Happy Sunday @ Cafe Eclectic

I wanted to hit up a bakery today and my first choice was Big Ono since it is just around the corner. Sad news---they aren't open on Sundays! (or Saturdays for that matter...) I will have to save them to visit for another day.

The next contender was Cafe Eclectic in Harbor Town. I read an article a while back about them opening another location a little bit closer than Midtown. Grant and I decided to walk the 5-mile round trip. This seemed like an easy task except that I didn't account for the cold, fast wind. Lets just say It was a looong 5 miles...

With our desitination in mind, we headed to Harbor Town where the orange circle marked the spot!
After being throughly chilled from our walk, we were ready for some warm grub! The staff was very friendly (kudos to them!) and recommended egg & cheese (hold the Mc) muffins. Grant and I each had one--except Grant's was on a croissant. Our beverages of choice were tea & a vanilla latte.

Grant's tea looked like a sea creature.

It was very cute!

After filling our bellies and reading the paper, our oh-so-fabulous barista boys gave us two comp donuts! We both chose cake donuts: mine blueberry and Grant's chocolate.

An interesting fact: Cafe Eclectic's pastries and artisian breads are made fresh daily at their midtown location. The sodas are bottled and bought from a Tennessean company and the meat is from a local butcher shop. I love their conscious effort to reduce their impact on the environment and supporting their community by buying local!

Just around the corner is Miss Cordelia's. I've heard so much about it I wanted to take a stroll through it.

Miss Cordelia's was a great little quick-shop grocery that had many unique things to offer. Definitely worth the trip!

On the walk home, I stopped for a photo-op by the Pyramid:


Now time to relax on our "Happy Sunday"

"I Love Memphis" party at South Of Beale

Reader note: Sorry that this blog update is a tad late; I was busy this week, and I do apologize!

March 22nd, 2010:
I rushed home from work to stop in at S.O.B. to join the " I love Memphis" party. It was definitely packed with an assortment of bloggers and whatnot from around town. Kerry writes the "I love Memphis" blog and she had cake and prizes for all of the guests that came to the party.



Grant grabbed a beer & I grabbed a chance at a photo-op:


An interesting individual I met was Dr. Harold Toboggans. He is a comedic psychologist with a fantastic fake mustache. His blog is drtoboggans.com. His "counseling sessions" can also be found on YouTube

I did run into Paul Ryburn who writes a great journal: www.paulryburn.com/blog. He writes on his daily thoughts as a downtown resident. He also keeps his readers up to date on the fire sale's at the flying saucer. I hovered (my--do I hate hovering!)and got up the nerve to ask him if he was Paul Ryburn and I then proceeded to tell him that I read his blog. I felt like a major creeper. I introduced myself but couldn't get up the nerve to ask him for a picture. Grant graciously broke that ice for me!

Here's the photo:


1 thing I remember from our meet-n-greet: he was discussing a "ball-like" dessert that didn't taste very good. I secretly laughed to myself because he was talking about balls.lol
The 1 thing that I am grateful for is that I wasn't mentioned in his blog as some creepy girl asking for a pic....

Grant and I left the party and had dinner at Rio Loco
we both ordered their Enchilada specialty:


I do love rice & beans. They are the perfect compliment to any Mexican dinner! yum :)

It was a great night out!

Rio Loco 117 Union Avenue (866) 920-0926

Donald's Donuts

Today was a very lazy Sunday! After waking up and checking my email, Grant and I head out to get donuts!

We first decided on Kroger because they are having a sale on vitamin water 10, but to our dismay---they only had the original vitamin waters. Heck no we don't want 125 calories per bottle we are perfectly fine with our 25. We left Kroger in haste and went to the fabulous Donald's Donuts.



We bought an 1/2 dozen assorted donuts. The cinnamon roll is not a true cinnamon roll as I thought. It is a giant donut with cinnamon inside, FYI! I am quite content with my blueberry cake donut and classic chocolate glazed--yum!

