Nashville TN = good food, good friends, and great times!

MLK weekend Shane and I along with our friends Greg and Katie Joyner took a trip to Nashville TN. I will say that I laughed so hard I was sore for days! Being with those two really do a body good........well they do my spirit good....my body gained a whopping 5 pounds in those 3 days. We stayed in a condo right in downtown and the first morning scoped out this awesome place to eat. When we got there there was a line all the way around the corner and we were starved. As we were walking off some vandy students stopped us and said this is normal and I promise its worth the wait. So we waited! Let's just say the wait was well worth it and its a good thing that I didn't go to vandy or live in Nashville! I would weight 500 pounds. The food was absolutely delicious. I had the sausage and cheese omlet with goat cheese, and 3 pancakes! (this was pre-diet).

It was honestly the most amazing breakfast I have ever tasted! You can tell.....

After this we took a trip to the Country Music Hall of Fame, and guess what they had my IDOL on display!!! Yay for Tammy Wynette. They had an exhibit just for her and I was soo excited. (sorry for the picture quality bless my husbands heart)

I just love her!

Now, I am not much of a hall of fame or museum person but this place was awesome! We stayed in there for 3 hours just looking and reading about the history of country music as well as information on all the stars past and present. We saw Elvis' solid gold cadillac and he had a TV in it back then!! I highly recommend going if you ever get the chance.

We then headed downtown, still full from our brunch. First stop, the STAGE, where Country Strong was filmed.

All of us at the stage. Here Greg tried to sing along as loud as he could in hopes he would get discovered!

After a few cocktails it was time to head to the Ryman to hear some of our all time favorites.

First up, Joe Diffie! I know he is old, but oh he was good back in the day! "In John Deere Green, on a hot summer night..." you know you are singing along now! :)

Next up.....Charlie Pride!

And last, the queen of rockabilly, Wanda Jackson (who none of us had ever heard of), with Jack White. She is very old but good and he was AWESOME!

From here, we went back out and I sang karaoke! We then got supper at 11:00! During supper Jamie Lynn Spears walks in. I was not impressed! She was nice, but totally thought people (other than me) were going to start recognizing her. I hated to burst her bubble but I had to go talk to her bc no one else in my group thought it was her...bc nobody cares! We only want to see Brit Brit duh!

Day 2.....another day of finding an AWESOME place to eat. The famous Loveless Cafe.

This is where the famous "biscuit lady" worked up until her death. The restaurant has been featured on Oprah, Conan, Jay Leno, David Letterman, you name it. Once again the wait was atrocious but well worth it. I had fried chicken, mac and cheese, greens, and fried okra, along with homeade biscuit! MMM MMM good.


From here we went to the parthenon replica that is right in the middle of Nashville. We were going to get out but we were so full we could not move so we just rode around it.

Later that night we went to the Wild Horse Saloon and got our picture made with this little lady.

And this picture pretty much sums up our trip!

Later that night we went to Demo's steak and spaghetti house. I know a weird combo but it was highly recommended. Once again we lucked up in the food department. I had brown butter spaghetti with mushrooms and grilled chicken. Then it was off to bed.

Great weekend and I am ready to go at it again.....but of course I have to save up a lot of diet splurges!

Week One = Success and SORENESS

Okay so my first week of "eating clean" was not as bad as I thought it would be. I haven't had a single Nutty Buddy (can you believe it Hollie?), nor a mountain dew or coke or anything else processed! I have been eating no white foods (bread, flour, sugar) and have only eaten fruits, vegetables, and meats. I have found some really delicious recipes too! I also started my workout regimen and above is a video of SOME of the circuits we do at Impact. When I can do the whole circuit without dying I will put a video up of me doing it....maybe. Hope you like the preview and maybe you can get some ideas for your workouts. If you do this workout I promise you will need no cardio.....only someone to save you from falling out before its over. ENJOY

Surprise trip!!!

Some friends just called and had an idea and voila.....spur of the moment trip to Nashville, TN for MLK weekend! We are going here Saturday night.... and I will be sure to go here at some point. My mama and her sisters and my uncle have both performed at the Bluebird...lets see if I can get on too!

I am SUPER pumped and can't wait to see what the weekend has in store. We are going with Greg and Katie Joyner. We went with them to the Bahamas this summer and had a blast! I can't wait to see what we get into this weekend. Check back Monday for details!

Want to look HOT???

Ok remember one of my New Year's Hopes was to eat better and get healthier??? Well while working out at the gym the other day, the owner tried to convince me to quit running and let him train me for 8 weeks.... HIS WAY! I was adamant that I would NOT quit running, I just got cleared to start back. I then proceeded to tell him that I needed to lose 8 lbs and lifting weights and doing things his way would not work on my body (I mean what does he know he is only a certified trainer and the OWNER of a gym!). He told me to go home and read this book and then let him know on Monday (that was yesterday but hey I have been "iced in") if I would accept his challenge.

