I know this much is true: I have the best friends and family a girl could ask for.
Last week was my thirty-seventh birthday. Not my 21st or my 40th. But an anticlimactic 37th.
Mike had told me early in January to take the Friday before my birthday off from work because he had some plans for us. I was given no further details. If you know me, you know I like to know everything about everything. I'm a details person. So being kept in the dark was killing me softly.
The day before we left my co-workers spoiled me with treats and presents. That Thursday was made so special for me and I'm grateful to have such amazing friends that I get the pleasure to work with every single day. Below are my new 1.25 lb weights for the barbell. I won't go into details, but these little beauties make a big difference in the gym. And I love them.
Moving on. As Thursday night rolled around I started getting cranky (who, me? never!). I didn't know what to pack. I didn't really want to leave the girls for 3 days. I was going to be traveling the following week for work for 3 days. I just wasn't excited to pack up and leave. In fact, I didn't even start packing until Friday morning. Mike dropped the girls at school and came back for me...and off we went. I remember making a mental note to change my attitude and make this a good weekend; we had 3 days to ourselves for crying out loud.
We weren't on the road for more than 5 minutes and Mike turns off on a detour. I asked him what we were doing. "We're picking something up." Mmkay then. Our car was driving towards our old house. My heart immediately started pounding. My ears were ringing. I had this feeling that we were going to our old neighbors' house, Matt & Jill. And I knew exactly what that meant: they'd be joining us!!! We have talked for years about traveling together but never pulled the trigger. Could this be the weekend?!?!
We pulled into Matt & Jill's driveway. Garage was open and Matt's car was there. That's strange. He should be at work. We walk into their house and Matt and I looked at each other like, "Why are you here?" And that's when we put it together....road trip!!!! I was so stunned and so excited and so confused at the same time. For weeks Jill had been trying to plan something with us to celebrate Matt and my joint birthdays (Matt turned 40 two days before I turned 37). She had elaborate lies that Matt and I kept piecing together, all in the name of a birthday surprise. Love her for joining in with Mike to make the weekend so incredible.
We packed all four of us into the car and were on our way. But to where? An hour into the drive Mike presents Matt and myself with this:
We were headed to Nashville for an epic weekend. What a perfect getaway!
A few hours and a lunch at C.racker Barrel later we arrived at our hotel. We didn't waste any time; grabbed a beer from the cooler, got cleaned up and off we went.
We stayed on the main street that runs directly into downtown, just 2 miles away from the hustle and bustle and across the street from the Vanderbilt campus. After a quick shuttle ride we arrive downtown:
Elvis sighting
I hadn't been to Nashville since college and didn't remember much of it. So as we walked the strip I was grinning from ear-to-ear. Every single bar and restaurant we walked by had live music. We stopped into one for a beer and a sing-a-long and moved on to the Johnny C.ash museum.
We spent quite some time here as there was so much history to drink in.
Some of you may recall our rock-n-roll bathroom at the old house. Think this is what Mike was going for:
Through the years
Stunning collection of awards
Many of his guitars were on display and I couldn't stop taking pictures of them, so freaking cool.
Jill had been to Nashville quite a bit and knew a thing or two about where the most famous whole-in-the-wall places were for the best music. So we hit up Robert's and ended up staying there for hours. We ran into a couple from our neighborhood here in Westfield (small world!).
Jill and I were enamored with the band. Playing the slap bass was a legend named Slick Joe Fick. He was in the Johnny C.ash movie "Walk the Line" and was quite talented and entertaining.
On the far left is an 18 year old guitar prodigy named Danny Donato. If you ever are in Nashville you must go to Roberts for the best music in town. Must.
The next morning (my birthday!!!) we decided to take the town on foot. First exploring Vanderbilt's campus followed by a walking brewery tour of the city. Day drinking....yummmm.
Jackalope was, by far, our favorite.
And leave it to Mike to buy a graphic tee that turned out to become our weekend motto.
Jill said we just had to visit her favorite place to shop, Hatch Show Prints. They make posters for musical artists, big and small, around the country.
Happy birthday to me!
Although we didn't have time to visit the CMHoF I had to snap a picture anyway.
That evening we explored a different part of town, Printer's Alley, for some live Blues music.
Bad lighting but best buddies.
"Nobody leave this place without singin' the blues."
After some blues and some grub, we ended up at another classic joint: Layla's. This is where Epic Shit went down.
Waking on Sunday morning was brutal, as Nashville treated us right. But we were all ready to get back home to our kiddos. The car ride home was quiet until our caffeine kicked in...then we started recapping and laughing at the weekend shenanigans. Was the perfect birthday weekend; one I won't soon forget.
While we were away, Bob and Laura stayed at home with the girls baking, going to movies and all the fun stuff that accompanies grandparents being in charge. Laura sent me this letter from Izzy on Saturday.
As well as a picture of the girls. Looks like even when we are gone, their crazy ensues.
A huge thanks to Mikey and Jilly for the best birthday weekend ever!
