NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Has everyone recovered from their Labor Day weekend festivities? I think it took me all of yesterday to remember what working was.... yikes. But that just means my weekend felt super long and relaxing! Ready for a weekend recap?! This is going to be long, and I really apologize in advance... but too much good stuff not to share!

 

THURSDAY

Meet two friends for dinner at Tacombi. Have the crispy fish and pork belly tacos - yum. Highly recommend. Follow up with dessert at Milk. Hi, cracked pie and cereal milk ice cream and cake truffles. You were amazing. 

FRIDAY

Jane works till 2:00, so I wander down to SoHo and aimlessly shop. Literally the most perfect weather ever - 70s and NO humidity. Have a yummy smoothie at The Bean. Decide at 12:30 to slowly make my way to meet Jane for work. Walk through NYC up 5th Ave to the Flatiron building. Walk in Eataly, realize there are way too many people to handle, leave after approximately 30 seconds. Meet Jane. Go back to Madison Square Park for Shake Shack. 45 minute wait = worth it. Subway to Central Park to row boats in the reservoir but decide against it after seeing another really long line. Lay in the park, enjoying the weather and talk to my Grandma. Decide to get a macaroon at Laduree because even though we are stuffed we want one #yolo. Take subway back to East Village. Drink wine on Dorothy's rooftop, eat yummy pasta and cheese, go to Destinations for a couple beers. Sleep. WHEW!

 

SATURDAY

It's gameday!!! Wake up weirdly early - attempt to rent Citi Bikes to go to the Brooklyn Bridge and fail miserably. Try to take the subway to Brooklyn Bridge and it's out of service for the weekend - another fail. Fill our sadness with an amazing donut from Gasoline Alley. Go to brunch a couple hours later at Fonda - cheers to the Dawgs and bottomless margaritas! Find some street merch on the way back to Jane's apt, hooray for a desk chair! Go to American Whiskey (UGA bar), watch Todd Gurly and crew crush Clemon #gurleyforheisman. Sleep.

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY

Yet again wake up strangely early. Decide to seize the day, eat amazing avocado toast and ricotta toast at Two Hands. Walk through parts of Chinatown and Little Italy. Make it to the World Trade Center / Freedom Tower. So pretty. Continue walking through the financial district (we're explorers!) and see Stone Street - such a cool street with lots of restaurants and bars and open air seating. Have a late lunch at Chelsea Market with Kaitlyn who is visiting from DC! Nap because it's pouring rain. Meet Natalie for dinner at Keste and celebrate her engagement (yayyy!!!!!!) and eat more delicious food - this time, pizza! Sit in Washington Square Park and enjoy each other's presence.

 

 

 

MONDAY

Ate NYC bagels from Tompkins Square, walked to find a book for me to read on the plane, and off I was to JFK. I had the best weekend in NYC visiting Jane and I'm so glad I took Friday off so I got an extra day. I'm not kidding when I say I think I gained 10 pounds on the trip and walked all of Manhattan, but it was all worth it. Thanks Janie!!! I will be back soon :)

 

 

A WEEKEND IN CHICAGO

You know when you have one of those amazing weekends that goes by entirely, entirely too fast? This past weekend was one of those for me. I took a half day on Friday to drive (yes, drive) up to Chicago for a little reunion with some friends from college. I thankfully picked my good friend Sara Michael up in Louisville, which made the drive a million times more bearable!

We got in around 8:00 Friday evening and headed to Lan's Old Town. If you live in Chicago or are visiting with friends, I highly recommend. It's not the greatest Chinese food ever, but karaoke starts at 10, it's BYOB, and the owner Jimmy will inevitably pass out before the night is over. I may or may not have done a {fabulous} rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart. After that, we headed to Pour House, followed by a great dance session at Beaumont's.

On Saturday, we did a little Michigan Ave. shopping (can Nashville PLEASE get a Bloomingdales?!) and then headed to Joe's to meet up with friends for the IU game. Indiana lost (ughhh) but it was so great to be with so many friends. I laughed so hard on Saturday I think my abs might have gotten a better work out than last week at the gym. Sunday unfortunately brought driving all day long, but we did get to make a little stop in Indianapolis to see a good friend for lunch. The drive wasn't easy, but so, so worth it. Weekends like these remind me how lucky I am to have such great, lifelong friends, and how important it is to make time to see them. 

