Nashville Tour!

Maybe because we don't live at the beach anymore (I'm not calling you all shallow, I'm just saying), but we have not had as many visitors since our move to Nashville, so far.  It could also be that we've only lived here for a few months and have been REALLY busy too, but I'm sticking with the beach theory.  So, last weekend when Mike's Dad, step-mom and his/our (do I get to claim them as my own friends now that we're married, I've always wondered this?!) friends came to visit, we had big plans!  Call it over-zealous, but we aimed to fit a lot of fun stuff in to just over two days and boy did we make it all happen! 

Mike's family arrived on Friday afternoon and we all enjoyed a nice, relaxing evening cooking out and admiring the Lloyd.  Around 11p Brian and Peggy arrived from Michigan (we love them for driving 10+ hours each way to come and see us!), and we caught up a little before heading to bed in preparation for Saturday fun-day. 

Saturday, we made the most of the BEAUTIFUL weather and spent the day mostly outdoors drinking (not me, but you get the idea).  We visited the Franklin Farmer's market, had lunch at "The Factory"/did a little shopping, and then headed to Arrington Vineyards for an afternoon of wine sampling outdoors.  It's a beautiful vineyard, owned in part my Kicks Brooks (yes, that's really his name) of Brooks & Dunn.  After our afternoon out, we re-grouped at home before heading to Whiskey Kitchen for dinner (so delicious!) and then Broadway for music & bars.  I don't know if it's always this way at 10:00p on a Saturday, but WOW Broadway was packed!!  The city was having a busy weekend, but geez people were out in full force!  We enjoyed listening to "The Eskimo Brothers" at The Wheel before calling it a night around midnight, after what I have to say was one of the most adventurous days we've had in Nashville so far! 

Whiskey at Whiskey Kitchen

Peggy & Brian!

Cowboys at The Wheel

 And then, it was game day!!  We headed downtown to LP Field for the 12:00p kick-off of the Lions Vs. Titans game, and again were in luck with perfect weather for a Noon game.  Anyone that has met Mike can attest to his love of sports, particularly his Michigan teams, so it was really exciting that the Lions were playing in Nashville this season!  We went in to the stadium early and enjoyed watching the team warm up before finding our seats in time for the start of the game.  I don't know if all of you watched this game, (family in England, it's like rugby but they're wimpy and wear padding ;-) )  but OMG it was crazy.  Things were not looking so good for the Lions (down two touchdowns with 76 seconds to play), so we conceded defeat and slunk out of stadium, much to the "well wishes" of the Titans fans.  In the three minutes it took us to get out of the game, the Lions scored not one but TWO touchdowns to tie the game with six seconds left to play!!  It was an intense few minutes in overtime, but unfortunately the Lions ended up losing by a field goal-total heartbreak. It was a quiet car ride home, that's all I can say. We made it home in time to cook out again and ended the evening with a fun game of "Compatibility" (if you visit, we'll probably play it) and strawberry & rhubarb crumble (fresh from the Farmer;s Market).

Go Lions!

Warming up

Ready for the game!

It was a wonderful weekend, full of so many fun things!!  We couldn't have asked for better weather or company, we love you all for visiting!! :-)

With my love and his love, The Lions!

Enjoying a weekend off with Hubs!

It's true.  I like my Husband.  Also up there is spending time with him, when possible.  With travels and an ever-changing work schedule (Mike's, not mine), we have not had a weekend day off together in quite some time, so this past weekend felt like a super bonus because he came home at a normal time on Friday, had Saturday off and only worked half a day on Sunday! 

So, what did we do with our day off, you ask?!  All kinds of fun things!  We had an afternoon outing to the Nashville Zoo, which was great!  It wasn't quite as amazing as our Jacksonville Zoo experience, but it was beautiful weather and we got to see lots of animals (Mike will be only too happy to share the giraffe porn story with you...I'm a lady, and I just can't write it down here...)!  We did see some cute meercats that I'm now discussing trading Milton for, but that's another story.

After the zoo, we ventured around town for some baby shopping and then went home to hang out with Lloyd before going out to dinner at Brick's Cafe, just down the road from our house.  Dinner was fantastic and we even got to sit outside and the enjoy the fabulous weather again! 

Sunday was filled with cleaning, football and a trip to the dog park with The Lloyd.  You know it's a good weekend when that guy gets a trip out!!  And here we are the in middle of the week already, getting pumped up for this next fun weekend with Mike's parents and friends (we're going to the Titans vs. Lions game!)!!

Iris' Baby Shower!

Last weekend I traveled to Raleigh to celebrate Iriss arrival with a baby shower!  My family and friends spoiled me/Iris with a beautiful shower and far too many lovely gifts.  The girl is going to look adorable, that's all I can say!!

The ladies and Alex!

Best Friend Baby Bumps!

After a great Saturday afternoon celebrating, I spent some time catching up with Meghan & Lisa (love it!), then spent a fun evening with the family!  Such a perfect day, I'd love to do that every Saturday ;-)

Sunday was spent with my family, seeing a bit of Raleigh and enjoying the beautiful weather!  It was a great way to end a lovely (though quick) weekend.  Can't believe Mike & I will be back in Raleigh in just a few short weeks for Meghan & Steve's wedding weekend, then it's countdown-on to Baby Iris' debut!!  So many exciting things!!!

Greece in Nashville

You might not know it, but it's true.  As the "Athens of the South", Nashville "boasts" an exact replica of The Parthenon, right here in the heart of the city.  So, like a tourist, I talked Mike in to going to check it out one afternoon a few weeks ago.  It sits in Centennial Park, which is a pretty cool place by itself, and was well worth the $6.00 each to check out.

It's a beautiful structure, it looks just like The Parthenon in Athens, except this one is still completely standing and isn't missing bits and pieces after hundreds of years of weather and turmoil.  Inside, there was a great art exhibition that we enjoyed, before venturing in the center of the Parthenon, only to find a GIANT (42'10" tall) gold statue of Athena.  She was stunning, really.  We loved everything about this statue, from her beautiful face (she has gorgeous eyes), to her trusty aid, Nike, and her really shiny outfit! 

Pretty spectacular, if unexpected, to find this structure in the heart of Nashville!