Exploring Music City

Nashville treated us very well and it was an amazing time touring the city. It was a short trip but we made sure to pack in as much as we could.

  
K's birthday falls on Labor Day weekend so we usually try to travel somewhere new to celebrate and take advantage of the long weekend. This year he chose Nashville to visit one of his good friends and explore a city neither of us had been to before.



Saturday
After dropping off our luggage and relaxing for a bit we headed over to Broadway Street to explore Music Row and get the full Nashville experience. We quickly realized that this city is the #1 bachelor/bachelorette party central in the US. It made for some good people watching and I now know why it's nicknamed "NashVegas".
 

Our first stop was at the world famous Tootsies for some rooftop drinks and a view of all the action down below. We spent the entire day walking around exploring the music scene and checking out the shops in between.



One of our favorite places was The Stage on Broadway which was a nice relaxed bar/venue with amazing live music.

After hours of fun and exploring, we settled at Merchants Restaurant for dinner which is on Broadway Street in the heart of the action. The food and craft cocktails were excellent!

Sunday
On Sunday we had reservations for brunch at Pinewood Social which was recommended to me by several people and for good reason. This place is more than just a restaurant, there's a full bowling alley, pool area, cafe, large outdoor patio and several bars. The atmosphere was fun and trendy, the service was great considering how busy this place gets, and the brunch menu didn't disappoint!

After our hearty brunch, we walked around the premises to check out the different areas and then made our way into downtown on foot to walk off those calories and sight-see in slow motion.

Once we made it to Broadway Street, we were ready to cool off and relax our feet so we stopped at the George Jones Entertainment Complex to walk through the museum and have a cold beverage at the bar overlooking the Nissan Stadium.

The entire day was spent exploring all the fun things Nashville has to offer and of course we returned to The Stage for more live music.


 

After another action packed day it was time for dinner so we jumped in an Uber to head to Peg Leg Porker for dinner. Several people recommended this restaurant for amazing BBQ so it was on my short list but when we arrived, we found out it's not open on Sundays so we had to take another taxi and head back to where we originally were.

 

We settled at The Stillery for dinner which was a place my boss had told me and about he raved about the sriracha deviled eggs. He wasn't kidding!

Monday

Our flight home was in the evening so we had a few hours to enjoy Nashville before heading to the airport. We went to visit our friend's parents at their beautiful home.

 

It was then time to make our way to the airport but TSA precheck bought K and I some time to stop for lunch at another highly recommended restaurant called The Pharmacy Burger Parlor and Beer Garden. We loved the outside patio/beer garden and the burgers were excellent!

Even though it was a very short trip, we loved Nashville and hope to return again to see the beautiful Fall foliage.

The Relaxing One

After traveling last weekend for the long weekend, a relaxing one was in order so I made sure to clear my schedule and focus on getting caught up with blogging and stuff around the house. A relaxing weekend means nothing majorly exciting to share but definitely check back on Wednesday for my Nashville trip recap which was action packed.

On Friday K returned home from a business trip so he was tired and I had no problem ordering Chinese food for dinner and relaxing at home. Easy and much needed!

Saturday morning was a slow start until the coffee kicked in and then I tackled the long list of things to do around the house and errands. I finally got my car full detailed and then stocked up on some groceries before retiring home for another relaxing night.

K dressed Lola in his UCF Knights shirt to watch the game on Saturday and of course she doesn't look entirely impressed but she did watch the whole game attentively. lol

On Sunday morning I tried my hand at making chicken and waffles for the first time with a side of smoked Gouda scrambled eggs. So incredibly good!

I did some errands and shopping for Kate's baby shower coming up and then went for an hour massage, which was much needed after having a stiff neck for almost a month.

It was a low key weekend but it was everything I needed to get back on track and feel rested. Hope you had a good one and you're ready to tackle this week!

Joining the lovely Biana by sharing some weekend action.

Thankful For Today

I'm thankful this week was a short one because it started off sluggishly after returning home from Nashville on Monday night. Nothing the weekend can't fix right?

While at the airport, I spotted this shiny object which made me get all excited. Has anyone seen a Benefit makeup kiosk at the airport before? Luckily I didn't have a whole lot of time to do much damage but how convenient is that to stock up on makeup while traveling?

On a slightly more obscure note,  I witnessed a high-speed chase as I was commuting home on Wednesday evening.  A mini van (of all vehicles) was tailgating behind me until he swerved through cars to escape the cops. It was quite a scary little scenario!

I'm excited to try something new and become a mentor for the College of Business Mentorship Program at my Alma Mater University. In the next few weeks I should find out who I've been matched with.

It feels like I haven't made a new recipe in months and since I've been on a major avocado kick recently, this BLT Chicken Salad Stuffed Avocado recipe sounds perfect!

With the new work schedule, weekends have become my only uninterrupted time to write and plan posts for the week ahead. Traveling and other weekend happenings have caused some radio silence recently but I'm hopeful the next few quiet weekends will help me get up to speed.

Speaking of that, I need to get my recap of Nashville together this weekend because it was a trip of a lifetime! A big thank you to Ashley and Missy for sharing some amazing recommendations for fun and food in Nashville!

Cheers to the weekend! I hope you have a good one!

Virgo Birthday Celebrations

This weekend was our much anticipated trip to Nashville for the holiday weekend to celebrate K's birthday. Instead of birthday gifts, we have been on a roll with traveling to new places to experience more than the bubble we live in.

Funny enough Lola and K share the same birthday so Friday night was all about spoiling Lola for her 2nd birthday.

On Saturday we made our way up to Nashville to stay with one of K's best buddies for the long weekend. We, admittedly, live an adventurous life but I don't remember the last time we had THIS MUCH FUN!

 More details of the trip coming soon but K and I agree that Nashville exceeded our expectations and was such an amazing city to explore.

Joining the lovely Biana

August Fun & Favorites

This week was like any other except a hurricane was heading toward Florida and we really weren't sure how bad it would affect Orlando. Either way I failed to adequately prepare but luckily we only had some heavy rain and the winds felt like I was sitting on a beachfront property. Unfortunately other areas in FL weren't so lucky and I'm just catching up on the news myself.

Since my blogging has been few and far between these days, I figured a recap of August happenings was due. Still can't believe we're already in September!

At the beginning of August I had some relaxing weekends after returning home from a family trip to Montego Bay for my cousin's wedding. 

We still found time to go out to celebrate some special occasions ~ baby's 1st birthday, dinner & drinks for my girl friends birthday, and K's fantasy football draft party.

And of course being home meant lots of time spent with my love bug Lola. Her 2nd birthday is this weekend so we're spoiling her rotten tonight with some doggie treats and a new bed. 

 

My family reunion picnic that happens every 5 years was at the end of August so I made my way up to Toronto for a quick weekend trip.
 

With all the different family events scheduled for that weekend, I only had Sunday to explore/shop/do whatever I want so my sister, cousin, and I went to the Distillery District downtown Toronto to walk through the market and check out some cute boutique shops. The weather was perfect and a nice break from the sauna heat in Florida.
 

 

And of course, I made sure to get some Tim Hortons coffee and snacks which is a must (for me) when in Canada!

 

When it comes to shopping, the only thing I fell victim to was this MAC Look in a Box Lip & Eye Kit. They have a few different color combos good for different skin tones but I went with the more neutral nude pink set plus I've had that mascara before and it's amazing!

That's a wrap for August! I have some fun things lined up for this month so I can't wait to share.


Enjoy the long weekend and be safe my friends!