Mas Tacos, Por Favor

This past weekend started on Thursday for me. Since I work at a university, they gave us a couple of days off for Spring Break. It worked out perfectly because there was a concert I wanted to go to this weekend (more on that in another post). Since the concert was in Nashville, I just planned on being there for a couple of days to hang out with Alanna. Our first stop when I got there on Friday was Mas Tacos (thanks for the suggestion, Kaelah!)

Tacos are one of my favorite foods, specifically fish tacos. I don't mean fast-food nasty Taco Bell tacos, I mean delicious soft tacos with real meat and fresh delicious toppings in them. These were some of the best I've had! I knew I would love it as soon as we walked in. It was small, had a simple menu, and wasn't so hipster that it was annoying.  I ordered a tilapia taco and one with pulled pork, and both were incredible. It was the perfect beginning to a really fun weekend. I promise you Alanna said "I want to go get some more tacos" to me at least 10 more times that day. They were that good.

If you're ever in Nashville, you should definitely look up Mas Tacos! I think they have a food truck as well, but we just went to the regular ole immobile restaurant. Also, if you go, swing by Jackson and take me with you :)

H.R.H. Dumplin's

I've found a new benefit to being friends with Margaret. Besides being an outfit photographer and expert thrifting partner, she invited me to accompany her to one of Jackson's favorite local eateries, H.R.H. Dumplin's, for a restaurant review. I haven't been to Dumplin's since I was a wee one, but that's not because it's not good. It's actually a great little place, it's just not the type of place I generally frequent. My boss says it's "frou frou" and I think that's a good way of putting it. The atmosphere is very dainty and simple, and it smells vaguely similar to a school cafeteria. It's a mostly older crowd, but I kind of liked it. You know what older people are? Quiet...and pleasant (most of the time).
 

 amazing roll and strawberry butter

Dumpin's is mostly known for their desserts. They make amazing cakes for weddings and other special events, and they're pretty much famous around town just for that. I chose an apple dumplin', which was basically a pastry encrusted baked apple with the sweetest caramel sauce I've ever tasted. I couldn't even eat half of it, it was so sweet. But boy oh boy was is delicious! Margaret got the chocolate covered strawberry cake (below). It was ok...I was a much bigger fan of the apple dumplin'. I think the cake was too cold. They keep them in a refrigerator, so it was kind of hard.

details:

shirt, cardigan, jeans: Target

bag: thrifted

shoes: Bass

earrings: It's a Stitch on Etsy

necklace: Dreamy Vintage on Etsy

The little shopping center that Dumplin's is located in is adorable! The spa I go to for massages is there (behind me), so it's got relaxing connotations for me. Even though I wasn't wearing anything particularly special we decided to take outfit pictures. We hadn't made fools enough of ourselves by taking pictures of every food item that hit our table inside, so we trounced around outside too. What else do you expect two bloggers to do when they get together?

 Hey let me frolic through these columns! That won't be weird.

Stepped off into the flower bed so it looks like I'm in a jungle. Can I just say how much I love this cardigan? I LOVE THIS CARDIGAN SO MUCH. It's such a versatile shade of green, and it's the perfect length for me. Sheesh, I just love it. I think it was something like $12 at Target. I do love to buy vintage and handmade when I can, but man does Target have some good sales.

Thank you all for reading my reviews of local restaurants on here. I love to blog about places in town, for all of my local readers, but I know a lot of you don't live around here. I wish I could transport you all here to try these places! Anyway, everyone have a wonderful weekend, and don't forget about losing an our Sunday (except Arizona and Hawaii, you lucky ducks)!

Hadley's

We have a nice little tradition around the office, where we go out to lunch for everyone's birthday. This past week we went out for Tim's birthday (he's our news and media relations guy). He decided he wanted to try this new place in town called Hadley's, which is just right down the road from the office. It's a locally owned restaurant that the owner is planning on franchising eventually. I think the concept is Southern fast food or something like that.

The day we planned to go turned out to be a gorgeous day, so several of us decided to walk...a preemptive strike, if you will.

It was a relatively pleasant experience. The food didn't wow me, but there were some interesting things to choose from on the menu, and the staff was very friendly. The place itself seemed really well thought-out and designed, so I appreciated that. I notice that a lot of local places don't put any time into their branding, and it bothers me.

The walls were plastered with Southern phrases, and while that is quite cheesy, I did find myself laughing at some of the phrases that I hear people say often. Of course they mis-punctuated y'all. IT'S A CONTRACTION FOR YOU ALL NOT YA ALL! Everyone reading this please take note...it's y'all, not ya'll. Ok, now that that's over... let's move on.

