the only ten i see

Tuesday, October 21, 2014 0 stories Permalink 1

for someone who, since labor day it seems, has wanted nothing more than to feel the rush of crisp autumn air sweep across her cheeks, and a legitimate reason to don her coziest knit sweaters and worn-in boots, this past weekend in nashville was the perfect appeasement for my fall cravings. but as my visits to nashville climb near the double digit count, each retreat back to the sweet southern city has become less and less about what i spend my four days doing and more about with whom i spend my time instead.

sure B and i made sure to visit my favorite local haunts –12 south taproom, frothy monkey, and edley’s bbq and even paid first-time visits to pinewood social and the southern for saturday brunch. i joined her for a morning barre3 class (a cousin to the studio barre workout) and we got a double dose of fall during our afternoon jaunt to green door gourmet (where the photos below were captured), but for seemingly every other moment in between, we spent our time together in comfy clothes, switching between DVR’ed episodes of fall’s newest shows (marry me, a to z, manhattan love story) and football (duh), and making nightly visits to trader joe’s.

one of B’s friends who has now become one of mine (hi C!) often jokingly inquires as to our plans for the weekend when she greets me on my first night back in town. there are always two sets -our plans and then our actual plans. the former usually involve spending a night out on the town, taking in a live music show, or trying out a new downtown eatery, and the latter, well, they usually involve dinner at chipotle, a late night visit to kroger in our pj’s for grapes and greek yogurt, and old episodes of laguna beach streaming on netflix. oops.

but maybe aside from my very first visit to the country music capital, my trips back to tennesee have never been about the activities or the sights, or even (gasp), the food. they’re simply excuses to hang out with B, a treasured sister whose friendship continues to transcend time, place, and lifestage.

okay and maybe an excuse to wear a scarf without sweating, too.

so thank you nashville for being so good to me, to tap room for introducing me to the deliciousness that is a grapefruit shandy, and to the southern for my first (and delicious) experience with crab cakes. thank you to N and C and A and F and M and D for making me feel as if no time had passed since my last visit and picking up conversation right where we left off, and to edley’s for keeping their bbq sauce recipe on point in my absence. thank you to trader joe’s for being the best, no matter the city and for the e! network for playing throwback episodes of keeping up with the kardashians circa 2007 (two words: kim’s eyebrows).

but most importantly, thank you to B for hosting me and for creating a weekend perfectly suited for my homebody ways. i love you to the moon and back.