vanity plates, fried dill pickles, and Blatz

I hate most photos taken of me, so it is with great trepidation that I post this photo taken by Andy before our thrift trip yesterday. I do enjoy seeing the photos that other bloggers (most, I suspect, much younger than me) post of themselves rocking the vintage. Although on most days I'm at home alone working all day, and thus, not dressed in anything particularly interesting, I do like getting "dressed up" whenever I go out. Which means wearing vintage dresses while thrifting. Here is dorky ole me in a purple print nylon 1950s or 1960s day dress that came from an estate sale. Tights, sweater and belt are all Target. Vintage oxfords were a thrift store find.

(Speaking of dressing up, apparently the American public no longer likes to get dressed, at all, to go out. I saw so many people out and about yesterday in their pajamas.)



Andy pedicabbed on Friday night, and he was all sugar/carb-deficient, so our first (and most important) stop yesterday was at Hilltop Bakery for him to grab an eclair.

We then proceeded to thrift our little hearts out. This made me laugh.

Andy pointed out that they were likely just hindered by the letter count limitation, but that didn't stop me from annoying him by singing, "WARE-ee-ores! Come out and play-ay!" for half an hour.

World's Cutest Terrier.




We found lots of boots and shoes, including these 1950s men's blue suede oxfords. Also, one of my two favorite finds of the day, this old Sylvania sign.

A good part of the reason for our trip yesterday was to check out a new-to-us restaurant, Barski in Baldwin. I read about it here on grgrub.com (all you Grand Rapids-area folk should bookmark it: it's a great, honest restaurant review site). The review said the chef/owner had worked at San Chez, that they had fried pickles and great burgers, and local beer. We needed no further inducement.

(Fried dill spear and my beer of choice.)



Barski has an unpretentious, sports-watching, hunters and fishermen hanging out, kinda vibe. The bar and restaurant are all one open room so there was a little bit of smokiness (yep, no smoking ban in western Michigan yet), but it didn't bother me or even uber-smoke-hater Andy. (We sat kind of near the bar, too.) The burgers were delicious (any menu header that says "burgers contain bacon" is a good sign in my book). The fries were served with garlicky aioli. The pickles were delicious, but I prefer them in slices, rather than spears. (Is it frightening that I have a preference at all when it comes to deep friend dill pickles?) They had Bell's Oberon, PBR, and Sam Adams Lager on tap plus many other local beers in bottles. The menu includes a couple Polish specialties, which are bizarrely difficult to find in Polish-heavy western Michigan (unless, of course, it's Pulaski Days). We'll definitely be stopping by again.



And here is my second favorite find of the day. Andy was totally unimpressed with it (I think he was just jealous that I found it), but put it on and wore it the rest of the day. I don't know if this means he's keeping it or what, but I think it's awesome. Don't you?

xo

K