Eight Years

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Jenn

Eight years ago, on May 7, 2005, I graduated from the University of Tennessee. I walked across the stage, had lunch with the family and hopped in my already packed car and drove to Nashville. I walked in my apartment that I’d picked out the month prior and started my journey into grown-up land. I was scared out of my gourd and so excited at the same time.

I knew about two people in Nashville and they were only here for the summer before going back to school. I had only been on Facebook for a couple of weeks (weeks!) so even these “friends” couldn’t help me get rooted. Gawd, how did we ever survive?

I moved Saturday and started my new job on Monday, May 9. What a moron! I had no idea to ask for a week or even a few days to get settled. Also, I was making a whopping $24,000 a year and couldn’t WAIT to bring home that first paycheck. SUCH.A.BALLER.

The first week I was in Nashville some belt in my car started making a funny noise. I called my Dad – naturally. I’ll never forget him reminding me that I was “off the teet” (one of his favorite sayings, to this day) and I better take it somewhere to get it looked at. WTF! You fix it! I already spent my money on booze, frozen chicken and crap at Hobby Lobby to hang on the walls. Ugh – being a grown-up is so hard.

Again – MORON. Little did I know – and I have it good, y’all, that the real fun stuff was yet to come. In retrospect and my old sage-like wisdom, I know I have it good. But I was still in no way prepared for the fun little curveballs life throws you when nobody is around to say “DON’T BE A MORON, moron.” I still have my health, my family and my fur baby – but the last eight years have been eventful, that’s for sure.

I thought about making this post some big “if I knew then what I know now” post, but everything I thought of just sounded dumb and petty. Because I’ve watched friends go through losses that would absolutely wreck me. I’ve watched friends my age lose children, parents, pets, jobs, family and even themselves over the past eight years. I have nothing to do but give thanks for my last eight years of grown-up-dom. I have approximately zero room to complain.

But it’s still fun to reflect and think about the steps that got me right here where I am today, which is a place I’m thankful and so pleased to be in. So I’ll just leave it at that.

Nashville, you keep getting better with age. You fine, country wine, you. Now I’m going to go hug on my family real tight for the next seven days.

XOXO,
Jenn

My Juice Cleanse Experience — The Juice is Loose!

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Jenn

**I preface this post by saying, I am not a doctor. What works for me may not work for you. This is my opinion and backed by no professional or medical knowledge about basically anything, ever.**

Several weeks ago I got serious about researching a juice cleanse. I don’t really know why – it was a combination of things probably. I have been really serious about trying to eat healthier foods, watch my calories and overall be healthier since the new year rolled around. I also read about it on Beth’s blog when she did it last year – and I pretty much trust that anything she says is awesome, will be awesome. The day I picked up my juice, she was there picking hers up too – for her third cleanse in six months.

Since it seemed to be the best around, I settled on Juice Nashville – a local company who does not have a brick and mortar storefront – they are a mobile, family-owned, cold-press juicery. That means no preservatives are added, no sugar, no nothing. The juice has a shelf-life of 3 days, so you get it and use it – or freeze it immediately. And if you open a bottle, you drink it within 8 hours. All this to say, it’s fresh, y’all.

So I placed my order for a the 3 day cleanse and was ready to pick it up on Saturday morning. I made sure I had no dinners planned, no fun events, etc. I was just going to hibernate all weekend with my juice and wrap it up on Monday at work.

I went to pick the juice up at the Nashville West Farmer’s Market where Wes (the husband half of the Juice team) sells on Saturdays. As he sifted through paperwork to locate my order, my juicy heart sank. He didn’t have it. Even though I had my confirmation email, something happened and my order was missing. I left thinking I might not be juicing after all – but Stephanie (the wife half of the team) called me as soon as I got to my car and said they were trying to figure out what happened to my order – not to give up yet. I went home and put on my PJs and Tweeted my feelings – and in true 2013 customer service style, Stephanie replied to my tweet in about two minutes and said that she was moving heaven and earth to find my juice.

WOW – customer service gold star for you ma’am. About 45 minutes to an hour later I got a tweet that said “found your juice! Calling you now.” And my cell rang. (I did drink a Naked fruit juice in the meantime that I had in the fridge because I was getting hangry = hungry + angry).

I zipped back down West and got my juice. I could have hugged Wes. I couldn’t believe they were so responsive to my juicing woes and were just so, so nice. Turns out, they had my order all along and the paperwork had just been misplaced so the two couldn’t be matched up.

So, let’s Juice.

