Take me out to the Ballgame

So, I've been to more baseball games in the last month than I've been to in the last 10 years.

I great up going to Richmond Braves games down at "The Diamond" in downtown Richmond.  A farm team for the Atlanta Braves, it's one of my favorite childhood memories.  You just can't beat soft serve in those little plastic helmets (Don't get me started on the replacement of dippin' dots...)

Nashville has a minor league team called....The Nashville Sounds.  What is it about minor league team names? I have to admit the Sounds is a better name than say, The Flying Squirrels, but still.  I've been to two Sounds games so far and had a blast both times.  Thursday night is "Thirsty Thursday" which I've learned is basically a frat party at a baseball game, but as long as I sit far enough away from those yahoos, it's pretty fun to watch.

I also went to an actual Major League game this past month, the Atlanta Braves.  It's quite different, I won't lie.

Either way, I love having access to America's best past-time and hope to make it to some more Sounds games this summer.  Hopefully one with Fireworks ;)

Guitar shaped score board. SO Nashville.

Great view on Thirsty Thursday

Friends @ the game!

The ATL.

I remember the first time I realized that Atlanta was within driving distance of Nashville.  I hadn't even officially accepted my new job, and my friend Lane said "Do it. You'll be 4 hours from me."  What an enticing selling point!

Last weekend I finally made my first drive down to Atlanta after a couple of failed attempts including the weekend a tornado hit and I decided it was best not to get in a car and drive with the tornado. We had a great time catching up, laughing, eating & drinking.  I've been on a serious detox for the past 7 days...

The weekend agenda was jam-packed prior to my arrival.  I got into town on Friday after driving 80mph for the last hour of the trip to make up some time I missed in Bonnaroo traffic.  We walked to this great pizza place, Fellini's (Ugh, I really miss living somewhere you can walk places...) and was able to control myself enough not to eat an entire pizza by myself.

After dinner, we walked back home and within minutes a beer pong game was being set up on their kitchen island.  I mean, why not?  A couple games of beer pong later, I was tired and we called it a night.  Trust me, we had a big day planned on Saturday.

Beer Pong on the Kitchen Island. Normal Friday night behavior

Saturday morning was filled with brunch and H&M.  Yes, H&M was on the agenda.

Obviously I "checked in" on Facebook

We don't have one in Nashville (don't get me started...it baffles me every day AND they run H&M advertising on TV here. Someone's not doing their job...)  I felt like I was "home" in H&M and Lane felt like we might get mugged when we left the store after I got into a slight altercation at the check out line. It went something like this:
There was one big line (I was 2nd in line behind the people currently checking out) and they decided to open a new register.  Out of nowhere this person, let's call her GhettoFab, walks right up to the counter. (Also, I say person because part of me thought it was a boy.  It was wearing baggy pants 1990's style, and over-sized t-shirt and a flat-brim hat.)
I very politely said, "Oh, I think I'm next actually."
GhettoFab turns to me and says, "No, this line is open and I want to check out."
I reply: "Oh, well, there's a whole long line here of people waiting."
GhettoFab: "So?"
I decide to drop it and GhettoFab decides not to purchase her $3 socks and just leaves the store.  I apologized to the associate for getting involved in something that wasn't my business and all seemed fine.  I purchased my H&M garb and while leaving the store Lane was bright-eyed on the prowl looking for our potential attacker.
As I've said before - things like this just happen to me.....

Saturday afternoon we headed over to the Sweet Water Brewery.  I've talked about Sweet Water before and I knew I wanted to go to the Brewery at some point.  You can't beat this deal, people: $10. You get a Sweet Water glass and 6 drink tickets.  You walk in and there's this long bar filled with taps of all different Sweet Water brews and you just walk up, hand them a ticket and they fill you up.  Step & Repeat 5 more times. So much fun and don't anyone be surprised if you get a gift from the Sweet Water gift shop because I got a little excited after beer #4.

Lane & I outside of Sweet Water Brewery

After Sweet Water, we went to the Atlanta Braves game.  (I know, I'm tired just writing all of this)  I'll post more on that later, but it was a blast!  Growing up going to Richmond Braves games, it was so exciting to see the actual Braves :)

Saturday evening turned into a 4am Corn hole/Saturday Night Live rerun/Rock Band fest where I ultimately had to pour myself into bed because, well...it was 4am.

Sunday, you can imagine the Hangover that followed Saturday and Lane & I hit up the mall for a while to get the systems moving.  We went for a long power walk that afternoon through their awesome neighborhood, which is something we used to love doing together in Richmond.  I loved seeing their awesome neighborhood in Atlanta and picked out a few places for me to live some day.  That evening we made dinner at home and it was so nice just grilling out and sitting down at the dinner table like regular people.

I headed back to NashVegas Monday morning since I lose an hour on the trip back. CST is amazing, I seriously love it, and went straight to work Monday morning without missing a beat.  Well, I mean, I wasn't functioning on all cylinders but at least I was there!

So, Atlanta was awesome and the weekend was exactly what I needed.  I'm so lucky to have made great friends in Nashville, but I miss my Richmond/Martin Agency friends so much, so being with Lane last weekend filled a major void.  I'm tired from writing the longest (too long?) blog post in history, so I'm going to rest.

How to 1/8 a Recipe

Something I've always enjoyed is cooking. (Well, post-College that is, believe me, I didn't know how to make Kraft Macaroni and Cheese until I was 22)  Cooking is a great stress reliever for me.

I loved cooking back on Davis with my roomies in Richmond, but lately all of the recipes I've wanted to make are for 8 servings.  8???  How do I whittle that down in half, and then in half again?  It's not easy, and right now my freezer is OVERFLOWING with individual size portions of different meals I've made since living on my own again.

I am trying to get back on the cooking bandwagon, though.  This past week & weekend I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.  I used my cast iron skillet for the first time and made Turkey burgers.  I learned a little bit of a lesson in that I needed cooking spray, but they turned out pretty great anyways!

6 Turkey Burgers for 1 

On the weekend I love to make breakfast instead of my normal daily breakfast of either cereal or oatmeal, so this weekend I made a breakfast banana casserole.  It's just the right amount of food and gives me a special breakfast to enjoy for 3 more days.

Love making this Banana Casserole!

Enjoying a bite post-5 mile run (I promise I don't look like this normally)

I also made lasagna from scratch.  It was good, but I'll be honest.  I have a lasagna recipe from Real Simple that I've been making for years.  It's 5 ingredients, takes no time to put together and tastes better than all the work put into a REAL lasagna.  Good thing this tasted so good since it made enough to feed a high school basketball team.

LOTS of prep work goes into making Lasagna

Leftovers to last me who knows how long!

I can't believe it's JUNE, but I'm so excited for Summer in Nashville.  I've got lots of super fun things planned for the next few months and can't wait to share the stories!  First up is a trip to Atlanta to visit one of my best friends from Richmond.  Atlanta is a quick 4 hour drive and I can't wait!!!!