Hattie B's | Frist | Corvettes

*YAWN..

I am.. spent. Whoa.

Today's agenda was just as packed as yesterdays, it seemed:

First on the itinerary was checking out of the hotel and finding our way to breakfast. Brunch, if you will, based on the time we finally got to eating, but most importantly was VENUE:

heya, hattie b's! 

Damanji did a killer job of hunting down a chicken+waffles spot, which made me feel much better about him being cheated of T.o.B. back in Cinci. Coincidentally, Hattie B's happens to be one of the top-rated C&W joints in the U.S., and it is of course in Nashville.

..... So Hattie B's it was!

so much deliciousness, hattie b's! 

After lunch & a couple spontaneous merch pick-ups, we made one final stop at the Frist Center for Visual Arts to explore and stretch the legs before our separate trips home.

♥ these people.. so ... stinkin' ... much. ♥

And then it was goodbye, at least for now. We'll be headed westwards in just a couple of weeks to kick off the holiday traveling, so I don't doubt that I'll see them soon :). LOVE YOU GUYS!

farewell for now, nashville! ♥

Rob and I loaded up and put on our game faces for the trek back to Cincinnati, which we thought would be a straight, uninterrupted shot.

It was, until Rob spotted the National Corvette Museum from the highway, and it goes without saying that this would probably be the only time we'd ever actually go there. It was a good choice for a pitstop, though!

national corvette museum! 

generations of corvettes everywhere :) 

one of the several destroyed by the 2014 sinkhole :( :( 

I'll give to these Corvette owners - they are a dedicated bunch!

coming together from all over! 

It was certainly an interesting piece of history to see, and I'm glad we stopped. Given that we probably wouldn't have dedicated a trip solely for the sake of a visit, it's one of those places you've got to go at least once, even if you're not really a Corvette kinda person.

And now.. we are finally home and ready to unwind. I feel like this weekend was a dream, and am counting one more time before I call it a night just how thankful -- and blessed -- I am for these 3 people who did so much work to ensure my birthday weekend was perfect.

You guys are incredible. Love you!!

xo | cmd 

Birthday Surprises, Part 2 : NASHVILLE!!

My friends brought me to Nashville. My friends brought me to Nashville. My friends brought me to Nashville. My friends brought me to Nashville. My friends brought me to Nashville. My friends brought me to Nashville. My friends brought me to Nashville. My friends brought me to Nashville. My friends brought me to Nashville. My friends brought me to Nashville. My friends brought me to
Nashville.
[& this entry is backdated..]

Have I mentioned lately how much these people ROCK?!

I woke up this morning, obediently packed a bag of stuff that I hoped would suffice whatever excursion was planned for the rest of the weekend, and loaded up for the drive to an undisclosed point B.

Well, undisclosed until the signs started adding up and eventually flat-out stated NASHVILLE, EXIT HERE.

My friends brought me to Nashville.

My friends brought me to Nashville.
My friends brought me to Nashville.
My friends brought me to Nashville!

It's photo overload time. I'll try to group this together as concisely as possible:

First things first: We landed in Nashville and voted for food before hotel check-in:
Hog Heaven was our stop: an off-the-path, dive BBQ place that I will see again.

this place. yesssssss!

After lunch, we started off again, en route to our hotel, which I didn't realize was THE Opryland Hotel, until we passed through the gates:

opryland! 

beautiful opryland!! ♥

We toured the inside of Opryland for almost 2 hours, and we still didn't see the entire thing; this place reminds me of The Alamo in Texas, with the cute water and restaurants. We've decided already that we'll be back:

best! ♥

favorites, in nashville!

We wouldn't have been taking full advantage of our tourist status without a trip to Opry Mills, so once we'd toured what we could of Opryland, we set off on a course for the mall:

opry mills!
rainforest cafe | aquarium restaurant

 We ate dinner at the Aquarium Restaurant to round out our shopping excursion [of which we all took full advantage, fyi ;).. ] and headed back to the hotel to ready up for the night, and take one last tour of the Christmas set up inside Opryland:

merry christmas, here at opryland!! 

The time finally came for us to hit the main drag in Nashville, and I felt privileged to be taking 3 of my closest friends, all of whom have never been to Nashville.

broadway! 

If you've never been to Nashville, I would highly recommend that it goes on your bucket list. Anywhere on your list will do, but if you live in the continental U.S., put it close to the top. The place is a blast. :D

a synopsis of my night with these incredible people!!
rob, ali, damanji: i love you guys. ♥

Here's a hilarious kicker for the night:

there is... no way.. hahaha... 

^ That guy? His name is Zach, and I haven't seen him in 11 years. I come to Nashville for ONE weekend, and run into him, 7 hours away from our small hometown and totally without warning. Chalk this up for MVHS, and our graduating class of 2003 - Zach it was GREAT seeing you - what a small frikkin' world, and an incredibly pleasant surprise!!

[I'm still not over running into a high school alum down here!]

It finally came time for us to bid adieu to downtown Nashville, #hashtagthepanda included:

hilarious :p 

Rob managed to get the four of us, achy feet and all, back to Opryland, where the gorgeous lights met us and reminded us one last time for the night that this place is just... perfect.