The Juice Cleanse includes NO food. No drinking ANYTHING other than water or green tea. (I missed coffee dearly). You drink 5 juices a day (the same 5) and one almond milk a day.

The juices are:

I’ll be honest – I liked some of these more than others, but I hated none. I LOVED the C Ya – orange, apple, grapefruit and ginger. OMG. Snap – apple, carrot, ginger. Delish. But I think, crazy enough, the almond milk might have been my favorite. I love almond milk.

The Whoa (apple, beet, kale and ginger) was a bit harder to swallow. The Oh Yeah (apple, kale, collard and lemon) got old by the third day. But again, none were terrible. And the nutrients they clearly contain kept me chugging!

The experience:

Were you hungry? Not really. To know me is to know how much I love food. I love to eat. Food = love, to me. If you love me, cook me dinner. Buy me dinner. I love to eat. I exercise so I can enjoy food. Some people eat to live – I live to eat.

So a liquid diet with no chewing and salty food was a real challenge. But was I hungry? Not really. I did yoga Sunday night (day 2), and the calorie burn made me momentarily starve, so I ate a cutie (one of those tiny mandarin oranges). Juice Nashville says if you are desperate, you can have a raw fruit or vegetable.

By the third day I had a screaming headache, but I still think that may have been from three days with no coffee more than anything. I don’t think it was from no food as much as it was caffeine withdrawal. Although I will say, when that last juice was gone, I ate a spoonful of peanut butter straight from the jar. Sorry I’m not sorry.

How did you feel? I felt detoxed, just like they promised. I felt pumped full of vitamins and nutrients and I felt healthy.

Why did you do it? To detox. To cleanse the system. To purge the crap. I did NOT do it to lose weight.

But did you lose weight? Yes. I lost 4 pounds. It was an added bonus – yes. AND, it did jumpstart my fitness this week when I finished the juice. I wanted to keep that four pounds off. I worked out twice a couple days this week. I was determined. But I also ate pizza, which I did crave while I was abstaining from solid foods during the cleanse! Ha.

Let the record show – I just weighed myself this morning and gained every bit of those four pounds back this week. Even with two-a-day workouts and overall watching what I ate, I gained it back. So it’s my advice not to do this cleanse for that reason. Or any cleanse. Clearly.

How did it work for you and would you do it again? I think it totally purged my system. I was drinking a huge glass or two of water between each juice and I was peeing every half hour. My system was cleansed. I was so hydrated – TMI, but my pee was so clear you couldn’t tell I’d peed at all. It was insane. SO I would venture to say that a lot of the weight I lost was water weight and as soon as I started consuming regular food and salt again, it just came right back. I’m not near as hydrated as I was.

Would I do it again – yes. I would definitely buy their juice again and incorporate it into my regular diet, probably before I would juice again. They have lots of other flavors I want to try! But I would juice again if I started feeling sluggish and full of crappy crap. I’d do it again.

Can you work out during the cleanse? I’m no doctor, so I say just do whatever you feel like. I went to power yoga on Sunday evening, two days into the cleanse. This is a 400+ calorie burn class, so it’s intense, and I was totally fine. Again, you aren’t starving yourself – this isn’t a lemon juice and cayenne pepper cleanse. You HAVE nutrients in your system, so just do what you feel like.

How much is it? Lots of people asked me this. It’s not cheap – but when you realize how much fruits and veggies are crammed into every bottle, they can’t be marking it up that much, y’all. It’s quality product, so you pay for it. The three day cleanse was $123 with tax and the refrigerated tote that the juice comes in (which I’ll definitely be using again!). Full disclosure, in the name of stellar customer service, Stephanie gave me half off my juice cleanse because they misplaced my order. Thanks gurl!

So there you have it. Oh – one more thing. Again in the spirit of full disclosure, this juice cleanse did things to my bowels that you would not believe. And the worst day was on the third day when I was back at work. (You’re welcome, coworkers!) I mean, when you’re stockpiling fruits and green veggies in your system and they are in liquid form, there are going to be some touch and go situations. So, that’s all I’ll say about that. Just be prepared, if you do the cleanse.

Huge thanks to Juice Nashville for being overall awesome and wonderful to work with. I can’t say enough good things about Stephanie and Wes, how adorable they are, the customer service they provide and the product they deliver. They truly have it figured out. Nashville needs you – so thanks for being here.

