We will return to our regularly scheduled programming....

I won't be linking up for my not-so-regular Five on Friday post today since I am ill prepared, as usual.  Oh yeah, and I'm currently getting ready for a weekend in Chicago.  So I'm a bit preoccupied.

Instead, enjoy some photos from Wednesday night's Yonder show.  We had a lovely time and even managed to squeezed in some White Castle on the way home.

I have no idea what the shadow in the corner of my mouth is, but it looks like I ate too much Halloween candy. I mean, that's not an inaccurate statement in general, but alas, it was just a shadow this time.  Boo.

Any who, happy Friday!  See ya'll next week!

Nashville Weekend

I don't feel like putting words to this post because I'm too excited about tonight to sit still. We're going to a...wait for it...show at the Mercury Ballroom.  We'll be listening to the delightful sounds of Yonder Mountain String Band, a band I haven't seen live since 2007 when I went to Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

As for this past weekend in Nashville, all I'm going to say is that we ate too much food, laughed plenty, listened to some awesome music and had a wonderfully perfect time together. This boy, he's pretty special.  I'm so lucky we found each other.

But, shhhh, don't say anything.  I'm afraid I'll jinx it.

Batman Building! My favorite sight when driving into Nashville!

 

We met the King...

Saw some pretty cool cars parked downtown.

Checked out some more riverboats.  Apparently that's our thing, ha!

Decided these boots were a few sizes too big.

Foyer in Husk, so freaking delcious!!!!

Oh, yeah. We saw some pretty fantastic music at the Ryman.  The picture above is Jason Isbell.

Our hotel's pool is apparently famous...news to us.

Some more riverboat action.

Sturgill Simpson opening for Jason Isbell.  Brought the house to their feet.  Damn good musician.

A little pre-show local country.

Enjoying the intermission at the Ryman.

French toast with baked apples, creme fraiche, maple syrup and PEANUT BUTTER!!!! I was in sugar shock for a few hours afterwards.

The boyfriend had fancy Eggs Benedict.  It smelled delicious.

Some sort of strawberry, Elderflower, Cava concoction imbibed during dinner at Whiskey Kitchen.

So, yeah, it was a whirlwind 24 hours in the Music City.  Worth every cup of coffee I had to drink on Monday to get through the afternoon at work. (Yes, I went to work straight from the drive home).

Next weekend is Chicago!  Then Naples. Then Nashville again. And then a bit of a break from traveling until after the holidays.  Phew!

Happy hump day, y'all!

Winter Book Challenge

I came across this book challenge on one of the blogs I read, and thought, I should do that!  I love to read, but sometimes need some motivation to turn off the TV or put down the Clorox. (Yes, I love to clean.  Yes, I'm weird. No, I do not want to come to your house and clean).

Anyway, the rules are pretty simple (copied directly from Semi-Charmed Kind of Life):

General rules:

• The challenge will run from November 1, 2014, to February 28, 2015. No books that are started before 12 a.m. on November 1 or finished after 11:59 p.m. on February 28 will count.
• Each book must be at least 200 pages long. Audio books are fine, as long as the print versions meet the page requirements. Large-print books are also acceptable, as long as the regular-print version exceeds 200 pages in length.
• A book can only be used for one category, and each category can only be completed once. If you want to switch the category of a book during a later check-in, that's fine, just be sure to account for that in your point total.
• Rereads can be used for a maximum of three books in the challenge. This rule is meant to encourage you to try new books while still allowing you to revisit books from your childhood or young adulthood that you might get more out of now. Please reread the entire book within the time frame of the challenge in order to count it; no simply finishing old books or partial rereads (unless the category explicitly states otherwise, of course)!
• The highest possible total is 200 points, and the first five people who finish the challenge will be invited to contribute a category for the next challenge. Good luck!

The challenge categories and the books I've chosen:

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that fits the general rules.  Garden Spells by Sarah Allen, recommended to me by my BFF.
10 points: Read a book written by an author who has published at least 10 books. About a Boy by Nick Hornby. I've been meaning to read this for years.
10 points: Read a book of short stories. Amphigorey by Edward Gorey (I've read some of this, so it counts as one of my rereads).
10 points: Read a book with a food (not a drink!) in the title. A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown
15 points: Read the first book in a series that is new to you (so no rereads for this one!). Divergent by Veronica Roth
15 points: Read a book that was originally written in a language that is not your native language. Metamorphosis by Frank Kafka, originally in German, I believe.
15 points: Read a book written by a local author (either an author from your state if you live in the United States, or in your country if you live somewhere else—note: author must be from where you currently live). Cornbread Mafia by James Higdon, this one's been on my list for a couple years.
20 points: Read a "bookish book" (in which books play an important role, e.g. the setting involves a bookstore or library, a major character is an author, or a book that celebrates reading and books. Examples: The Book Thief, The Shadow of the Wind, The Thirteenth Tale, etc.) The Loop by Joe Coomer
20 points: Read a book with a direction in the title (e.g. north, south, east, west or any combination of those). East of Eden by John Steinbeck, this may be a bit adventurous of me, it's really freaking long (601 pages).  But hey, I've read the Game of Throne series and those babies drag on for close to 1000 pages.
25 points: Read a book from a genre you don't usually read. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, mainly because my nerdy friend's loved it.
25 points: Read a book with a song lyric in the title. Be sure to tell us the song name and artist as well! For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
30 points: Read two books with a different meal in each title (e.g. breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, brunch; update: meals like feast, banquet, picnic will also count, but try not to get too "creative" with your meal words!).  Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut and The Dinner by Herman Koch

So, over the course of four months, I will hopefully be reading 4,601 pages of books to meet the challenge.  We'll see what happens.  Luckily, I don't go out much in the winter and I'm finally caught up on the Walking Dead.

