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| my favorite donut - white frosting with sprinkles |
So we woke up really early on Sunday in order to get everything in that we wanted to do. And by early, I mean I woke up around 7:30 and Tricia got up after that... for breakfast we went to Shipley's Donuts (a necessity even after all the fried food the night before). Then we got tea and got on the road towards Tennessee and Julie! However, Julie lives very far away from Little Rock and we did not have any intention on making it all the way without any stops. So a few hours into our 8 hour drive, we made our first stop...
IN GRACELAND!!!!!! I mean, it was 100% on the way and so we could not pass by it without some kind of deep regret. So we stopped. YAY! We toured Elvis' mansion, cars, and planes. There were 3 other exhibits we didn't see, but we didn't tell Julie we were stopping until we had already stopped, bought tickets, and felt bad about not telling her that we would be much later than she thought. So Graceland!!!!
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| on the front porch |
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| Elvis' living room |
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| Tricia & the beautiful 70's kitchen |
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| mirrored ceiling in the basement |
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| the piano he played the morning he died |
Two hours later, we left. And called Julie to say we were on our way! It was 3. So off we went, towards Nashville. We decided not to stop and have a long visit in the Country Capital because it was already 7 when we arrived. So we walked around downtown and went to dinner. Then back on the road. And back to our book, The Diary by Eileen Goudge. This is important - I was driving, and I was very into this book. I was invested in the characters and there was this huge curve ball that I did NOT expect in the slightest. Because of my attention on the book, Tricia was perturbed with my driving, so we stopped and switched. At some point the time zone changed during the drive also. Anyway, just like in Little Rock, we arrived in the middle of the night. Only this time, as we pulled into the driveway (a little slaphappy and delirious - but not from food) Julie came flying out of the house to greet us! A very nice welcome! We stayed up until 2am talking and touring the beautiful old house.
August 1
Because we were up so late the night before, Julie had to wake us up with coffee & tea at 10am, and that was pushing it to get us up. We goofed around the house in our pj's until noon when Jake came home from work for lunch. How wonderful is that? I am jealous that they have the opportunity to eat lunch together everyday without working together. It sounds like a wonderful pause in the day to unwind before finishing their work. After lunch, we looked at pictures from the summer and Tricia took a quick nap. Then off to the adventures of the day (errands).
We went to 2 markets for fresh food for dinner. Then we went to KupKatie's Kupcakes for, well, cupcakes! We ordered Boston cream, chocolate chocolate chip, and choco-cherry with cherry buttercream. They were DELISH! We split them and had very happy bellies. Then on to the fabric store. One of the things I wanted to do with Julie, was learn how to quilt, and in order to do so, we needed fabric! So an hour and a half later, we had a ton of fabric and a lot of work to do. But we ignored it and went to the grocery store to get the rest of dinner.
When we got home, Jake had already made pizza dough and we got to getting all the ingredients ready to grill a pizza. We sliced and roasted tomatoes & peaches. Then grilled it. Some things we learned: you need to spray the pan so that when you flip the dough onto the grill it comes off easier; also to flip the dough (before you add the toppings) slide it onto the pan and flip – otherwise you will rip the dough.
I think it is important to note, that I did not help in any of the above because my job was to make the Coke floats – using Pinnacle’s Whipped Cream vodka. (Matt & I were introduced to it around New Year’s, and we have loved it since). Dinner and a few games of Settlers, and we killed the vodka. They were a little concerned that it tasted so good and that the vodka was going down all too well. But we had a great time and didn’t have any problems today. Then there was midnight yoga. And somehow it was 2am and we went to bed – two nights in a row?
August 2
Again, we were awoken by Julie at 10. And instead of screwing around, Julie taught us how to QUILT!!!! OMG – I love it!!!! Julie taught us how to measure strips & cut them evenly and without loosing a finger.
Then Jake came home for lunch, and we stopped and ate with him. And then we were back to quilting the part I dreaded most, Julie taught us how to use the sewing machine. Let me just tell you, Julie is a great/superb/AWESOME teacher because the sewing machine was super EASY! I made it work over and over again! (If you cannot tell, I am super proud of myself!!!)
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| what I was able to accomplish today!! |
Last night I mentioned that since we were in the south, we should eat fried chicken, and while I understand that it might have been easier to get and maybe better in Texas or Arkansas, this was when I thought to bring it up. So we sent Jake to work this morning to ask about fried chicken and the best place to go. When at lunch he came back empty-handed, we went to Facebook for an answer. WIN! So when Jake got home tonight, we went into Knoxville and to Chandler’s Bonesucking BBQ. It was another night of delicious-but-not-good-for-you food. We ate 2 (larger than life) chicken breasts, 2 legs (we ordered 4), mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, green beans, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, 2 rolls, 2 cornbread, and gravy. Oh and sweet tea & Kool-aid. Oh hello another food coma. It was seriously good food, lots of fried, lots of flavor. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Afterwards, we drove through the old part of Knoxville, past the U of Tenn., the site of the World Fair 1982 (I know), and back towards the house. Jake hit the chicken coma hard and passed out in the recliner while I came here, Julie started working on a jewelry bag for me, and Tricia quilted her pillow. Then there were a few rounds of Banagrams (a fabulous game unless you are playing against wordies – i.e. Julie, Tricia, & Jake), followed by bedtime for Jake and the ladies getting ready to go on a hike first thing tomorrow morning – getting up at 6 (we will see about that, J/K it was my idea to get up early and hike before the heat was unbearable), and bedtime yoga.
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