Donald's Donuts. 1776 Union Ave. Memphis. 901.725.5595

While we ate our donuts, we sipped on OJ and watched The Spiderwick Chronicles--very cute movie. We lounged and I napped for the rest of the day (Have to get prepared for Mondays, boo!)

Tomorrow the "I Love Memphis" blogger is throwing a party at S.O.B. on South Main----Uber excited! It will be from 5-7pm with drink specials.

Grant and I will definitely be making an appearance.

Bluff City Coffee/Alice in Wonderland

The day started out by streaming the last episode of season 3 of 30rock. Netflix is one of my personal faves right now with their "right-now" attitude. How I love my TV on demand...

Outside was beautiful and Grant and I wanted to seize it! We started to trek over to the train station to check out The Memphis Farmer's Market--only to our dismay--to find it not open yet for the season :( On the bright side, it is still a pleasant day!

I dragged Grant into Bluff City Coffee. I've seen it many times, but have never been inside. Grant is not quite the connoisseur of coffee, but I do enjoy a good cup of Joe from time to time. I had a vanilla latte: the deliciousness of a cappuccino minus the horrid foam, a plus in my book! My coffee was quite delicious. I would highly recommend Bluff City Coffee if you like the upscale-ness of a Starbucks but with a downtown vibe. Downside: a cup of coffee will still run you about 4 bucks.

Bluff City Coffee. 505 South Main Street. Memphis, TN 38103. 901-405-4399.

Off to tromp around town and run errands. Since we were in the area, we decided to have a Whole Foods experience. I have heard people rave about Whole Foods: concept, environment, salad bar, etc... Loved the store! It completely fascinated me that you could make fresh peanut butter in the store! Also, Whole Foods is having a special right now: if you buy a rack of ribs for $15, you get the coleslaw, chips, and bbq sauce for free. Can't beat dinner for two for only $15! We are definitely taking them up on this offer in the very near future.

Time for dinner with the friends! Grant and I met up with some friends at Chili's to grab some dinner before Alice in Wonderland 3D at the Paradiso. I frequent the Paradiso often when I go see a movie and never ceases to amaze me how the parking lot is always full! Luckily once inside, we found 4 seats together at the top of the theater. The film was very true to the Tim Burton style. The dark and gritty side of children's stories. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't as much humor as I expected in the film. It still was worth the money. The beast, in the film, is called a jabberwocky. Thought: I wonder if that is what the dance crew is named after??

As we leave the theater, it begins to rain---we quickly part ways and hurry back to our cars.

That's the end to a rather wonderful day

Art after Dark

The third Thursday of each month the Dixon Gallery & Gardens hosts "Art after Dark". A great opportunity to enjoy the arts after work while socializing with live music, hors d' oeuvres & drinks. The Dixon is featuring "Monet to Matisse", a tribute to impressionism until April 4th, 2010.

Grant and I made it there about 6 p.m. and had the added perk of 2 for 1 admission. You can't beat 7 bucks for a night out on the town! I will have to admit that I am not a huge fan of impressionist art; I'm more of a post impressionist kind-of-gal, but there is a beauty in the strokes and textures found throughout that style. Having never been to the Dixon, I was impressed by the history of the Dixon and how it became the gallery it is today. The history is posted on different panels located throughout the gallery, and it puts the their personal art collection in a different light when you know a little more about its interesting history. I encourage you to take the time and learn a little more about the lives of Mr. & Mrs Hugo Dixon

Also, The Dixon is featuring metal art by local artists. I personally love the cake server set; It is very Art Deco.

After a night of taking in the arts, the perfect thing to end it--is of course--Muddy's cupcakes! I broke from the usual and had a Flopsy (carrot cake + cream cheese icing) and an Oreo cupcake. Both were quite delicious--yum :)

Grant and I are looking forward to the upcoming 20,000 tulips in 2010--what a great way to kick off spring!

Dixon Gallery & Gardens

4339 Park Ave

Memphis, TN

http://www.dixon.org/