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Thursday, March 19, 2015

Farewell to Winter

It seemed like it would be the last snowy weekend of the winter and I suddenly felt like we should do all the wintery things we hadn't done the past three months. I don't like the feeling of missed opportunities. On Saturday we went sledding on the huge sledding hill at the park around the corner. And Sunday Poppy and I went ice skating. Bry and Cetty were our cheerleaders, watching from the side and taking photos.
Getting ready. Poppy was so cute and excited.

She was very wobbly. It seemed to work best if I skated behind her and held her up.

After trying hard for a while Poppy said to me, "You're very good at this, and I am not." My ice skating skills are pretty minimal, but I appreciated the compliment.
I'm leaving in a few hours for a big trip to China with my parents and sister, so I don't have time to be posting this. And it's also making me more sad than I already was about leaving my girls. So I think I will stop now.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Adventures in Nashville

In a desperate effort to survive the horrors of winter, the girls escaped for a weekend in Nashville. The City of Music exceeded my expectations, though I'm pretty sure it was the exceptional company that truly made it memorable. We laughed A LOT. 
After a girly morning at the spa and a lunch that was so good we had to wait an hour in line (best black bean burger ever!), we decided it was time to get tough and impress our husbands back at home.
My first climb.

To prove to you just how tall these walls were (and this picture doesn't even do them justice)…there I am at the top on my way down. My hands were shaky when I was safely on the ground, and I think it was more from the heights than from tired muscles. Though it did feel like I was tightening everything my massage therapist had just loosened.

Peruvian fried rice from The Treehouse and a perfectly tart drink topped with lavender. I enjoyed this funky little restaurant…and everything they served us!

You may have already heard this story from my sisters' blogs, so I'll be brief (though the long version is pretty awesome). We met these two musician brothers in the lobby Saturday night, had a very funny conversation, and decided that they had to wake our mom up with a song in her hotel room. They performed a convincing rendition of Folsom Prison Blues and her reaction was priceless. I believe her words were, "I'm going to kill them." At least I didn't include the picture I have of her in bed, looking not quite herself. You're welcome mom for the true Nashville experience, and happy birthday.

Oh, and this picture was on the wall of the hotel room…so very appropriate.

Speaking of our hotel, we loved this place and were very sad to check out. 

Morning Pure Barre! Another first, and I have never been so sore.
Brunch! That big, handleless bowl is actually the "mug" that they served Andria's latte in. Yes, that's awesome.

Nashville seems to like vintage shops. This is Old Made Good. It was a lot of fun.

…and very, very quirky. Just the way I like it.

Jenny and Andria with an impressive amount of coordinating black and white patterns going on. Also, check out that floor. The whole thing was covered from wall to wall in gold glitter, and it was not a small store! we asked the lady there how it was done and she said they wiped out the entire city's supply of glitter…500 lbs of it were dumped down and covered in sealer.

And here we have the Parthenon. The world's only exact replica done for the city's centennial. Nashville was at one time known as the Athens of the South because they cared about education or something like that (I may have skimmed some of the informational displays). It was wet and kind of dreary outside but it felt comparatively warm and the trees were pretty.

Huge statue of Athena…also a replica where it would have stood in the original temple.

And here we are doing our impressions of mythical Greek warriors. We were very inspired by the size of these pillars.

Hooray for girls getaways…and for the girls in my family in general. I love them all.