a day downtown

(boots, jeans)

I guess technically I spend every day downtown as I work there, but today was my day off so I got to peruse some of the shops. I don't normally get to do that since the shop's hours normally coincide with almost every else's, so it was a nice little treat!

Initially, I was heading down to drop off some clothing at the Re Run Shoppe, and afterwards I decided to get a little Christmas shopping in. So I visited Ladyburg (which just recently moved across the street!) and Irish Eyes, along with a couple antique shops, and my favorite, Riverby Books.

There's three floors of used books. My favorite.

I picked up a couple books there that caught my eye; The Princessa: Machiavelli for Women by Harriet Rubin, and The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett.

This photo also includes My Dog Skip by Willie Morris that I picked up at Manarc (along with a lovely teapot for my grandmother for Christmas). I haven't seen the movie, either. Yeah, I'm way behind. And definitely go check out Manarc if you're a local - proceeds go to local veterans!

I stopped by Whittingham to look at their window (again) because it's so well done. The mice are so cute. They're worshiping the cheese!

And how great is this unicorn mount?!?! It's just subtle enough for a gallery wall, I think.

I ended the day by picking up some Earth Balance mac and cheese at Kickshaw's since I can't seem to find it anywhere (and didn't know they carried it!), and then I headed back home before my math final (which I passed!). I'm glad I had some time to get out downtown, but now I'm ready for bed. How do you spend your day off?

vegan tacos & leftover taco bowls

A few nights ago I made cabinet tacos. Super easy. Grab stuff from your cabinet, prepare it  and then my favorite part: MAKE TACOS AND STUFF YOUR FACE! I pick up most of my taco supplies when I have Cartwheel deals and coupons. It's a quick and cheap dinner that's almost always on hand if you pick up things when you pass them.

Gardein Beefless Ground cooked in a pan with chili & garlic powder (25% off deal on Cartwheel!)
refried beans (25% off deal on Cartwheel!)
multi-grain tortillas
Tofutti sour cream (leftover from making party dip!)
cherry tomatoes
Badia chipotle sauce
chickpeas

The best part? Leftovers! I'm a huge fan of leftovers. Sometimes I prefer them. Well, with tacos, the leftovers are so easy to take to work the next day: taco bowls!

Omit the tortilla, throw your leftover ingredients in a bowl, top it with sauce, and TA DA! Lunch.

books - what i'm reading and what i have planned to read

My reading has come all but to a standstill. I've been crazy busy at the store, so I'm usually exhausted and just want to social media surf when I get home. Half the time I don't even bother pulling my laptop out!

However, I've gotten a little bit of reading done. I don't think I'll meet my Reading Challenge on Goodreads (that I changed from 50 to 30 books a few months ago. Sigh.), but reading a smidge is better than not reading.

I just finished The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson and it was fantastic. My friend, Jessica, gave me a copy. I'm a huge fan of easy YA reads; they're pleasant and you don't have to wrack your brain to understand a twist. Eva Ibbotson can spin some great fantasy stories. Island of the Aunts is another of her works that I love.

Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher is an ebook I caught on special for free a few weeks ago - I'm about halfway through. It's written well, but doesn't quite hold my interest enough to be un-put-downable. It's not that it's slow, I just really want to know what's going on. Okay...it's a little slow.

I started The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells one night ages ago when I couldn't sleep, I started it and I have yet to go back to it. Not for lack of interest, I just have to be in the mood for certain books. Is anyone else like that?

Normally I don't like to take on more than a couple books at once, but I'm super excited to start a couple more - a thrifted copy of The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling), Witch & Wizard by James Patterson - I read a sample on my Nook and finally managed to thrift a copy, and Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig, that I picked up used at Riverby downtown.

In other book news, did you know that enhanced editions of Harry Potter are now on iBooks?! How awesome! Here's the press info on it from October.

I'm always open for book recs, so feel free to send some over! (And add me as a friend on Goodreads!)

 

         

           

         

       

i'm so crafty i make kidney stones

So Wednesday I was awoken at the ungodly hour of 7:45 am with a terrible pain in my side. I wish that was code for "the dog was kicking me" or something. I thought I had to pee, but little did I know, my body was deciding to pass it's creation into the real world: a kidney stone.

I immediately text my registered nurse mother who's in Tennessee, who told me to go to the doctor. I thought GREAT, my first kidney infection, this is wonderful. At that point in time, I thought I'd just go to the urgent care, get an antibiotic and a painkiller, and go home and sleep it off. OH NO. By the time I got ready to go, I could barely walk. I hobbled to the car and knew I needed the ER.

We get there and for what felt like hours (and in reality probably only ten minutes), I awaited an IV for morphine. Which worked for about .5 seconds. I'm basically screaming and flailing around on the bed, so he goes to get the nurse (or maybe he was looking for a window to jump out of, I don't know) and they finally get me some pain management that works. After that dose, I'm high as a kite and sleepy. My mother said they gave me a moderate dose, but I hardly ever take medicine and it hit me hard. They send me for a CT scan, I'm extremely thirsty, my dad and his girlfriend get there, it comes back I've got a kidney stone that's already passed, I'm allowed ginger ale, I'm given orders for no caffeine (noooooooo), and I'm sent on my way with prescriptions.

Totally typical day off. *insert side eye emoji* But I lived, I'm totally fine now, and I now know what a kidney stone feels like. Huge thanks to my mom for the medical advice, Jayy for taking me to the ER and making me as comfortable as possible, my dad and his girlfriend for coming up to make sure I was okay, and to the people who created painkillers. Oh, and ps, I peed out the kidney stone in the bathroom at Ruby Tuesday. I really wanted a salad and mashed potatoes. The stone was about half the size of a fat grain of rice.