Our Week - The One with a Girls Night, Poker Night, and One Last Birthday Celebration for Me

Hey, y’all, happy Tuesday!  Last week was a great mix of productivity and fun, and it was just a really good week all around.  Let’s get to the recap!

Monday, April 7

Monday was our first day back to the grind after spring break, and my alarm going off at 6 AM was a ruuude awakening.  To top things off, we had some severe weather moving through, and I got a text from my Aunt Joy around 6:30 AM to let me know that she’d seen on the news that there was a wreck on our route – the same place where all the wrecks occur – and that traffic was backed up.  With a quick look at the GPS, that was confirmed, and our estimated travel time was doubled to 30 minutes rather than our standard 15. 

I was thankful she’d warned me, so I was able to get ready faster so we could take a different route.  Our route is all highway, so any other possible route that we take nearly doubles our time, so we had to get moving.  I ended up getting the kids to school on time, and then I headed home.  We desperately needed groceries, but I wasn’t about to go shopping in the pouring rain and storms, so I headed home and told myself we could just have breakfast for dinner since we did have all those ingredients.

I didn’t have anything on the calendar, which was soooo nice because it allowed me to get caught up on so many different things.  I finished sorting pictures from our trip (that was a JOB), I worked on my blog post for Wednesday, I got two loads of laundry done, and Brian and I ate lunch together as we always do on Mondays and Fridays since he works from home.

In the car line, I chatted with a couple of friends via text, and then we all headed home.  There was nowhere to be in the afternoon either and that was a relief because it was STILL raining… I think the local meteorologists said we got more than five inches of rain from Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon.  Insane. 

When we got home, I chatted on the phone with a friend from the kids’ school for a bit and then I did my quiet time/Bible study while the kids worked on homework and reading.  I also squeezed in 30 minutes of alumni affairs work since I have so much to catch up on. 

After that, I finished putting together my record player stand – it was SO easy and it’s great quality – and then I finally got my record player set up after four months of having it sitting on the floor in our front room.  I love it SO much and I’m so excited to be able to listen to vinyl.  It’s just a whole vibe, and I feel like it makes me slow down and appreciate the music more than I would if I’m just playing it on my phone.  There’s just something about the whole process of getting out the record and opening the cover and placing the record on the player and moving the needle over that just invokes a sense of nostalgia.  It also makes me feel more present, and that’s my word for the year, so I’m loving that, too.

Brian and I made breakfast for dinner since we had nothing else in the house, and then I put together the “Now Playing” sign that I’d bought to hold the record case while a record is playing.  I love it so much, too!! 

The sound from the record player isn’t the best (as I figured), so I also spent some time getting it hooked up to our Bose portable speaker that we love so much.  It has great sound and it’s tiny, so it hides away behind the “Now Playing” sign and you don’t even know it’s there!

By the time all that was done, it was nearing the 8’oclock hour, so I forced myself to do a strength workout even though I didn’t feel like it.  It was still gloomy outside, and a cold front was coming in, so I wasn’t about to set foot out there.

After that was done, I got some laundry put away, I started an Instagram Reel for our Nashville trip, and then Brian and I got the kids in the bed.

I still had to make a meal plan and a grocery list after that, so we didn’t even sit down to watch TV until 9:30.  We ended up finishing the series Adolescence, and my gosh, it was hard to watch.  Those last 15 minutes were devastating.  I have a million thoughts and comments about that show, but I won’t talk about them here because of spoilers, but I will say this – if you are a parent of tweens or teens (or eventually will be a parent one day), you should watch this.  It’s fictional, but it really delves into the world of young kids and how they use their phones, internet, and social media.  It’s SCARY.  We are very strict in our house about internet usage and social media (our kids have zero social media), and I have zero regrets.

 

Tuesday, April 8

Tuesday was amazing.  I felt good all day – no neck, face, jaw, or shoulder tension and zero dizziness – and I truly think that alone shaped my entire day.  I was THE MOST productive, I felt great, I was in the best mood ever, and I felt incredibly accomplished, yet rested, and connected thanks to some text time, phone time, and face time with various friends.  Oh, and it was a GORGEOUS day despite the fact that it was cold for the first half of the day (and also that the pollen was, like, an inch thick – haha). 

I started the day by dropping the kids at school, and then I headed to Walmart and Publix to pick up groceries.  When I got home, I got everything unloaded and got the cold stuff put away, and then I headed to my office to work. 

