Snaps from Black Friday (in Atlanta!)

  Hey!

This post is long overdue! For Black Friday, my family spontaneously decided to go to ATLANTA, which is totally unheard of and ridiculous since I have the most unspontaneous family of all time. Thanks to my wonderfully cuckoo mother, though, we went! H&M first, followed by a massive mall, Sublime Donuts, Goodwill (no special sales or anything but seriously the best Goodwill in Georgia and Tennessee), and Nordstrom Rack (!!).
    Anyway, here are some quick snaps from that night/early morning!

 

1) H&M at Atlantic Station

2) & 3) Sublime Donuts! A new Atlanta tradition for us I guess. Banana something and Coffee something were delicious! :)

4) TOMS WEDGES were at the Goodwill! Told you this place was snazzy.

5) Nordstrom Rack!!

6) Deep discounts at said Rack 7) Some of my lovely H&M haul!

8) Cirque Du Soleil was in town... Not my cup of tea, but the tents were neat!

9) The total haul! (The bags says something; I didn't watermark them!)

 

    The lines at H&M were unreal! We waited about an hour and a half in line to get in (it's all in the experience, man!), then an hour and a half to get out! And don't forget about actually checking the products out... My brother got 2x much stuff as I did, and I got a lot. The people behind us clapped when we left. No joke.

      Unfortunately for this eager beaver, I won't be able to see 90% of what I got until Christmas! "Santa may have taken some of it..." says my mom when I ask where it disappeared to. Oh, mom.

 

    It was such a great time! My brother may have been the crankiest jerk of all time (what's new, though?), but my mom and I had a ball. I've gotta say, I really love Atlanta. I can't explain it; it's just like a breath of fresh air. It may have something to do with always having a great time when I go like what is arguably the best night of my entire life, but I think it's just a fantastic city.

 

   Oh, and to those outside of the U.S. -- Black Friday is the early morning after Thanksgiving, where there's a massive, massive rush to all the Christmas Sales. Seriously, massive. People have died. I'm not kidding.

 

  Have you gotten in on any holiday sales? What'd you score?

 

  xoxo,

   Zoe

 

The Zoo!

  Hey!

 

   Back on Wednesday, I went to the Nashville Zoo to see the 6-month-old giraffe. I couldn't not look at all the exhibits, though, so here are the photos from my favorite ones.. Warning: Picture heavy! :)

 

  

   

  

 

 

    The red pandas were off-exhibit to make room for the Clouded Leopard cubs. D': The red pandas have been my recent obsession lately (how could you not be obsessed with this?!), so it was a bummer. We asked the keepers where they were, and there's a whole little background: the main one is really old, so they retired him and moved him to a different zoo (!!! not euthanized or anything tragic!!), and they just got a brand new PAIR of red pandas that'll be on exhibit soon. PAIR OF RED PANDAS. PAIR. I'm so excited for next time! :)

 

 When's the last time you went to the zoo? What's your favorite exhibit to see?

 

xoxo,

Zoe

Oh, Europe! How I Long for Thou!

 Bonjour!

 Source

   Europe. A magical continent, full of countries, food, and adventures. That I've never been to, but want to visit.
  Desperately.

 

 Source

  A year ago, I asked my mom if we could go to Europe. After the wake-up call of her scoff, I re-designed my plan, and, eventually, its presentation. Here's what I said:

  "If we were to go to Europe, we could backpack across multiple countries in a matter of two weeks! We could visit all the famous places we've ever seen, and bond as a family. You and I both want the time of our lives, and this could be it!"

  So maybe I went overboard with the "time of our lives" deal, but it worked. After much negotiating, here's what we came up with: the summer after this one and the next one, we'll go backpacking in Europe for two weeks. We won't go on any vacations starting after fall break of next year, and we won't spend over ten grand. We won't tell dad until the summer before, so he doesn't have a fit.

    That was last Christmas, when we decided. Since then, it's near all I can think about. Sometimes, I'll lie awake thinking about it. It's my dream, and I don't know what I'd do if I lost it.
 
   How would I lose it? There's too many ways to count. Let's start with money. It could get too expensive. Then go to unexpected family problems: death, disease. Probably the biggest and most obvious? My dad. He could say no. It's not like he's a healthy young guy--he'll turn 57 in January, he has a pace-maker, and he still smokes. I try not to think about that, though.
 

  Since the initial rough draft, I've been kind of planning the trip (it's still extremely coarse, though). I've got seven countries/cities down for the two weeks: Paris, Florence, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Amsterdam, London. I had to ax Germany and Transylvania, to my great disappointment; as well as Scotland and Dublin, to my minor disappointment (I just wanted to see the Loch Ness Monster, okay?)

