A Music City Weekend

I had a stressful two weeks and a stressful summer. Adam is out of state, and I was so happy that my friend Anna came over from Mississippi for a long planned girl's weekend here and up in Nashville. I needed a fun weekend.

She got to my house in the afternoon, and after we lazed around a little bit, we went out to eat at Chicken Salad Chic. Which is a local place that serves a variety of different chicken salads, and it is so good! We then spent the evening at Spirited Art, painting. This is not one of my better paintings, but I don't hate it! So there is that.

I think everyone has friends that fill certain niches in  life, and Anna certainly fills the shopping role in my life. I really only shop when I'm with her (unless it is online). So the first thing we did on Sunday after arriving in Nashville was to hit Opry Mills. We really ended up getting some good deals, I bought a cute Kate Spade necklace and a Vera Bradley traveler bag for work! (Isn't that wall in the Kate Spade store adorable)?

 

The main reason we were in Nashville was that we had tickets to see a presentation given by the lawyers from Making a Murderer on justice. We were both enthralled by that show and because we are nerds, we went. It was SOOO interesting. It was made even more interesting by the news that came out the Friday before about Brenden Dassey's verdict being overturned. 

Also those lawyers are super cute in a way I can't even understand, especially Jerry. It also got me fired up on things wrong with our justice system.

Before we left on Monday morning, we swung by Biscuit Love for breakfast. A restaurant which is super popular, but since I'm usually only up there for a weekend, I avoid it due to crowds! But going on a Monday was PERFECT. We only waited about 20 minutes. I got the East Nasty (chicken biscuit with gravy), which was great, but the BONUTS we shared blew us out of the water. Those little biscuits topped with Lemon Whipped Topping and the Blueberry compote were too good to be true. 

Also while I was up there Anna taught me to use Snapchat, so here is a picture of me as a puppy.  You can add me, my username is bmarten517.

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England/France Trip: Part 5

The day after our Wales trip, we got up bright and early to catch the Eurostar to Paris. And I mean early, the sun wasn't even up yet. We managed to sleep the whole 2 and a half hour train trip, never even noticing the 22 minutes we spent in the underwater tunnel. 

To be honest, both Adam and I had a little anxiety about our trip to Paris. Some were normal traveling fears about not speaking the language, etc. But I had also heard that Paris was dirty and that the French were rude.

I'm here to tell you none of this is true. I don't know if it is because we've lived in a metropolitan area, but it was no worse than L.A., (probably cleaner than Southern Cali to be honest) or any other big city I've visited. And I met not one rude person. I don't know if that was because we always tried to use our horrid French before launching into English. Never assuming that everyone spoke English (although most did). 

But they treated us with total kindness.

After we got checked into our hotel, we headed back out on the Paris Metro to the Pantheon. I had booked us a walking tour of the Latin Quarter, that began there. The tour ended up being just us, one other lady, and the guide. Which made it very intimate, and it felt more like just walking and talking with friends. 

What ended up being really cool was our tour guide was a National Hackey sack champion, who knew there was such a thing?

One of the things that blew me away on the tour & about Paris, was just how simple and beautiful all the buildings were. I would round the corner, and the sights would blow me away. I loved those wrought iron balconies most of all. 

One of our stops on the tour was the Jardin (Garden) du Luxembourg. There really are not any words that could describe how truly breathtaking that garden was. Just everywhere you looked there was something to see! And this shot of us is my favorite from the entire trip.

Arthur also pointed out so much Paris street art. He said there is one unknown artist who is leaving Mario/Video game related art all over. It became fun to spot those pieces throughout the rest of our trip. And also look at that little Ratatouille, so cute!

We also had a few treats a long the way. We had almond kouignettes from the famed Maison Georges Larnicol, and we also stopped at a cafe for Camembert fondue. Yummy!

I ate my way through Paris, especially in sweets.  

We were tired after the tour, due to lots of walking and an early morning (plus time change). But that didn't keep me from stopping by a local pastry shop for a Lemon tart, before we settled in for the night and ordered room service!

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England/France Trip: Part 4

We got up bright and early on our last full day in England, in order to get out of the city (but not the country) for the day. When planning our trip, Adam and I really wanted to geek out over one of our favorite British shows, Dr. Who. It is filmed in Cardiff. So we took a 2 hour train ride from Paddington Station to Wales. 

The whole excursion was for the sole purpose of going to the Dr. Who Experience, which has an interactive  part (where you get to be the companion), followed by a trip through their museum. 

We couldn't take pictures in the experience, but it was soo much fun. We got to drive the tardis, be "insulted" by the doctor, face off with daleks, and run from the weeping angels.  But we probably spent the most time in the museum. They had actual props from the show, and not to mention entire wardrobes. Adam forced me into taking a million pictures, lucky for you I'm only sharing a handful. 

They also had a fun CGI photo experience with clothing props, and we had to try those out! Such fun. 

We had some time to kill before jumping back on the train to London. So we headed into the main center of Cardiff to shop at some of the Arcades. I loved the shops in Cardiff. They were filled with  boutiques and cute, little stationary stores. 

We ended our day in Cardiff by having dinner at The Yard. I loved how this pub was decorated, so homey. We both had a plate of Fish n' Chips before boarding the train.

We got back to the hotel and packed up everything, because the next day we were off to Paris. 

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