tacos & beer

Saturday Kyle and I had a fabulous day out together. We were heading down to Hardywood for a beer release, but got there a little early so we headed over to En Su Boca for tacooooooos.

I tried a few different flavors. The black bean taco was really good, along with the fried fish. I wasn't a huge fan of their soy chorizo, but it made for a great photo. And their salsa gets all the heart eyes. The mild traditional salsa and their verde were fresh and delicious. Their habanero was a little too spicy for me, but still had good flavor. I'd never been before but the place had a great atmosphere!

Our next stop was Hardywood for the limited release of Trickery. Little note: I do not like stouts and didn't like it, though Kyle thought it was great. I'm a sours gal. We picked up some for Kyle and some for his best friend, but I had a nice Farmhouse Pumpkin and a Tropication on tap. We hung out for a while and had a great time.

How was your weekend?

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pickled & fermented festival 2018 // cotu brewing co

Last weekend we finally had a baseball free Saturday together so we went on down to Center of the Universe Brewing Company for the Pickled and Fermented Festival! We go to COTU fairly frequently and I noticed the festival link on their website and bought us tickets.

It was a neat little festival! There were several vendors with loads of pickled things to sample and we tried a lovely fig kefir soda from Farmstead Ferments. Kyle picked up some bourbon bread and butter pickles and I snagged an absolutely amazing tomatillo salsa verde (gonna make verde soup with it!) and some treats for the boys. All of the vendors were local, which was even better! After walking around, we headed inside for a beer before heading out for dinner at Foo Dog.

It was an awesome day!

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baseball weekend

Back in April I went to visit Kyle for a weekend of watching him on the field. I've been watching baseball since I was a child, so of course I'm not going to pass up a weekend full of baseball and visiting my boyfriend. And the seats!! Perks of dating an umpire...♥

I was there for two games - the first was a night game and the second a day game. It was so much fun. I've watched a lot of baseball this year (my Instagram has documented each game that was college and up) and it's been the best spring ever. Not only do I get to watch the love of my life work, but I frequently learn things from watching Kyle that I can utilize in my own umpiring.

Three days I was there and I had a blast. Tomorrow I'll be leaving to go see visit him again and I can't wait! ♥

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monday vibes

The best thing about unconventional work schedules is being able to head out to a brewery at 4pm on a Monday to try a beer or two. K and I headed up to Red Dragon Brewery last week while he was home.

Now I'll tell you the part that'll make me lose cool points - I don't know a damn thing about craft beer. I couldn't tell you what those are in the photo and I drank one. I'd like to say I'm learning, but every time K turns to me at a brewery and asks what I want, I just shrug and point to anything with peach or passionfruit and he orders me something light and usually fruity and I give him my opinion on if I like it or not, and then he drinks his beer which is usually dark and gross to me and proceeds to tell me about the flavor or hops or profile or something or other and I just nod because I don't understand and I'm just happy to be there with him. *shrug* Then I check in my beer on Untappd for cool points I don't deserve.

He loves craft beer and as a result, I've been to more breweries in the last two months than I even knew existed (well not really, but for emphasis). But don't get me wrong, I like a lot of what I've tried and I really like going, I just have no clue what I'm looking at. Maybe I should buy a book on it.

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tennessee // plants & homecooked meals

This past weekend, N and I took a little trip out to Tennessee to visit my mother. We were caught up in traffic all day Wednesday and ended up on a dirt road with no cell phone service. That was...uh...fun? But we finally made it out, only about four hours after our original arrival time.

It was a really laid back girls' weekend. All of us slept in Thursday, hung around the house talking for a bit and drinking coffee (I actually ate every leftover in my mother's fridge, but that's besides the point), then we went out and picked up some plants at Lowe's. You can't beat $1 succulents! We stopped by the store for things for dinner, then headed home.

Dinner that night was great. Mumma made my favorite dish - potzuquash! A mixture of squash, zucchini, and potatoes sliced and cooked with a little oil and spices. N and I prepared a fresh salad and even had some Tofurky chick'n to top it.

We settled in to watch some tv and catch up before we headed back the next morning. Mountain views and time with your mom always make things better. ♥


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summer 2017

Summer is winding down and coming to an end, finally. I worked a lot, but did manage to get out a do some really fun stuff!

In June, I spent a week out in Tennessee and it was great. Saw some baseball, got sunburnt, laid around the house. Back home, N and I sat on a lot of patios and complained about the heat, saw some great local sights, stopped by the farmer's market and the soap box derby, and caused general mayhem. In late July, N and I took a trip out to Tennessee, Mumma made us some amazing vegan spaghetti sauce, we did a lot of outdoor sitting and talking, and I found my favorite seasonal beer, RJ Rockers' Son of a Peach, and tried Shiner's Strawberry Blonde. I'm now in love with both. Jess and I saw Jurassic Park, one of my favorites, at Byrd Theatre, which was my first time going and it was awesome. A few weeks later, N and I shot down to the beach one weekend spontaneously and that was a lot of fun, then stopped at a friend's on the way back for some night swimming, squealing over hound puppies, and hanging out.