I had knocked out the rest of my blog post for the next day as well as Friday’s entire post in less than two hours.  Then, I put away all of my birthday gifts, I filed some papers and then some keepsakes for the kids, and then I played around with styling my record stand. 

While I ate lunch, I got caught up on blog reading, and then I worked on alumni affairs stuff for the school for 40 minutes.  I was able to transfer 40 lines from the old spreadsheet to the new database before I had to leave for the car line.

In the car line, I read my book, and then when I got the kids, we met Brian in a parking lot across from the kids’ school so I could hand him off for golf.

Jacob had a golf match right after school, so the boys headed there, and Olivia and I headed home so she could do homework and get ready for dance.  While she did that, I did the dishes and got the rest of the groceries away, and then I did my quiet time and Bible study.  I still had a few minutes to spare, so I got caught up on blog comments, and then I freshened up before heading out the door to drop Olivia at dance. 

After I dropped her, I had a few minutes to spare before I had to meet my girlfriends for dinner, so I stopped by the Walmart that was on the way there because I’d forgotten to grab a couple of things earlier that morning.

The girls and I met at a brand-new upscale-ish Italian restaurant that just opened downtown, and when I say brand new, I mean it was their second day.  We weren’t sure what to expect since it was their second day opening, but we had a great experience from start to finish.  The food was delicious, the service was great, and the ambience was top-notch.

We had a small group Tuesday as three of my friends had extracurricular activities for their kids, so there were just four of us at the restaurant.  They seated us in the cutest round booth in the back of the restaurant and then we ordered cocktails and appetizers.  While we were waiting for our food to come out, the girls surprised me with a large gift bag, and I wasn’t sure why because we don’t exchange birthday gifts.

I opened it and immediately burst into tears because it was the most beautiful painting of St. Francis holding Maui with my childhood dog, Bill, at his feet.  We are Catholic, so we are big on saints, and for those of you who may not know, St. Francis is the patron saint of animals.  <3 

To make things even more special, they had commissioned my dad to do it.  I’ve mentioned numerous times that my dad is a professional artist – he was the art director at our local newspaper for 30+ years – and he is so talented.  We already have two of his pieces hanging in our house, and now we’ll have a third that I’ll cherish forever.

When I thought things couldn’t be more special, my friend, Jeannine, presented me with her own version that she’d painted, and I cried again.  I am just so grateful for these wonderful ladies in my life.  Both of these paintings will be displayed prominently in our house once I get them framed.

I texted my dad immediately to thank him, and then the rest of our dinner was lovely.  We ended up staying and chatting for almost two hours, and we only left because we felt bad for taking up a table for so long since the place was new and the wait was long.  On the way out, we got someone to snap a picture of us, and then we headed our separate ways.

Meanwhile, Jacob had wrapped up his golf match and he and Brian had picked Olivia up from dance and they were at Culver’s having dinner… they always end up there when I’m not around to cook.  Haha.

They got home shortly after I did, and I showed them the paintings and cried again.  And then it was time for the kids to get showered and ready for bed.  I was just about to get on the stair stepper when my old coworker and friend, Greg, called me to chat.  He had some awesome news to share, so I ended up talking to him for a good 20 minutes. 

By the time we wrapped up our phone call, it was 9 PM, but I was determined to get in a workout, so I jumped on the stair stepper for 30 minutes.  After that, I got ready for bed, I texted back and forth with one of Jacob’s friend’s moms about a movie get together over the weekend, and we got the kids in bed around 10, which is way later than normal for them.

Since it was so late, Brian and I went downstairs long enough to watch a Handmaid’s Tale recap since we were about to start the fifth and final season, and then we went to bed.

 

Wednesday, April 9

Wednesday was another beautiful day, albeit freezing in the morning again, and I had nowhere to be.  I spent the entire morning working on the blog.  I was determined to stay ahead, and I had Nashville recaps ahead of me, and travel recaps are always beasts because I take so many pictures.  I managed to get all of the pictures edited for the first recap, and there were nearly 100 so that was a feat in itself.  After that, I started typing up the recap, and then I switched to this post to get it started and caught up to present day.

I spent the last hour before picking up the kids working on alumni affairs stuff and I knocked out about 40 more lines, so that was productive. 

After school, Olivia had her follow up with the orthodontist.  She had to have a few teeth pulled back in November and then they wanted us to wait a few months to see how everything settled before going back. 

