Kicking a ball can't be that hard...right?

When I first decided to move somewhere that I didn't know a soul, I promised myself I would give every opportunity a try.  No matter what.  So.....I'm now on a co-ed kickball team. (Somewhere my mom just fell off her chair laughing.)

At my previous work place if someone had asked me to be on the kickball team, I would have rolled my eyes, laughed under my breath and said, "Um, absolutely not."  [Something important to keep in mind here is that I was NEVER asked to be on the kickball team.  It was this ridiculous secret society and I think you had to actually give a vile of your blood to be asked onto the team.  No thanks.]

But Nashville Natalie can't say no when someone asks her to do something that involves co-eds, fun, drinking and just general having something "to do."

Look for me in about a month - I'll be the one on crutches with a hot pink cast on my arm (or leg, or ankle, you pick).

The last time I did something "sporty" I fell off a swing-set and ended up in this wheelchair.
(c. 1989)

Too bad they don't have grown-up Pom squads
(c. 2001)

Lost in Space

Sometimes I have a love-hate relationship with Nashville.  My "hate" is usually in the form of me being lost or something to do with the (lack of) driving skills of Tennessee drivers.

I seem to sometimes forget that I don't 100% know my way around here. I guess it's a result of living in the same city for practically my entire life.  I never had the problem of walking out the door and not knowing where to go.  I basically knew how to get everywhere in Richmond.  And the places I didn't know, I could figure out.  [Note to self: Always double check where I'm going before I leave the house.]

In the last 5 days, I have been lost in East Nashville 3 times.  I've basically wasted a whole tank of gas being lost in East Nashville.  Making the same wrong turns each time.  I LOVE East Nashville (think Carytown meets The Fan meets Church Hill - Cute old houses, awesome restaurants, a little sketchy)  It's awesome.  I just need to flipping figure out how to get there and how to get around there.

Last night I FINALLY went to dinner at Rose Pepper, a Mexican restaurant in East Nashville that EVERYONE had been to except for me.  The first thing out of everyone's mouth when I told them I was going here was, "You have to get a margarita."  First of all, I drink margaritas for a living, so uh yeah, I'm going to order a margarita regardless.  But yes, they're amaaaaaazing here.  ah-ma-zing.  Second thing out of everyone's mouth is "You have to get the queso."  You must not know me.  Queso and I are besties.  But there is some sort of crack they must put in it at Rose Pepper.  Delish!

Allison & Draper outside of Rose Pepper in East Nashy

We followed dinner with drinks at a new'ish bar called 308.  You'd probably drive by and never stop in, but it's a cool bar with fancy drinks.  Definitely will go again.

& no Friday night is complete without stopping in mid-town.  Sometimes it's SO FUN living in a "College town."  Except for when I find myself standing in line to get in a bar called "Losers."  That's when it's time for this granny to go home.

Sometimes I pretend I'm in college again. Thanks, Vandy!

Nashville, I really do love you.

The Devil in the Junior League

A couple of years ago my mom read a book called "The Devil in the Junior League."  I think she was secretly trying to push me towards never joining any Junior League.

Whoopsie.

I'm officially a provisional member of the Nashville Junior League.  I'm looking into getting "letter shirts" made for my new adult sorority.

Really people, it IS all about volunteerism.  I swear.  (Well, that and paying for friends.  How else do you expect me to meet people?!?) :)

"We must be up inside the Cyclone!"

Oh, Dorothy.  You have taught me so much & I continue to learn from you each day!

March 1 brings me face-first into Tornado season in the "Mid-South."  I'm scared to death of tornadoes.  That's all I'm going to say.

Anderson Cooper is in town to report live tomorrow from the (expected) wreckage.  Schools have closed for the day in preparation for the storm.

Here we go!

The Little Man

A couple weeks ago a great little Nashville art & wine bar called Rumours closed its doors after 7 years of business.  Being only a 5-month resident of Nashville, you would think this wouldn't affect me much (yet) but alas, the closing of any small business is always a sad story to me.  This one, however, does have a personal affect on me.

Rumours South (in 12South) was the first place I met up with my first Nashville friend (and soul sista) Jill for happy hour.  Jill and I actually met at a Hokie game watching, and became fast friends.  She suggested Rumours South as our first post-game watching meet up and it didn't disappoint.

Word on the skreet is they're closing for expansion in 12 South.  A high-rise of condos.  Ugh.

Dear Nashville, 
DON'T turn into downtown Richmond.  Take it from me, Condos are cool for about a year.  Then, they're impossible to sell.  (Even if you put them in something like the most iconic Department Store of the South...)
Thanks,
Your loyal Advice-giver


So long, Rumours.  Thanks for a great couple months of fancy happy hours!

#1 Tourists - Educational

Fortunately my parents' trip to Music City was also combined with some educational things.  Things that got us walking around after eating half of the city.  There are lots of things to do here (Nashville is very "touristy") and I'm happy to try out anything new whenever people are in town.

First up, for me, was a visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame.  It's dorky yes, but I really wanted to go!  We went Saturday morning allowing the early afternoon for the museum.  It takes most people "about 2 hours to go through the whole museum."  It takes the Pendleton's 5 hours.  Granted we added to our tour the tour of Legendary RCA studios, but someone (me) forgot that my dad likes everything about museums.  He likes them so much, he insists on reading every...single...thing inside every....single...exhibit.  (I'm having flashbacks of the Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian right about now)  So, my mom and I finished close to an hour earlier than my dad did, and he only finished because he knew we were annoyed & waiting for him.  He could have stayed longer.
The museum is cool.  I've heard different things, but I really did enjoy it, saw the right amount of cool things and will go back with anyone who comes to visit that wants to go.

