January is just flying by so quickly, and I’ve been terribly behind on things. It’s already Wednesday, and we’re almost through with the final week of the month, so crazy. This post takes place on the weekend of the 17th.
On Friday, Stephen brought home some Noodles & Company, yum. They have about any kind of noodle dish in whatever cuisine you’re craving. The noodles reminded us of whenever he would visit me in college. We’d always make a stop here. We usually ordered these noodles, and I loved the Korean meatballs especially.
He brought me the Spicy Korean Beef Noodles for dinner. He had some for lunch, while I had my meal for dinner. He ordered DoorDash on his lunch break, so I’m super glad he brought home the food.
I’d buy these after class sometimes because I was a bit addicted to them. I’ve tried a few other dishes, but I tend to like these the best.
Alexis came down to spend the day with us on Friday and we tried out Mestizo’s. Stephen and I have heard good things about this restaurant, but we hadn’t gotten around to trying it until then.
The menu has so many options and my indecisive self could hardly choose. I’ve had the Chili Colorado at a restaurant in Chilhowie, so I thought I’d try out this one from here.
The other two peeps stuck with tacos, lame. Only kidding.
The Chili Colorado was different here. It legit looked like chili. The one that I captured a few months ago in Chilhowie was quite different. That one was a pork based dish and this one was beef. I loved the spice level of this dish. I’m a sucker for Mexican beans and rice. I gotta say, they had some of the best salsa because it brought a lovely amount of heat to it!
I had to take about half of my meal home since I could not finish that. The only complaint I had was that the plate was hot. The waiter told me that, but I still instinctively want to touch the plate to rotate it.
I’m one of those people that hates their food touching. I sucked it up this time because it was super good and I’d miss out on half of my food otherwise.
When I was a kid, I used to make a hard line to separate the foods that were touching, and I wouldn’t eat it.
I’ll definitely be back whenever I’m craving Mexican food.
After lunch, we went to McKay’s. Since it was the weekend, it was super packed. The parking lot was almost full it seemed. It wasn’t a great visit since there were so many people inside that I coudn’t browse the aisles successfully. Plus, I found a Nicholas Sparks book to add to my collection, but I put it back because I didn’t want to wait the crazy line for one book.
We headed back to the apartment for a couple of hours. We had plans to go to the Nashville Zoo for Zoolumination. It opened at 5:00 PM, so that gave us some time to buy tickets and head over there.
It’s so pretty! I wish we would’ve went more than once. It ends this weekend, but we’ll look forward to it later in the year if they have the event again!
So, what do the things on the trees look like to you?
I see onions, right?
Nope. They are peach trees. Who would’ve thought?
I post a quick video just to get the atmosphere of this fun little trip, but evidently it’s not compatible, so that’s not cool.
Giant butterflies, not terrifying at all.
There were so many beautiful lights that I had to restrain myself from posting all the ones that I took!
The kangaroo looks a bit mysterious, but I’ll let you decide.
I wonder how long it takes them to set up the event because there are so many lights.
They had some animal exhibits still open. This furry friend looks slightly afraid of the crowd of people, but it’s kind of crazy to think that I’m so close to this tiger with only glass between us.
I didn’t take a photo, but they had like a large guinea pig exhibit. There were so many of them, and they were like a foot or so long. They didn’t seem to be afraid of people. Little kids kept yelling at them, poor things.
I had an actual picture of the flamingos in the exhibit, but I realized it’s blurry, so you’ll just see the light display of them instead. It’s a prettier picture anyways.
I can’t leave out my lovely pandas! The one on the far left looks like he’s a bit confused, or sad perhaps.
I’ve always loved the detailed design for tea cups and dishes like these. They are just so darn pretty.
The huge dragon was even more cool.
You could zip line, but we passed that up. It was a bit startling since it was dark and we heard it zip by above us before we spotted the platform.
You had to walk down in the grass to see these cool exhibits.
It would be neat if there was a fair that went along this kind of theme. Who wouldn’t want to ride on one of these dragons?
I loved, loved these pretty lanterns.