    

  We'd go on a train everywhere (I've never been on a train!), sleeping on the way. We'd see places like the Sherlock Museum and the Louvre, and go on things like the London Eye. It'd be the adventure of a lifetime!

   Back to finance, though. For all of those places, it's at least $2200 per ticket. Per ticket. That's fair, considering. It's not desirable, though. There's four of us. Four. With a budget of 10 grand? I don't know how it'll work.

 

    What I mentioned is just what I've researched and put into my Europe folder. That glorious little folder is what keeps me going. I simply don't know what I'll do if we're not able to go. It's my beacon of light on the dark sea of teen anguish.

 xoxo,

     Zoe

Egyptian Exhibits & Grocery Store Adventures

  Hello, hello!

   On Saturday, I finally went to a much-anticipated museum exhibit at an extremely lovely museum. This exhibit, "To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures", displayed Egyptian artifacts from the Brooklyn Museum.

   As with most real-artifact exhibits, this array of objects was absolutely wonderful. Sadly, this is the last major exhibit of the 2011 season. With Andy Warhol as this year's highlight, I hope next season will be just as remarkable!

   Recently, I went to Whole Foods Market for the first-time, in search of the expectedly-limited Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor, Schweddy Balls. Before continuing, I should probably mention that Schweddy Balls is an infamous SNL skit (!), and, as a flavor, is currently under the fire of a mom organization, making it sold in only 30% of usual Ben & Jerry's retailers. Therefore, it had to be mine.

  Success! I was overjoyed by the Balls; I can't wait to try it. So after my initial Schweddy encounter, it was time to explore the store--I was ready to see what all this "organic" hype was about.

    In the end, I found what I wanted and more--like, two drinks I've been looking for EVERYWHERE: Synergy and Honest Tea. Honest Tea bottlecaps have quotes on them, so I don't think my obsession really needs to be spoken.

    Have you ever been to an Egyptian exhibit? Or been psyched with your finds at an organic grocery store?

  xoxo,
      Zoe

Vacation: Orlando, Florida -- July 5th --11th, 2011

     ---Originally posted on 7/14/11 to Teenage Times--- 
    
 
   Hey hey.
 To start off, I just want to apologize for being a day later. Now we can start.

                         

   Day One: Road Trip
         We drove “straight through” for an unknown amount of hours, 10+, I think. We arrived at our “villa” (really? A villa is either a little house in France or a massive Las Vegas hotel room, okay?) late at night. My parents, brother, dog, and cat were all there. Hooray.
  
    Day Two: Shopping
        First, we went to this KILLER Japanese store; most everything was 89 cents! Score! I got several things, including four pairs of $2.49 jelly flats. I’ve been looking for good jellies for a solid three years, man.
     Next, we went to Big Top by AKT. We had a Groupon(just like with freaking anything else we did…actually, it’s a good thing, they never would’ve been discovered otherwise), so it was on the cheap. Anyway, Big Top is a shirt-making company. They even make special designs for the customer; my brother had a purple elephant made for his girlfriend(don’t even ask). I really wanted to incorporate the adorable whale graphic and a cassette, but how? This is what happened:
                      

  Get it? It’s not clever if you make me explain it.
       Anyway, the service and staff were incredible. You’re going to Orlando? Swing by Big Top by AKT, for sure.
     After this, we dropped off the males at the movies and went shopping. H&M, BABY! Finally. You know how much I’ve been dying to go here! I tried on around 15 things, and although only about five worked, it was still a pretty cool experience shopping there. Eventually, we got to Orlando Premium Outlets. Not the fancy International one, but the other. I scored at Levi’s, and got a Venomous Villains MAC lipglass at another place. My mom got it for me. She’s pretty cool sometimes. I’ll definitely do a review on it, at some point.
 
    Day Three: Comedy Club
       On the third day, due to our vacation deal, a hunk of our morning was taken. After this and a horrific pool sunburn, we went to Sak’s Comedy Lab in Downtown(GROUPON ALERT!). There were “Dueling Comedians”. When I first heard “all ages humor”, I got bummed. My humor isn’t really for all ages. However, the teams both did an excellent job, and I really enjoyed the experience. After this, we had a bit of time, and saw Bad Teacher. I wish Horrible Bosses had already been out instead! Darn.
  
   Day Four: Universal Studios
      Remember how excited I was for the Boys Like Girls concert? Well, my mom and I thought the concert was at Islands of Adventure, which is why we decided to go here today and there tomorrow(Saturday, the day of the concert). Well, we were wrong. Lame! No concert for us. Anyway, the park was awesome, the Simpsons ride was terrific, I got a load of pressed pennies(I collect those, you know).

