Nashville – Day 3

This was our last full day in Nashville and we wanted to do as much as possible. Unfortunately, I was getting over a cold most of the time we were there, so I really didn’t get myself together until late in the afternoon. We headed out at 3:00 and drove around downtown for a bit. We decided to go to the famous Loveless Cafe for dinner and it was worth the trip.


Me outside the Loveless

Loveless is located on the outskirts of Nashville and has been around over 60 years. The food and service was everything you would expect from a small Southern cafe and more. The biscuits are something they’re known for and it was obvious at first bite. I don’t know what they put in them, but they’re delicious and the homemade preserves they serve alongside the biscuits make them that much better. For dinner, I got meatloaf, cheesy grits, fried green tomatoes and macaroni and cheese. It doesn’t get better than that! We completed our visit with a trip to the Ham & Jams Country Store and got some goodies to bring back home. I’ll be dreaming of that place until I’m lucky enough to visit Nashville again. If you go to Nashville, you must visit the Loveless.


Delicious biscuits


Yum!


Loveless Cafe

To end the night, we went back downtown to take one last stroll around the city. We walked down to the Ryman Auditorium. The building dates back to the late 1800’s and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001. The venue has hosted everyone from famous singers and performers to actors and political figures.


Me outside the Ryman

Broadway was where we started our trip and it was the perfect way to end it. We walked up and down a few blocks before finally heading back to our hotel. We capped off the night with a soak in the hot tub and a dip in the pool. It felt good to be swimming in January.


Nashville Symphony


Geof outside the Bridgestone Area


Me on Broadway


Getting our fortune told by Willie Nelson

The next morning, we packed up and went to Gigi’s for a cupcake. Geof and I have a tradition whenever we travel to always try to find a cute little cupcake shop. He’s so good about it. I got the Birthday Cake cupcake and he had Banana Cream. They were yummy! After our sweet treats, it was time to go so we said goodbye to Nashville until next time.


Cute cupcakes!

Ultimately, Nashville is a beautiful city with plenty to see, even if you don’t love country music. The people are friendly, it’s easy to navigate and the Southern cooking is so good.

Thanks, as always for hanging in there with me during my trip recaps. Some probably find them incredibly boring while others really enjoy them. I honestly love to document each time we travel. These posts are some of my favorite ones to look back on over time.

Nashville – Day 1

We arrived in Nashville early in the afternoon and were raring to go. We got our car, checked in at our hotel and headed right downtown to see Broadway. We made our way over to 2nd Ave. and settled on the Wild Horse Saloon for lunch. It was relatively quiet in the restaurant during the afternoon, but you can tell the place gets packed at night. They have a huge stage and were promoting an upcoming show with Rick Springfield. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t like the song “Jessie’s Girl”!

For lunch, we got fried pickles as an appetizer. Geof told me that since we’re in the South, it was something I had to try at least once. It was decadent and delicious. I hardly touched my salad because I was nibbling away on pickles and stealing some of Geof’s cheesy grits (they were the best I ever had – savory and smoky). We also had to order one of their cocktails just to get a fun cowboy boot glass to take home. After checking out the rest of the restaurant, our friends Chad and Amy picked us up to take us to a more hipster part of town for some coffee at The Frothy Monkey. It’s a great place to people watch and we even spotted Will Anderson (lead singer from Parachute) there.


I heart Nashville!


Fried pickles


Frothy Monkey

The four of us chatted the afternoon away. Being apart from these two makes no difference at all as we always seem to pick up right where we left off. From The Frothy Monkey, we headed to Centennial Park so that we could see the Parthenon. I may never get to Greece, but this was the next best thing as it’s a full-scale replica of the original.


Parthenon in Centennial Park

Later that evening, Geof and I went downtown to have dinner at Big River Grille & Brewing Works. Geof got shrimp and grits, while I went with mac ‘n cheese with chicken. After dinner, we headed out on Broadway to meet some of our friends from NYC (Kristin & Emily) & Boston (Jessica) at Wild Bill’s. The bar is a historic landmark with the basement being part of the Underground Railroad. They have an impressive wine bar on the 2nd floor and the main level is a Cajun café. We stayed in the café/bar area where they were getting karaoke started for the evening. Geof decided he wanted to perform “Humpty Dance” for all of us. It was absolutely hysterical and awesome at the same time.


Broadway at night!