XOXO,
Jenn

Bring It, 2013

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Jenn

I’m excited to ring in the new year, friends – hope you are too. However, it’s a little bittersweet. 2012 has pretty much been a banner year. Let’s see:

–I finally sold my dang townhouse. For the love of everything holy – it was on the market three years to the DAY. Can you believe that? I can. I lived every aching moment of that horrible process. June 27 – damn you and bless you.

It wasn’t without more heartache, tears, cursing and courtrooms that I finally became free of it, but it was so worth it. Some days, now six months later, it still hits me that I’m free of that physical and emotional burden and I almost float off my feet. What a blessing. (Frank J. Miles, realtor extraordinaire and friend, I’m forever indebted to you).

–I used that newfound freedom from my mortgage payment to send my 11 year old Eclipse on to her next stage in life. I got a new car! Well, new to me. I am loving my little Mazda 6. She is a good one and I hope to have a long, happy 10 or so more years with her. It’s what me and cars do. The peace of mind I have now when I hop in the car to go somewhere, or go get in my car after work, is so nice. No more “will it start?” or “Oh it’s supposed to rain? Great – bring on the flooded floorboard and mold.” Blessing, again.

–I got a new, fabulous job. Y’all. This is the kind of job I pictured myself in when I majored in PR. You know, you sit in class and picture yourself in some fast-paced corporate environment, looking snazzy and professional in a suit and actually using your degree to do something cool. I’m doing that. And it’s like, corporate. I’m loving this place and my coworkers. I am so thankful for every previous job that prepared me to do this one, but I look around and think “so, this is what it can be like.” People get.stuff.done. And take care of their employees. Corporate America – I love you.

–The Wades renewed our family vacation tradition in Destin. Wow – what a trip. It was so fun and just what the doctor ordered. We are already looking forward to 2013’s Wade family extravaganza and have added Aunt B, this time! YES!

–Rog and I renewed our lease on our fun West End flat, and our landlord changed for the better. Whoop! On the topic of Rog – we’re just great. 2012 has been a good year and we just keep on doing life really well, together. It’s just easy and fun and we are on the same page about 99.9% of the time. We just do life well, that’s what we say.

If 2013 I’d half as good as 2012, I’ll feel super blessed. Cheers!

Xoxo,
Jenn

Happy Birthday, Little Brother!

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Jenn

My LITTLE brother is 27 today, which means soon he’ll be older than me! (In a couple years we can celebrate our 29th birthday together, Josh! I’m holding).

I am continually impressed by you and every day spent as your sister is a blessing, little brother.

You have gone from “my baby” that I couldn’t wait to hold…

…to such a fabulous young man. So proud of you.

Oh, and there’s this picture, just because it’s one of my favorites ever.

Happy birthday, buddy.

XOXO,
Jenn

Keeping Austin Weird

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Jenn

Last weekend Rogers and I packed a bag and hopped an early flight for Austin, TX. My good friend and sorority sister, Crystal, was marrying her man Nick, and all the Phi Mu girls were en route to help her celebrate.

Rog and I made a mini-vacay out of it and stayed three nights and spent the whole time exploring and catching up with good friends. We LOVE Austin. If it wasn’t 1 million degrees there in the summer, I’d consider moving.

We found a perfect little cottage on AirBNB.com for $48/night. Yes, you read correctly. It was about the same size if not bigger than a hotel room and 1/3 of the cost. Totally private and a mile from the heart of South Congress where all the great shopping and eating is located. I highly recommend staying at the Cottage if you visit ATX.

Here are some photos.

Boots – and boots. All the essentials for TX trip.

Quick plane change in Houston. We’d been up since 4 and had stayed up till midnight the night before. Not wise.

We arrive in ATX and were in our rental car by 10:30 a.m. but couldn’t check in to our place until 3. No worries. I’m a planner extraordinaire and had scheduled some things to look at. First, Barton Springs. Austin’s humongous natural spring swimming hole. It was 300 yards long and a crisp year-round 68 degrees. And there were little old ladies swimming laps in it. With no wetsuit. OMG y’all. That is cold.

Lunch was at Kerbey Lane for the famous queso. It lived up to my every hope and dream and then some. It had guac and pico de gallo in it. I die.

We finally couldn’t stay awake any longer and checked in early. We found this bottle of wine waiting on us from our host. We enjoyed it post-nap, pre-dinner. Dinner was at Uchi, the Top Chef restaurant that we ate at during girls weekend in January. We met Melissa and Aaron there and loved it just as much as the first time – apparently so much I forgot to take pictures.

