Road Trip from Madison to Gulf Shore (Alabama)

Day 6th in America, boyfriend took me on my first American Road Trip experience. He took me to Gulf Shore (8 hours away) before going to New Orleans (15 hours away or 4 hours away from Gulf Shore).

Get our coffee for the trip.

The owner/Barista found out that I am from Indonesia and Indonesia has a big variety of Coffee. Then out of no where, he gave us this huge bulk of Sumatran Coffee. He seemed happy that boyfriend introduced us and that I ordered cold drip.

He said he wanted to introduce me to his childhood friends. They have been friends since they were toddler up till now fully grown adults, yet they still talk passionately about games (nerds huh!?lol)

Posing in Rest Area

Their Rest Area provided us with tour booklets

8 hours was a long drive. I thought we were going to pass by an area that resembles the setting for any creepy movie like Chainsaw Massacre, Wrong Turn, and/or Psycho, Motel or something. Well, i really had no idea on what kind of roads we would have to pass through. But apparently we stayed mostly on the highway.  

We stopped by in Montgomery,AL for dinner in Japanese restaurant. Arrrrrgh it was horrible experience. I asked the waitress if they have Ramen and the waitress flipping out, rudely put the menu on my table and said "This is Japanese restaurant!Only Japanese food, not Korean!". Ramen is Japanese food! Then I found out she was actually Korean American. She thought I was asking for Ramyeon. But hey, there is no need to get upset with me! At the end of our dinner, they gave us fortune cookie. Yeah right Fortune cookie is Japanese food? And you don't know if Ramen is Japanese food? Meh!!! 

There will be a lot of changes in your life.

I was so upset that I barely eat. We decided to move to lively Mexican restaurant. We ordered Guacamole dips and chips. The waitress and the cashier was a lot nicer in this one. The Guacamole was reallly reallllllly good. 

Boyfriend's parents has several condos for rent near Gulf Shore beach. The condo was neat and pretty clean. I love the view to the beach. It has it's own swimming pool. The sands is really really white, even whiter than the so-called Pasir Putih. It was a nice spot. We were able to spot Sunset from our balcony.

First Selfie in Gulf Shore

Sunset Light

White Sands

Boyfriend's friends come over and stayed with us. They took me to Irish Pub/Restaurant for dinner, the name of the restaurant is McGuire's Irish Pub located in Pensacola, Florida.
Website
I love their decoration. Do you know the old tale about pile of money on the end of a rainbow? I think the Irish invented that saying. The color was dominated with green and they hang dollar notes on the ceiling in almost every rooms. It is like Leprechaun's luck or something.

Moneeeeeeey!!! Dollllllaarrrrr!! Gimme!!!

What to eat????

My money that we were planning to hang on the ceiling.

Good Luck Charm

The light was pretty dim there. So, I was not able to take picture of foods nicely. But the food was really good. I ordered a bean soup for only $0.18 or around Rp.2.500 yes that cheap. They said they never change the price ever since they open the restaurant. Whaatttt!!!
The Calamari that I ordered comes in a huge portion that we had to box the rest (almost or more than half of the portion) and took it home.

The Ultimate Irish Wake that will send you down memory lane but not on so-smooth ride.

Complementary Bread which was moist and fluffy on the inside but crunchy and buttered with sweets on the outside.

$0.18 bean soup with granny crackers, a comfort food for any bad day.

The next day, we had to go back to Alabama, Guntersville to stay in the cabin house there for several days. They took me to a very authentic Mexican restaurant. It was a cute and small restaurant, kinda like Bakso/Mie Ayam small restaurant with only 5 tables available. We tried the salsa dips and chips this time and I absolutely love it. The food that I miss the most now that I am back in Indonesia is the dips and chips from all those Mexican Restaurants.

Spicy Shrimp with Bean and Buttered Rice

On the way home, we stopped by in Montgomery to eat Indian food (finally a decent Indian food, compare to the one I tried in Huntsville and Madison) and to watch Shahrukh's new movie Happy New Year. There is no way I would miss his new movie. It was 3 hours drive from Madison or 4 hours from Guntersville maybe. So, we decided to watch it on our way home.

The huge Samosas for appetizer, yup not even main course yet.

It was a memorable road trip. We ate good foods, met good friends, went to great places, bought good stuffs. We had so many fun times. I would do it again with no hesitation.

Day 5 in Alabama (American Eagle Shopping Haul)

Do you think after spending 3 days shopping I would be tired of shopping already? Nah, it might never happened. I am not too old for shopping yet (hopefully will never be).
Maybe I should change my blog name and blog theme, from lifestyle blogger to shopaholic blogger lol

Outfit of the day

My 5th day in Alabama could not get any better. I have been blessed that I was surrounded by people who fully support my shopping hobby (addiction). One of them is his parents neighbor. He works in American Eagle. At first, I didn't know what is American Eagle. Then I learned that it is an apparel brand originally from U.S.A

Mr.X bought me this one with their brand on it.

My usual American brands are Forever 21 and H&M. I was not aware of American Eagle because they are only open exclusively in several countries including London (UK), Tokyo (Japan), etc. Unfortunately they haven't open their brand in Indonesia which could be a big market since I can verify that Consumerism level in Indonesia is really high. We love foreign fashion brand. Me personally loves Forever 21, H&M, New Look, and Stradivarius. And now, after this I am in love with American Eagle too.

