This was a must visit for us while in Savannah – Bitty & Beau’s. The message behind their cafes/brand is amazing, and I am happy to support them. Bitty & Beau’s strives to provide employment for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Beautiful cafe, and we even got to hear one of the employees sing us all a few songs ☺️ it isn’t just a Savannah thing – check out the website to see if there is a cafe near you 💖
So, I admit it – this was an adventure built totally of Instagram FOMO (that’s fear of missing out, for you boomers). Earlier in the year, I saw a lot of my California friends visiting an interactive exhibit called “I Like Scary Movies” in Los Angeles, and my body NEEDED to go. I knew that I had a late fall trip planned to visit Los Angeles in November, but, sadness abound – the exhibit closed in July, I believe it was. It was such a disappointment to see that we would miss out on such a cool experience, but I chalked It up to the East Coast blues and something else that I would have to miss due to my southern proximity.
It was just about a month ago when I got the “I Like Scary Movies” exhibit back on my mind, and I just so happened to morosely look it up – I was hoping to find that the exhibit was on tour, or would be touring soon. However, what I found was better – because for the week that we would be in California, they were doing an encore performance! WHAT! THINGS LIKE THIS DON’T HAPPEN TO ME! I snatched up three tickets faster than you can say lickety split and it was ON. We were going!
On our last day of vacation, after leaving the Disney bubble, we followed some questionable directions to a block of warehouses somewhere in Los Angeles, and there it was – “I Like Scary Moves”!
The staff (who was fantastic and so helpful) immediately greeted us, walked us through the rules, and set us off through the exhibit. This would probably be a good time to explain what the exhibit is, eh? Per their website:
“I Like Scary Movies is the experience that all scary movie fans have been dreaming of! A groundbreaking art experience that is a true celebration of some of the most beloved horror films. This is a unique opportunity for fans to interact and enjoy these films that they love in a completely new way with amazing interactive art and photo opportunities to share with their friends. I Like Scary Movies was born from the mind of experimental artist Maximillian, who wanted a way to dive deeper into this dark genre and explore these worlds outside of the traditional scare maze.”
So follow along through my experience at “I Like Scary Movies” if you dare!
NOTE: I’m only posting my own photos from the experience because I don’t want to post something that will make Tyler or my mother want my guts for garters. This does mean you are missing Tyler on a tricycle, and I’m sorry for that. Anyway, enjoy!
Tyler & I always like to try to find little adventures to go on, whether we are in his neck of the woods (Columbia, SC), or mine (Greenville, SC). This past week, it was my turn to visit Columbia, and we decided to have a mini-adventure at Riverfront Park.
Nestled near downtown Columbia, Riverfront Park is actually a really beautiful and scenic area that feels completely removed from city life. It is perfect if you want to get active, sightsee, or do both. Their website boasts that they have 167 acres of land to enjoy, and there is definitely a lot of space to spread out and do yo thang. We passed all walks of life on our journey through the park, from runners to dog walkers to businesspeople enjoying a nice place to take a break outdoors. I’m not particularly an outdoors kinda gal myself, but I appreciate that the park has done a wonderful job at making the walking trails lively, accessible, and easy to navigate. I also loved that they had mile markers set up throughout the park, so you knew how far you had gone, if you liked to keep track of that type of thing. Oh, and doggie water fountains. That was actually my favorite part. Team Riverfront Park, friends of dogs everywhere!
Here are some pictures from our afternoon for you to enjoy. We found an old schoolhouse, the abandoned pump house that previously powered the nearby dam, and the most beautiful patch of Black-eyed Susan’s growing happily in the sun. It was a lovely day, and when Columbia decides to not be as oppressively hot and horrifying outdoors, I’d love to go back.
Not much to say here – what can you say, really?
20 years ago last December, on Christmas Day, the nation was forever changed by the violent death of this little girl. She was America’s Daughter – we all wanted justice for her, had never seen anything like her! In a time before Toddlers & Tiaras, her eerily overpainted face and overly wise eyes unsettled us all. Who could do this? The American people craved answers.
Was it an intruder? Her parents? Her brother? A fan? We still don’t know, and probably never will. This child’s short lived life is arguably one of the most famous true crime stories in American history.
A body is just that – a body. A shell. Knowing that and feeling that are two different things, however. Death hag and true crime fan that I am, we pitstopped on the way to Atlanta to St. James Episcopal cemetery in Marietta, GA yesterday to pay our respects to the late JonBenét Ramsey. Her name evokes such an image – I think the majority of us have memories attached to her. The only thing I can say is that being there … it felt surreal. I wish I had a better word, but that’s it. It felt bigger than I could understand.