Everything went well at her appointment, and her orthodontist told us he’s ready to get her in the braces.  We opted to wait until summer because we have so much to deal with over the next few weeks with Easter, teacher appreciation week, Jacob’s end of middle school activities, Olivia’s recital, and the end of the school year, so I didn’t want her to have to deal with new braces during the middle of all of that.  She’s officially scheduled to get hers on the week after we get back from the beach, so we’ll have three of us in braces together.  Needless to say, it’s been a very expensive couple of years.  Cringe.

Her treatment is going to be a long one, too, unfortunately, because she has so many things going on with her teeth and bite.  They’re going to put on standard braces for about nine months, and then they’ll add a Herbst appliance for a year (Google it… it does NOT look like fun), and then she’ll get that off and be with the regular braces again until treatment is over.  They said that the whole treatment should be about three years, which is longer than average, and I’m also going to assume that it will be even longer since most of the time, treatment lasts longer than the original estimate.  Eek!

After her appointment, we headed home, and the kids did homework and read for a bit.  Then Olivia got ready for dance and got her dinner ready to eat in the car.  I did my Bible study while they did that, and then I dropped Olivia off at dance.

When I got home, I cleaned the kitchen, and I got dinner thawing… we had some leftover white chicken chili in the freezer, so all I had to do was thaw and warm it, and that was dinner.  Jacob and Olivia won’t eat it, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to have it when one of them wasn’t there for dinner.  Haha.  Jacob had some spaghetti and meatballs instead. 

While the food was thawing/warming up, I got a bunch of the kitchen cabinets and drawers cleaned out and reorganized.  The kids now have a full lunch program at school that’s included in their tuition, so we’ll never have to make lunches again, so I finally got rid of their old Yumboxes and a few other things we didn’t need.  That freed up an entire shelf in our cabinets, so I was able to move some random kitchen gadgets around on the shelves and give everything some breathing room.

After dinner, I got out for a three-mile walk and it was just glorious because the weather was so beautiful.  I got home just as Brian was leaving to pick up Olivia, and after I did my stretches and cool down, I got showered.

While Jacob showered, I prepped my to-do list for the next day, and then I played around with my record player stand some more to see how I want to decorate it. 

When Brian and Olivia got home, Olivia got showered, we got the kids in bed, and then Brian and I watched the first episode of the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale.  I’ve been waiting for this foreverrrr, y’all!

 

Thursday, April 10

Thursday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed to Maui’s old vet’s office.  I finally brought myself to clean out some of the things from her cabinet (but not all of it… I just can’t do it) and I was so glad I did because I realized that we’d just bought a fresh three-month supply of her heartworm/flea/tick medication right before she passed away.

I dropped that off there so they could let someone use it because I didn’t want it to go to waste, and they were kind enough to give us a full refund for it since it was still sealed.  That stuff is expensive, so it was much appreciated. 

While I was there, they were all asking how we were doing with everything, and they told us that they’ll be there when we’re ready for a new pup.  They actually had a pup there that they were trying to home.  Apparently, it turned up in their parking lot last week, and they couldn’t find the owners.  The dog was beautiful, but we’re just not quite ready yet.  It was so good to see all of them, though, although a little bit painful to be there without my girl, but I didn’t cry, and that, my friends, is progress.

After that, I headed right back to the school because I had an 8:15 AM meeting for alumni relations.

After my meeting, I headed home and worked on my first full Nashville recap for most of the morning.  Those travel recaps always take a ton of time, but I got it done, and then while eating lunch, I read some blogs.

After my lunch, I settled in and transferred about 60 people from the Google doc into the new database for alumni relations.  I calculated that I need to transfer about 40 people from the old Google doc to the new database every day to get my whole portion done by the end of the school year, so I’m trying to work on it every day, so I don’t get behind.

I did a car line chat while I waited for the kids to get out, and then after school, we met Brian so Jacob could jump in his car and head to golf.  Olivia and I headed to guitar lessons… but first – a car wash!  Finally!  My car has been filthy from pollen and traveling for spring break, so we got it washed, vacuumed, and wiped down on the inside and it looks great.  I’m sure it will be covered in pollen again within a day or two, but at least all of the grime from the road is gone.

While I was at the car wash, I heard someone call my name and it turned out to be my old coworker, Larry, from when I worked at my corporate job in sales and marketing.  I hadn’t seen him in six or seven years… since the last time I visited after I quit, and it was so good to hug his neck and catch up with him.

