bday recap.

This past weekend was full of fun with special friends! Buckle up for lots of pictures (or just scroll through to cake and ice cream at the end.)

Alanna, one of my best friends from college, arrived Friday evening and we of course had to go to El Jalicience, my favorite Mexican restaurant in Nashville thus far. She experienced the Familiar.

After filling up on tacos and guac (and allowing plenty of time for the Familiars to settle in; I hate to say this, but I couldn’t even finish mine!) we headed back to the airport to pick up Meredith, another longtime Hopkins friend! Lots of catching up to do.
Flash forward to Saturday morning. Kicked off my birthday with a run!

Anthony joined me for some extremely humid miles. We kept it short and sweet since we had guests waiting, it was my bday, and it was freaking hot outside. I randomly felt okay despite the weather (maybe the Familiar helped?) but Anthony wasn’t. We called it quits at mile 10!

Afterward, Anthony tackled a million house projects (husband of the year award) while Meredith, Alanna, and I had girls’ day in Nashvegas.

We toured the Ryman Auditorium for a basic country music education. This place has a deep musical past!

And then checked out Hatch Show Print, another Nashville must-see.

After exploring downtown for the day, we were pretty ready for lunch. Wild Cow, you did it again! Loved this portabella/cous cous creation.

Luckily we still had room for dessert — and for one last tour! Olive & Sinclair is a neat chocolate shop in East Nashville that offers behind-the-scenes peeks of their chocolate factory on Saturdays.

We taste tested their Ghanan cocao nibs and saw how the whole “bean-to-bar” process worked.

I considered jumping into this vat of slow-churned chocolate and calling it a day, but I had to save room for birthday cake later.

Speaking of dessert, what good is it without a drink? We picked up some bottles at Woodland Wine Merchant on the way home. Because I’m a regular reader of the shop’s newsletter, I knew there was a free tasting going on…

When we got home, Anthony was powering through an elaborate dinner menu. Meredith and I helped him cut and skewer the chicken and veggies…

while Alanna perfected crane napkin folds. Wow.

Dinner was delicious. Anthony was exhausted.

He came back to life to hand-deliver a handmade birthday cake! What a guy. (ps, we finally found the right shade of green for our kitchen)

Then we played Cards Against Humanity and considered going somewhere fancy downtown. But we were paralyzed with uncontrollable laughter so that didn’t happen.

Great birthday night!
The next morning we walked off the weekend with a stroll around Radnor Lake.

The 2.6-mile loop was scenic, quiet, and perfect for a Sunday stroll.

Thanks to Meredith and Alanna for coming down south to celebrate, and thanks to Anthony for holding down the fort while we explored my new hood. I’d say that 27 is off to a pretty good start!