Me on Broadway


Me with Kristin, Jess and Emily

We parted ways with the ladies and headed over to Broadway Brewhouse & Mojo Grill to meet-up with Chad and Amy. We enjoyed a brew or two and made our way back to Wild Bill’s. The guys running karaoke asked Geof to do another performance of “Humpty Dance” and he obliged. What a perfect way to end our first day in Nashville!


Amy and I


Geof with his karaoke buddy, Andy


Out with one of our favorite couples!

Here and gone

All traces of the holidays have left the building (literally and figuratively). We took down the decorations Monday night and it was back to the grind yesterday. I really can’t complain though, since our time off was well spent with friends, family and a healthy dose of date nights!

Here are some highlights:

Had my first red cup of the season.


Saw Young Adult and loved it. Charlize Theron was perfect for the role.


Discovered a new Pinot Noir that I like.

Went on a beautiful birthday celebration/double date night with Kristen and Sean at Longwood Gardens and Dilworthtown Inn.

Kristen and I at Longwood Gardens. Here is a full recap of the night.

Got 1 mani and painted my nails 2 more times.

Zoya Shay w/Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Big Money as an accent nail
Venique in B-Ceen-B-Gorgeous w/Venique in Twinkling Glitter as an accent nail


Revlon Scene Stealer

Had a fun shopping day in Delaware with my mom and got Red Robin…yum!

Went to WWE Raw with Geof (since he's taken me to see Britney and Lady Gaga). I’d be lying if I said I wasn't a little interested in the storylines. We went to Denny’s afterwards and some of the wrestlers showed up.

Geof and I at the Wells Fargo Center, me with The Miz and Zack Ryder, Geof with Nikki Bella and me with Dolph Ziggler

Watched Elf for the first time ever.


Drove around and looked at pretty Christmas lights.

Saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Besides a few differences from the book, I thought the movie was done really well.


Finally saw Love and Other Drugs (first half – good, second half – depressing).


Went down to the city to have lunch at Reading Terminal Market and then went to Macy’s to see the light show. It’s also where the movie Mannequin was filmed!




Baked lots of Christmas goodies.

Spent Christmas Eve at home with my mom and Geof.


Spent Christmas Day at my cousin Bill & Lara’s house with the entire family. I had such a blast with all of my cousins.

Me with two out of the three triplets on Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are gearing up for the new year!

Tasty Tuesday: Crock Pot Mexican Soup

Here’s another tasty recipe I found on Pinterest, tried and loved.

This was SO easy and really tasty. Geof was practically licking the bowl! I will say it comes out rather thick more like chowder. It was super filling and full of flavor.



Ingredients:
1 can Rotel
1 can of corn
1 can black beans (drained & rinsed)
2 frozen chicken breasts
8 oz cream cheese
1 packet dry ranch dressing
1 tbls cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili powder

Directions:
1. Put all ingredients in crock pot and cook 6-8 hours.
2. Shred chicken

Enjoy!

Chicago trip - Day 2

Friday, we got up bright and early and headed out for some shopping browsing on Michigan Ave. There were many beautiful things, but at almost 10% sales tax and with us trying to save money, I didn’t go crazy. I did get some makeup goodies, but that’s about it. We also took a walk down by Lake Shore Drive because the waves on Lake Michigan were roaring. I even saw a story about it on the local news that morning that some bikers and joggers were wiped out by the waves crashing up over the roads and onto the streets. It was quite a sight to be seen and it looked more like an ocean than a lake.


OOTD!


Huge waves down by Lake Shore Drive

We then visited the Hershey store to warm up with a hot chocolate and then headed to Saks. The incredibly sweet salesgirl starting trying a new blush on me and that turned into her applying mascara, liner…the works. She made me look nice though and I certainly appreciated it since I was on vacation.


Me outside the Hershey store!

For lunch, we went to Su Casa because we were craving Mexican. It’s really the only place we went the entire time that wasn’t on our list and were pleasantly surprised by the good service and inexpensive prices, especially for a restaurant in the heart of downtown. My margarita was downright delicious!


Us at Su Casa

From lunch we headed to Barney’s and then to the Hermes store. I’ve been wanting to try a sample of their Ambre Narguile perfume for a very long time and the girl in the store was more than willing to give me one and offer me another scent of my choosing (I got the Iris Ukiyoe). Both smell fantastic and the Ambre Narguile is a perfect scent for fall, though I’d never pay for my own bottle of this (I believe it’s $195 a bottle!).

