Our "Best Of"

Every year the Scene does Best of Nashville. It was back in October..I think. Well Brent and I decided to do our own best of Nashville. We are listing our "best of Nashville restaurants"...so here are OUR WINNERS! :)

Asian( non sushi ):                                              Sushi:
 Brent:    P.F. Changs                                           Brent:    Wild Wasabi
 Rachel:  P.F. Changs                                           Rachel:   Virago


Italian:                                                             Sub Sandwich:
 Brent:    Coco's Italian Market                              Brent:     Sub Stop
 Rachel:   Macaroni Grill                                        Rachel:    Jersey Mike's


Steakhouse:                                                      
 Brent:     Sperry's
 Rachel:   Morton's   

                                                   VS

                 
Mexican:                                                            Pizza(take-out):
 Brent:   Nacho's                                                  Brent:      Papa Johns
 Rachel:  Rosepepper                                            Rachel:    Jett's


Pizza(gourmet):                                                  Meat-n-3:
 Brent:   PizzeReal                                               Brent:      Barbara's
 Rachel:  Mafiosos                                                Rachel:    Copper Kettle


Barbecue:                                                           Burger:
 Brent:     Jim-N-Nicks                                           Brent:     Rotier's                                       
 Rachel:   Corky's                                                  Rachel:   Sportsman's                     
                                                                                        Lodge


Fries:                                                                 Best Dessert:                                                        
 Brent:     Five Guy's                                             Brent:       Brick Tops
 Rachel:    Rafferty's                                             Rachel:      Sunset Grill

       

Top 5's!

Our Chicago trip is in less than a month. We are getting there on the morning on February 12th and coming back late on February 14th <3 We have made a few lists of the "top 5" things that we want to do, places where we want to eat, stores that are definitely going to get some of our..more like MY money...etc...
So here are the top 5's...


Top 5 things we definitely want to do while there:
1. Go to the skydeck in the Sears Tower!! Yes, it looks creepy/scary and I'm so excited. haha. 130 stories up in the air while standing out on a glass platform looking out over the city has to be done at least once!  

I love how this little girl is just laying there chillin! I'm not scared of heights but I'm not going to be standing on that piece of glass too long!


2. Ice skate on the outdoor Millenium Park ice rink. This looks like a lot of fun and I know we will get some great pics together when we go do this :)

3. I love the movie Wicker Park! Who has seen it?! I could literally watch it everyday. I would like to go to the park in Wicker Park and see the place where Josh Hartnett and Diane Kruger always met. I would also like to find out what else is in Wicker Park. I haven't really spent time there on any of my many trips to the Windy City.

                                              Wicker Park

4. Number 4 and 5 are being considered! Second City. I have been here but Brent has not. Second City is a very famous comedy club that has produced world famous comedians like Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Jim Belushi, etc...We are considering 2 of the shows...they both should be hilaaaaarious!

5. I love the boat tours and would really like to go on one when we go. I don't know if they are heated or even operate in the winter though! We will find out when we get there!
**I have always wanted to go to a Bulls game. They unfortunately are not at home when we are there..booooooo! Brent informed me that this won't be our last trip to Chicago and we WILL go to one on another one of our trips up there!


5 stores that I will definitely be going in to...


1. NIKETOWN. Love this store.

                                     


2. H&M. I can always find something here. Love their clothes!

3. Urban Outfitters. Theirs is 100 times better than ours! I don't even go to the one here!

4. Nordstrom( primarily the shoe dept! )

5. Hubba Hubba :)

Restaurants are always at the moment decisions EXCEPT for 2 places we will definitely be going to...


1. Tavern on Rush. This is my absolute favorite place to eat dinner in Chicago!

2. The Gage. Brunch on Sunday is a must at this latest discovery of mine!

3. Pizza will be on the menu for prob lunch or a snack. We are going to try out a pizza place that we have never had before. 


4. We have talked about going to Weber Grill. Maybe we will this trip.

5. A new yummy frozen yogurt place. We went to Berry Chill yogurt couture last time.


and there are the " Top 5's "!!!

               

Never Will I Ever...

"Never will I ever" has changed to "well, I guess I will"! I have known people even good friends of mine who have run the Country Music 1/2 marathon for a few years now. I have always thought they were crazy for running 13 miles! I'm a runner and I love running as I have mentioned before BUT 13 miles?? My body doesn't consider anything over 5 miles as being fun! haha. Believe me, I have tried to get my legs to like longer runs and they don't. Well, I am jumping on the crazy train this year and running the half with 2 of my very best friends :)..Beth and Robin, I'm looking forward to running with y'all!! 

I thought about not training. I mean I can run 5 miles pretty easily. And then I began to think MAYBE I should train a little and get my body really use to 7 or 8 miles! I have run 8 miles once in my life...I don't know what I was thinking or why I ran that far! I know me though and I know that once I get over "the wall" and my legs become numb, I can go for a really long distance! That's probably what's going to happen. But I did scribble down a little training plan for myself. I'll let you know if I stick with it! I'm so excited that I'll get to become part of the 13.1 club! haha!

While running yesterday, I did realize that I need a new pair of running shoes! Mine have really past their prime time of "shoe life". I love Mizzuno's so those are the shoes that I will probably go look at. They work for me and they are actually made for running! I need a pair that's pretty light in weight but has great cushion and arch support...I like both of these-

My current pair is pink so maybe I'll go back to blue! Whichever one is the most comfortable and will keep me going for those t-h-i-r-t-e-e-n miles! I actually am really excited and I think it is going to be a great time! April 30th, here I come and I WILL be ready for you!!


