I really considered getting one of these pink princess cowgirl hats for my niece. It was a lot of money and too big for her, but THEY HAVE CROWNS. They're at the five-and-dime by the Alamo in San Antonio, if you need a pink princess cowgirl hat.

And while we're at it, Mouse wishes she could get this airplane rocker for her tiny nephew. I mean, look at it. It's at the big flea market in Clayton, Georgia. But I don't know how I could take it home with me, much less ship it to snowy western state where Country Mouse and the tiny people live.

Mouse loves studios and workspaces, especially those that have that laid-back feeling of everything being put away while anything can happen. Aren't those shelves of chemical supplies sort of nice? You can make all colors of pottery, depending on your mood...

I want a well-stocked studio. And while we're at it, I want this little spouted mixing bowl for baking and for pancakes and for scrambled eggs.

Mouse got to visit a pottery studio in Clayton, Georgia, today. Neat rows of unpainted ceramic jars, all lined up on shelves awaiting color and decoration. Or not awaiting anything. But look at the shapes...

(Special road trip edition.) Here it is: the road will go on and on and on, but there will always be a rest stop eventually.

Even if it's smelly and you get gum stuck on your shoe.

Mouse stayed with some friends of friends in Houston, and SQUEAK, people, squeak! They are artists and they have this incredible stone house--it's fun and eclectic and deeply personal and lighthearted. You can tell they chose every single thing because they loved it. My favorite room is their kitchen, which hit right on the nose of my favorite kind of style: coordinated without looking fussy, vintage without even a hint of force. It's all about happenstance. Oh this? I might say if I lived here, Oh, it's just a 1930s chamber stove. The top bit has an adjustable broiler for fish. Oh, it's nothing, I got it at a garage sale...*

*This is true. They actually did get it at a garage sale. And they put all those bottle caps on the hood themselves. If I tried to do this, it would look silly. Here, it just looks like cool artistic people had a spare few moments and touched everything with whimsical magic talented fingers.

P.S.--The. Curtain.

As Mouse and Boyfriend drove through El Paso, Texas, at lunchtime, they asked the magical iPhone for "not Mexican food."* It told them to go to Pho Tre Bien, and when they got there, they found a lovely shaded porch with a gorgeous, enormous garden--complete with gurgling brooks, a fountain thingie, and a bunch of giant goldfishies. We were delighted. Even before they brought me this.
Three cheers for lovely serene unexpected lunch, especially in the middle of a long hot dusty drive.

And now, the greatest road trip game of all time!

This is a game for bad mice, so if that's not you, just stop reading and skip down to something nice. The game, "That's Your House," was invented about six years ago by Mouse's California sister on a long drive through the desert. The way it works is, you look for terrible houses along the drive, pick a particularly bedraggled one, and say "That's your house" to the other person in the car. Whoever finds a worse house for their fellow road-tripper wins. The game continues until the trip is over. Winning is not particularly the point.

Rules: The house has to be a shelter (not a drainage pipe or a tractor or something). The best ones were really houses at some point, but the odd shed or chicken coop can win. One time Mouse played this game on a train in Mexico with a Swiss man who spoke limited English and no Spanish. He was a very stern-looking fellow, and I was pretty sure he wasn't following the game until he pointed and said "that's your cave."

Anyway, bringing That's Your House to the blog has been a little problematic. I was thinking one house per day for the road trip, but here is what happened:

1. There were no houses at all during the whole West half of Texas. Literally.

2. It is hard to stop and take a photo when you're doing 85 and there are semi-trucks behind you.

3. The fastest shutter speed on my camera doesn't really work for a clear shot out the window.

4. Boyfriend (who is a very sweet mouse, really) made a very kindhearted rule in which the house has to be definitively unoccupied in order to be photographed (but not to win the game).

Sigh.

Anyway, here's the first one. That's your house.*

*Or maybe your store. It appears to have had a sign, once.

Sorry, nice mice, I am without Internet but will post tonight! xo

Well, you have to spend some time on road trips looking at knickknacks. The place above is Boyfriend's favorite gas station from childhood, and is quickly winning over Mouse, too. There are "THE THING?" signs up and down the surrounding highway. We always stop because 1. junk, 2. clean bathrooms, and 3. the Dairy Queen inside is called "Soothing Gardens," which tickles me to no end. One time we paid the dollar to see "THE THING?" itself, but it was underwhelming.* Here are some examples of lovely stuff for sale inside THE THING?'s rest stop:
Cacti, because it is Arizona, after all.
Porcelain kachinas.
Quite a lot of Minnetonka moccasins, but no black ones (Mouse's black ones have a hole).

So, no purchases today. But we logged all kinds of mileage. Come back tomorrow for "That's Your House." It's fun, I promise.

*Unless you really like mummies.

There is many a gorgeous little cottage in Tucson, and Mouse and Boyfriend dream many sweet dreams about buying one someday. This one isn't exactly my favorite, but I have admiration for whoever chose the paint color. One day, Mouse needs to do some nesting in bright pink. Maybe.