After I started reading I could NOT put it down. It made me realize why all through college I would run and do the elliptical or aerobics classes but I would NEVER lose weight or if I did it was only 3-5 lbs. This book has really inspired me to eat clean and accept Jamie's challenge. If any of you want to look fit and be healthy I recommend this book to anyone. It is NOT a diet book it is simply a way to change your body. My favorite point in the book is, when we go on diets to lose weight but we don't lift weights we only become a skinnier version of our old body, we don't CHANGE anything! I would post before pics of me in workout shorts and sports bra but I am just not that brave. Please say a prayer that I can eat clean and in 4 weeks I will put up pictures to see if you can tell a difference. Until then....see ya later running, HELLO Fit Female!

Amazing Beauty Buy!

While in NYC I purchased this smashbox primer from Sephora. After the first use I was HOOKED!!! It feels absolutely AMAZING going on your face and leaves my face looking flawless (well as flawless as possible). It feels like velvet going on and does not leave my face feeling greasy. They are currently giving it away as a free sample at sephora, so if you are looking for an awesome primer that you can wear under your makeup or without makeup....head to Sephora. I promise you will not be disappointed.

I wish I could be a makeup artist!!!

My hopes for 2011...

So I NEVER do New Year's Resolutions, because let's face it they rarely ever last. I read somewhere that most resolutions fail because people do not have a plan of action to succeed. This year I made HOPES. My hopes for 2011 are....
To see these guys have a much better season! Go DAWGS!! To run another one of these....and maybe a triathlon.

To start practicing yoga or pilates (maybe by December of 2011 I can do this!!).

My last ones are to be more optimistic and develop a better relationship with God! A baby somewhere in the mix wouldn't be so bad either ;). Happy New Year!!

New York!

On December 16th, my sister in law and I made a trip to NYC. I have been before but it was her first trip. Thanks to some help and suggestions by Hollie, we had a fully packed trip! We stayed at the W Hotel Times Square and it was very nice and convenient. On our first day we jumped straight into sight seeing and our first stop was Top of the Rock. It was awesome. We also went to lunch at BECCO, amazing italian place that I found on Trip Advisor. We order the pre fixe menu pasta. This was all you can eat salad and 3 different types of pasta....amazing! Here is us in Times Square (sorry I didn't rotate the pictures first!).

The famous Radio City Music Hall!!

On the first night we went to see Promises, Promises with Kristen Chenowith, Sean Hayes, and Molly Shannon. The show was AMAZING, but the experience was even better. During intermission I went to throw away my Reese cup trash and while looking for a trash can I asked a lady if she knew where one was. I saw her little boy and thought he was precious! I rubbed his head and told her how cute he was, only to look up and realize I was talking to Sarah Jessica Parker!! I almost died. She was so nice and thought my accent was hilarious. Her husband Matthew Broderick came up and he was socially awkward to say the least. I wanted to scream out "hey ferris" the whole time I was standing there. So to say the least after my first day in NYC my trip was complete. Here I am with my sippy cup of wine. I didn't get a pic of her on my camera, only on my cell phone....sorry! Its on my facebook page if you want to see her!

This is Macy's all dressed up for Christmas...so Pretty! So pretty and SO big, I was totally overwhelmed by 9 stories of shoppers bliss.

9th floor of Macy's was Christmas decorations and it was beautiful. I wish someone would come decorate my house like this....wishful thinking.
Inside Bergdorf Goodman....where no pictures were allowed. I love this store only because I walk in and watch people who shop there and wonder what their husbands do...Shane needs to find this out too.

St. Patrick's Cathedral. They were having their Christmas program the night we went in for a visit. It was awesome and very surreal to experience a ceremony in the church.

At the end of night one, we went to dinner at Nobu in Tribeca and it was wonderful. Jenny recommended the Yellowtail with Jalepeno and it was delish. We also had shrimp tempura and sea bass..yummy! This was also when we learned to use the subway. After we learned this we used it everyday......I felt like a real New Yorker.

Us starting off day 2!

First stop, every woman's dream...Dylan's Candy Bar. I got lost in here, and gained a few pounds too!

A three story candy store....can I move in??

After Dylan's we went to Serendipity which is right down the street! So cute and great coffee.

Next up....Central Park.

After that we went on a tour of NYC and stopped in SoHo, Greenwich Village, Ground Zero, Wall Street, Canal Street, and China Town. The pictures from all of those stops were blurry, I was frozen!
That night we ate at Blue Fin, the restaurant at the W. Simply fabulous. After dinner we ran into the Naked Cowboy..and then had makeovers at MAC!

Day 3...more shopping. Fao Scharwz , Tiffany, Cartier, Bloomingdales, and more. After shopping ALL day we went to Magnolia bakery for some goodies and I must say...I like South Georgia cupcakes much much better. We then went to Madam Tussauds!
Janis Joplin....one of my favorites of all time!

This was a little shocking. A girl I did pageants with, Kandice Pelletier, was the rockette wax figure in Madam Tussauds. How funny???

J. Lo is much smaller in person and her butt is not THAT big!

Yao Ming...WHOA!

The big Tree at Rockafeller Center. On the day we got there Maria Menunos was ice skating in the rink in front of the tree! We didn't see her though, only heard all the commotion.

On the last night we went to the movies and saw Black Swan, it was phenomenal and I highly recommend it! I hope you enjoyed my pictures...happy New Year!