♥ opryland | nashville, tn

Goodnight, Nashville!

xo | cmd 

BIRTHDAY SURPRISES, PART I

say whaaaaaaat!?

You see THAT?
I'm still at something of a COMPLETE loss of words over what's unfolding so far this weekend.

My guess is that everyone except me was savvy to the underlying plans for tonight, but as keen as I usually am to people being sneaky [the good way & the bad way... :| .. ], I was not expecting nor prepared for my friends to walk through the door.

My friends FROM ILLINOIS.

Before I had any idea what was happening, this was already happening:

... to ohio they were going.... 

Rob had managed to coordinate a birthday weekend for me that included two of my best friends of Illinois, Becky, Brandon.. AND.... 

ahhhh!!!

I'm FLOORED.
My friends are here. I'm apparently supposed to pack a bag for tomorrow, because we're heading somewhere.. that they won't disclose.

THESE. SNEAKY. PEOPLE.
[how I love them SO!]

♥♥♥♥♥

xo | cmd 

Brother Bear's Return!

It's #TBT, which was perfectly timed for today.

There is a handful of faces from my past to which I still make efforts to stay connected; this guy is one of them:

circa.... 2008?

Yeah, this guy was an older brother to me for a few years, and someone I considered [and still do] one of my favorite friends along the way. We ran in the same close-knit circle of friends for several years and then eventually strayed separate ways via life, jobs, moving and all that fun stuff that gets in the way of people living in their early 20's forever. He's now living in Texas and I'm now back in Ohio for the third [and hopefully final] time.

I hadn't seen him in probably almost 2 years.

say whaaaaaaat?!
today! 11.20.14

And THEN, I went to Northside for lunch with Elisa and Becky, and from the parlour at Melt in Northside, I spotted this dapper dude strolling down the sidewalk outside.

No. WAY! :D

Brother bear, it was terrific getting to see you today, even just briefly. What a small world! I hope Texas continues to treat you well, and maybe I'll swing through the next time I find myself that way!

one more from the archives, 2007 : family dinner!
nalom. james. me. ladd. catie.

^^ Love those people ♥

Small world we live in :)

Happy Thursday!

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday, Shef!

Since I made/used this last year to commemorate this guy's birthday, I'm going to take the easy road and do the same thing this year... since I haven't seen him since that last time :(

Add caption

HAPPY BIRTHDAY [30th, at that]
TO THIS GUY! 

Shef, I hope you had an incredible birthday, and that year 30 is all it can be & more. You've earned it! I hope Cali continues to treat you well, and if we're in the same small hometown at the same time this year, I hope to at least say hi :). HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Here in my little world, it was a client facility tour day, which warranted jeans for the day. That of course made office yoga that much more enticing.... and long story short, this:

itty bitty bakasana :) 

^ Those jeans were not interested in any sort of ground work today, but that just made it all the more challenging, and when you're learning to float like I am, it was kind of fun.

Anyway, we just finished up dinner at Main Street with Jess; Chad wasn't working tonight since he's apparently called off Wednesdays for volleyball and life forever thereafter, haha.. but still fun either way.

So far so good on the week! See ya tomorrow, blogbots!

xo | cmd 

PSA: Pitch Perfect 2 [Reminder]

ACCA-SCUSE ME?

Yes, this is a personal PSA that Pitch Perfect 2 is coming out On May 15, 2015.

I repeat:

5.15.2015

Here's this, to get you ready:

And here's a conversation I had tonight with one of my bests, who is the same person who saw the first Pitch with me, and with whom I'll be going to see the second: 

♥ you, awesome nerd... 

And yes, that's a picture of Hilary Swank, as she appeared on Conan tonight. 
All the yes, for this movie.  Whoooooo's with us?! 
xo | cmd

[First] SSSSSSSSNOOWW!

Ohhhh, Sydni you lucky bug!

Here's one of those "old folk" moments where I get to say,

"When I was your age..... "

She had her first official snow day today, which did and didn't surprise me:
I wasn't surprised because it seems like it takes a lot less these days to warrant closing down, but a bit surprised, even offended in that joking-way as I thought back to the days when the drift would be halfway up our front door in the morning and we were still expected at our seats when the class bell rang.

Aaaaaanywho - it's our first snow of the year!

my backyard (: 

^^ (See? Noooot really that much snow)... Gorgeous, nonetheless!

Here's some shots I stole from my sister, back home at her property:

gorgeous work, sis! 

^^ She's up by my parents, which is North a few hours; their snowfall is usually a bit heavier than ours, and she's the lucky one of us who had time today to get out with a lens to capture it all. ♥ them!

Needless to say, it was a slow day at work, but I made up time afterwards on a couple of knitting projects that are kicking off the winter season. [Rob also warmed this place up with his signature turkey burgers; remind me next time to share that recipe!]

blueberry trinity infinity ["raspberry" stitch]
for elisa :) 

orange lorne infinity
for rebecca :) 

There will be plenty more knitting to come in the next several weeks as we prepare for Christmas. It's the perfect snowy day escape. Back to it!

STAY WARM & STAY SAFE, FRIENDS! 

xo | cmd