Vacation Pt 1

We spent 5 fantastic days in Nashville! Going home is always wonderful. We left here on Wednesday and made the 13 hour drive to Nashville! It probably would have been a little shorter except we stopped at Cracker Barrel (a must anytime we pass one!) and a mall in Knoxville to grab some Chic Fil A. We enjoyed the trip there and back but I can say we will not be driving again! It was a little long for us. We've decided 8 hours is our max for road trips!

So Wednesday the weather was pretty decent. A few rain showers here and there but nothing to major. Not too hot, not too cold! It was a great day for a drive. And when we arrived we just wanted to sleep! We stayed with his father and step mom. They have a wonderful home and they refer to it as headquarters! We have a standing invitation for a room that includes a car! And having 2 cars made the trip even easier. After the trip we were tired so we didn't do anything but unpack and get to bed! 
Thursday - I took care of Hubby's belated birthday gift! I went to Boudoir Coquette and had some photos taken. A girlfriend found a groupon and it was such an amazing deal! And it was an awesome experience. Here's a couple of pictures!

All made up! (I rarely wear make-up and never this much! I loved it!) This was taken with my phone just after my shoot!

And this is the one she posted on her FB page (with my permission of course!) She was incredible to work with. In fact, I have a few friends getting married next year and have already referred them to her! 

After that I had lunch with a friend that I haven't seen since graduation day in May 1999! We had been friends since 3rd grade and once we got to high school we started hanging out with different crowds and kind of lost touch. Well she recently relocated to TN and we had like a 2.5 hour lunch! It was amazing! Afterwards, I met up with Hubby and Mom in love (to be referred to simply as mom for these posts) And she took us to a casino. Apparently she and her sister go regularly. She had $100 for each of us to play the "slots" as there are no table games allowed there. It was cool but I'm not a gambler so I won't be back. And then we met up with some friends at this burger joint - The Pharmacy and it was pretty good. They've been called the "Best Burgers in Nashville" by many friends of ours so we had to try it. I had a burger and tater tots with a vanilla shake! It was all delicious! The buns were super tasty and they also had sweet potato fries that were pretty good. A LONG wait - I'm told that's normal (though there was 8 of us so....) The place was packed!! And they have indoor and outdoor seating. (you'll notice we did a LOT of eating!!!)

On Friday, we split up again briefly and I had lunch with some girlfriends at Carrabbas (Delicious!!). And then I headed out to the middle of nowhere to visit one of my friends who got married and moved to Benin (in Africa) a couple of years ago. When I last saw her she was 6 months pregnant with her son Adam, and last week, 6 month old daughter Grace (Irish twins I think they call them). Amazing how much can happen in just a couple short years. And I was thrilled to see them because they are moving back to Benin in a few weeks and who knows when I'll see them again.

And I must say by Friday night I was exhausted! So I went to bed early! After all, the main reason we went to Nashville was for Mom's graduation which was Saturday morning!

I'm breaking this post up into parts to keep it from getting too long. So part two will be up soon! Happy Wednesday people!