The GWCC.

Everyone asks what the heck the GWCC is. I have a group of friends here who are addicts like me and we meet there in the afternoons like its a secret tree fort. I try and tell people about it, or bring my friends when they come to visit. It's hard to explain...you just have to experience it. The Goodwill Clearance Center: you never know what you are going to get. It's a recently expanded warehouse of bins, bins and more bins. These giant blue bins on wheels line the floor as people wander around with numbered blue shopping carts, sifting through the bins for the ultimate thrift store score. Each hour, they change out the bins as people line up for the new ones to come out, like a herd of cows to some feed. It's unlike anything I have every experienced. It's an every day yard sale. And every time I go there, I think, 'Man, my Noni would have loved this place!'

Crafty Kathy.

It's been muuuuuch colder than anticipated here in Asheville, so I have been hybernating. No complaints from me, though....as long as I have my space heater and my paintin' pants, I am all set. I have been making crafty goods to both sell and display at my shoppe (which I am uber excited to reopen!). Here's a little how-to project that is going to adorn the walls of the Veggie Art Girl Boutique in the spring:

These little people clothes were all finds from the Goodwill Clearance Center here in Asheville. I used scraps of fabric with iron on material to create letters and cut them out in my signature font. They are going to hang on a make-shift clothesline with vintage pins on the wall above the (new and improved!) vintage clothing section of the boutique. Fun!

Jim comes to town.

Jim came to Asheville for a week's vacation and well, I was pretty much on vacation too. :o) Unfortunately, the weather was not warm and sunny all of the days (he actually drove in AND out of Asheville in a nasty blizzard!), but we certainly made the best of it! We went on walking adventures down the snowy roads, saw lots of live music, caught the Found Footage Fest, fit in some of the classics (y'know...bowling, thrifting, karaokeing), shared many-a-laugh and ate (ohmygosh!) sooo much delicious local food.

You see this? Yeah, I'll say it. The BEST cheeseburger I have ever had AND the best sweet potato fries. Ever. And that other plate in the background: that there is the BEST quesadilla I have EVER had. Insert shout-out here: go to ROOTS CAFE in West Asheville. Maybe the best cooking I have ever had. Click here for their menu.: http://www.rootsfood.com/

We did have a couple of sunny days. On this particular one, there was a traveling puppet show...and a dude dressed as a can of raviolis? They were advertising for Asheville Vaudevale, and I'm *pretty* sure we had "tourist" stamped on our head, so they insisted on picture taking.

And for the record: the puppet did indeed ask me to lick it. I typically do not lick puppets.

Jim took pictures as I dragged him on fun and exciting adventures to places like the fabric store for just the right fabric for a curtain install I had coming up.

And then we just walked around and looked at stuff. This is certainly the place to do just that.

Oh, did I mention there was bowling? I think you should take note of my form here:

...Although Jim pretty much doubled my score. (Check out his shirt- a Goodwill Clearance Center score....more on that place later!)

And oh yes, we drank beer. Lots and lots of yummy, locally brewed, hoppy goodness. Ahhhh. (This one is an Abbey Ale from the Wedge brewery here in West Asheville)

Woot.

Horseshoe in Asheville.

My friend Horseshoe came to visit Asheville for a few days (y'all may know him as Jason, but on the trails he also goes by 'Blink'). He has been hiking the Appalachian Trail for 6 weeks now, and his latest stop in Erwin, Tennessee was just a short drive away. So I picked him up so he could stay at 99 Vandalia for a few, take some hot showers and relax. I gave him the abbreviated version of my Asheville tour, but mostly he was just interested in laying low and relaxing. “Snarks,” he told me, “Just do what you would normally be doing and I'll join you if I feel like it.” So that's what I did. Not sure that Horseshoe had envisioned his visit would involve the following, but here are a few of my favorite things that we did:

-Goodwill, Goodwill, Goodwill. When I find someone that enjoys thrifting as much as I do, I take them to Goodwill...especially the Clearance Center!

-Kim's birthday party, which included a trip to Hairspray, one of our local gay bars for bad music and late night dancing.

-Cinco de Mayo party with crappy tomato beers and super good chocolate cake

-Cooking dinner and sitting out on the back porch in the gorgeous evening weather

-Went to The Thirsty Monk, where we sampled a bunch o' beers. Then we went downstairs to try a samplin' of their traditional Belgian brews.

-Drum circle in the center of town. This included a live demo of Horseshoe hula hooping, some bizarro street performers, and ended in the best ice cream ever

-Yard saling (Horseshoe scored a game of frisbee golf and a vintage tent that he is going to live in this summer!)

We had a fun week. And he left me with a bunch of pictures from his hiking journeys so far. I am going to sort through and edit them, and post them soon to share. Stay tuned....you're going to be impressed with what he has seen on the AT!

This was a pic I took of Kim's birthday cupcakes. Doesn't really have much to do with any of this...I just like it. Mmmm...cupcakes.

Gettin' inked.

Tattoos and Toast
a short play, by Stacey Lucas

Tina, Tanya and Stacey (Fig) are sitting on the back deck of Fig's place in Asheville, enjoying a home-cooked breakfast and the sunshine one Monday morning.

Tanya: Ummm, Tina, I think Fig has something to share with you..a surprise.
Fig: Wellllll....you know how you have been wanting to get a tattoo?
Tina: Yeah?
Fig: I have been working on a design. And I have been talking with a tattoo artist downtown about getting it done. In fact, he is finalizing your design and I made an appointment. You are getting a tattoo today. And it is going to be a birthday present from Tanya and I to you.
Tina: Whaaaaaa? Weeeeeee!

And off we went to Freaks and Geeks Tattoo Parlor in West Asheville. Well, after a trip to the Goodwill Clearance Center (hey I wanted to give my friends a true Asheville experience!)
Tina has always wanted a tattoo of a firefly, which represents her life in many ways. And in the trail of light are three little blips of light, each representing her two children and Tanya. :o)Galen, tattoo artist extraordinaire.

Ta-da!!!