    Day Five: Universal’s Islands of Adventure
      Since we had been just last year, we skipped to Harry Potter, in the park’s rear. OMFGITSHOGSMEADEIWILLDIE moment, then we went to Zonko’s, HoneyDukes, and stood in awe at the line for Dervish & Banges, the Owl Post, and especially Ollivander’s. Next, the Hippogriff ride! YEAH. The line was insane! It was a good young person ride. After this, the Dragon Challenge! The wait? Five freaking minutes. That’s 25 less than the Hippogriff ride. Anyway, this loopy coaster blew my mind, and made my brother obsess of hardcore coasters for the rest of the day.
    After seeing the 60 minute wait for the castle, we decided to come back to Harry later, and explored the rest of the park. Like the Spiderman, Hulk, and Dr. Seuss parts. We saw a Lost Continent show before returning later. By now, we were hungry. And you’ll never guess where we at dinner… The Three Broomsticks! Dude! It was awesome! I got Cornish Pasties because that was the only thing that sounded unusual; it was delicious. I drank, of course, butterbeer. It was so rich. I actually have a recipe for it; I might post it eventually. Anyway, we then waited in line of Ollivander’s. We finally got it to the adorable little show, then went to Dervish & Banges through it. I got a wand! YES! Checked out the Owl Post, then on to the castle.
    A 75 minute wait. Dude. Not even cool. The line never ended! After a good 75 minutes, we were there! The ride? Um? Let’s just say it was the FREAKING BEST RIDE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD EVER. It was pretty epic, to say the least.
    We swung by HoneyDukes (it was already closing time, but the place was still packed), where I bought some Every Flavor Beans. Special tip: Don’t buy the teeny $11 box, go to the lever, grab a bag, and fill it high with the exact same beans…just pay half the price. Grabbed a Pumpkin Juice, too. Before leaving, we swung by a Butterbeer stand and grabbed one in one of those special mugs. After that, it was way past closing time, and we headed out.

    
    Digging that crappy hotel bedding? Oh, there’s a Gryffindor keychain, too.

  
 I have 8,000 photos, but here’s some used butterbeer & a windowdisplay cat

  Day Six: Snorkel, Snorkel!
      We arose around 6 a.m. (my mother and myself), and after a two-hour drive, we found the rinky-dink, backwoods town that the surprisingly legit and professional American Pro Diving Center was in. I was incredibly nervous; I’m not a strong swimmer, at all. Add that to the list of things I suck at(remember my multiple baking rants?). Anyway, after check-in they suited us in our wetsuits, fins, and snorkels + had us watch a proper behavior video, we left to Pete’s Pier. There, we loaded onto a boat and, in around 5 minutes, found an enormous mother manatee. Since I said mother, you know there must be a BABY!! There was. We found this adorable one-month-old male swimming around, and played with us the entire time. It was glorious. I had a lifejacket under my arm…like I said, I’m not a strong swimmer, so they accommodated me with said lifejacket. The epic adventure ended sometime later. It was totally, absolutely, amazing. We never would’ve found it without Groupon!
               
    This is my favorite. If you decide to do this, bring an underwater camera!
   
    Day Seven: Departure
       Aw, shoot. It’s closing time, as Semisonic would say. We left ridiculously early, but came back early–able to catch up on all our missed TV shows. (True Blood, anyone?)
     …And that’s our Orlando vacation! It was totally rad. Our next vacation will be on Fall Break to the gorgeous Smokies. As for this one? It was totally irreplaceable.
  
 Check back on Saturday for some vacation/packing tips.

      xoxo,
          Zoe
 (Original tags: adventure, american pro diving center, bad swimmer, bad teacher, big top by akt, boys like girls, brother, butterbeer, cassette, castle, collection, comedy club, cornish pasties, dervish & banges, dragon challenge, dueling comedians, epic, every flavor jellybeans, fins, florida, groupon, gryffindor, H&M, harry potter, hippogriff, hogsmeade, hogwarts, honeydukes, incredible, instructional video, islands of adventure, japanese store, keychain, lifejacket, lipglass, longass line, mac, manatee, movie, ollivanders, orlando, premium outlets, pressed pennies, pumpkin juice, road trip, roller coaster, sak's comedy lab, shopping, snorkeling, snorkels, the owl post, the simpsons, the three broomsticks, universal studios, vacation, venomous villians, villa, wand, wetsuits, whale, wild animal encounter, zonkos)