Hot Springs, AR Mini Vacation: 2/2

 Here are some pics from our last day in Hot Springs.

For those of you just tuning in, me and the rest of the Ramsey Clan went to Hot Springs, AR for a mini post-Christmas vacation.

We went downtown and did a bit of strolling around. We decided to take a tour of one of Hot Springs many bathhouses. Many of the bathhouses were built in the early 1900s and now some of them just serve as street decor, some are now cafes, some have been converted into modern spas, but the one we visited has been kept intact for history's sake.

 In my last post I mentioned that Hot Springs is best known for its hot springs.

Well, as you can see here this decorative fountain is squirting toasty warm natural water right from underground.

 In fact pretty much every business had a fountain in front of it. There are even huge public drinking fountains around so you can fill up your water bottles and jugs and take home as much clean pure water as you want.

The tour of the bathhouse was actually pretty boring. Not because there weren't cool and interesting things to see but because the tour guide was a total windbag.

It took him foooooorever to explain each room and everything in it.

 This amazing stained glass ceiling art can be found in the men's bath room.  

 I bet that in 1916 if the men's wives knew what was looking down at them from the ceiling, they would never be allowed to set foot in Arkansas again.

 So here's a bit of the fancy equipment used back in the 1900s and beyond for hydrotherapy. I wasn't really listening to what the tour guide was saying because he was sooooo boring. I only caught a wee bit of what he said about these contraptions.

#1. "The Spray You Raw"

Step into this head to toe shower and have the living hell blasted right out of your body though violent jets of pulsating water.

#2. "The Bendover"

A device that's waist high and could possibly be used for self administered aqua enema... or just a nice pleasant spritzing.

#3. "The Don't Ask Don't Tell"

Get inside one of these cozy metal boxes, peek your head out the top and wait for a surprise. Could be something nice... could be something more than nice... perhaps- pleasurable?

If you see a man with a look of ecstasy plastered about his face whilst in his metal box, never bother him to share what he has received. You wouldn't want to ruin the surprise would you?

Don't ask. Don't tell.

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Ok, yeah. Those aren't entirely accurate descriptions...I should probably pay better attention next time.

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Hot Springs, AR Mini Vacation: 1/2

Hot Springs, AR mini vacation post #1

Instead of bombarding your brain with a bunch of boring old text and your screen with a million photos, I'm just going to share with you a few pics from our mini vacation in Hot Springs, AR (along with brief descriptions of what's going on). And because I'm super nice, I'm going to break down what would be one massive post into two smaller ones.

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Sooooo, here are some photos from the weekend-after-Christmas Ramsey family vacation.

By the way, Hot Springs is a small touristy town in Arkansas, best known for its... hot springs...

On the two hour drive to Hot Springs, I learned that a glove box is the perfect place to put yarn so it doesn't get dirty and tangled and smashed up on the floorboard.

I. Is. Brilliant.

  We all stayed in a cute little cabin that had rocks outside that had been decorated by previous renters. If I had known it acceptable to do this, I would have brought a bit of paint... or at least some nail polish as it seems that's what some people have used.

 When we got there we ate some lunch and opened presents...

 River's Auntie painted this lovely Yellow Submarine painting for his nursery per my request.

 And I received this crazy awesome print from my bro and sis in-law who clearly understand my taste... or maybe they took a random swing? but they definitely hit the nail right on the head.

 Actually I got A LOT of gifts but I'll share those in my next post.

River with his Granny and Gramps, Auntie and cousin.

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Later that evening we went to Garvan Woodland Gardens which is an ENORMOUS park that has been completely decked out in Christmas lights.

 Check this out. These vellum lanterns were all over the place. Aren't they pretty?!?!

 

 This lighted tree was incredibly tall and the lights were perfectly in sync with the music that played from it. It might look cool in the pics, but there was something mildly creepy about it...

 A lot of the photos I took required the flash on my camera so a lot of them came out looking like horrific stills from the Blair Witch Project so it was pretty easy to weed out what not to post.

 Also, in the gardens is this glass and wood chapel, a VERY popular wedding venue here in the south. It was pretty cool to finally see it in person.

We went back to the cabin, had a bit of dinner and settled down for bed...

...and we accidently forgot pack River's play pen that also serves as his crib. So the poor little guy got to sleep on a pallet on the floor. He didn't seem to mind too much, though. It was a rather cozy setup.

Well, stay tuned for part 2 of our little family vacation: Bath houses, grumpiness and warm water.

and so this is Christmas...

Hey there everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Mine was so-so. Nothing to shout about.

I visited my dad in Marshall and then went to my mom's in Atlanta (TX), went home, knitted a bit and watched some crime investigation shows on Netflix with the husband.

One of husband's gift from me to him.

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of photos to share from River's first Christmas. I feel kind of bad about that, but I just wasn't in the mood for snapping photos. I was in a bit of a huffy mood because we woke up late and my husband's super relaxed pace just put us further behind on our travel plans.

 

 The day after Christmas, thanks to a gift card from my husband's boss, we were able to go out to our favorite sushi place and stuff our faces with raw fish goodness. Even river got to enjoy some delicious steamed shrimp dumplings for the first time.

