They say one man's trash...

...is another one's treasure. Just LOOK at this gem I found outside someone's house, near Kim and Jerri's house! What a beauty! I am not quite sure what I am going to make it into. Obviously it used to be an old headboard, but has seen better days, structurally. I was so excited, I already sanded and took out the old, moldy red fabric. Now what to do with it? I'm thinking a funky wall hanging/jewelry rack for my shoppe? Oh, but I am open to suggestions! Comment, please! WHAT should I make of this gorgeous piece of vintage goodness?

Circle gets the square!

Post dancing, I left a club last weekend and walking up Lexington stumbled across this piece of art, painted on an old garage door. How fabulous is this? Hollywood Squares! I stood here laughing and enjoying this for well, okay, let's just say an embarrassing amount of time, trying to get people to get in a picture of it. I couldn't find any takers, but now I have it on file for my laughing pleasure any time. Ha! It's so great!

My Baby's Got Sauce...

Greg Brown: “Hey Stace, I have an extra ticket to G Love and Special Sauce if you want to go tonight.”
Stacey: “Do I? Heck yeah! Woo-hoo!”

I've been listening to G Love since he hit the mainstream music scene in say, 1995 or so, and have always put a song of his on a mixed CD or in my playlist. I didn't know what to expect of him as a performer, but I was blown away. His harmonica playing was stellar, his freestylin' was amazing, and he totally had me when he broke out with 'Why Don't we do it in the Road?' in the middle of the show. Oh, and icing on the cake: his rendition of 'Gin and Juice.' Fabulous.

So post-show I was walking out to Janis, and someone was literally standing next to my van, surrounded my a group of ladies in the rain...it was Mr. G Love himself. I walked right up to him and said hey, immediately recognizing how much taller he is in person compared to how he appears on stage. He's quite handsome, that fella. He signed me, we parted ways and I thought, yeah, that was a good night.
Look how happy these ladies are around the G Love!

The Glug, Glug, Glug Circus

This is why I moved to Asheville. For stuff like this.

I heard about an underground circus of sorts at bellydance class, where a bunch of ladies get together in the backroom of Firestorm Books and rock it with their bellies out on Monday nights. Sparrow, the instructor, was a featured performer in this circus performance that was only in town for 3 nights. The name: The Glug, Glug, Glug Circus: Sunken Ship on the French Broad. The Runaway Circus and Loose Cabooses, a zany local performance troupe, teamed up with a group of volunteers, performers and artists to transform an old mill space into a gorgeous stage setting for over 200 people and present an alternative, if you will, circus. There were no elephants or tigers at this show.

And what performance it was! My friend Lydia and I followed the general crowd and a spray painted sign (that simply said “circus”) into the old mill, where they were only asking for donations for the performance. The place was alive with creative energy (not to mention free cotton candy, magic tricks for sale, some handprinted woodcuts for sale, and one of those things with the faces cut out that I cannot help but stand behind every time so I can get my picture taken-- all featured behind a ginormous sign (shown below)). Everything from a kabuki-like performance of a couple of dudes juggling their blacklit eyeball heads, to a live band to a puppet show to a trapeze performer....singing, dancing (and by far the BEST juggling I have ever seen)...it was all so diverse and funny. Lydia and I laughed the entire time at the skits and stunts, and especially the creepy janitor sketch—hilarious! This was not your average circus....this was more like that tent you pay money to go in at the fair. This was Broadway caliper. This was...absolutely brilliant.

Mad Tea Party at the Bo Bo Gallery

I had never been to the Bo Bo Gallery on Lexington, and when I walked in, I felt right at home. With it's funky décor and gorgeous artwork adorning the walls (and fine selection of beers and wine), it was a fun place to get down an boogie on a Saturday night!

The Mad tea Party is a local favorite band who were featured at the Bo Bo; I love to catch them any time I can around the city. I actually met the duo (Jason and Ami) in Vermont at the Northeast Kingdom Music Festival a couple years ago. They are such fun and have great energy, with a funky rockabilly style to their music. And who doesn't dig a chick rockin' out with a ukulele? To find out more about Mad Tea party goodness, click HERE!

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)

Spring is here!

Compared to the chilly temperatures of New Hampshire, Asheville has been a tropical getaway for me. Though the weather can be a bit unpredictable (It was in the 70's in February for a while there!), it is nice to actually see the 4 seasons. And with spring just getting underway, the blooms and greens are a-plenty! It's beautiful here! :o)

Luck of the Irish?