After we left the zoo, we were starving and headed to Chick-fil-A. The app offered a free 8-count nugget, and you bet I got that! I was starving by this time, so I didn’t take a picture of my meal, oops. Alexis finished hers in the car before we even got to the apartment.
I just love ordering from the app. It’s an introvert’s dream, I tell ya. We mostly talked the rest of the night and maybe watched some music videos. Stephen headed upstairs to read. Alexis left around 11:00 PM maybe; I can’t remember for sure.
We hung out on Sunday and had a lazy day. I did manage to walk a mile at a little park, as if I hadn’t walked enough already, but I liked the exercise and the cold temperature. Although, it was super windy.
I finally devoured this chocolate bar that I got for Christmas.
We honestly didn’t know what to expect with this spicy chocolate — what a combo. I thought that it would have some tabasco flavor or something to alter the chocolate. But the weird thing is, it retained the chocolate taste completely, but it was legit spicy. I’m not sure how that’s possible, but it had a lingering heat to it.
I thought the chocolate had a neat design. We both liked it, strangely enough.
- What have you been up to lately?
- Are you picky about your food touching?
- Did you have any light show events like Zoolumination?
- What’s your take on spicy chocolate?
I hope you all are having a lovely week so far!
Zoolumination looks so amazing, all those pretty lights! Loving the flamingoes and the pandas, and of course the epic dragon ๐๐๐๐ looks so cool! Thank you so much for sharing these pictures hun, they really do light up the blogosphere for sure! Also I donโt think Iโve ever tried spicy chocolate ๐ I think Iโll stick to milk hehe now Iโm definitely craving some ๐๐๐๐ the bar looks nice anyway! Lol!
Thank you so much; it was such a cool event to go to! The spicy chocolate was so different but the bar did look pretty neat. I hope you’ve taken care of your milk craving! Thanks for reading, sweet friend! โฅ
It looks like such fun! Haha it does! Thanks lovely, I need to eat more chocolate now… LOL. You’re welcome lovely!
Zoolumination looks so amazing, all those pretty lights! Loving the flamingoes and the pandas, and of course the epic dragon ๐๐๐๐ looks so cool! Thank you so much for sharing these pictures hun, they really do light up the blogosphere for sure! Also I donโt think Iโve ever tried spicy chocolate ๐ I think Iโll stick to milk hehe now Iโm definitely craving some ๐๐๐๐ the bar looks nice anyway! Lol!
Thank you so much; it was such a cool event to go to! The spicy chocolate was so different but the bar did look pretty neat. I hope you’ve taken care of your milk craving! Thanks for reading, sweet friend! โฅ
It looks like such fun! Haha it does! Thanks lovely, I need to eat more chocolate now… LOL. You’re welcome lovely!
My son is really picky with foods and he doesn’t like his foods touching either. It’s such a battle with him lol.
And whoooaaaa!! Zoolumination looks amazing, like honestly, way better than our Zoo Lights lol. Literally ours is just string lights wrapped around fences or wire to make shapes of animals so we really only see the outlines of said animals. They also make a tunnel out of so many colorful string lights and it’s super cool for photos. They also have a train that they decorate with so many lights and you can ride it around the zoo (super short). Yeah, compared to yours ours isnt as great but I think that’s because it rains a lot here, those inflatable ones probably wouldn’t work here lol.
Anyway, it’s super cool and thanks for sharing with us!! Loved the pandas!! ๐ค๐ค
Oh man, I hope he gives you an easier time with his food! My mom bought some kitchenware that had a set of plates with dividers so I could use them, haha. I can’t remember if I gave her a hard time with eating my food as it touched on the same plate growing up.
Aw, the lights would be super cool if they did form the animals. I suppose with the weather that you get is understandable, but it’d be neat if it were something indoor and still managed to have the inflatables!
I love light tunnels, and they’re always so pretty; thats cool about the train too! Thanks for reading, and I hope you get some neat light events in the future! โก
yes I have the same plates for my son and as far as his pickyness, we are working on it ๐ it will take some time though.
some do but they don’t have many so I wasn’t as thrilled or excited the first time I went lol. but yeah, if only, not many indoor places at the zoo unfortunately.
