lately...according to instagram

Here's what I've been up to lately, according to my Instagram feed:

My parents' house looking beautifully springy for Derby

Newly reorganized work desk

Kate's birthday dinner at Silly Goose

View of the Louisville Riverboat Race from the LBC dock

Churchill Downs on Thursday before Derby

Dinner party with Nashville friends

Nashville bucket list item #1 complete: Thirsty Thursday at a Nashville Sounds game

Nashville bucket list item #2 complete: Cheekwood Botanical Gardens

New spring Essie colors:(L to R) Lapis of Luxury, Turquoise and Caicos, and Play Date

Tomorrow, my parents and I are off to the United Kingdom for two weeks!  Pictures and stories to come.

Nashville bucket list

To accompany my list of the 70 best restaurants in Nashville where I want to eat by the end of next year, I've created my Nashville bucket list: 27 things I want to do before I get my Master's degree.

1. Visit the Country Music Hall of Fame

2. Shop at the farmer's market

3. Go to the Las Paletas store and have a popsicle

4. See a show at Bluebird Cafe

5. Try the food truck Rollin' and Smokin'

6. See a show at Exit/In

7. Eat Jeni's Ice Cream

8. Have a picnic in Centennial Park

9. Walk the pedestrian bridge and take touristy pictures of the Nashville skyline

10. Watch the sunset at Love Hill

11. Have a milkshake at Elliston Place Soda Shop

12. Go to a Predators game

13. Go to a Titans game

14. See a movie at the Belcourt Theater

15. Tour the Belle Meade plantation

16. Go on a Nash Trash tour

17. Tour the Hermitage

18. Walk around downtown Franklin

19. Visit the Frist Museum

20. Enjoy Thirsty Thursday at a Sounds game

21. Raft the Ocoee

22. Tour the Yazoo Brewery

23. Visit Arrington Vineyards

24. Stroll through Cheekwood Gardens

25. See a show at the Grand Ole Opry

26. Drink a Chago-Rona at Chago's Cantina

27. Sing karaokee on Printer's Alley (again)

Am I missing anything?  Maybe these will actually be more attainable than my 25 by 25.

you know i like my chicken fried

My friend and coworker Krystal turned me on to the Nashville Lifestyle 70 best restaurants in Nashville.  Eating at great restaurants is one of the only productive things I think I've done after living here for nine months (in terms of my Nashville bucket list--post coming soon).


Here's the list:
Gulch
1. Virago
2. Flyte
3. Kayne Prime
4. Cantina Laredo
5. Arnold's
6. Whiskey Kitchen
7. Urban Flats
Hillsboro/Belmont
8. Chachah
9. Tayst
10. Sunset Grill
11. Cabana
12. Fido
13. Chago's Cantina
Green Hills
14. Table 3
15. F Scott's 
16. Firefly
17. Shalimar
18. Kalamata's
East Nashville
19. Margot Cafe
20. The Pharmacy 
21. Germantown Cafe East
22. Silly Goose
23. Thai Phooket
Midtown
24. Tavern
25. Catbird Seat
26. 1808 Grille
27. Midtown Cafe
Downtown
28. Capitol Gille
29. Merchants
30. The Palm
31. Prime 108
32. Fleet Street 
33. Crema
34. Morton's
12 South/Berry Hill/Melrose
35. Burger Up
36. Yellow Porch
37. 12 South Tap Room and Grill
38. Fish and Co
39. Edley's
40. B& C BBQ
41. Smiling Elephant
42. Melrose Pub
Germantown and North Nashville
43. City House
44. Germantown Cafe
45. Nashville Farmer's Market
46. AM@FM
47. The Sands
48. Mad Platter
West End/Sylvan Park
49. Miel
50. Park Cafe
51. Cafe Nonna
52. Tin Angel
53. Woodlands
54. Wild Hare
55 Giovanni Ristorante
56 Valentino's
Brentwood
57. Wild Iris
58. Local Taco
59. Peter's Sushi and Thai 
60. Bombay Bistro
61. Basil
62. Brick's Cafe
63. Judge Beans
Franklin
64. Saffire
65. Sol&55 South
66. Porta Via's
67. Mangia Nashville
68. Boxwood Bistro
69. Sperry Cool Springs
70. Red Pony

16 out of 70 isn't very good.  Clearly I still have a lot of work to do.  Any Nashville friends want to join me on this endeavor?


Post title: "Chicken Fried," by Zac Brown Band

stuck in my head: the Melodores

This is why the Vanderbilt Melodores are awesome: they realized that the only all-male a cappella group at Vandy was really just a bunch of frat guys who weren't that good, so they created their own.  Now, the Melodores is only a few years old, and they're already a strong contender in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) each year.  Two of the new members of the Music Group (the students who put on Rites of Spring) are Melodores, and you need to hear how good they are:

"Never Gonna Leave This Bed," originally performed by Maroon 5

Augie Phillips, soloist

"Time is Running Out," originally performed by Muse

Ted Moock, soloist

Rites of Spring

I spent my weekend working Rites of Spring, Vanderbilt's two-day music festival.  This year's lineup included Gloriana, Fitz & the Tantrums, MUTEMATH, Tyler Hilton, Sleigh Bells, and Wiz Khalifa.  The days were long but so fun!  Here's what I was up to:

Kate, Dwayne (my boss), and me seeking shelter from the rain Friday night

With Fitz & the Tantrums

The lovely merch crew!

Rachel Lampa from The Collective (from my favorite show  The Sing Off) 

Dwayne, me, and Patrick (our awesome booking agent)

The boss man, AKA "Mama." Yes, my famous owl hat had to make an appearance, per Dwayne's request.

Tyler Hilton from One Tree Hill

Me and the Music Group with Sleigh Bells

neatfreak

When my work and living spaces are disorganized, I feel like my life is disorganized.  Anyone else feel this way?  And with a busy week ahead with school (end of semester projects in every class) and work (Rites of Spring and Commodore Coffee Break), the area under my sink was really beginning to take a toll on my mental health.  I realize that I now sound like a crazy person.

This is what it looked like before:

Notice how all my extra toiletries are just strewn about.

This morning, I grabbed three small baskets from my closet that I wasn't using.  In ten minutes, my formerly messy and chaotic under the sink storage area was transformed into this:

It's embarrassing how good of a mood this little project put me in.  I felt organized and ready to tackle anything thrown my way!

Happy Birthday Mom!

To the woman who..

always models the virtues of patience, kindness, and faithfulness 

taught me that hot food needs to be piping hot

salts everything to an extreme

taught me to love children and babies as much as she does

sang to me every day as a little girl

thinks I'm funny

gets more nervous than I do every time I perform

instilled a love of books in me

is always the first to apologize

taught me how to do a cartwheel (left-handed like her)

supported my extensive and exhaustive college search 

cried when my doctor said my ACL was torn 

is the epitome of Proverbs 31 woman

and so much more!

I only hope I can be half as incredible a mom to my children as you have been to me.  Happy birthday, Mama!  I love you.