On August 11th, my friend Darnell from Dayton came through town on his way to Alabama and we got lunch at McDougal's Chicken -they give you free ice cream! - even though it's only 2 oz. And their chicken is delicious. The pic on the left is some of the crazy decorations on the wall, the Boar with the life jacket looks like Alf to me
On August 12th, I went down the the Gulch to Casablanca Coffee to hear some good music from Jenn Bostic, Caitlin Nicol-Thomas, Tim Williams & Matt Spitko (these 2 guys were from Philly)! Take a listen to some great music from that night
Caitlin-Nicol Thomas
Jenn Bostic & Catlin-Nicole Thomas
Tim Williams
Tim Williams & Matt Spitko
Matt Spitko
Matt Spitko & Tim Williams
food at Genghis Grill
On Sunday August 14th, I went to see the Glee 3D movie with Laurie in Cold Springs. I had a free birthday lunch at Genghis Grill so I stopped by before the movie to use that. If you've ever been to Mongolian BBQ or Stir Crazy, that's what this place is like. On my way to the movie my friend Tara called me and she was driving through Nashville on her way to Alabama so she stopped by for some yogurt at Sweet CeCe's. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday
my food at Noshville Deli
On August 24th, I went to Noshville Deli for lunch. I kept driving by and it seemed like a cool place, I was right and it was delicious! Also my waiter was from Akron, Ohio...small world! I was wearing my Cleveland Indians hat so he asked me if I was from Ohio. I also checked out Whole Foods for the first time ever. It's pretty awesome with the exception of being expensive.
On August 26th I went to dinner with some people from work at San Antonio Taco Company. This place was really good. And I had an awesome time hanging out with the crew that works on More at Midday/Better. Can't wait till we plan our next outing.
To wrap up the month, on August 29th I went to Dan McGuinness Pub to listen to Jenn Bostic and others on a singer/songwriter night take a listen:
Sunday, July 31st, the power went out..twice. Of course my cell phone battery was half dead which made me nervous about going to be because I was worried I wouldn't wake up for work on time. I switched my days off this week because of my visitors so I had to work Monday morning at 2:30am. Basically this was the starting point that contributed to me being tired the next 2 days!
Monday, August 1st rolled around and I was tired because of the whole power outage drama the night before. Coffee was a must have today (2 cups to be exact), I was so tired I dropped my sugar packet in my coffee! On top of being tired it was a long day at work (another director was on vacation), I had to direct 4am, 6am, and Better (1 segment had to be recorded 3 times due to timing issues). On the plus side, we had Chef Jamie on More at Midday and he made the best pesto chicken pasta ever! My day wrapped up with a nap so that I could watch the Red Sox/Indians game on ESPN (since the Indians are hardly ever on TV where I live), it was good game- Indians won!
Tuesday, August 2nd, the day my friends were arriving...The day did not start off the way I had hoped, I completely overslept! I got a phone call at 3:40am asking me where I was- the news is at 4am. I got there 5 minutes before the show started and had to quickly program the first block. Luckily the other director got in a few seconds after me set my cameras for me. We had to sit in black about 45 seconds and then I was ready to go on air, surprisingly I made it on air with minimal mistakes but it was crazy!
Eliston Place Cafe
My lunch
After work I came home and got changed to meet my friends for lunch. We went to Elliston Place Cafe for lunch (It's like the longest continually operated restaurant in Tennessee or something crazy like that), I had a Meat and two: fried chicken, mac & cheese and mashed potatoes with a roll and then a cherry milkshake for desert! Allie, Mel, Skippy and Laurie met me there but I had already eaten my food before they arrived because I was so hungry I couldn't wait. Then when they finally arrived we had to wait for a table and then squeeze the 5 of us in but we managed.
After they ate, we drove downtown. We were going to take the Trolley Hop Tour but we missed the time we wanted to take it so we went to a bar and had a drink instead. Allie, Mel and Skippy went back to their hotel to change while Laurie and I went back to my place to freshen up and I walked the dog. About an hour later we drove back downtown (the parking guy was super nice and let us park back in the garage w/o paying twice since we weren't there that long to begin with) had dinner at Demo's.
