Fabulicious

The hub and I stumbled upon a fabulous new cupcake shop in Franklin this afternoon. Oh dear. Pull the gun right out of your holster and shoot me now.

Of all the times for me to leave my camera at home .  .  .  I never leave my camera at home! Geesh! (Well, that's obviously not quite true, now is it.) I borrowed the hub's iPhone and took a few delicious photos of the front room, all decked out in a stupendous array of merriment.

Apologies for the blur and not-quite-right photos, but I couldn't contain myself -- had to share in my joy to find such a gem. I did as much as I could with Photoshop. Sorry chillins'.

With all due respect to Nashville, I am very excited to be finding a more sophisticated array of shopping choices these days. (Hey, I mean we only got a Nordstrom's in the past year! What tha?) It seems a long time in coming, but slowly little ol' Nashvul is opening little shops that remind me of back home. And, no wonder in regards to this one -- The Cowgirl Cupcake Co. originated in Bal'more. Say no mo. But I will, of course. 

The hub and I were so excited about this, we actually discussed moving back to Georgetown during our drive back home with our goodies. That is, after the kid finishes his stint here, of course. How exciting is that? (Our final resting place changes every week, so don't get too excited, k?)

The kid is heading East for his spring break with some friends; so what a wonderful "excuse" to buy a dozen for the road, eh? I know they all will be thrilled to open the box and find these wonderful delights.

I mean, who wouldn't? Am I right, or am I right? You know I'm right.

The hub and I also treated ourselves to one each that we brought home for later. Well--later came earlier for me. Y'all know I ain't nothin' but a cupcake ho; and if one has my name on it, I'm gonna go in for the kill as soon as I can. I had an "oh wow" moment(s) with my chocolate and pink buttercream bliss. So much better than the other cupcake places around here, let me tell you. One can definitely taste the love put into these little gems. Just look at them! No, I mean really, look at 'em!

Schweet!

Labels:  Food, Franklin, TN

Tropical Storm Lee

TS Lee followed us back through the Smokies from Atlanta; but thank goodness, it was an intermittent rain. Those hills can be treacherous in the best of weather!

So happy we left on Sunday. There was flooding in both Atlanta and Chattanooga. We dodged that bullet! Wish Lee could have turned west and hit Texas with some well-needed rain. Crazy weather patterns these days.

So happy to be home where we can sit back and enjoy the rain from inside. Cooler weather has settled in for a couple of days too. We'll always take that!

 Perfect weather for hot bialys in the morning. YUM!

Southern Haute

 We love "haute'lanta!" So we continued on our journey after Chatanooga.

Our first dinner was at Empire State South. 

(Chef Hugh Acheson for you foodies)

 

House charcuterie, mustards and pickles; oysters of three varieties to begin.

 Sole for the kid with flash-fried mushrooms--mmmmmm. 

The hub had duck breast with hominy. I don't know that the hub had tried this southern staple before and asked me to tell him what it was. (grin) Hominy reminds me of my childhood. Mom would sauté a pan full every once in a while. It was always a treat for me--Ms. starch junky! 

 And, speaking of which, field peas for Ms. starch junky herself! 

 Didn't try it, but sounds delightful.

 No Phatty Cakes? Pffffft! We'll pass, then.

And save it for breakfast the next day at Rosebud in Virginia Highlands. (We had a Virginia Highlands growing up in Arlington; so it's a special neighborhood for me.) There are even more great places to shop and eat since I was last here several years' back.

Of course, we had to get rainbow cookies and bialys (stay tuned). Always have to make that stop at our favorite Atlanta deli Goldberg's.

Popcorn at The Spice Market with drinks. (Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten) (My brother Jim knew of him which is all I ever need to know.)

Our last night's dinner was at ONE. Midtown South, another highly recommended restaurant. 

(I preferred Empire State, truthfully.)

The dessert was good, of course

UT-Chatanooga

Although this looks quite Autumnesque, don't believe it. It was almost, if not, 100˚! Ugh. Frankie and I stayed in the shade.

And then we sniffed out Bluff View Bakery. Just what I need, my friends. Of course, we had to stop. What a beautiful, old building.