From shopping we headed back to The Allerton to collect our bags and cabbed it over to our new hotel right in the heart of the theatre district. We got settled in, took a nap and then I finally got to go to Sprinkles to try my first cupcake from them. It was worth the wait and absolutely delish! We headed back to the hotel to await the arrival of our good friends Amy & Chad. We caught up for a bit and then headed out to dinner at Chicago Pizza Oven Grinder & Co. I really wanted to go to this place because I saw it on the Travel channel as being #1 of the Top 10 Cheesiest Eats in the county for their Pizza Pot Pie. It was really good and a hit with Geof too. I wouldn’t say it’s the best thing I’ve ever had, but it was definitely worth the visit. From dinner, we headed to Miller’s Pub because it was close to our hotel. It was an interesting place and we saw a guy in a suit that looked like he’d been there since happy hour fall flat on the floor off of his bar stool. Yikes.


Sprinkles!


Us with Chad & Amy at Chicago Pizza Oven Grinder & Co.


Pizza Pot Pie

I just have one more Chicago post and then it will be back to business as usual!

Chicago trip – Day 1

We just got back from Chicago on Sunday and what a whirlwind weekend it was. We were able to visit because Geof received an invite to attend a movie premiere as part of his blog/contest being held. It was pretty last minute and the producers flew us out, put us up for one night at The Allerton and invited us to the premiere of Fancypants where we got to walk the red carpet. It felt pretty cool to have a bunch of shutterbugs flashing cameras in our faces and asking us questions. We also got to sit in between the stars of the film and it felt like something straight out of Hollywood. Geof also had to get up and speak briefly in front of the crowd of 400+ people and he did awesome.


OOTN for the premiere!


Geof and I on the red carpet

The rest of the trip was for relaxation. After the movie, we went back to our hotel, got changed and hopped in a cab bound for Kuma’s Corner. This is a place Geof has raved about for the past few years and has never been able to take me to because he’s only been there when he travels to Chicago for work. Let me just tell you that this place had the BEST Mac ‘n Cheese I have ever had. They also had an awesome beer selection and the most unique burgers I’ve ever seen, all named after heavy metal bands. I got the Pantera Burger complete with Roasted Poblano Pepper, Bacon, Cheddar, Monterey Jack, house made Ranchero Sauce and Tortilla Strips. This place is out in the suburbs of Chicago and definitely a hidden gem. They had a funny joke up on the chalkboard that said “Why did the hipster burn his mouth on pizza?”…”He ate it before it was cool”. That one really had me laughing. I can see why it’s rated #52 out of #3,076 restaurants on TripAdvisor.


Food at Kuma's Corner

After Kuma’s, we went back to our hotel that was right in the heart of the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Ave. We took a late night stroll and stumbled upon The Drake hotel completely by accident. This was on my “must see” list while we were there because one of my favorite movies of all time, My Best Friend’s Wedding was filmed there. The hotel was as beautiful and opulent as I expected and we walked in like we owned the place which afforded me the opportunity to snap some pics like the ridiculous tourist that I am.


Outside The Drake


Beautiful ballroom inside The Drake. I can't imagine how gorgeous a wedding would be in this room.


Geof on Michigan Ave.

I’m baaaaack!

That’s right everyone. My unofficial blog hiatus is over and I’m glad to be blogging again. Leaving wasn’t planned and there were many times I wanted to come back, but just didn’t have it in me. Between work and life, I lost my mojo. The creative juices weren’t flowing and I didn’t want to just blog for the sake of blogging. For those that are reading this, I sincerely thank you for not deserting me and I hope you’ll continue to stay along for the ride.

Here are some of the highlights and interesting tidbits of the last 2 ½ months!

Chad & Amy (our friends from BCE 1 & BCE 2) came out to visit us and we took them down to the Jersey Shore. Our other friends Tracy and Stephanie came later on in the weekend the whole gang got to sightsee in Philadelphia. We did everything from Reading Terminal Market to the “Rocky Steps” at the Art Museum.


Survived my first and hopefully last Earthquake

Spent as much time as possible at the pool


Read…a lot. I’ve definitely discovered a new hobby (this book was also really good btw).


Made it through Hurricane Irene

Chester Count Restaurant Festival


Lots of dinner and movie dates!


That’s about it. We also just get back from Chicago over the weekend and I cannot wait to share all of our adventures from while we were there!