Olivia and I headed to guitar lessons next, and she worked some more on I Knew It, I Know You by Gracie Abrams.  We also brought Mr. Steve some Dum Dums for his treasure box.  I do not eat much candy, but I love those dang things.  Haha.

When Olivia and I got home, she did homework while I did my Bible study, and then Olivia worked on tidying the playroom and her bedroom since we were having guests over on Friday evening.

When the boys got home from Jacob’s golf match, we sat down to sausage, peppers, and onions tacos, and Jacob told us about his match.  Brian always texts me the play by play for his matches and Jacob ended up getting a long putt for a par on Thursday.  He’d gotten it on video, too, so I was grateful to be able to see it!

After dinner, I got out for a walk/jog followed by a quick 8-minute arms workout, and the kids got showered and ready for bed.  Olivia also came in to show me a few drawings that she'd done.  Aren't they so sweet?!  She did them for one of her besties.

Brian and I ended the night with an episode of The Handmaid’s Tale.

 

Friday, April 11

In the wee hours of Friday morning, we were scheduled to have some pretty bad weather.  I’d checked the forecast right before bed Thursday night and it looked to be rolling through around midnight or a little after, which wasn’t long after we went to bed.  Apparently, we did get said bad weather including tons of rain, thunder and lightning, and pea-sized hail, and I didn’t hear a single thing.  Not a single thing, y’all.  That is SO rare for me. 

So, when I woke up knowing I hadn’t heard anything, I assumed that it had broken up before it had gotten here, but with a quick check of social media, one of our news outlets was reporting that there were trees down all around our area.

Thankfully, our path was clear to school, and the sun was already coming out, so I dropped the kids off and then headed straight home to settle in to work all day.  First up, I worked on this blog post, and then I knocked out Wednesday’s entire post.  I even had time to knock out an entire blog post for summer break and I started editing pictures for the Nashville post you’ll see next Monday!  Woo hoooo!  It was such a productive morning for the blog.

After that, I needed a break from blogging, so I decided to tackle some emails that had started piling up… why oh why do they pile up so quickly?!  I went through one by one and gave attention to every single one that I could do at the time, and my inbox only had four remaining at the end!  Gotta love it!

Once that was done, Brian and I ate lunch together, and then I settled in for some alumni relations work until I had to pick up the kids from school.  When we got home, I got right back to doing alumni relations work, and I ended up knocking out 75 lines.

After that, I got my computer desktop cleaned off, I filed a couple of things, I took stock of items that we’d bought for Easter baskets, and then I did my Bible study and quiet time.

By the time all that was done, it was time to start prepping for poker night that we were hosting.  I got the kitchen cleaned up, got some donation stuff put away that had been sitting on the dining room table, I tossed a Caesar salad to go along with the pizzas Brian was picking up, I got the diffuser going with some lime and vanilla, and I turned on the “All 90s” station on our Amazon Echo.  That station is awesome because it doesn’t just play one genre from the 90s… it plays 90s pop, country, R&B, and some alternative.  It’s so good, y’all.

When I was done, I cracked open a beer and slipped it into my new NASH koozie that I brought home from Nashville, and then everyone started arriving shortly after that. 

We spent the next three hours hanging with our usual group, and as usual, we ended up talking so much that we kept forgetting where we were in our poker game.  Lol.  We always have so much fun talking and laughing that the actual poker part sometimes gets lost in the background.  Poker night is always one of my favorite nights of the month, and I absolutely love that we’ve been doing this monthly for 2.5 years and still going strong!  I love these people!

Everyone left a little after nine, and the kids headed off to get ready for bed while Brian and I got everything cleaned up.  Then we got the kids in bed just before ten.

Brian and I sat down to watch episode three of The Handmaid’s Tale, and y’all, it was so good.  I cannot wait to see how the series ends.  I have very high hopes, and I hope I don’t get let down!

Saturday, April 12

Saturday morning, I was up just before 8:30 and I headed downstairs to make waffles for breakfast.  The kids were already up, and they joined me along with Brian shortly after. 

After breakfast, I headed to my office for a few minutes to enjoy my tea, and I got a couple of things knocked out on the computer, I added a couple more things to my bulletin board that I’d had sitting around and ready to go, and then I changed clothes for a workout.