 Now I'm getting us all packed up to stalk Vix into India... woops I mean - for a mini family vacation in Hot Springs Arkansas with the rest of the Ramsey clan. We're only going to spend the night instead of the whole weekend because

#1, the husband is the manager of the trailer park we live in and we can't stay away for too long.

AND

#2, packing for all three of us for a three day trip requires some serious cargo space and that, we do not have in my tiny Hyundai Accent.

See? Just look at River's pile on the right for just spending the night. Babies need double everything when traveling, you know - with all the drooling and random pukes, leaking diapers, crapsidents and messy eating.

Yeah, babies can be pretty gross sometimes.

That's not including his play pen, walker, bottles and stroller and three boxes of baklava and Christmas presents for the rest of the family!

Alrighty folks. Time to go cook dinner... and by cook diner, I mean heat up some leftover Christmas turkey. Sorry I'm so behind on my blog reading and I'll only get further behind since I'll be away for two days but I promise I'll do some snooping reading when I get back!

See ya soon!



Happy Holliedays... again...

Happy Holliedays!! I'm sure I've titled posts that before but, man how I love having such a festive name.

(Here, we also celebrate Hollieween as well.)

So, it's Christmas Eve and I'm ready to tackle tomorrow like a roid-raged quarterback.

The house is clean. The presents have long since been bought and wrapped and I even have our Christmas outfits picked out for tomorrow.

I. Am. Ready.

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Eh, yesterday for errand running I wore a dress I haven't worn since I was pregnant with River. I've been too afraid to even try it on for fear my ever growing bosom would bust the fabric, but luckily there was a little stretch left and my new thrifted sweater provided decent coverage.

 There's really not anything left for me to do today to further prepare for tomorrow so I've decided to start knitting a scarf. As you can see I'm really not the best knitter. I taught myself how to knit out of sheer curiosity a few years ago and never tried to perfect the skill. It's not even a hobby. I just like having something to do with my hands and now is the perfect time to start on a new project .

Ok really: If I'm knitting... that means I'm bored.

So, I'm going to give myself a late Christmas present probably next month. A new tattoo! I've saved up my change and I've picked out my design. Tattoos around here aren't very expensive. I can probably have this done by a good artist for about $50.

The bigger piece will go on my right forearm and the smaller piece will go a little ways below it on my wrist.

You like?? 

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Under $20 outfit:

Dress: Salvation Army

Sweater: Good Samaritan Charities

Scarf: www.wholesalesarong.com (from my fleamarket days)

Leggings: Etsy

Boots: Hand-me-downs

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Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

heave ho!

I got this dress at a street festival in Tarrytown, NY earlier this summer. It looked amazing on the mannequin but on me, it looks like one of my late-grandmothers house dresses.  I tucked it away in the closet until I could figure out how to make it look less... lazy hippie housewife-ish.

Since the weather was unseasonably warm yesterday, I decided to give it another shot. It's very lightweight so it worked perfect for my outings in the confused winter weather.

AND thanks to a new brand of bras I found online, my massive boobins were hoisted high enough for a little belt cinching (thanks also to a ridiculously tight tummy tucker I'm wearing under my clothes. Shhh... my little secret.)

Vest thingy: www.599fashion.com

Dress: NY street fest

Belt: Target clearance
Boots: Hand-me-downs

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Yesterday I decided to go out and do something that I truly hate to do: thrift shopping.

I'm sure you've heard enough complaining from me about how much the thrift stores here suck, so I'll spare you the dead horse beatings and state simply for my newest followers that... our thrift stores suck. But oddly enough I had a pretty decent run this time.

I'm not going to share pics of every dang thing I bought - I don't want to bore you, so here's just a few of my faves from my haul.

 

 This adorable vintage yellow dress is a RARE find since no one here sells vintage clothing. I found it at Goodwill. It whimpered and gave me big puppy dog eyes, crying, "Take me home please? No one wants me. They're going to throw me away if I don't sell just like all the other vintage dresses! Save me!"

It's several sizes too small for me but it's in absolute perfect condition so I'll probably list in in my shop so it can find a new owner - someone who will love her as much as I do.

 I also scored these strange floral faux alligator loafers for $1.50 at Good Samaritan charities.

 A much lusted after wool cape for $3

 And another rare vintage Goodwill find: A cute little lace hat.

I've been wanting a hat like this forever!!

At every shop I visited I made sure to snatch up every Christmas album I could find for an early Christmas present my husband surprised me with last week.

I asked for a new record play and that's what I got!

 It's a late 70s Curtis Mathes console in pristine condition. He didn't tell me the price but from what I understand, the shop owner was practically giving it away.

 My old record player was in such bad shape, my albums sounded like they were being played underwater so now I can finally listen to my favorite records and stop wasting my money downloading the music I can find for mere pennies at garage sales and flea markets!

Um... this particular Shins record didn't cost pennies though... It was a gift. There's no way I'm paying more than a dollar for an album. Man I'm cheap.

See you guys later. I'm off to the rain forest to find a cure for lupus and herpes.

Bye!