"Oh my..."

That seems to be the phrase of the weekend.

Ok people, my mom and I are on a five day shopping adventure. 5 days, 6 states, 7 scrapbook stores, one VERY empty checking account.

Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

First, it's my birthday, you can email me for my address to send presents to. Just kidding.

So me and my mom planned a road trip. First thought was to San Antonio. We love the river walk, sea world, etc. Then my mom gets this bright idea to visit the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. And so it was.

We Googled all the scrapbook stores between Dallas and Lynchburg, saved our pennies, and here we are, 15 miles outside of Lynchburg, ready to "drink" in the local....culture?

Day 1
We set out from Dallas around 1330. I had an amazingly boring class for work to attend until noon, got out, had to eat something, then we got on our way. The plan was to make it to at least Little Rock that night. Ot first stop was in Greenville, TX. There is a wonderfully friendly scrapbook store there named "Scrapville." they just moved to a new building, so it appeared as though they were still getting their space squared away. (www.scrapvilleonline.com) we buzzed around Greenville for a short time, and decided that it was time to head to Little Rock. It was a VERY long trip down IH-30 to Little Rock. We made it at about 2230, exhausted.

We woke up the next morning and went straight to the scrapbook store in town, "Scrapbook Corner." the ladies there were SO friendly, and they even pointed us in the direction of the best scrapbook stores in Memphis, our next stop. They had such a wonderful selection of quality scrapbook supplies and stamps, you MUST stop in if you any where close to LR.

Ok, now the fun begins. Every day is an adventure with my mom, however, we had not gotten quite warmed up yet with our usual antics until we got to Memphis. The scrapbook stores up to this point were great, but let me tell you, the ones in Memphis are worth driving out of the way for.

We arrived in Memphis at around 1400. By this time, I'm pretty sure I'm getting some sacral breakdown from sitting in the car so long, and I'm almost afraid to get up because I just know that I'm about to throw a blood clot from my legs. All medical diagnoses aside, we arrived, and as of this point, were still intact (physically, anyways.) I had it on good authority (thank you Sarah N.) that Rendezvous in downtown Memphis was some BBQ that should not be missed. So, we Googled it. By this time, the temperature outside had dropped into the low fortys and it was most definitely raining on us. Not easily swayed in the face of Memphis BBQ, mom and I pressed on. Of course, if you have ever been to Rendezvous, you know it's stuck in a back alley, down some creepy stairs, and in a questionable area of town.

Our server was Fred. Fred did not smile. Fred did not greet us. Fred did not acknowledge our existence. Fred was in fact so unimpersonable, that when he went to change the trash bag in the garbage can sitting within two feet of my head behind me, I was quite certain he was readying a receptacle for my remains.

All that aside, the ribs were AWESOME.

...and we got a small smirk out of Fred as we left.

A visit to the Peabody to see the ducks. Let me just say, they are "ducking" crazy about ducks. Ok, that was bad, but really. Soap ducks, chocolate ducks, metal ducks. Ducks on cars, signs, purses and shoes. I mean really. The Peabody ducks are pretty cool, but it's excessive. Anyways, we didn't stay to watch the duck march. Instead we bought some Vera Bradley purses--our indulgence purchase for the week. Well worth it, might I add.

Well then you cant be in downtown Memphis and not visit Beale St. So off we went. VERY reminiscent of Bourbon St. It's a place so rich in history and culture, it's worth the four block walk from the Peabody. In the rain.

Ok so we loaded up, and decided to go to our hotel, which was the Wolfchase Hampton Inn, which, coincidentally, is in the same parking lot of one of the best scrapbook stores we have been to yet, Eclectica. this store is huge, and has simply the best selection of scrapbook/card making supplies we have seen. It ALMOST made us call our trip in Memphis instead of going ahead to the distillery. However, the Jack Daniel's Gods smiled upon us and we were able to get reservations at Miss Mary Bobo's, a treat that CANNOT be passed up. upon walking into the store, our only thoughts were "oh my." hence, the title of this entry. As in "oh my, there goes all our money...."

The is also a great scrapbooking store about .5 miles from Eclectica called Archivers. This is a chain store (which is new to me) and they have a great selection of merchandise that most individually owned store don't carry, and at very affordable prices. We signed up for a Copic marker class, and this particular store happened to have a work area that we could use for free. Our plan developed to show up when the doors opened to craft, at ten our class, then go to Lynchburg.

And here we sit. Hampton Inn in Tullahoma. Broke, sore, and tired.

I wouldn't change it for the world.

More to come,
Abby