I got in a mixed cardio workout and then I gathered up all of the dirty towels in the house, I made the bed, I got a couple of returns ready, and I watered the plants, and then it was time to get showered and ready for the day.

We met my father-in-law along with Brian’s sister, my brother-in-law, and my two nephews at a new-ish place near our house for lunch to celebrate my birthday one last time.  The place we went is one of those fusion concepts where they offer American, Italian, Asian, Mexican, and various other kinds of foods all in one place.  You order at the counter, and then wait for your food to come out, but it’s more of a sit-down restaurant in that it’s super nice inside and you still have servers.  The food is excellent quality, too.  They have a massive beer and wine tap wall and a huge bar as well, so you can get a bracelet and try whatever you want and just pay by the ounce. 

I got a smashburger with their secret sauce along with their dill fries and dill sauce, and oh my word, everything was delicious.  Whatever their secret sauce is for the burgers, I have GOT to figure out how to make that.  And whoever thought to put dill seasoning all over fries is a freaking genius.  I loved them so much.  Everything was so flavorful.

After lunch, we headed back to my FIL’s house for gifts and Crumbl Cookies for dessert, and then we all played a game of What Do You Meme.  It was so much fun with that big of a group and we were all in stitches.  My father-in-law was laughing so hard at one point that he was crying, and he couldn’t even get the words out on his card.  It was the best thing.

We played for first, second, and third place and the game took forever since we had so many people, so after that one game, we wrapped everything up and headed home. 

The weather was GORGEOUS on Saturday – absolutely perfect – sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and in the mid-to-upper sixties, and now that everything has turned green and the flowers are in full bloom, it is just so happy outside.  I’m so very grateful that our long, bleak winter has finally come to an end.  This one was a doozy, and it breaks my heart that our sweet Maui couldn’t have lived just a little longer to see this beautiful weather that she loved so much.  I will always hate the fact that she passed away in the winter.  She couldn’t stand the cold weather.

I would have loved to do all of my planting or at the very least lay out in the sun and read a book, but we already had plans to go to 5:30 Mass, and I’d already showered and gotten ready for the day, so I didn’t want to get all dirty.

Instead, I spent some time shopping online with my gift cards that I’d gotten for my birthday, I worked on some blog work, I got some more alumni relations stuff done, and I did my Bible study for the day.

The kids had a productive day getting their bathroom cleaned, doing laundry, and playing outside.

I got showered and ready later in the afternoon, and then Olivia and I left for 5:30 Mass with my extended family.  Jacob had plans to see the new Minecraft movie at 7 PM with 20-ish of the other eighth grade boys (God bless the ONE mom who chaperoned – LOL) so he and Brian stayed home so Jacob could eat a quick dinner, and so Brian could get him to the theater by 6:45. 

This past weekend was Palm Sunday, and we read the entire Passion of the Christ for the Gospel reading, so church ran about 20 minutes later than usual, and then we all headed to Mexican with our usual group.  Brian met us there, and we had margs and a yummy dinner with everyone.

My parents were celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary that day, so my Uncle Greg secretly told the server so they’d bring the hats out for them.  They ended up singing happy birthday instead of happy anniversary, though, so that was funny.

After dinner, Brian and Olivia rode home together and I drove home separately since we had two cars.  Brian left immediately to go pick up Jacob from the movie theater after that, and Olivia and I got ready for bed and then played a few rounds of Song Pop on the Amazon Echo.  She loves that game, but I’m the one who always has to tell her the answers.  Lol. 

Meanwhile, the mom who stayed with all of the boys at the movies was texting me videos of the boys cheering and running around after the movie ended.  Hahahaha.  I’ve heard it’s rowdy in those movies.

When the boys got home, we got the kids in the bed, and then Brian and I watched the first two episodes of the Gabby Petito special since Hulu hadn’t released any more episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale. 

I followed the Gabby Petito story closely in real time as it was unfolding a few years ago, and it’s been fascinating to see everything that went on that we weren’t aware of during the time that the search was going.  It’s just such a sad, sad story.

Sunday, April 13

Sunday morning, we slept in and had cinnamon rolls, and then I headed to my office to get some things done since we’d been gone most of the day Saturday.  I knocked out my yoga workout, I watched my Sunday sermon online, I planned the week ahead, I put some new music on my phone that Brian had downloaded, I transferred all of my pictures from my phone to my computer for the week, I did my Bible study, I knocked out about 40 lines in the alumni relations database, and I listed some Rae Dunn mugs for sale on Facebook.  It was a very productive morning.