And, of course, we had to go in. Well, Frank stayed in the car. I found delightful soft pretzels and a small loaf of chocolate bread.  Ya think anyone is eating any of it except Frankie and I? Nope. Just us. Figures.

Can you believe the kid, THE KID!, is looking at colleges? Sniffle. My baby is almost grown.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday

Another week has passed me by. I find it so difficult to write all my doings down in post form these days. Ugh. As usual, so many pictures to share, just can't seem to sit down and write around them. Well, I'm trying! We had a cool and rainy week which brought all of my lilies of the valley out in full force. Oh, I adore those tiny, white bells. They remind me of mom (Lillie) and my Aunt Mary, her sister, who had an amazing abundance of lily of the valley in her gardens. Awwww.

Saturday, April 16, was Record Store Day. I grabbed the hub and we made our way down town. We first drove by our usual record store, Grimey's; but the line getting into the parking lot (where the sale was taking place) was around the block! Um, I don't think so. So we continued on our merry little way down the street to Third Man Records. TMR was started by Jack White (of White Stripes fame). It just so happened that Jack was recording a live session for Jerry Lee Lewis this day.  I love Jerry Lee Lewis and even met him back in the 70s when my parents were always at a country music show--which meant that I had to go because I was a girl and my brothers couldn't be trusted to "watch" me. lol Probably a good move on my parent's behalf, but I hated it! Country music? Blech. But bad ass Jerry Lee Lewis? Always loved him. Shoulda been the Elvis of the time, but we all know he messed that one up! 

Of course, the JLL tickets sold out very quickly for the the small studio inside TMR. Then I find out that more tickets went on sale, with proceeds going to charity. Missed that sale too. Ha. Then, I find out the entire show was moved outdoors across the street in a parking lot!  The show wasn't supposed to begin until 5, but I knew we wouldn't be able to stay that long because, after all, it was the kid's junior prom night!

It turned out to be a very COLD day. Windy and no sun. And I don't think it was expected, because not too many of us were dressed for the wind. 

 But once we spied the Grilled Cheeserie truck, we got all warmed up inside. 

Literally, it did warm us up! I had the pimento cheese and bacon grilled cheese. Yum! 

We watched as Jack White was the first recipient of the Music City Ambassador Award presented by the Mayor. I got too excited and missed this shot and videoed it instead. Lawd, help me. Loves me some Jack.

The Killer's piano unveiled. Oooooh, aaaahhhhhh. Well, with all the waiting in line, we never did make it inside to buy any of the special stuff only on sale for the day. We had to get home as the afternoon was fading fast. The kid had his Junior Prom, and we had to get home! First things first!

 

I so loved making the kid's boutonniere with the Lily of the Valley from the front garden. He was so handsome. Sniffle. My baby.

Ok, so I wake up Sunday and read that the evening show with Jerry Lee had been postponed because of the weather messing with the instruments. The show was going on Sunday! Of course, I grabbed the hub again, and off we ran! Just in time.

Jerry Lee could still tickle those keys and his voice has held up amazingly well for his 75 years. He sang two faves, Whole Lotta Shakin' and Great Balls of Fire. The hub and I were definitely shakin' it up!

Here is Jim Keltner's drum set. Keltner has played with just about everyone--all four of the Beatles (even played along side of Ringo for the Concert for Bangladesh), Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Roy Orbison, Stones, etc. If those drums could talk, huh!

"I'm thinking about my door bell ringing. When ya gonna ring it? When ya gonna ring it?" Loved the doorbell notice.

And the Third Man Monkey Band! Yay. We finally made it into the tiny shop. Yay!

 Loved the decor in the little space.

And then we were hungry. We moseyed on over to the Farmer's Market and finally found our Waffle Man!

 Yum!

 Swing dancing going on inside one of the buildings. Too much fun to watch!

 We made it home and I listened to some of my new albums! Yaya.

 

Monday came and The Latin Wagon came to a neighborhood near me! Frankie and I ran over when we heard and got us some grub.

Tequila Lime Chicken Burrito w/fries. Oh dear, with hot sauce! It was amazing.

Now on to this weekend! Brawhahahahaha. It will be hard to beat last week! But, we're trying!