out and the most delicious (non-Ben-&-Jerry's) ice cream ever.

Whoa.  Up.  It really does taste just like banana pudding and includes vanilla wafers.  Whew.  We showed that bucket a thing or two.  I know I just posted about sweet frozen goodness, but I can't help myself.

On Saturday we headed out to Franklin and stopped by one of the coolest stationery stores ever.  It's called Rock Paper Scissors.  I got to chat up my fellow paper fiend/blog friend Lauren.  (Check out her blog.  It's really stylish and fun.) 

I have another friend's birthday coming up, so I picked up a few stationery items for her.  Despite my best attempts to persuade her otherwise, she's not a blog reader, so the secret is safe here. 

Then Ann Marie and I headed down the street for some cupcakes from Ivey Cake.  She got The Crazy Ex (banana walnut with cream cheese icing), and I picked up a Gold Digger (chocolate with peanut butter icing).  Good call, Lauren! 

The rest of the weekend was a blur of laughing and music and a few more sweet treats.  Times like these make the sometimes irritating days at work completely worth it.  I hope that yours was equally nice.

Scary Antiques and Such

I had a great birthday weekend with my pal Ann Marie! On Saturday we went to Franklin, where they were having some type of Halloween/Fall Festival. Main St. was blocked, and there were kids and adults in costume everywhere.

Chewbacca was even there.

It would be great to be a kid who lives in that area. The shopkeepers were giving out candy; there was kettle corn. Enough said.

Then we stumbled into an antique shop.

I know I just posted a similar picture from the flea market trip last weekend, but a really cool grouping always strikes me and my shutter finger.

One of the booths had this completely awesome lab chair...

...and this even better lab stool.

Apparently, the booth was closing down for good, and there was a sign that said to make an offer. Now I really wish that I had. This is definitely along the lines of my ideal design aesthetic.

It reminds me of a great post recently done by my blog friend Jenn over at Department of the Interior. Check it out sometime.

And thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes!

At the Market. (Flea Market.)

So after my previous post on The Nashville Flea Market, I hope you're all fired up for some awesome finds.


I only got two things, but I think they were worth it. This one is a vintage Saturday Evening Post cover that I found in a stack at a nondescript table. Asking price? $1.


I'm envisioning it in a cool frame. On the wall.

Ahhh...at last. I have been wanting old shoe forms for at least two months now. :)



These will do quite nicely. I paid $3 for the pair. One will probably make its way on top of a stack of books or magazines. The other may go above the kitchen cabinets, maybe as a bookend.



Time will tell.

You Can Find It..

Last Saturday I headed out to the Nashville Flea Market with Ann Marie, Laura, Leslie, and Ruthi. It was such a treat. Let me tell ya. Please enjoy some of these pictures of what I saw there. Some things don't make much sense, but that's the point. There was definite specs appeal going on there, though.

Enjoy! And I'll share with you my purchases in my next post, possibly tomorrow--which happens to be my birthday. Wahh wahh.