I'm not going to lie...St. Patty's Day in this city was kind of a disappointment, and not for my lack of trying (and I guess especially since I have spent a St. Patty's day in Dublin, which pales everything by comparison). Now, I know I do not have a single strand of Irish running through my blood, but hey, I can drink beers and party with the rest of them, even on a Tuesday! So I decided that I was going to have some beers for the first night in a long time (I had been trying to maintain a gluten-free diet for the past few weeks). But that one fire marshall seemed to be everywhere we turned that night, clearing out the pubs that were over capacity. There are about a half dozen Irish pubs in this city, and I gave each one at least a drive-by, but it seemed like a lot of people were just standing around in the cold, waiting to get back into the pubs. But I was determined. Kim, Jen and I got all greened up and facepainted and started with a dance party in Janis. We had to settle for some banjo pickin' music at the Barley Taproom, and had a couple of stouts. Parting ways, I made my way back to West Asheville (walking distance from my abode) and hit up Tolliver's Crossing for some very un-traditional good times.

Something was definitely wrong here: I came back with a Coors Light hat and a Budweiser necklace. Whaaaa? When someone asked the DJ to play the Pogues, he was like, "huh?"

Yay! Jen and Kim hanging out in Janis! Weeeee!

Hey look! Random people in the bar that want to be in this photo!

Aaaaaand, I would like to showcase my fabulous greeeeeen sweater vest, compliments of Kelly Misuraca (and y'know what Bob? It really is the ideal piece of clothing-- keeps you warm, but you can move your arms around too. Brilliant.)

Meeting Bert Kreischer. And Melanie Maloy.

I told Bert Kreischer that he was not made for TV, after his show last Friday, when we were having drinks at the New French Bar, and he agreed with me. Having seen his special on Comedy Central, I thought he was funny, but the essence of his jokes seemed to be lost on the editing for television. My roommate, Greg Brown (creator/director of the "Laugh Your Asheville Off" comedy series), has known Bert, an up and coming comedian (known as "America's Party Animal") since way back in the day and hooked me up with some tickets to his show. A crowd of Ashevillians seemed to be Bert's ideal audience, where he had the freedom to go crazy on stage and throw around the f-bomb like it was going out of style. And that is where he shined. The show was absolutely hilarious, and no one left there without that cramped-from-laughing feeling in their stomach.
I also had the privledge of meeting Melanie Maloy, one of the comedians who opened for Bert. (If you do not know who these comedians are, I highly recommend you check them out to see if they are playing in your area!) Melanie has been compared to Ani Defranco in her look and comedic style, but is really all her own unique style in her somewhat perverse and absolutely hysterical comedy. Her (true) story of having a crush on a bum on the street-- hilarious! (Ooh, and she is moving to Asheville soon! Woo-hoo!) At one point, late in the evening I was writing down all the funny quotes all the comedians were rattling off, with plans of later posting them on my blog. As it turns out, in the morning I realized they were all just too inappropriate to post, but lets just say they were some funny folks; instead I will share these pictures from a super fun evening:

Oh yeah, that's a tattoo of the Ritcheous Babe herself, Ani DeFranco, on Melanie's arm. Yeah!

Hey look! I'm the cream in a Bert and Melanie Oreo! :o)

I did it!

I'm not going to say by any means that I understand the wacky language of html. But I read and I read and I figured out how to manipulate it to redesign my own blog! So now, I present to you, a little veggieartgirl blog redesign...a result of late-night tinkering which led to screwing it all up, has forced me to learn this on my own and fix it. Any suggestions or comments are welcome. Oh, and I changed up my playlist a little for all your listening pleasure. There's some mega guilty pleasures in there of mine...enjoy. :o)

In totally unrelated news, I got a nifty package in the mail from my sister, crammed with funky colored Sharpies and a little gift box. In the box was this gorgeous necklace, which I adore. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Lyss! xoxo.

oh crap.

First of all, I should be sleeping. I told myself that I needed to be in bed BEFORE midnight all this week, in attempt to break free of my owl-like ways. (For the last couple of weeks, I have been staying up until almost sunrise and sleeping in until a ridiculously late time) So here I am, trying to build a new blog for my shoppe on Squam (trying being the operative word here), and I accidentally messed up the code for my (used to be) finished and adorable blog here, that Rita helped me make. Aaaand, since I am merely trying to play with and learn html code, I do not know how to fix this one back to it's awesomeness. Riiiiiiiiii-taaaaaaa! I need your help, please! My blog is broken. :o)

(Oh, and also: if you need any help with blog design, click on the image above--Rita is the best!)

I heart sweet potato fries.

I am stalling. I am supposed to be doing work, but while I am designing, the aroma of sweet potato fries is wafting through the air, making me hungry, and making Fred (the dog) sit on my feet and stare at me in anticipation. So, I thought I would share. They just came out of the oven, and I put them on a bed of napkins with a giant heap of ketchup, ready for eating.