I haven't been sticking to my healthy lifestyle as much as I usually do. I guess you go through ups and downs with everything, but my nutrition has been at a major down lately. I definitely allow myself splurges, but it ceases to be a splurge when it's every other day. ANYWAY, I got a slawburger with sweet potato fries and unsweet tea. What's a slawburger? Exactly what it sounds like. I love slaw...on anything. I wish mayonnaise wasn't so fatty, because I would be happy just slathering slaw on everything.

I don't think this will become a regular stop for me...especially since I don't make a habit of eating out, but I do think that you should give it a try if you're local!

Burrito Meal

Yesterday was the Robster's birthday! Rob (or melodrobmatic, as we like to lovingly call him) is our student designer in the office, and we like to be nice to our student designers occasionally. One of his favorite restaurants in town is this hole-in-the-wall called Burrito Meal, so we all went there. I've always heard good things about Burrito Meal, but had never been myself. It's pretty simple...just burritos and other simple things for $5-6. It's about as plain, simple and jankity as you can get, but it's honestly pretty awesome. I'd rather go here than Moe's ANY DAY (but that's mainly because I detest Moe's).

I didn't want to get too adventurous, so I just got a chorizo burrito. It.was.incredible. The owner uses this sauce he came up with that is just the right amount sweet and spicy...it's delicious. The burrito was so big, I could have made two meals from it, but it was hard not to eat it all. I think next time, I'll plan on taking some home so I don't spend the rest of the afternoon in agony from being so full.

Note to self: burrito and dr. pepper for lunch does not jive well with a late day run.

Ok, but seriously, if you're in town...try out Burrito Meal. It's on Airways currently, but the rumor is that they are moving a little farther North. Don't be turned off by the hole-in-the-wall appearance...in this case you really can't judge the book by it's cover.

Friends and Food in Nashville

I posted about part of my Saturday the other day, but here is the rest! The main reason for Emily and me traveling to Nashville was to see our dear friend Libby finish her half marathon. We parked near 10 mile mark and based on the pace leaders figured out when she might come by. We were there just a few minutes, and all of the sudden there she was! We cheered... she smiled... it was nice. This was only about a block away from the finish line, so we headed over to get a good spot. People were already running in, and we eventually worked our way to the front to see her when she finished.

We are so proud of her! She worked really hard, and did so well. Her mom was walking it, so we hung out for a while and waited to cheer her on as she finished. It's really hard to describe the atmosphere at this race. I've been to races where people cheer you on, but this was insane. A lot of people finishing celebrated with cartwheels and other things that require much more energy than I would have after 13.1 miles. I don't think most races have this much hoopla, but they should!

After Libby got cleaned up and rested, we went to Elliston Place Soda Shop. Libby had passed it during the race and decided that's what she wanted. Who are we to deny a girl that just ran a half marathon?! I'm so glad we ended up going there because it was adorable. The waitress that served us was an absolute sweetheart, and the food was delicious as well. Of course we also indulged in some milk shakes...yummmmm.

Jukebox on the wall. Unfortunately it didn't work...I wanted to play Boogie Shoes!

This past Saturday was exactly what a Saturday should be. I got to see my friends, get out of town, shop, and eat great food. The perfect (though slightly hot) weather also had a lot to do with how much I enjoyed the day. I hope I get to have another "perfect" Saturday again soon!

Tulum

I am a little ashamed that it has taken me this long to blog about my favorite restaurant in town. Tulum is a Fresh Mexican Grill place that has a really beachy, light-hearted feel. If I can look past the Comic-Sans branding you KNOW I must love the food. (This is coming from the girl who will choose not to buy something based solely on the font on the label...usually Comic Sans, Curlz, Jokerman, or *shiver* Papyrus)

Anyway, enough about ugly fonts. THIS PLACE IS THE BOMB...yes I said it, the bomb...we all loved the 90s. It took me a couple of visits to get up the courage to try fish tacos, but OH MY they are good. I also love the tortas there, carne asada or machacha. I had fish tacos this Sunday because I'd recently eaten the ones at Cheddar's and needed to remind myself what a good fish taco should taste like (sorry, Cheddar's...you just don't measure up).

There they are in all their glory...fish.tacos. Obviously I couldn't restrain myself from taking a few bites before I took the picture. There are other things I love about Tulum other than the great fish tacos. You order at the front and they bring your food out, so it's pretty quick usually. I like that you can get your own salsa and drinks too. The tomatillo is SO GOOD. The back patio is also pretty nice. I've only sat out there twice, but I love the atmosphere. I do think they need a water installation or something out there to drown out the cars. Other than that, though, it's pretty perfect.

For those that read my blog and live here, you need to try this place out! If you don't live here, you should hop on a plane and give me a call. I'm buyin'!