Some of the clothes, picture taken from American Eagle's website:

This friend, lets call him Mr.X, has an eyes for style and design. He picked and choose more than a dozen of clothes for me to try. It felt like some kind of fashion show because I get to show it to boyfriend and the personal stylist in the store. Yup, they have personal stylist in the store that will help you dressing up, choosing clothes, finding the right size for you, and giving final touch. How fun!!!

I was pretty lucky that day because they were having 60% sale, and all those clothes that they picked mostly come from the 60% sale.

Boyfriend bought me 4 or 5 outfits for a really great deal. To my surprise, Mr.X asked me to pick clothes that I already tried and in which I like but not planning to buy. I picked 5 of them and he bought it for me. I was really surprised. I mean we just met 2 days ago and he offered such a great kindness to a girl from another country that has no affiliation with him. He said he wanted to welcome me to his country, so I will be back for sure. Oh I will be back for sure, even without the kind act. I know pronounced him my shopping soulmate.

I tried some of the clothes on out trip to New Orleans which will be posted any time soon.

New Orleans on autumn, yet it feels like summer.

A very comfy top from AEO

I forgot to tell you, before we went to Madison Parkway Mall (where American Eagle is), we went to eat some lunch in Mexican Restaurant. They said it was one of the best. I forgot the name. I love their decoration. It was a week prior to Halloween and they already decorated their restaurant. The restaurant itself already has colorful ambiance.

Before we went home, we went to check some Christmas decoration in 2 stores. We went to Tuesday Morning (Yup, that is the name of the store, don't ask me why!)

 Wrong move, leaving me alone with all these fun stuffs. I just had to take some silly pictures. Hihihi

I met one old guy who has been working there for more than 15 years or so. He asked if I am Indonesian. I was surprised because so far people could not tell from which part in Asia I am coming from. I asked him how did he know that. He said he could tell. He told me he just bought Time Magazine with Jokowi's face on the cover. He has been planning to read it and he is gonna do it on his day off. He congratulated me for the new President of Indonesia. My chest was swelling up with pride. I didn't saw it coming. Superb day indeed.

Yuhuuuuu Shopping Haul!!!

PS: Goood news!!!! American Eagle Outfitters in Indonesia!!!!
They just opened their branch in Jakarta. I just found out about the news today (Nov 21st, 9pm)
News
For now they will be available in Central Park Mall
Go get your AEO Style, ladies and Gents.
To update yourself with AEO Style, you can find it on Instagram with hashtag #AEOStyle or on their Instagram: AEO

Day 4 in Alabama (Shopping Haul with Future Mother in Law)

Day 4 in Alabama I spent all day long bonding with my soon-to-be mother in law. She is such a sweetheart. I had a really good time with her. We went to zumba class and followed with Water Aerobic in the morning. Apparently she is allowed to bring one guest to her gym and I would get a week pass for free. The zumba class was a lot of fun, but I couldn't finished the Water Aerobic because water was too cold. So instead I spent the rest of the time in the hot tub near the pool where she exercised. Mom is a tough lady. Yeah, I called her mom now. I used to call her 'tante' the very first few times we met, because I was still too shy. And now I feel comfortable in calling her mom which I think she also likes it.

Right after gym, mom took me to Ross "Dress For Less". It is her favorite shopping spot. Everything there is always on sale. Oh, Ross is not a Thrift Store. It is more like a bargain store. So everything is new or at least fairly new and not second handed stuffs but it comes with a great deal.

This patriotic looking boots is only $25 or around Rp.310.000. I forgot about the bag, but I love it. It is so pink. I didn't buy it tho. I don't think I need backpack bag. I regret not buying it now. :(

I took picture of boots for a friend of mine who wanted me to buy her a pair of boots. I ended up buying the one in the middle for myself, only $17.39 or around Rp.220.000. So I am very happy about it, because I saw one like this in Jakarta and it was around Rp.600.000.

I bought this 2 dresses. I forgot the price. But I remember I bought everything for only $79 including 4 dresses, 1 pair of boots, and a wallet. Scored!!!

$4 wallet on sale, got it for $2

Then we went to Asbury Thrift Store. Mom told me that they just moved to a bigger store. They used to be located near Huntsville Airport. So far, my favorite thrift store would be Thrift Mart located in Lee Hwy. But we were pretty lucky in Asbury Thrift Store as they were having everything for a dollar day. So we went crazy, both me and mom. We bought plenty of stuffs and mostly each of those stuffs was only for a dollar or 12.000 rupiah.

Our Hauls..Yeay!!!

These dolls creep me out and I just watched Annabelle not too long ago. On the bottom picture, the one in the middle has crooked legs and the one right next to it has a crooked head and body. The one on the left near the white dolls has really red eyes, like blood red. Creepy!!!

I love this decoration. 

 I bought a lot of bags and I was not finished yet. They are all for my mom (Mamah, my mother, to avoid confusion with mom as in my future-mother in law). She is going to decide which one she is going to keep and which one she is going to give away to her friends or our relatives. But she is kinda greedy when it comes to bags..like almost other women around bags and shoes. Hehehe love you, Mamah.

I let mom pay for all these stuffs because she also got 20% discount for Senior Citizen. So can you imagine that all these stuffs already soooo cheap and yet we still got discount? yup, I was pretty lucky. But when I was going to pay her back all the money, she refused it. She said it was all from her. She wanted to treat me for that day shopping trip. That was very nice of her. I ended up getting everything for free. Teeheeee!! Yuhuuuu! Horray!!! Hip Hip Hurraaay!! Thank you mom, I really appreciated it and I love you. #blush