Country Music Hall of Fame

Johnny Cash on the Hall of Fame wall

George Straight - my favorite.

Patsy Cline's dress - love seeing things like this!

The tour of RCA Studio B is a MUST!  It was so cool being inside the recording studio where Dolly Parton recorded "I will always love you," The Everly Brothers recorded "All I have to do is Dream," and Elvis recorded...well, practically everything.  Studio B is where it's at and even after RCA built a brand new state of the art studio specifically for "The King" he still demanded to always record at studio B.  The tour adds about an hour to your full Hall of Fame time, but definitely worth it!!

Inside the Studio B recording studio

When we finally left, we walked over to Broadway (aka Honky Tonk Row) to visit the Hatch Print Shop, which is the printing press that to this day prints all of the Hatch Print Posters for the Grand Ole Opry.  Pretty cool to see them from Johnny & June and from today.

No trip to Nashville is complete without going to the Honky Tonks.  You just have to do it.  I guess that means I'll end up there a lot, but I'm okay with that.  We landed at The Stage, which is my personal favorite, and listened to one of the many bands trying to make it big, paying their dues.  They were great (most of them always are) and we probably could have stayed all day, but we had another meal to get to!

There is ALWAYS Live music in downtown Nashville!

Sunday morning we headed back downtown to tour The Ryman.  We opted for the backstage tour (also recommend paying the extra moolah for this) where they take you through all of the dressing rooms still being used today and show you the back door Hank Williams and all of the legendary Opry singers used to use to get to Tootsies.  Obviously we had to try it out, and it's shocking how you literally walk out of the back door of the Ryman into the backdoor to Tootsies & The Stage.  A bit of silly history, but still fun to see!  I'm so happy that Nashville had the sense to NOT tear this building down when the Opry moved out to Opryland.  Concerts inside here are so intimate and fun and you know me and old buildings...I can't get enough of them.

Mom, Dad & me on THE Opry Stage

Loved this view @ The Ryman looking out from the stage

The back door all the stars used to use to get to the "Honky Tonks" after their Opry performance

Back entrances to The Stage & Tootsies

There were SO MANY more sightseeing things I wanted to do while the parents were in town, but we just ran out of time.  I'm working on my list for if I have more visitors (hint to anyone out there reading this) and when my parents come back for another visit.

Living in such a tourist town is super fun & even walking down Broadway last Saturday my mom looked at me and said, "I seriously can't believe you LIVE here."

I know, me too - I'm a lucky gal!

#1 Tourist - Indulgences

This past weekend my mom and dad came to town for their first *stress-free weekend in Nashville.  We did so many things, I feel the need to separate out the recap into multiple posts.

Nashville has awesome restaurants.  This is great for me considering I thought Richmond had awesome restaurants.  I had the hardest time narrowing down the different places we should eat, while also trying to remember no one wanted to end this weekend needing clothes the next size up.  The latter part of that was tricky....

My parents got to town on Friday afternoon and that night we went to Burger Up for dinner.  I knew we had to go to this restaurant because the food is out of control.  And yes, it's just burgers.  This is a new Nashville restaurant that I ate at while I was here for my interview.  The location (12 South) and "feel" of the restaurant (fancy-style picnic tables, really small, no reservations) instantly sold me on moving here. (Seriously, I hadn't even had my interview...just dinner...and I was ready to move.)  I had the Bison burger, Dad had the Pimento Cheese burger & mom had the Black & Bleu burger.  It's seriously ridiculous how good these burgers are.  We all left feeling full enough to not need to eat the rest of the weekend. (Yeah right...)

12 South is definitely my favorite area in Nashville!

I love the "feel" inside Burger Up - so friendly!

When I have visitors, Saturday mornings are reserved for one place and one place only. Pancake Pantry. It has been in Nashville for over 50 years and is "famous" for the line of people that line up outside around the building waiting to get in for breakfast.  There are locals that have NEVER been to this place because they are turned off by the line.  Idiots.  I, personally, have never waited longer than 30 minutes in this line, then again we were there at 8:15am.  If I was my friend Allison, we would have been there when they open at 6:30am just to be sure we got our pancakes.  They were as phenomenal as always and you should expect for me to take you here if you ever come to visit. Mmmmm....

Just your typical Saturday morning line @ Pancake Pantry

After our ginormous breakfast, we somehow snuck skipping lunch by my dad.  It was too late in the day for him to realize, but we did have afternoon beers for a snack (more on that later)  Dinner was at a new local BBQ restaurant called Stone House Q.  I read about it in one of the multiple Nashville blogs I follow and thought it would be good to try out.  It was delicious and I will definitely go back.  Very casual atmosphere and a cool patio to eat outside when it's not...Oh you know, below 30 degrees.

I WILL be eating on that patio this summer

Sunday I snuck into my parents' hotel for breakfast and after an afternoon snack at my place of Chips & Helluva good dip, we hit up Mellow Mushroom for dinner.  Mellow Mushroom has some of the greatest pizza and anytime I'm in Charlottesville, I demand to eat here.  Luckily I now live in a "college town" and have one of my own.

As you can see, we ate a lot.  When my mom called me Monday night when they got home she told me she was going to staple her mouth shut.  I might consider doing the same.

I was so glad to share some of my favorite restaurants with my parents this past weekend and try out a new place as well.  Can't wait for more visitors to try more of Nashville's amazing restaurants!

That's all from me y'all!!



*First trip to Nashville - Mom & Natalie apartment hunting. Fair amount of tears.
*Second trip to Nashville - Traumatic moving experience.  LOTS of crying.