I want to ride my bicycle! I want to ride my bike!

When I said that we were going to be in Nashville for 11 days, what I meant was that we were going home for a week and a half made of awesome sauce. We drove speedily and with purpose from Forrest City to Nashville's very own Melrose Pub. Why? About two weeks before we went on tour, I discovered that the Melrose Pub was raffling off the Fat Tire Ale 2011 Cruiser. As soon as I saw this beauty, I knew it was my destiny to have her. So, I went daily to buy a beer and a corresponding raffle ticket. I convinced my friends to go too. By the night we returned from tour, we stood strong with 50 tickets clutched in our hands. Who cares if I haven't ridden a bike for nearly a decade?! All. I. do. is. win.


That's right! I'm the brand new owner of that gorgeous bike. And I lurve it so much I'm gonna take it to the Sadie Hawkins dance!
And that was just one of the many victories of the week. Family dinner reconvened at Melrose to play trivia. No hipster prizes this time, just actual cash. After winning $50, we left the bar en masse, as Drew walked behind us and shouted "That's right! We won trivia and the bike!"

There were two, count them, TWO full nights of karaoke, not to mention a concert by our favorite absurdist punk circus marching band, and the Tour de Fat festival that featured everything from vaudeville shows to port-o-potty karaoke! We were unstoppable this week!





I had so much fun that I'll have to spend at least a week nursing my crispy summer fried skin. With puppets. And puppet workshops. And more puppeteers than you ever knew existed. That's right, Matt and I are at the National Puppetry Festival in Atlanta, and I'll be blogging about it all week. First quote of the festival, "When a puppeteer builds his stage, it's like when a Jedi builds his light saber."

Yep. All week.