I'll Be Your Tennessee Lamb

So last weekend I went to Nashville! This trip was one of the most spontaneous things I've ever done. I booked my plane ticket about a week before leaving and had no plans or expectations! In case you happened to read my last post before it was deleted, I met up with a friend of a friend who was traveling and stopping in Nashville. I was a little worried about spending so much time with someone I barely knew, but figured it couldn't be all that bad (I was right). For the purposes of the post, I'll continue to call him Bobby.

I booked a flight for super early on Saturday morning. Even though I booked the flight so late I was given priority access and was the first one on the plane! So weird. I had a quick stopover in Charlotte, NC, and then I was on my way to Nashville!

I arrived a bit before Bobby, so I grabbed a shuttle to the hotel. It was located right in midtown and had a nice little view of Centennial Park and the Parthenon. Did you know Nashville is called the "Athens of the South?" Me neither.

When Bobby arrived we headed downtown to grab some food and get the weekend going! First stop: Jack's Bar-B-Que. After much deliberating I ordered the beef brisket with mac n' cheese and potato salad. All the food came with cornbread and I had fun mixing about 10 different sauces to put on my brisket.

After lunch we walked around and then went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was pretty cool and the layout reminded me a lot of the Newseum in DC.

Elvis' car made of crushed diamonds!

Elvis' gold piano

After the museum it was time for some beer and music! Downtown Nashville is so cool. Every single bar has live music and there aren't any covers. I could spend days just going from bar to bar and watching the performances. So amazing!

Not sure what's up with my super awkward arm...

A few hours in and I was drunk and hungry. It was time for dinner! The airport shuttle driver told me we HAD to go to Hattie B's Hot Chicken, so we joined the line of 50+ people waiting outside and enjoyed the warm Nashville air and company. Everyone in Nashville was so friendly and loved to chat. I had such a great time meeting people from the area and all over the country!

After about an hour and a half we finally had our food. It was SO worth the wait. Hattie B's also had tons of local beer on tap. I had been drinking for hours already so I managed to only have one while we ate (in addition to a huge cup of sweet tea).

My plate: spicy chicken tenders, fries, cole slaw, and EXTRA PICKLES FOR 25 CENTS!

All of our fried food...I had to try his pimento bacon mac n' cheese (it was great..obviously)

Banana pudding for dessert. I had one bite and almost threw up at the table from being so full. Real attractive!

The next day we were up and somehow ready to eat again. I really wanted to go to Pancake Pantry but there was an enormous line and it was Mother's Day, so we went down the street to a little diner called J. Christophers. I was on a Southern food kick so I ordered eggs with bacon, cheese grits and a biscuit.

Next stop after breakfast was a tour of the famous Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Opry (a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, which has presented the biggest stars of the genre). The majority of the Johnny Cash show was filmed at the Ryman, which is pretty cool because I love him!

After the tour we headed back downtown for some more drinking and music listening (I drank A LOT of beer on this trip).

Boots lining the wall of a bar

My favorite live band!

On the plane over to Nashville I sat next to a girl my age who is from the area. We totally hit it off and talked the whole plane ride. She told me if Bobby didn't show up I was welcome to stay at her house for the weekend. Ha! We didn't get to meet up over the weekend but she did give me lots of recommendations. One must do was to go to the Bluebird Cafe. The Cafe is a 90-seat music club that opened in 1982 and is famous for intimate, acoustic shows. Some performers are established singer/songwriters, and others perform hit songs written by other artists. We couldn't buy tickets ahead of time so we went over about 45 minutes early and hoped for the best. We arrived to a super long line, but luckily we made it inside right before the cutoff!! There is no cover but there is a $7 food and drink minimum per person. I kept my beer drinking going and ordered this great beer from Georgia.

The space really was intimate! We were just a few rows back from the band, Two Story Road, a husband-wife duo with some amazing credentials. She has sung backup for Carrie Underwood for many years, and he toured with Gretchen Wilson, Hunter Hayes, Kenny Chesney, etc. Now they have started their own band and I have a feeling we'll be hearing them on the radio! They played a mixture of covers and original songs and were AMAZING. Their performance of the Civil Wars' "Poison & Wine" actually brought me to tears, and now I've been listening to the song nonstop.

The shows are only an hour at The Bluebird, but it is so worth the wait. If you are going to Nashville I would see if there's a show you can buy tickets for ahead of time (I think they release them 1 week in advance and they sell out almost immediately). Otherwise, get there about an hour before and be prepared to wait for a great show!