I wish you luck on that, and hopefully your son grows out of that phase whenever heโs older! The concept of an indoor zoo sounds really intriguing as a whole, but thatโs probably a terrible idea, haha.
My son is really picky with foods and he doesn’t like his foods touching either. It’s such a battle with him lol.
And whoooaaaa!! Zoolumination looks amazing, like honestly, way better than our Zoo Lights lol. Literally ours is just string lights wrapped around fences or wire to make shapes of animals so we really only see the outlines of said animals. They also make a tunnel out of so many colorful string lights and it’s super cool for photos. They also have a train that they decorate with so many lights and you can ride it around the zoo (super short). Yeah, compared to yours ours isnt as great but I think that’s because it rains a lot here, those inflatable ones probably wouldn’t work here lol.
Anyway, it’s super cool and thanks for sharing with us!! Loved the pandas!! ๐ค๐ค
Oh man, I hope he gives you an easier time with his food! My mom bought some kitchenware that had a set of plates with dividers so I could use them, haha. I can’t remember if I gave her a hard time with eating my food as it touched on the same plate growing up.
Aw, the lights would be super cool if they did form the animals. I suppose with the weather that you get is understandable, but it’d be neat if it were something indoor and still managed to have the inflatables!
I love light tunnels, and they’re always so pretty; thats cool about the train too! Thanks for reading, and I hope you get some neat light events in the future! โก
yes I have the same plates for my son and as far as his pickyness, we are working on it ๐ it will take some time though.
some do but they don’t have many so I wasn’t as thrilled or excited the first time I went lol. but yeah, if only, not many indoor places at the zoo unfortunately.
I wish you luck on that, and hopefully your son grows out of that phase whenever heโs older! The concept of an indoor zoo sounds really intriguing as a whole, but thatโs probably a terrible idea, haha.
Boyfriend & I have tried Noodles & Co only a couples times but never had any luck. That dish you get looks freakin’ good though! & oh my gosh, I used to be the same way about my food touching. I even would go as far as buying those sectioned off, tray-like plastic plates lol. Your Colorado Chili looks spectacular!!
I’m sorry you weren’t able to get your Nicholas Sparks book. I hate when the lines are too long & not worth the wait. Hopefully you have a chance to pick it up another time.
Oh my gosh, I wonder if that light show travels or something?? We went to one EXACTLY like that a couple years ago. There was even that same exact huge dragon. I’ll send you the link to my blog post with all the pics, if you want to see the ones we saw– there are some differences, of course. I think yours was a bit bigger & either way, it’s so gorgeous to see again! & ours did NOT include foot long guinea pigs… huh!?? I wish you were able to snap a picture of them lol.
Whaaaaat? Even Stephen liked the Tabasco chocolate? You know I need to try that lol. I’ve had different chocolate bars infused or sprinkled with chili & loved it. Also, I tried a jalapeno chocolate shake once & was surpisingly impressed. ๐
Boyfriend & I have tried Noodles & Co only a couples times but never had any luck. That dish you get looks freakin’ good though! & oh my gosh, I used to be the same way about my food touching. I even would go as far as buying those sectioned off, tray-like plastic plates lol. Your Colorado Chili looks spectacular!!
I’m sorry you weren’t able to get your Nicholas Sparks book. I hate when the lines are too long & not worth the wait. Hopefully you have a chance to pick it up another time.
Oh my gosh, I wonder if that light show travels or something?? We went to one EXACTLY like that a couple years ago. There was even that same exact huge dragon. I’ll send you the link to my blog post with all the pics, if you want to see the ones we saw– there are some differences, of course. I think yours was a bit bigger & either way, it’s so gorgeous to see again! & ours did NOT include foot long guinea pigs… huh!?? I wish you were able to snap a picture of them lol.
Whaaaaat? Even Stephen liked the Tabasco chocolate? You know I need to try that lol. I’ve had different chocolate bars infused or sprinkled with chili & loved it. Also, I tried a jalapeno chocolate shake once & was surpisingly impressed. ๐