Lucy and Annabelle - grace grits and gardening

Lucy and Annabelle go Downtown

July 14, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Lucy and Annabelle love their walks and, lucky for me, Fayetteville is a very walkable city with a fun downtown area. We’ve been living here about ten months now, and so yes, people are beginning to recognize the “girls” when we are out and about. They’re popular that way.

Recently, we explored downtown starting with Fayetteville’s Farmer’s Market. And by the way, Fayetteville’s Farmer’s Market is THE place to be on Saturday. Like the Wal-Mart in my hometown only not. People bring their dogs and babies and the local farmers sell wondrous produce and flowers. There’s live music and crafts, too.

Lucy loves the crowd and activity. Annabelle gets a little nervous and prefers to hang out in the peripheral area. All in all, it’s a good dog watching / people watching place with the bonus of fresh veggies and fruit.

After the excitement of Farmer’s Market, they pulled me toward Chunky Dunk Milk + Cookies. I think it was the signage that lured them over.

Seriously. Look at that cookie sandwich. It’s called Regina George Got Hit By a Bus. Ha. If you are a fan of Mean Girls, you know she so deserved it. Ingredients = 2 chocolate chip cookies, fudge sauce, vanilla icing, and crumbled sugar cookies. Wowza.

Lucy and Annabelle liked the picnic tables and water bowl.

I gotta admit I kinda loved the garden on the back of the Chunky Dunk food truck. Food truck gardens should be a thing.

Next stop, The Curious Book Shoppe on Block. First of all, I’m partial to any shoppe with an “e” on the end. That one extra vowel makes the place seem more quaint in an enchanted sort of way—like maybe tucked within a secret shelf they sell magic wands or crystals than cure allergies or something equally exotic. And the fact that this shoppe is smaller than Harry Potter’s room underneath the stairs makes it even more intriguing.

Lucy and Annabelle enjoyed their visit, but it was their first book shoppe so they really had no frame of reference.

On the way home, Annabelle stopped for a quick drink in this natural tree root dog bowl. Water slurped out in the wild is always best. Or so I’m told.

Naps all around when we got home. Stay tuned for Lucy and Annabelle’s next adventure.

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Lucy & Annabelle go exploring. @ExpFayetteville #ChunkyDunk #CuriousBookShoppe #FayettevilleFarmersMkt #schnauzers[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:
Rufus Thomas, Walking the Dog

Road Trip to Texas (food, friends, Mavs who forgot to show)

March 24, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Hey. I’ve been out of town. The girls (Lucy and Annabelle) and I took a little road trip to Texas. I saw my niece perform in her high school musical—always a fun thing!—ate at some of my favorite restaurants, saw the Dallas Mavericks lose to the Memphis Grizzlies, and hung out with a few friends. Now we are back in Fayetteville, which by the way, is in full spring bloom. Gorgeous!

Fayetteville blooms!

Since I can’t think of anything clever to say, I’ll share a few pictures of the weekend.

I love seeing a random balloon floating on the water or sailing through the sky. And I saw one in Las Colinas.

Las Colinas, Irving, Texas – Red Balloon!

John and I took the dogs for a walk along Campion Trail smack dab in Las Colinas near a branch of the Trinity River. Nice! Annabelle promptly picked up THREE ticks. Not so nice!

Campion Trail, Las Colinas

We had fantastic seats at the Dallas Mavericks game (my Mother’s Christmas gift to John). Even though the Mavs forgot to show (rude), we had a great time. Riding the Dart rail to ACC felt very urban and eliminated the whole parking thing. I had a huge, ice cold beer and a yummy hot dog, so all was not lost. Plus, the Grizzlies are my backup team anyway.

We spent time with good friends in our old Munger Place neighborhood. Lucy and Annabelle enjoyed seeing their buddy, Chester, who kept a lookout for the Scalini’s pizza man.

Yes, we drove by our house which I must say makes me cringe a little. The front room, which was painted a soothing (to us) paint color has been replaced with red raspberry that glows like a beacon down Worth Street. To each her own.

How was your weekend?

[tweetthis]Roadtripping. #WeeklyVenture @DallasMavs @lascolinastex #CampionTrail @sarahshotts[/tweetthis]

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Dallas Mavs Run DMC