After the Bluebird we took a short drive down Music Row -- I was not impressed, but maybe would have been if I was in the music business? -- and then decided to spend the night out in Midtown. We did a little bar hopping, then settled at Two Bits. I wish this bar was in Boston!! Great food, tons of local beer options, outdoor seating, and lots of board games to play! I got my ass kicked a few times in Connect 4 but continue to be a Scrabble Master. Can't win 'em all.

No bitchin or whinin!

Adorable women's bathroom sign at Two Bits

I ended up devouring a burger at some point. This is what multiple IPAs does to you.

The next morning Bobby had to head out early so I had the day to myself. I skipped breakfast, took a walk around Centennial Park, and visited the Parthenon. So weird.

Am I in Greece or Nashville??

I walked by this little BBQ place that reminded me so much of Freddie's from House of Cards. I was tempted to stop in but I already had lunch plans I was firm on getting to.

I grabbed an Uber (Uber is HUGE in Nashville. Again, who knew?) and took it to the Peg Leg Porker for my last BBQ meal in Tennessee. I got pulled pork with french fries and mac n' cheese. So freakin' amazing.

Giant fry (Mr. Attitude)!

I was one of only two women in the whole place. Weird.

I spent the rest of the day exploring some other parts of Nashville, drinking beers, and listening to more live music. It was a great way to wrap up the weekend before heading to the airport for my flight home.

Taps on taps

Cumberland River

Keeping with tradition...a chipwich to finish off a vacation!

And that wraps up my spontaneous Nashville weekend! What a great little getaway.

Missed Connections

Lately strangers have been being extra nice to me. It's increased so much that I've mentioned it to a number of friends, and a few people have even pointed it out to me. I really think it's my new hair (LOL). I've had a few requests to touch my hair (seriously) -- mostly from drunk men -- but I've also been told I have a generally positive/happy aura around me that attracts all types of people (yay!). In any case, one stranger in particular really struck me recently. I was waiting at a bar for a friend and reading from my kindle as I sipped on a beer. He sat a few spots down from me, suddenly asked what I was drinking, then ordered the same thing. I continued reading and tried my best not to get annoyed when he interrupted me every minute or so with another comment or question. Eventually I gave up reading and he asked if he could move down a few seats next to me. I said sure, and we spent the next 45 minutes or so talking. He was one of the most interesting people I've met recently (an astrophysicist from Colombia). He had a lot of strong opinions and we, surprisingly easily, fell into great, fluid conversation.

Eventually my friend came and I panicked when I realized what time it was (we had strict reservations). I paid and we got out of there quickly. It was an awkward shuffle. I felt like I wanted to give him my business card (I don't know why that would have been appropriate) but the moment passed and I left.

I didn't think much about it afterwards. It wasn't until I was telling a friend about the dinner that I mentioned the man I met earlier. She told me I should try to find him -- after all I knew his first name, his job, and the university where he worked. I decided not to look for him. What was I going to do if I found him? Call him up and say, "Hey! I stalked you and here I am!" No. Not happening.

Instead, I turned to good old Craigslist and posted my very first "missed connection."

I wrote something normal. I didn't really know what I wanted out of this. I knew I didn't want a date or anything, but it's not too often that you click with strangers so easily. Here's what I wrote (Xs included for privacy or something):

This is crazy! I am 99% sure you won't see this, but here goes!

We were both sitting at the XXXX bar last night around 5 pm. You were really nice and I enjoyed talking to you about our books, jobs (you work at XXXX, I for a nonprofit), etc. My friend showed up and we had to rush out for dinner so we didn't exchange contact information. You seemed really friendly and interesting, I'd love to meet up for another beer!

Well, to cut this story short, my mystery man did not respond. But a few others did...

At least I got some entertainment out of it? In any case, I caved, did some googling, and found out his last name. Should I contact him, or just let it go as a forever missed connection??

In honor of the Rangers being in the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, let's quote The Great One:

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

Man, do I miss The Office

I don't think I will...but maybe I will surprise myself...!

Pasta by Hand at Alden & Harlow

Remember that whiny post from last week where I complained about not going to the Pasta by Hand dinner? Turns out I successfully got one of my friends to go with me! We booked two spots for the 6:00 seating and anxiously awaited the event -- there were very few details available so I didn't really know what to expect.

The dinner was celebrating the release of Jenn Louis' (a chef from Portland, OR) first cookbook. It was a family style meal and we were sat at a table with 4 other people. Kathleen and I arrived first, excitedly looked over the menu, and ordered some drinks.

Each course was prepared by a different chef around the city. I only got a few photos because I didn't want to be too weird.