Wish me luck!

***EDIT***

I've removed the Metamorphosis since it turns out it's just a short story, and replaced in with The Dinner by Herman Koch (originally written in Dutch)

Also, I decided against reading Ender's Game since I do read some sci-fi once in awhile.  However, I never read what is either considered "chick lit" or "beach reads."  So I'll be reading Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin. Honestly, I'm not really that excited about this one, but I'm sure it will go quick.

Five on Friday!!!!

I'm super excited about this upcoming weekend, so that's what my five revolve around this week.  We're heading down to Nashville this Sunday to see a show at the Ryman as well as a few other adventures!  

Linking up with these ladies again, Natasha, Darci, Christina, and April for another edition of Five on Friday!

1.  Before we head to Nash-Vegas on Sunday, there'e a pretty important football game going on in my former place of residence.  The Mississippi State Bulldogs are coming to Lexington to play at 3:30 on Saturday.  It's going to be a tough game, but I look forward to seeing my Cats recover and come back with a vengeance after last week's loss to LSU.  I'm debating about what to make for a game day snack, but this chicken chili recipe is at the top of the list.

{Courtesy of Pinterest}

2. The concert we are going to see on Sunday is Sturgill Simpson opening for Jason Isbell.  Listen to this Isbell song below and tell me it doesn't make you cry.  His music is so beautiful.

It doesn't hurt that Sturgill is originally from Kentucky, either.  Gotta love a local musician making his way into the bigtime Nashville music scene!

3.  Before the show, a friend of the boyfriend's was sweet enough to make us reservations at Husk for brunch.  Apparently it's the place to go, and they have a new menu daily!  I can't wait to check it out!!!

4.  Dinner will be spent at the Nashville restaurant, Whiskey Kitchen.  It has come highly recommended to us from a friend and I'm dying to get some of those fried green tomatoes in my belly!  Any Nashville natives have any other tips on what else to get there?

5. Okay, so this last thing that I'm absolutely loving this week is not Nashville related at all.  It's just too damn funny and cute to not share!!!

I mean, come on!  That's hilarious and adorable, all in the same picture!!!  This image was found on The Chive.  I am not nearly clever enough to come up with that on my own.  Nor do I have access to a hedgehog.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to another wonderful fall weekend!  Hope y'all are too!

Weekending

This weekend was jam packed full of music and riverboat goodness, as well as some football.  I'm not gonna lie, I slept like a baby last night because I am old an cannot run like I used to.  

This weekend wore me out, but it was totally worth every minute of it.

So much fun!  Here's the recap in picture form:

Thursday Festivities at the Centennial Riverboat Festival at Waterfront Park:

Not anyone I know watching this super awesome fiddle player and his band, Michael Cleveland and the Flamekeepers.  

Friday's event was a semi-private barn concert and pot-luck with Town Mountain in Paris.
Drew, a lot of his family and I had an absolute blast at this super intimate show, but I failed to take a single picture.  Whatever, I am no professional photographer.

Saturday afternoon we headed out to my happy place, Keeneland for a few races and some beers.  The weather wasn't awesome, and we certainly didn't leave with extra money, but we still had a great time.  That's the thing about Keeneland, you're always going to have fun.

Saturday night consisted of a pick up pizza from Buddy's in Frankfort and falling asleep on the couch to the UK vs. LSU game. Apparently we didn't miss much.  Still, GO CATS!!!

Sunday morning I went home and absolutely kicked cleaning the house's ass.  I got so much down in the matter of 5 hours, that it was amazing.  I finished a couple small Pinterest projects I had been meaning to get around to, did about a million loads of laundry, cleaned the entire house and still had time to watch a little bit of football.

Early evening we set off back to Waterfront Park to see 23 String Band's last show ever, as well as an awesome set by Pokey LaFarge.  It was a great time, and we finally were able to get a decent selfie of the two of us, haha!

We stopped for dinner at a new place called Crescent Hill Craft House that opened a few months ago on Frankfort Avenue.  I've been there before, and knew the boyfriend would love it.  

I tried the Turk-Chee sandwich with Mac 'n Cheese.  I was a bit disappointed that the Mac 'n Cheese had bacon in it (I haven't eaten beef or pork for 21 years.), but it didn't stop me from nibbling around it.  Drew said it was some of the best he's ever had.  I'm going to have to make that boy some of my super awesome and fancy mac 'n cheese.  Mmm, I'm drooling thinking about it...

So, all in all, a busy and wonderful weekend.  Yay!

And just for funsies, here's some weekly nugget love!

These pumkins aren't nearly as cute as the little punkin above!

Not pictured, the three apple spice donuts I bought at the orchard on Tuesday. I'm not even going to apologize, they were totally worth every single calorie.

Have a great rest of the week, y'all!