Ok, I am back from eating them (and sharing with Fred the dog), and they were tasty. This might in fact be one of the cheapest meals you can make that isn't all that bad for you. (Ramen noodles takes the cake on the cheapest meal, I think, but they are full of sodium!) 1 large sweet potato will make a giant portion of fries, cost you about $.65 and there's lots of good nutrients in sweets, like Vitamin A (lots!), Vitamin C, Fiber, B-6, Iron & Potassium.

Here's my recipe:



Ingredients:
(1) large (or 2 small) sweet potato(es)
olive oil
sea salt (or regular salt)



-Preheat oven to 380 degrees

-Generously drizzle olive oil on a cookie sheet

-Cut sweet potato into 1/8-1/4" slices (the thinner the slices, the crunchier they will be, but the important thing is to keep them as consistant as possible)

-Line oiled cookie sheet with the slices of sweets and sprinkle with sea salt

-Bake for about 25 minutes, flip and bake for another 10 minutes (Just keep an eye on them, and when they start to smell like they are crisping, you will know they are ready...they DO burn quickly!)

-Transfer to a plate, layered with a couple sheets of paper towels (to trap excess oil) and sprinkle a little more salt on, if you like your foods salty

-Enjoy with ketchup (my fave!) or try some warm maple syrup on the side for dippin'.

You should really make these tonight. Kid's dig 'em too! :o)

Cool stuff I've done in the past 48 hours (In no particular order):

I have finally found success in grilling tofu! I made a ginger terayaki sauce, marinated the tofu, and grilled it up to perfection:

Finally got some good ideas going for outdoor signage and a logo for my shoppe on Squam, which will be opening no later than June 15th. (Sidenote: I just scheduled an Open House for July 11th, so mark your calendars!)

I ate this salad, which MIGHT be quite possibly the best meal in the city in terms of value and healthiness. I dined at Scully's on Walnut St., where I sat in the sun, drew in my sketchbook (my shoppe design, actually!) and ordered their chef salad, which included grilled shrimp and spicy walnuts. Homemade dressing, sliced avocado...yum! Only $8.00!

Got my eyebrow repierced. I couldn't get my jewelry in (I took it out about 5 years ago or so), so I went and saw Chris at Mystic Tattoo, and he stabbed a needle through me eyebrow. Man, I forgot how much I love that feeling. I will most likely be returning to New Hampshire with a face full of metal.Then Chris gave me this fortune cookie: It's not the having, it's the getting. Hmmmm.

Went to the Grey Eagle for a live acoustic show: Nikki Talley. I love this place and got there earlier than I meant to, so I shot some groovy pictures of the stage:

Played some make-shift Pictionary at the bar with my friends as we were waiting for Nikki to start singing (I just HAPPENED to have some Sharpies and a notebook). I think this was the funniest drawing-- Lin's rendition of 'shake your booty'--ha! Reminded me of my friends back home and the killer games of Pictionary I have played (and can't wait to play!) with my friend, Rox. :o)

Yay! My two friends: Jerri & Kim. They're super great.

Nikki Talley was amazing. She had an honesty to her lyrics that I clung to all night, and a beautiful vocal range. Her mom came up for her last song and sang a duet with her, and we all danced with Nikki's grandmother, who was rockin' out in her wheelchair in the audience. She was so sweet..."girl," she told me, "if I didn't have a bad hip, I'd be dancing just like you. I may be old on the outside, but I'm 21 on the inside!" She was absolutely adorable!

Aaand, I also watched an embarrassing number of 'the Office' episodes. I was waiting for Jim and Pam to hook up, and now that they have, I still cannot look away! I'm addicted!

Our trip to Florida

Darrick, Alyssa and I went on an adventure to Georgetown, Florida, to stay with our dad for a few days last week. Here's a bunch o' pics from the trip.

First stop when we got there: get some food! We went to the Three Bananas Pub for some seafood grub, waterside.

And, how can you walk by this and NOT take a picture? Ha!

The first night we were there, my dad invited the neighborhood over for a live music shin-dig. Darrick and Lyss rocked it with the duets, while my dad played the drums.

Um, and I played the shaky-noisemaker-thing. Hey look, it's the Lucas 4!

It was sunny, but awfully windy on the water. But it was just beautiful everywhere. (Oh yeah, that's not me in the middle...that's Dani, a hitch hiker we picked up on the way and basically adopted for 3 days. We all loved her. Hi Dani!)

You can't hate this: sunset on the lake at night. Ahhhh.