Thai Cafe

This little town doesn't have a ton of good places, but the few we do have are really good! This one local place called Thai Cafe is definitely one of my favorites. I love the bright colors inside, and everyone has always been extremely nice there. They are slow sometimes and they have really limited hours, but the friendly atmosphere and great food make up for it. Rhett and I have been there together a few times, and love their noodles.

I hate that the local places are always the most deserted. I enjoy places like this because it's unique to the area instead of being just like everything else. I think Jackson just isn't a good place for people to start a business...most of them don't survive. I think a lot of it has to do with locations (people can't afford the prime locations that corporations can get) and lack of advertising. I don't get why people don't see the value in advertising. It's ESSENTIAL for getting customers. Speaking of local business...my favorite local coffee roaster/cafe is closing on Friday. It's mostly because the owner moved and couldn't find anyone to buy it. I know it's dumb, but I'm actually really upset about it. I guess life goes on, but Gusta Java is going to leave a huge hole in the Jackson coffee situation.

At least I still have Thai Cafe though, right?! *please don't close please don't close please don't close*

day about Nashville

My friend Alanna and I went on a little day trip to Nashville, about two hours from home. We didn't have an agenda really, just a couple of things we definitely wanted to do and then a lot of wandering.

Our first stop was Urban Outfitters, then we drove down the road a bit to a place called Burger Up. We walked around the corner and the man walking out held the door open for us. When I looked up to smile and say thank you, I saw that it was Jack White. I wonder if he noticed my eyes get really wide? He and Karen Elson ended up eating out on the patio. I so wanted to tell her how much I love her album, but I didn't want to be "that girl." I guess people around Nashville are used to seeing those two out and about, but I was taken pretty off guard! (Ok I was literally shaking, and Alanna said my face got pale..guess I was starstruck). Anyway, on to the food...OH MY GOODNESS. Seriously the juiciest burger I've ever had. I'm pretty sure it's locally sourced as well...so score! I highly recommend trying this place out if you haven't already.

Next we went down to Katy K's to shop Closet Case Vintage. We saw some adorable things! Like that white dress which I stated "would be great for a wedding dress...you know for like a second marriage." Sometimes even I think the things I say are dumb.

Sweet CeCe's yummy yummy frozen yogurt!

We took a lot of pictures of each other. Both of us are photographers, so that's just kind of what we do. Plus, who doesn't love to whip their hair back and forth? My neck is hurting pretty badly from all the whipping we were doing.

We went to this great home store with some incredible furniture.  Retro modern something or other. It's kind of across the street from Fido. The lady working never said one word to us, so I guess she could tell we weren't going to buy. It was still fun to look around and take pictures. No one was there until we decided to take a few...which is why we both look so uncomfortable (above).

There was a really cute paper store called Social Graces that we visited. They had a ton of gorgeous cards and papers in all sorts of colors. They even had some great old books and hymnals out for decoration. I think the best part of the store was their extra stuff that was just decor. 

I can't even tell you how great it was to just get out of town for the day. Alanna and I always have a lot of fun, and not having an agenda made it even better. We'll be going back in April for the Kills concert along with another friend of mine, so I'm hoping to revisit a couple of places that I loved!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Don't forget to set your clocks ahead!

Coyote Blues

 A few months ago, a new restaurant opened in town: Coyote Blues, a sort of Southwestern/Mexican grill. I'm not even joking when I say that Jackson has a new Mexican restaurant at least once a month...it's getting a little ridiculous. I don't usually pay them any attention, but Coyote Blues looked dang spiffy. Plus it took over the location of what used to be the most ritzy eatery in Jackson, so it must be good....right? From the beginning I heard good things about the food. It was different, it was fresh, and people liked it! Of course everyone complained about the price, but around here a $25 meal is like "alright, honey, we gotta get a second mortgage on the house." Honestly, I don't mind paying a little more for better food.

So I tried Coyote Blues with some colleagues and I love it! These pictures are actually from the second time I went, which was for Sarah's birthday.  It's actually a really nice atmosphere, and kind of perfect for lunch. If you're passing through Jackson, I would definitely recommend it! You can see it from the interstate, but you'd probably need directions to actually get to it...Jackson is funny that way.

They bring out this delicious creamy sauce with the salsa. I can't figure out what it is, but it's soooo good!
 

Sarah gets a veggie enchilada, I think. She says it's really good, but I haven't tried it yet. It looks good! I love the cheese they put on top of a lot of their dishes. Oh, you should probably go to the gym after you eat here...I mean unless you just get a salad, which would be silly.

They even have good burgers! I got the Southwestern burger, which was incredible. I got fries with mine, but they also have these amazing cheese grits as a side choice. Am I making your mouth water?

We ate so much we had to take the elevator back at work. Ok, so we probably should have taken the stairs to combat all those calories, but it was hard to move!