We then walked to the Rutledge to hear the Billy Block Show where Jenn Bostic was performing. Another guy on the Billy Block Show that night was Matt Nichols, he was amazing! I got a huge blister on my foot from my flip flops so spent most of the night walking around downtown barefoot (boy were my fee dirty). After that Laurie drove me back to my car (which I left by the lunch restaurant) and that was how the day wrapped up. Here's a few videos from the Rutledge:
Jenn Bostic: Snow Storm
Matt Nichols
Jenn Bostic: Let's Get Ahead of Ourselves
My pancakes
Nashville Tradition
Wednesday, August 3rd I picked up Allie, Mel, and Skippy and we went to Pancake Pantry for breakfast. I had pecan pancakes w a side of bacon, so yummy but couldn't finish it (also not sure the pancakes are really worth waiting more than 20-30 minutes). After breakfast we walked around Hillboro Village a little
YUM-O
After this we drove to Gigi's for cupcakes - we got 4 and shared them(Strawberry Lemonade, Salted Caramel, Margarita, & Raspberry Champagne) but then only ate part of them all and threw them away - this made me sad (it was too hot to leave them in the car but we should have just ordered fewer so we could finish them).
Me and Skippy on the Trolley
We then drove downtown and took the trolley hop tour where we sat on a bazillion degree bus (pretty sure the a/c was not working) for 1hr45min and listed to a guy tell us about all the spots. I checked out around the Ryman (which was like the 2nd stop) because it was too hot to concentrate, I just wanted off the bus.
After the tour I got back in my car and went home to walk Riley (my car read 109 degrees) we did set a record of 103 for the high that day (without heat index). When I got home, I cooled off for a few minutes then picked the gang up at the hotel and met Laurie, Steph, and Sandra at Stoney River Steakhouse for dinner. I had the 14oz NY Strip steak with a glass of wine (total bill was about $40 with tip). After dinner we drove downtown and took the Nashville ghost tour. It was so HOT! It required a lot of walking so I basically stopped paying attention 10 minutes in because I couldn't concentrate. I didn't see any ghosts.
After the tour we went to Mike's Ice Cream and Coffee Bar downtown to get ice cream and cool off.
Mel, Skippy, Laurie, Allie
Sandra, Me, Steph
Thursday, August 4th started with me picking up the gang at their hotel and then went to Loveless Cafe for breakfast. After breakfast we went back to my apartment and relaxed a bit and I walked Riley. Our next stop was Bicentennial Park. This is a very cool park with a lot of history.
Yum, Ben & Jerry's
We walked around the park for a while before going Ben & Jerry's for ice cream. We then went to the Frist (even though I'd been there before, but this time I had to pay) to see the Warhol exhibit. After the museum, we met Steph and Lauire at the hotel and then walked to Broadway Brewhouse for a light lunch/snack. I had a beer and the fried mac & cheese kids meal which was more like a full meal.
Getting a tattoo
After lunch, Laurie and Skippy got tattoos at a bank converted into a tatoo parlor. They got the same tattoo something Skippy designed to represent the last chord or "For Good" (from Wicked). Skippy got his on his arm, Laurie on her hip. Skippy, Allie, Mel and I went back to the hotel and cooled off then met Steph and Laurie for dinner at Bricktops (Steph and Laurie just got desert).
awesome desert
one of the best meals of my life
This was the best parmesean chicken I've ever had! And then we had an amazing desert - a warm chocolate chip cookie in a skillet topped with ice cream. After dinner we drove back downtown and went to Tootsies and Legends to experience the Honkey Tonks. After about an hour or so at the bars we went back to their hotel and hung out a bit then I had to go home to get about 2 hours of sleep because I had to work for a few hours on Friday.
Deconstructed Sundae
Friday, August 5th, I had to work (because it was elections on Thursday). I was so tired I can't even describe it! I directed the 4am news and then went home to sleep some more before meeting up with Allie, Mel and Skippy again around 11am. We then met Sandra for lunch at J Alexanders. For desert we had a "deconstructed sundae" basically a do it yourself sundae but it was good! After lunch we met Laurie, Anthony and Annie at GiGi's for one last cupcake (I got mine to go-Lemonade) then drove my friends back to the airport. When I got home I watched an hour or so of TV and fell asleep around 4pm.
Sandra, Mel, Me, Skippy, Allie
Annie, Laurie, Mel, Allie, Skippy, Me
Saturday morning I woke up from falling asleep at 4pm the day before for work at 4am! I basically slept for 12 hours and it was amazing! I proceeded to eat my leftovers from J Alexanders for lunch and watched TV.