Meanwhile, the kids had a lazy morning watching TV, playing with Lego (Jacob), and playing with slime (Olivia).  And God bless Brian… he deep cleaned the shower in our primary bathroom because it was SO GROSS.

We all had a light lunch together after that, and then Brian left for a tennis match while the kids and I headed outside because I wasn’t going to waste the beautiful weather a second day in a row.

I lay in the sun and read my book, and the kids played frisbee forever, and we finally headed inside mid-afternoon.  I got a load of towels washed and dried and I got showered for the day, and then the kids had some screen time.

I worked on this blog post and worked on an Instagram Reel, and I also ate another chunk of my Crumbl cookie that I hadn’t finished the day before while I watched The Wedding Planner.  ;o)  Olivia walked in at one point and was like, “How can you watch this same movie over and over again?”  Haha.  I told her it’s just my Sunday happy background noise during spring and summer.  Once fall starts I’ll switch to Serendipity and The Holiday but I watch The Wedding Planner the most.  I’d like to know how many times I’ve seen it.  It has to be well over a hundred.  I mean, probably well over 200, honestly. 

Olivia is starting middle school next year, so it was time to look at electives for her on Sunday afternoon.  They get to choose their top three from 8-10 different “tracks” for the year, so we took a look at all of the tracks, and she chose her top three.  She didn’t want to submit them yet, though, because she wanted to talk to her friends first to see if they have any electives in common that they could request together. ;o)  She is looking into TV Production, Art, and PE.

After we looked her electives, it was time to go to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner.  My Momma made her TikTok chicken alfredo and it’s one of my most favorite things that she makes… it is SO delicious.  We had that with salad, bread, and a no bake strawberry cheesecake dessert and it was all so yummy. 

After dinner, we headed home, I got the laundry sorted for the week ahead, we got the kids in bed, and then Brian and I finished the Gabby Petito documentary.

Happy Wednesday, y’all! 

Our 2025 Nashville Trip - Days 1 & 2

We spent spring break in Nashville and Pigeon Forge, and today I’m recapping the first two days of our trip!

Sunday, March 30

Sunday was primarily a travel day.  We couldn’t check into our Airbnb until 4 PM CDT which was 5 PM EDT, so there was no rush to get up early and get out.  We ended up leaving around noon, we stopped at Panera for lunch along the way, and then we made it to the Airbnb in the early evening. 

We ran into TERRIBLE traffic in Chattanooga and Knoxville, which slowed us down tremendously, so needless to say, we were all suuuuper ready to be out of the car.

We’d booked a Dolly Parton themed Airbnb – I mean, it is Nashville, so we had to, right?! – and it did not disappoint.  I loved it so much that I gook a gazillion pictures, so prepare for picture overload.  Bless Brian and Jacob for putting up with all this pink!  Haha.

The Airbnb was in an area that was super close to The Gulch, downtown, and 12 South, so we loved the location.  It was central to pretty much everything.  It was also in an area that is a good mix of older, smaller houses and brand new massive houses… it’s pretty clear that many, many people are flocking to Nashville because of all of the new builds replacing the older houses in the old neighborhoods.

Our Airbnb was a small, older house, but it was so dang charming.  There was a mural in the carport, and when you walk through the (pink) door from the carport, you’re in a small galley kitchen with pink appliances.  Right off of the kitchen was the bathroom and the main bedroom where Brian and I slept... 

And then the other sleeping space was in what would normally be used as a living area.  It was the cutest space, and it was more of a bedroom rather than a living room since it had a full-sized bed with a trundle bed and a twin sized bed.  There was a massive TV on the opposite wall, and the best part was the spiral staircase.  Well, that and the life-sized Dolly cutout.  They also had a balloon arch in the corner and some fun lights that you could turn on to get in party mode. 

The spiral staircase went down into a basement (that had a door that goes out to the backyard), and the basement was the living area of the house.  My favorite thing – all of the stickers on the spiral staircase!  So fun!

The first living area had a couch, a mini refrigerator, a microwave, a karaoke machine, a wall of musical instruments, a huge floor-to-ceiling mirror, a giant selfie ring so you could get the perfect shot, and my favorite part – a four seater vanity where we could get ready each morning.