                                       - RACHEL -

A new look

Brent and I had the day off together and we got quite a bit around the condo done! Ever since I moved in 3 years ago, the guest room has been this terrible dark mauve color. We decided that today was the day to change that! We went to Home Depot to look at various things paint, vanities, tiles etc...We decided not only were we going to paint the guest room but we decided to re paint the hall bath as well( it has just been white for a while). We got an awesome color of paint. It was actually the third one we looked at. We were only in the paint section for about 10 minutes! Last time it took about an hour to decided on our bedroom color!...10 minutes was great. The color is called Stone Fence. It's a grey-ish/blue-ish. We also picked up large tiles so that we can re-tile the hall bathroom. It's going to look fab when we are all done. 
This is the hall bath before:

And this is after:

The guest room has a whole new look. I really love it. Here is the before look:

And this is the guest room now:

We moved the furniture around and I had a white duvet cover that I put on the comforter. It looks like a whole different room! We love the Stone Fence paint color! I would say it was a pretty productive day :)


side note- I picked these beautiful flowers up at the store today also. I love fresh flowers!

           

Congrats to Gov. Haslam

Brent got to spend Saturday downtown watching the new Governor get sworn in. As part of his job, he gets access to some neat things in TN politics. There were hundreds of people that gathered on the Legislative Plaza to watch.


Brent is excited about Gov. Haslam taking office and the assets he and his commissioners offer the state. This change in the Executive Branch will be a great thing for Tennessee.

(***Pictures borrowed from the Tennessean)

This was an interesting event in many ways. One of those interesting things was the amount of security that was there in the wake of the events in Arizona. There were Troopers and other forms of law enforcement all over the place. It was quite a presence.


One cool thing that was done for the event was a flyover of a few military planes. Brent is a military aircraft enthusiast and the flyover was one of his favorite parts.

So, congrats to Gov. Haslam and his family! This is going to be an interesting year politically in Tennessee and Brent is excited to be a part of it all.

Just another SNOWY Monday!

I can honestly say that I have never ever liked Winter! I don't like bulky sweaters or scarves. I don't like walking out of my house and freezing on the way to the car and then freezing in the car while the heater warms up. I really don't like 20 or 30 degree days...burrrrrr! I DO however love *snow* and since we have actually been getting quite a bit lately, I have softened my feelings about Winter! haha. I love the way it softly falls from the sky and catches on the trees. It makes the dreary ugly Winter landscape look beautiful! :) I took some pics today of the landscape around our condo...

We have a train that runs close to our place and we can see it if we step out onto our balcony. Today I looked out and saw it zipping by and the top was covered with snow. This might sound weird but I thought to myself "wow, that's so pretty!". The train runs right along the trees and they were dusted with snow. It was sort of like a picture from a movie. 

I can't wait for Brent and I to move into a house for many reasons...one is so that our cars won't have to sit out in the really hot and really cold weather! My poor car needs a warm place!

A few other pictures from today...

Leo and Pheobe wanted out...they must have forgotten that they hate the snow! I let Leo out last time it snowed and I think it confused him. He didn't like getting his paws wet and not to mention it was freezing cold!


Well we are suppose to get more tomorrow. Maybe it will be icy and then sledding will be worth it! But I do have to go to work...so scratch that ice idea!

  

A New Year's Eve Wedding

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Smith! One of my very best girlfriends got married on New Years Eve! I have never been to a wedding on NYE before and it was a wonderful time with all of our friends! Meredith and Jordan got engaged back in June. It was actually right after us girls had gotten back from my bach party in Chicago. When she told us that their wedding was going to be on NYE, Brent and I were excited b/c that meant that we didn't have to find something to do to bring in the New Year! Also, a lot of our friends would be coming and we would all be at the reception together :) 


The rehearsal/rehearsal dinner was this past Thursday evening. The rehearsal was at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in downtown Franklin. I had never been in the church before. It's really pretty inside and is actually on the National Registry of Historic Places. 

The rehearsal dinner was at Saffire at the Factory in Franklin. I love this restaurant! It is so delicious. Brent and I both had the chicken fried chicken with mac-n-cheese. It was so yummy!! 

LEGENDARY CHICKEN-FRIED CHICKEN -

Panko-Crusted Chicken Breast Served with Vermont White Cheddar-N-Mac and 

Topped with Loveless Country Ham Gravy

                                             The Factory

The wedding day( NEW YEARS EVE )started with hair & make-up at A Moment's Peace Salon & Spa in Cool Springs. It was such a beautiful and relaxing place! 

I always love getting my hair and make-up done by someone else. It's such a nice treat. Stacy is an amazing hair stylist! She gave me a trim for free too :) If anyone lives in the Cool Springs area, I highly recommend going to A Moment's Peace!! After hair and make-up we headed over to the church to get ready for pics and all that stuff. I'll post professional pics when Mere gets a hold of them...These next pics are all from the reception which was at the Red House also in downtown Franklin. 

                                  Robin - Meredith - Me  <3

                            Bridesmaids with the beautiful bride!!

- The Girls -

"R" squared 

Abi - Me - Robin

The food was yumm-o!

This is going to be a great year filled with wonderful memories!!