I'm normally a homebody, especially during summer, so I'm really glad I could get out more than usual.

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vacation time

Hello from the mountains! I'm out in Tennessee happily enjoying a long vacation. My bosses were generous enough to give me a week and a half off to come out. I've been living it up - visited with my mom, sourced new inventory, bought some new books and clothing, and drank too much beer (oops). I've got a nice week coming up of nothing but baseball, relaxation, and reading.

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local haunts: a trip to Maymont // RVA

Wednesday, my best friend and I took the little guys to Maymont and had a total blast. Maymont is a great park in Richmond, Virginia, that's open to the public and has so much to look at and enjoy. Gorgeous grounds, a Nature Center, an area where you can pet animals and feed goats, a beautiful Japanese garden with waterfall, and an equally pretty historic mansion where you can take tours.

We started off the day with a picnic complete with fruits, veggies, sandwiches, and snacks. After getting our bellies full, we walked into the Nature Center and checked all the fish, turtles, and other critters. There were even alligators! After checking out all the local water creatures, we cut the boys loose outside and headed to the farm area.



The boys got along really well and ran their little hearts out. I swear he's not that far away, the photos just make it seem that way! Haha. Maymont has really upgraded their farm area and it was really nice to walk through. There were three adorable little baby goats that we couldn't stop squealing over.



We all fed the goats and had a lot of fun checking out all the different animals. The tongue on this one!







We made our way through the wildlife, complete with owls, hawks, vultures, and eagles, to the Japanese Garden, which is absolutely stunning. They have massive koi and you can walk on stones to cross the pond. There's bamboo trails and fountains and the kids had a blast climbing on the rocks.



These are my gifts from the little guy. He is so sweet. I kept the flowers, and when he walked up to me with a handful of gumballs and said "these are for you", I told him I'd take a photo and he could find a special spot for them.

After trudging back to the car tired as could be, we headed home and both boys conked out. We definitely plan on making a few more trips this summer!

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live music: space koi

Friday night my friend convinced me to go see a show, so we mosied on down to Benny's for a few beers and some food while we waited for Space Koi to come on across the street at Legume. I have to say, I'm not a live music kind of gal, but I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the music. Space Koi is an awesome mix of bluegrass and reggae!

We've decided that this summer we're going to see more live music and get outside more. The temperature took a dive so we haven't made it out much, but we've already seen a bit of one show so we're off to a good start!

Do you have any summer plans?


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things that have made me happy lately

As I've mentioned before, I'm generally a pessimist. However, I've been trying to have a better outlook on life and it's been working for me! Here's a neat little list of things that have made me happy lately.

• Meeting up with friends. A little bit ago in January I met up with Jess and we did some thrifting and had an amazing dinner at Not Your Average Joe's. That's the delicious veggie spaghetti squash bolognese I had above!
• Vegan breakfast. My coworker and I stopped at Kickshaw's for breakfast a bit ago and I had potato hash, sour cream, cheddar Daiya, egg, and portobello bacon. All vegan and all delicious!
• Preparing listings for eBay. Most folks loathe the whole photo/listing process, but for some reason I find it therapeutic. Who knows why. I love laying out pieces for photos so they can find new homes!
• New beginnings. I won't go into detail, but things have really been looking up for me around here. Smitten kitten.

Hope all is well! ♥

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2017 goals

I'm not generally a New Year resolution type of gal and this post is pretty late, but Jess and I were talking and I thought I'd put together some goals for the year. It never hurts to work toward something, right?

• Try new things. I can get pretty deep into my routines, so I'm hoping to branch out and try doing things I've never done before.
• Build on my reselling business. I had a fairly successful year on eBay and Etsy as a hobby, but I hope to build on that and turn it into a full-time second income. I've started sourcing and have been pretty fruitful thus far! Cataloging and organizing inventory is next.
• Develop a yoga routine. One of the biggest things I miss doing is going to yoga. I didn't have a lot of time to go in 2016, but I definitely want to get back into the habit of going. While this may contradict my "get out of my routine" goal, I think this is a healthy thing to work toward.
• Use my planner. I finally found a weekly planner that I love and I really want to start using it on a regular basis. I need everything all in one place, and it's a pain to input everything into Google Calendar, as the only device I use is my phone, so I don't need the syncing. I'm highly visual, so hopefully keeping it all in one place will help me be more organized.
• Work on my anxiety. I've developed some pretty severe anxiety over the last few years and I've not been making the best choices that have helped me deal with it. I hope to establish some new habits and help manage my anxious thoughts.

What are you planning for the fresh year?