ATHENS WEEKEND

Any weekend I can spend with someone in my family automatically puts the weekend in the amazing category. This past weekend my parents and I went down to Athens, GA for my sister's fabric design exit show. I'm planning on doing a full recap - but you can see a little preview of her work in the above picture. It was so special and touching to see how many of her friends and our family friends drove from Atlanta, Illinois, and Tuscaloosa to see her work on display. Girl has talent, y'all.

From the exit show we headed to downtown Athens for great food and drinks and celebrating Jane. The rest of the weekend consisted of quality family time meandering through Athens, watching football games at Pauley's and dinner at The Globe, and trying to track down a hot dog vendor. Family is just the best and I'm so glad we got to spend Jane's last official weekend as an undergrad in Athens with her. Proud of you Janie!

ATLANTA WEEKEND

Goodbye Saturday and Sunday, hello Monday! This past weekend was a good one - I spent it in Atlanta! I haven't actually been back to the ATL since I moved a year ago (my 1 year in Nashville is coming up!) It's kind of crazy to think it has been that long. In some ways, I feel like I've lived in Nashville for way longer than a year, but being back in ATL felt like just yesterday I was living on Piedmont Rd. Crazy how time has a way of doing that.

It was a quick trip - so quick, apparently, that I didn't take a single picture. Patrick and I drove down Saturday morning and got in that afternoon in time for some football watching and Tin Lizzys eating. I of course had to stop by the mall and it was so crazy busy packed. I really forgot about the madness of Atlanta - it hasn't slowed down one bit, that's for sure. For dinner we went to Horseradish Grill, which is one of my favorite restaurants in ATL. I highly recommend to anyone who is living or visiting the city. Sunday morning brought church at Peachtree Presbyterian with Courtney. As always, it was an amazing message, and it was so great to be back and worship with Courtney! After brunch at Murphy's in the Virginia Highlands, we headed back home. 

Now I'm back in Nashville for one more week before it's time to head to Champaign for Thanksgiving! Oh how I love the holidays. Be sure to check back here tomorrow - I'm starting holiday gift guides that you don't want to miss!

Happy Monday!

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KENTUCKY DOUBLE

 

I think I'm done traveling... at least for a couple weeks :) I spent the past weekend in Louisville/Lexington for the Kentucky Double - Keeneland in the morning/afternoon, UK game after. Sara Michael, one of my best friends from college, lives in Louisville and since she had just celebrated her birthday earlier in the week, it was the perfect reason to go see her and continue in the birthday celebrations. 

We joined Smike's friend group of 35+ twenty somethings and rode a school bus (yes) to Keeneland, where we tailgated all morning, watched some races, socialized, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Post Keeneland, the bus took us to UK's football stadium, where we tailgated more. Highlight of the night? Me, Sara Michael, and Janie made it on the jumbotron at the game! It was hysterical... and now we are basically celebrities.

It was such a great weekend, and I'm so glad that Sara Michael and I are only 2.5 hours away from each other... except it would be so much better if she just moved here post law school! I hope you all had a relaxing/fun/happy weekend, and your Monday is going well!

Weekend Review - Home Again

There really is nothing like going home and seeing the friends and families you grew up with. This past weekend, I was home for a wedding, but it was so wonderful to be in Champaign, even if it felt like hardly any time at all. While my time was incredibly limited, I still managed to pack in a lot. On Saturday morning I woke up early to spend time with my mom, tour her garden, and eat waffles with the family. We went to our favorite girls' soccer game and watched both of them score goals. I saw my two friends get married, and in between the ceremony and reception, stopped by the Hobbs' for a Derby party to visit with more family and friends. By 6:00 we were back to the country club for an evening of - no joke - non stop dancing to Maggie Speaks. Sunday brought church and brunch on the club with the family - so wonderful. It was such a lovely and perfect weekend, and reminded me of how lucky I am to have such a great hometown to go back to. I'm not sure when my next visit will be, but hopefully it is before Thanksgiving! That's just a little too long to go without some Champaign loving :)

Our two soccer stars

Mint Juleps in honor of the Derby

My horse bets

Best friends dancing to Maggie Speaks... Christy couldn't look more beautiful!