First dish from Mary DuMont of Harvest: ricotta cavatelli with lamb sugo, pickled white lily, mint and spring blossoms (that she foraged herself!)

I think this was my favorite of the night. We all know by now that I'm a huge sucker for anything lamb.

Second dish from Matthew Gaudet of Westbridge: kombu gnocchi alla valdostana with miso bagna cauda, broccoli rabe, and nutritional yeast (second photo down in the left column). I loved this dish too -- nutritional yeast is something I've always wanted to experiment with. It really does taste like cheese! The gnocchi was reminiscent to the best I've ever had at Sportello!

Third course from Jamie Bissonette of Coppa and Toro: Sardininan style gnocchi with grilled fava beans, goat, and baharat. Another amazing dish. I tend to love everything that comes out of Jamie's brain.

Fourth dish from Matt Jennings of Townsman: chickpea gnochetti with chicken leg, fermented garlic and chiles (photo in bottom left of collage). This one was super interesting. Love the idea of using chickpeas in the pasta dough. Townsman just opened about 2 months ago and now it's definitely on my must try soon list!

Fifth dish from Alden & Harlow's Michael Scelfo: nettle gnocchi with spring vegetables, pickled fiddleheads, ramp, and walnut pesto (top left corner of collage). I loved the presentation of this dish -- it looked like it belonged in a forest! The pickled fiddleheads were interesting and the walnut pesto was so herby and tasty.

Our last dish was from the author herself, Jenn Louis: strozzapretti with parmagiano-reggiano and butter. I just googled stozzapretti pasta and that's definitely not what we ate. This remind me of arancini a little bit. Not sure what we ended up with, but it was super delicious!

One of the best parts about the dinner was that we all went home with signed copies of Jenn Louis' book! Can't wait to crack this one open and finally make some pasta by hand!

Gluten is not the devil!

PS: I could have definitely gone to this dinner alone. We had such a great time with the people at the table -- by the end of the meal I felt like we were all old friends!! Nothing like pasta to bring people together!

PPS: I learned some new words from writing this post!

- Sugo simply means sauce

- Kombu is edible kelp

- Valdostana is goat, so I think this gnocchi was made with goat's milk?

- Miso bagna cauda is a spicy Japanese sauce

- Baharat is a Turkish spice mixture (I think I knew this at some point)

Three Words Per Picture

Spring is here!

Go marathon runners!

Colorful Lunch Deliciousness

Best snack ever.

Breakfast at home.

Literally wearing a neck brace (so ridiculous it requires more than 3 words)

Bad day reward

Seasonally inappropriate plate

Beer is good.

Pretty purple nails

Best message ever.

New buddies cheesin'

Musings

Lately I've been skimming the surface on what's truly going down with me. This blog isn't "public" per se, but I imagine it's easy enough to find if you know it exists. There are some things I really want to write about here (it's been a wonderful outlet for the past 4.5 years) but it's just felt too weird to.

That being said, the one person in particular I feel odd about told me he no longer reads. I'll choose to believe him and try to be more honest and open going forward.

I've been having a couple of rough days. Luckily I have a great friend who will answer the phone at midnight and listen to me repeat all of the things I've been saying for almost a year now. Today was feeling like a better day. I had a decent night's sleep for the first time in almost two weeks, I had a productive day at work, a fantastic homemade lunch, a great yoga class. Then I checked my email and I learned about a Pasta Takeover event happening next week at Alden & Harlow (I've been there once, wrote about it here). The event sounds amazing. It's right up my alley. I had this fabulous idea that I'd continue my low carbing and then celebrate by attending this homemade pasta feast. I called the restaurant to see if there were any spaces left and there were a few. She asked how many people were in my party and I said just me. After an awkward moment of silence she told me that "most" people were in parties of two or more, but that she could sit me with a group if I wanted. Feeling embarrassed, I told her I'd try to recruit and get back to her. I asked a couple of people knowing the chances of getting anyone to join me were slim. The dinner is $90/person. Most of the people I hang out with just don't care about the Boston food scene enough to lay out nearly $100 for a weeknight dinner. And I was right. No luck recruiting.

It's times like these that I think about Tom. When I first met him I couldn't believe how much we had in common. Finally I had someone in my life who wanted to do all the same things as me. Someone who I didn't have to convince or coerce into trying new restaurants or laying down some money to check out a new chef or special event. As noted on this blog, this was often detriment to my healthy living efforts, but still, it was wonderful to be with someone who shared so many similar interests.

We also had a few mutual friends who were interested in the food scene but after a number of attempts to maintain the friendships, I've realized it was basically one sided and have moved on. No hard feelings there and I know it's nothing I did or didn't do. Unfortunately mutual friends are just one of the many things you lose in a breakup.

