An Accidental Writer: Happy Accidents

Firstly, I stayed up until 2am last night reading Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi. As much as I loved Under the Never Sky, I loved this one even more! She's one of those authors who you read and then immediately feel bad about your own writing. She has such a way with words. It's ridiculous. I bow to you, Veronica Rossi. (And I may or may not have twittered her to tell her how much I liked the book. Too far? Possibly...)

Secondly, because my brain has been frying on non-stop book-related thoughts, the hubs and I decided yesterday was going to be a fun day. We took our time waking up, played with the pups, and then hopped in the car and drove north. The original goal was to just go over the TN state line (about 15 minutes from where we live) and buy a couple of scratch-off lottery tickets just for the heck of it. Well, we got to the state line, and I didn't slow down. I needed to see something new and to have a new experience.

15 minutes later, we pull into the downtown square of Fayetteville, TN. Let me tell you, it was like walking back in time to the 1950s. The square was gorgeous and rimmed with beautiful old buildings. Everything was clean and just... Ever watched Gilmore Girls (my favorite show EVER)? It was like walking into Stars Hollow. And even better? A lot of those old buildings were filled with antique stores! I'm not huge on antiquing, but every once in a while, I get a hankering for it, and yesterday was one of those times.

So anyways, we ended up eating at a home-owned restaurant called Honey's, which was an old-school diner. By the time we'd sat down in a booth, I was literally giddy from excitement. We ate too much food involving chili and cheese and even shared a fried coconut pie (stupid, stupid good), and then we walked through the square and checked out some of the shops. I found a vintage pyrex dish that I looove and that matches our kitchen (teal and white). And then I found an antique store that didn't take debit cards or credit cards. I felt like I was some demon terrorist swooping in from the twenty-first century trying to buy a couple of unique mason jars with my swipey card. Oh well.

I know it doesn't sound like much, but for two people who are only two weeks into the school year and are already feeling a little burned out from crazy students and crazy administrators, it was like a mini vacation. It had a lot of the charm of Savannah (my all-time favorite city) without the major traveling time. Perfect, perfect day.

And now for some photos, because I can:

I found this lovely flower in my garden today... just had to share it! And now I'm going to go weep in a corner because we still have 2 months of winter left.