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.

Short Street Cakes :o)

Everyone has been asking me: “Have you been to the new bakery: Short Street Cakes?” Now I am the kind of girl who will always order a plate of greasy french fries or another glass of wine before I even glimpse at a dessert menu (I'm just not a sweets kind of a person, unless we are talking ice cream, which is a whole different ballgame). So I had never stopped into Short Street Cakes, though I had driven past it a bunch of times, admiring the adorable décor from the outside (I am always drawn to the visual of a striped awning against a brick building—gorgeous!)

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, and though I was en route to dance class, I popped in, took one look at the cute little cupcakes they had for sale and decided to try a bite. I met Jodi, the sweet owner of the new bakery, which is decorated in vintage finds, resembling a kitchen from the 50's. (Sidenote: I THOUGHT I had money, but, and I am ALWAYS doing this, it was in the pants I had worn the day before, and Jodi was nice enough to give me a treat anyways since I came into the shoppe to check it out). I asked her to give me what she thought was the best dessert, and she handed me an itty bitty samplin' of their spicy vegan chocolate cake, with piped chocolate frosting. It was delicious- a subtle chocolate flavor with a hint of cinnamon and a spicy cayenne pepper kick. It was unlike anything I had ever tried before, but it was surprisingly scrumptious! Thank you Jodi for the sample, and I WILL be back with people to try all your goodies! Good luck with your new, super cool bakery!

Update: I went back. I was yard saling around town, and what better way to take a break from bargain hunting, than with a $3.00 slice of flourless chocolate cake? Oh. My. Goodness. So unbelievably good.

Everyone: go there now and eat cake. :o)

Costume making!

Yesterday morning was one of those beautiful Saturdays, where I hopped out of bed and went on my favorite adventure: yard saling. I packed a basket of snacks, made a tea for the road and hit a bunch of sales (favorite scores of the day: a vintage poodle skirt with a frog on it and a sequined flapper dress). My friend Kim suggested that I try the Goodwill Clearance Center on Patton Avenue if I was looking for some funky clothes. Oh. My. Gosh. I went in there, and first of all, there was a claw machine (y'know...the kind where you get stuffed animals for a quarter). Second of all, there was a snack machine, bad 80's music playing and everything in the whole place was $1.10/lb.! I had no reason to leave. I was in absolute heaven. Everything from vintage curtains to record players to bad costumes...I walked in there and well, let's just say I lost track of time. And now, today being the Mardi Gras parade, I am looking at this pile o' stuff and piecing it together to make something fabulous. I'll keep you posted!