JonBenét rests in a peaceful corner of a quiet cemetery in a town that passes her by without a second glance – it seems almost laughable, considering her un-lived years have been rocked by near-constant controversy and scandal. With her half sister, Beth, and her mother, Patsy, nearby, she is Just Another Little Girl. Gone too soon. You could hardly believe you were standing over the shell of one of the most horrifying moments in the history of our nation, and truly, of time. It seemed almost inappropriately quaint, but maybe that’s the point. I don’t know. None of us do, do we?
So, I went on a road trip last week to see Melanie Martinez in Memphis, and that was really exciting and wonderful and I love her dear little Cry Baby heart infinitely – but there is something else a liiiiittle more important to do in Memphis that I’ve been wanting to do since I was a zygote.
Like, DUH! You go to see the King! People – after years and years and years of begging for what seemed like a trillion times to a trillion people, the stars aligned and I finally got to go walking in Memphis and see G-R-A-C-E-L-A-N-D! BUT! More on all that later.
Now that I have gotten better about flying, I was totally willing to fly in and out of Memphis so that we would have a little bit more time to vacation. There was one small fly in the ointment of my travels, however – if I drove, I would get to go to Mississippi and Arkansas. Two previously unchartered terrains on my growing list of states that I’ve visited.
So drive we did.
Ugh.
Driving.
(This is me doing really well at being in the car for what turned out to be a nearly 12 hour stretch)
Hi all! So, I’ve decided that the best way to share all of my Disney World photos and stories with everyone is just to blog about them, because I always hate feeling like some adult loser bombarding tons of Disney photos to people who don’t care about them. So, feel free to click on the DISNEY tag here for a comprehensive collection of all my Disney adventures!
So, let’s catch up on my last trip. First off: our arrival and dinner with Tifni & Josh!
This was our second time staying at the Art of Animation resort, and I’m a big fan of the place. For starters, I will go anywhere that has a create your own pasta bar, and those are just cold hard facts. Really though, AoA has such gorgeous theming – you totally feel like you are living the Disney dream the moment you arrive. As one could deduce by the name, it is alllll about modern Disney animation, and I looOooOove it. What I do not love is when I have spent 13 hours in the parks and my cankles are swollen and I have to hear the Miley Cyrus cover of “Part of Your World” for the 50th time in a day on the shuttle, but you know, whatever. Small price to pay for all dat fun.
So we stayed in one of the Lion King family suites, which was so cute I could have died. Robyn, Tom, and moi-self bunked up in the main room, and Mom smartly holed herself up in the single room. Here are some pictures of the room before we destroyed it with the tsunami that is our disgusting selves:
Some things to note – ALL OF IT BECAUSE HOW DAMN DARE IT BE SO ADORABLE. But really, it was super neat. The chair was a grub, for heaven’s sake! Robyn’s bed could fold into a dining room table, and mine folded back into a couch. Bless the versatility. And it all provided us the opportunity to sing The Lion King soundtrack all week long, and what could be better? NOTHING.
Moving on! Tom & I are big fat fatties who plan our entire Disney trip around where we want to eat (I am not kidding about this), and I caught a whiff of a place called Sanaa (over in Kidani Village at the Animal Kingdom Lodge) where you could a – order bread service (sold) and b – watch giraffes prance by from your window whilst you gorged (double sold) – so I booked a reservation for our first night in town. In the most exciting of news, Tifni, my IG turned IRL BFF, and her fiancé, Josh, came to have dinner with us! YAAAAAAS FRIENDS!!! UNITING IN HOLY FRIEND UNITY AT DISNEY!
First time visiting the Animal Kingdom Lodge, woot woot!
This photo is called “Foliage” in honor of us going outside for once in our lives.
This photo is called “I can’t even be modest, my makeup looked so damn good I deserve an award”
ERRRRMAAAGERRRRD
The giraffe is in this photo, but the redhead also in this photo wasn’t smart enough to change the focus. So make it a game – FIND THE GIRAFFE!
Sadly, Sanaa was kind of meh – I probably wouldn’t choose to go there again, honestly. I’m just trying to find the nicest way to say it made me poop a lot, but I guess there’s no sugarcoating that. Alas (earwax), as Alanis would say, “you live, you learn” – and I’m glad that we at least experienced it once! While the food wasn’t my favorite, it was a truly beautiful restaurant – I really dug the scenery – AND GIRAFFES APPEARED, AS PROMISED. I also dug that Robyn got a little boozy and made me laugh so hard I almost peed myself. Finally, and most of all, it was great to reunite with Tifni & Josh, because they are hilarious and awesome and anyone who is willing to spend an evening with us deserves a medal. Someone get those two a medal.
That time Robyn was everything.
Just a few supermodels paling around together in the AKL gift shop, as supermodels tend to do. You know how it is.
So that is it for our first night! Next up: DAY AT MAGIC KINGDOM WITH TIFNI!
Ashley in Wonderland 