Right off that room was a super cozy nook with a massive couch area for lounging, and I did spent some good time in there relaxing one of the days.

The backyard was super cute, too.  There was a large deck off the back door in the main sleeping area complete with a butterfly mural, and the deck went down into a green space with a fire pit and hammocks. 

On this trip, the kids started taking these weird panoramic pictures.  They discovered that if you scan the person in one position, they can quickly change positions in the same scan so it looks like there are two of you in the picture.  I don’t really know how to explain it, but just look at this picture of Olivia in the bathroom.  That picture was taken in one shot, and it is not photoshopped, yet there are two different versions of her in the picture.  So creepy.  Haha.

After we explored for a bit and got settled in (and took a million pictures), we all changed clothes and freshened up for dinner.  My Aunt Retta (my dad’s sister) lives in Nash, and we hadn’t seen her in years as she rarely makes the trip down to Georgia, so we had planned to meet her for dinner the first night.

She chose the place – Ted’s Montana Grill – and it was a great place.  The ambience was perfection, the food and cocktails were delicious, and there was no wait since it was late-ish on a Sunday night… we almost had the place to ourselves.

For dinner, I opted for the bison meatloaf (my first time trying bison), with garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli, and it was all so yummy.  The meatloaf tasted just like beef, but apparently bison is a leaner cut of meat than beef, which is always good. 

We spent nearly two hours there with Aunt Retta, catching up, reminiscing, and enjoying ourselves, and it was so great to spend time with her since we hadn’t seen her in so long.  Side note, I don't know if she would appreciate me saying her age on here, so I won't, but y'all, I just want you to know that this woman looks like she could be my sister, but she is, by far, old enough to be my mother.  She takes such good care of herself and she does not age.  

We left just before 9 CDT because the kids wanted ice cream next door.  They were just about to close, so we made it just in time.  Brian and I were too stuffed from dinner, so we opted out of dessert.

When we got back to the Airbnb it was around 10:30 our time, so we were all exhausted.  We got the kids in bed, and then Brian and I ended up staying up late to keep an eye on the storms that were approaching because there were tornadoes everywhere just west of us.  Thankfully, we only had some thunderstorms and rain, and the tornadoes stayed to the west.  We were grateful to have that basement, though, just in case we needed it! 

Monday, March 31

Monday morning, the weather was still yucky – cold and rainy – but we weren’t going to let it hold us back.  We slept in until 8:30 our time since we’d stayed up so late, but it was only 7:30 Nashville time, so we ended up getting out early.  The first stop was donuts for breakfast… y’all know we always have to find the best donuts when we travel! 

We ended up at East Park Donuts & Coffee and man oh man were they delicious!  I got a maple bourbon and a vanilla bean glaze, and that maple bourbon was DELICIOUS. 

After breakfast, we headed straight to the Country Music Hall of Fame.  We thought it would be a good morning for that since the weather was so yucky.  I’m not going to go into detail about every picture – I took hundreds in there! – but a few highlights were seeing all of the Taylor Swift stuff (they had more than I thought they would… they actually had an entire room dedicated to her!), seeing the Luke Combs exhibit (seeing the original Tracy Chapman tape that his dad owned that he listened to when he was a kid and also seeing the original manuscript for Forever After All), seeing Hank Williams’s Martin guitar that looks so similar to my dad’s, and seeing outfits from a band that Olivia’s guitar teacher just introduced me to… The Red Clay Strays.  It was so cool to see them there because I’d never even heard of them prior to a couple of months ago. 

The ultimate, though, (well, for Olivia and me anyway) was seeing the Taylor Swift Speak Now dress from The Eras Tour.  A little back story for you… leading up to the trip, we’d been telling the kids that we were going to visit the Hall of Fame, and I told Olivia they would likely have something in there that belonged to Taylor Swift.  Well, for days leading up to the trip, she kept saying, “I cannot WAIT to see the Speak Now dress.” 

I had to explain to her that Taylor Swift has a gazillion outfits from her very long career, and that the chances of that one dress being in that one museum at the exact time that we were there was highly, HIGHLY unlikely.   

Well, what do you know that we rounded a corner towards the end of our visit, and there it was in all its glory – the Speak Now dress that Taylor Swift wore during The Eras Tour!!  I couldn’t believe my eyes and neither could Olivia.  Both of us may have teared up a little… Olivia because she had been dying to see it so much, and me because I was just so happy that Olivia got her wish.  Needless to say, we ended up going back to it and taking more and more pictures.  Haha.