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the mountains called and i answered

I just got back from a fabulous weekend in Tennessee visiting my mom. We had a little pre-holiday visit and did so much Christmas shopping! It was nice to get away for a couple days and seeing your mom always helps. :)

Since she lives six hours away, it can really take it's toll on both her and I when we don't see each other often. Between work, dogs, and general responsibilities, I don't see her nearly as often as I'd like. We're really close, so this weekend was just about us hanging out and catching up.

And that's exactly what we did! We ate tons of food, did bunches of shopping, and talked about all kinds of stuff. It was so nice. I had such a great weekend that I hard took any pictures, but I did capture this Smoky Mountain sunrise once morning. ♥

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eating vegan locally: Kickshaw's Kitchen

Besides the ever-present fries, tofu or salad options, there are surprisingly few true vegan options locally. There's a few restaurants in the downtown area that serve vegetarian and vegan food, but I don't eat out a lot downtown. However, yesterday before work I stopped by Kickshaw's Kitchen and grabbed a little platter for breakfast. They just recently opened their kitchen part in a cute little spot connected to their market.

I ordered the potato hash with Daiya cheese, vegan sour cream, and vegan bacon. This was my first foray into vegan bacon as I'm not a bacon fan in general, but it was good! And you can't beat $7 for a freshly cooked breakfast.

If you're in the area and fiending for some breakfast food, stop by!


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happy mail

My mom and I swap packages a couple times a year and it's always fun to get something in the mail, especially when you aren't expecting it. This is the happy mail I came home to Friday!



A few of my favorite things! Books, accessories, beauty products, and candy corn!

I haven't gotten on the Kay Scarpetta boat yet, but I've read a few excerpts and it seems pretty interesting, so I'm excited to start Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell (use my link and get 15% off!).

There's this great little boutique in Tennessee that we love visiting, and my mom picked me up an adorable knit beanie there! It'll get a lot of use this winter. How cute is the little Vols decal? I've wanted one ever since the boutique posted them on their Instagram. I'm so excited to put this baby on my car!

The candy corn? I'm a nut for those things.



Along with the hotel sticky notes (love free stationary!), my mom and stepdad just got back from a trip to Lake Tahoe, and she picked me up some beauty products! A total surprise, but boy am I looking forward to trying them! Both products are Lather & Fizz's Tahoe Blue line, after the blue of the lake.

I'll be seeing her soon, but I'm preparing my package to take to her. ♥


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life lately

Happy Election Day, America! I voted, did you?



In other news, my boss got some new geckos and they're really sweet. Look at this little guy! They're so soft. This one hung out on my shoulder for a bit while I stocked at work.



I've gotten more into baths lately, so I've been using up some bath bombs. Here's one from Ladyburg. So if you have any recs, send them my way!



I've been getting lots of wear out of my new leggings! Here's the print Royal Ruby. They just released faux fur lined and fleece lined prints, so I can't wait to get some shopping done!



The past week has been pretty weird, as I've had a bout with a nasty sinus/allergy headache, then what appeared to be a virus that kept me out of work yesterday. Sigh. I didn't even get any blogging done yesterday while I was home in bed.

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a fall morning in Bowling Green

Wednesday, I spent the morning in Bowling Green after an appointment. It was such a pretty day! It hadn't quite gotten hot and the leaves were changing.







I had a delicious breakfast at K Jo's Sweet Caroline, then took a little walk to check out the leaves and older buildings before coffee at The Mix House's new location. I've posted about their drinks on Instagram from their trailer location across the county. Their brick and mortar location is so nice!



Bowling Green is all of one block, pretty much, so there's a limited amount to see. Since I was there so early, the little shops hadn't even opened yet.





It was a nice little morning out to enjoy the beginning of fall. Where have you been lately?


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a lazy day downtown

Yesterday, after I ran some errands on my day off, I decided to head downtown. I work down there, but very rarely get to actually stroll around. I stopped and had lunch at the Virginia Deli, which is one of my favorite spots. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the streets weren't really busy, so I sat outside and enjoyed the day.





Earlier that morning, my grandpa changed the oil in my car for me, so I stopped by Sugar Shack and picked up a couple sprinkle donuts for him and my grandma. My grandma grew up downtown, so as I was telling her where Sugar Shack was, she told me their building is right across from what used to be the service station my great grandpa ran! I love learning family history.





I've been watching my spending lately, so I didn't pick up a lot of things in my shopping, but I did stop by Ladyburg for a bath bomb, The Grove of Brite Blessings for a few stones, and then I stopped by Ulta (but that was an awesome point redemption deal and I ended up only paying $1.26 for the polish!).



Overall? A very unproductive, relaxing day. ♥


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a rainy saturday & leggings

Today was a pretty rainy Saturday. If you don't know by now, this does not upset me. I love rain. It made for a pretty slow work day, though.

Life has been busy lately. I've been working and helping prepare for the holidays at the store and we redid the Halloween windows.

I did become an affiliate for an interesting company, Legging Army. I started off with two pairs, Cheetalicious and Paisley Days. I have to say, I love these things. They're so soft! I pretty much never have to wear real pants again.




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