So I'm not going to the dinner and I'm upset about it. Part of me feels like I should just suck it up and go alone. A bigger part of me doesn't want to be surrounded by couples enjoying a romantic night out. Despite rarely ever being alone, I've been feeling very lonely lately. I know it's been almost a year since the break up, but it feels like I'm still dealing with re-learning how to "be alone." And the fact remains, I don't want to be alone. I don't feel ready to be in a new relationship yet, but I don't feel satisfied or whole being out of one (this is a problem, I think). I've dated a few guys, but nothing feels right. I know I have to be happy with myself and my own life before I can be happy with someone else, but it's such a struggle to get there. I'm trying, every day I'm trying, but sometimes it feels hopeless.

My good friend who I mentioned above sent me this quote the morning after we talked:

"Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it's less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you've lost, or you can accept it and try to put together something that's better."

So I have to create something better. What does that mean for me? I'm not sure. Here's hoping I find out soon...

Up To..

Reading:

Reporting at Wit's End: Tales from the New Yorker: I bought this used at a book store many years ago and finally got around to reading it. I LOVED it, but it's certainly not for everyone. Reporting at Wit's End features a collection of St. Clair McKelway's most memorable essays from the 1930s-1960s -- the stories were so quirky and interesting and centered around now extinct features of New York life.

City of Thieves: My favorite book of the year so far. City of Thieves centers around one boy's arrest and consequent adventures during the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad.

Eleanor & Park: In the simplest sense, this is a book about young love. It was a charming reminder of what it felt like to be in love for the first time.

A Discovery of Witches: I just started this, the first in a trilogy about witches, vampires and all things magic.

The Skimm: My new favorite way to get my news!

Listening:

The weather is warming up which means I have lots of time for listening to podcasts during my walks to and from work!

Undisclosed: The State vs. Adnan Syed: A "spinoff" of sorts from the infamous Serial podcast. This is an admittedly biased opinion on Adnan's case and conviction. I have to admit, the first episode was a little mind blowing. If what they say is true, I might have to board the Adnan is innocent train.

Grown Ups Read Things They Wrote As Kids: This is my new favorite podcast. I obsessively check the blog Everyone Wants Me Dead for updates because I find what people wrote in their diaries as kids/teens absolutely hysterical.

Reddit Upvoted: A podcast that explores the most viral stories on Reddit. I became a bit of a Reddit troll last year so this is pretty fun.

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me: My longstanding, favorite trivia and pop culture podcast on NPR!

Uhh Yeah Dude: A guy I have yet to meet up with on OkCupid told me about this one and gets some major points for it. This podcast is SO hysterical. I need to find a way to be friends with these dudes.

Doing:

Sleeping fitfully. When I have to get up early for work meetings my sleep is filled with panic and anxiety.

Going to my first Red Sox game of the season! My boss gave me two tickets to game 2 -- it was an awesome game and a beautiful night!

Drinking wine and tequila at a charity party. The organization that put on the party is technically one of our competitors at work, so I had to show up and poison the tequila bowl. Just kidding...

The only photo I took

Playing games. Tonight I'm in another corn hole tournament and tomorrow it's more volleyball. Gah, I'm tired.

Taking personality tests. I went to a session with a career adviser at Northeastern to talk about next steps, grad schools, moving, and all the other scary thoughts swimming in my brain. Apparently I should look for jobs that focus in the categories: management/leadership, relationship, and analytic. Not too surprised there.

Feeling:

Tired. Miami really did a number on me.

Bloated. After a weekend of indulgence I'm trying to get back on track. Luckily my weight loss motivation hasn't entirely dissipated. Unluckily, I've been so tired and busy this week that I have yet to get a solid workout in or have much time to cook and prepare food. Besides forcing myself to walk home from work, I've also been fairly inactive. Meh.

Sad. Sometimes I find it nearly impossible to articulate how I feel. And really, how do you string so many conflicting emotions into a few sentences? Basically I had gotten my hopes up about something and it's resolved itself in a way that I wish it hadn't. The situation has left me feeling quite despondent, but the reality is that while yes, I wish things were different, it's out of my control. That situation, combined with some other personal stuff going on has left me with a big case of the blues. Plus, I feel confused and anxious about my future and don't know which steps to take or pursue, hence the visit to Northeastern. I know things will work out, and I think (or ate least I hope) I am naturally a more glass half full type of person. Let's hope that positive energy will make its way back into my head and heart sooner rather than later...

That's all for now. Time for the weekend.