We spent some time in the big circular atrium and the gift shop after our tour, and the kids tried on hats and got souvenirs.  They also happened to be playing a Taylor Swift record when we were in there, so Olivia and I were vibing.  ;o)

By the time we were done there, we were all starving, and thankfully, the rain had stopped, so we were able to walk over to Broadway to find somewhere to eat.  We ended up at Luke’s 32 Bridge (Luke Bryan’s honkytonk), and they had live music (per usual since everyone does 24/7 in Nashville) so I was thrilled! 

The first floor with the band was just a bar and they didn’t do full table service, so we had to be seated on the second floor, but it’s an open space and they seated us right by the balcony so we could see and hear the band perfectly the whole time.  They were a cover band, and they sang so many good songs.  Right when we sat down, they played Neon Moon by Brooks & Dunn and I told Brian, yep, this is the place for me!  Haha.  I looooveeeedddd that song when I was in fourth grade.  It was literally my favorite song for, probably, a whole year.  They also did lots of Luke Combs and newer stuff, too, so we enjoyed it.

Brian and I aren’t big day drinkers, but I couldn’t go to Luke Bryan’s honkytonk and not get a Shake it for Me cocktail – I mean, it’s his classic song! – so I got one and Brian and I shared it.  I had a Caesar salad with grilled chicken, and I have to say, the food was really great.  I expected it to be just basic like any other bar food type of place, but the salad was really good – they used good quality ingredients, they added a few extras to the salad, and I really appreciated that they chopped up the lettuce and chicken really small… that is the BEST.  I hate getting a salad where I have to cut everything up.  So anyway, two thumbs up for Luke’s 32 Bridge!

When we were done eating, we went down into the basement to look at the merch, and then we headed back out on Broadway.  Though the rain was long gone, it was still dreary and cold and SO WINDY.  OMG the wind was ridiculous.

That made it a little difficult to explore, but we did make our way in and out of several shops to check out all of the Nashville merch.  In one of them, we saw an old Zoltar machine, and I was reminded of the movie Big.  SO good.

We also spotted Tootsie’s.  If you’re not familiar, Tootsie’s is one of the OG honkytonks in Nashville and it’s been around since 1960.  LOADS of famous people have played there through the years, and it’s very well known.  We thought about taking the kids in there since it’s open for all ages during the day, but Brian and I had already hung out there during our last trip, so we decided to skip it.

 

When we were done on Broadway, we drove over to Opryland Mills Mall because we wanted to find something indoors since we were all tired of battling the cold and wind, and also because they have a Lego Store.  We always have to visit donut shops, pizza places, and Lego Stores when we go on vacation.  Haha.

Unfortunately, the Lego Store there was tiny and not impressive at all, but the kids were still excited to go.  We ended up walking the whole loop of the mall (which is massive) and then we headed back to the car because everyone was tired.

I was chilled to the bone and was craving coffee at that point which is weird because I NEVER drink coffee in the afternoon, so we stopped at a Starbucks on the way back to our Airbnb.  I would have loved to go to a local coffee shop, but the kids were begging for cake pops so we opted for Starbucks.  Turns out, they were all out of cake pops (whoops) so the kids got brownies instead.

We hung out in Starbucks for a bit, went to Publix next door to grab a couple of things we needed, we grabbed some gas, and then we went back to our Airbnb to relax for a bit.  I snuggled up on the couch with my coffee and my phone and got some stories uploaded to Instagram while the kids played the instruments and took more creepy panoramic pictures.  Lol.

After a little break, it was time to figure out what to do for dinner.  We ended up settling on Five Points Pizza East as they had great pizza reviews, and it was really yummy.  While we were in the restaurant, the server gave the kids some pizza dough to play with, and when Olivia picked hers up, she said, “This pizza dough feels like OLD PEOPLE SKIN!”  Right as she said that, an elderly gentleman just happened to be sitting down next to her, but she didn’t see him.  I don’t think he heard her, but needless to say, we had to have a conversation about thinking before we speak, especially if it could hurt someone’s feelings, and especially when we’re in public.  Lol.  We also snapped pictures with a couple of murals, one before dinner and one after!

After dinner, we headed back to the Airbnb, the kids got showered, and then everyone went to bed.  We were all exhausted.  It was a great first couple of days despite the weather!

Happy Monday, y’all!