The next morning. Tacos at TacoDeli and coffee and tea at Austin Java. Two new favorites. We loved Austin Java so much we went back the next morning for breakfast.

Saturday morning was so cool so we walked off our breakfast at the Lady Bird Lake trails downtown. There were so many people out and it was BEAUTIFUL. It’s a lovely thing being in a city with so many active people.

Next was shopping and lunch on South Congress. On the left is Uncommon Objects, our favorite South Congress store. So weird. So fun. On the right is a bloody mary from some café that we just had to have mid-day. We lunched on food trucks across the street. I had Mighty Cone – and ordered a tortilla stuffed with crunchy shrimp and slaw, in a cone. Delish. Rog had a yummy pita that took approximately 45 minutes to make.

On the right – please check out what girl to the right of Rogers is wearing. WHAT.the..heck.

Saturday night – Salt Lick BBQ – again of Top Chef fame and again a place we fell in love with on Girls Weekend.

Then it was on to Gibson Bar to meet up with the lovely bride and groom! They arranged to be at their favorite bar for a set couple of hours so everyone could meet up and visit. Great plan. It was so fun.

The next morning – breakfast at Austin Java. I wanted sweet and savory so I had Farmer’s French toast AND a chorizo, egg and cheese taco. Rog had some kind of omelet with gouda cheese. It was all divine.

Shopping and more eating on South Congress for lunch, after visiting a couple book stores and the famous Waterloo Record store.

Sunday night – on to the big wedding! It was on a beautiful Texas farm and was definitely the most beautiful wedding I’ve been to. So much fun.

I definitely wasn’t wearing what I’d plan on wearing – because the temps were dropping into the 50s. We all went out and bought tights and pantyhose. Ha. Nothing like some nude pantyhose to dress up any occasion, right?

I snapped this as they headed up the aisle. They were positively glowing.

Phi Mu ladies. From the left, me, Monica, Melissa, Lindsey, Edgin and Katie.

Crystal had arranged for us to have a Pink Ladies lounge. Too cute.

The reception barn – right next to the outdoor ceremony sight. I’m telling you – this is what little girls dreams are made of!

There was a photo booth. Like, a real photo booth. It was so fun. How six of us crammed in there, I have no idea. You’ll notice in picture two that Melissa also brought a giant log into the booth. You’ll notice in photo three, that she inadvertently smacked me in the head with it between photo 2 and 3.

Me and the bride!

Why not?

Getting inside Monica’s blanket with her. Yes – she brought a blanket, which she wore most of the evening.

Me and Rog.

Thank you, Bristows, for letting us celebrate in your nuptials and fall in love with your city! We can’t wait to hear about Hawaii! Love you.

XOXO,
Jenn

The Boob Tube

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Jenn

Did your parents used to call the TV that? My Dad sure did.

Yesterday, Rogers and I did something we’ve been talking about for a while – we cancelled our cable. I know – GASP! I was really the one who was more hesitant about doing this, previously. He was all for it. Matter of fact, he recently cut some channels to trim our bill back, which I supported — until I sat down to watch the first College Football game (Vandy and South Carolina), and realized he’d cut ESPN. I about had a seizure. Fortunately DirecTV restored order just after kickoff and no one had to die.

However, after a couple of ridiculously expensive cable bills and realizing that 99% of everything we watch is on DVR usually the next day or several days after it airs, we reevaluated. Also, I’m doing a lot more reading when I come home from work, to decompress, rather than turning on the TV. I’m plowing through a couple books a week, sometimes. So why are we paying $160/month to watch the news in the morning? Not worth it.

So yesterday, we bit the bullet and cancelled cable. But don’t worry – we aren’t going totally cold turkey. Rogers purchased an Apple TV box for us and signed us up for Netflix and Hulu. Best part – our new grand total for the monthly TV bill is going to be around $15. And we now have access to more shows, music (Rogers likes to have the music channels on during the day while he’s working from home) and other crap than I could ever sift through. $15 a month!!

It’s INSANE. After I posted this on Instagram and Facebook, several people asked “WHAT IS APPLE TV? OMG I NEED THIS,” so here is what I know. Keep in mind, I’m only about 12 hours into this and there are several of you who know more than I do, so feel free to chime in on the comments of this post!

Apple TV is a box by which you stream Netflix, Hulu Plus or other such services that I don’t know about, directly to your TV. I think Amazon Instant is another one. You have to have wireless internet to stream these, obviously. The box cost us $100 from MacAuthority, and since cancelling our outrageous cable bill, it will pay for itself in less than a month. So, you register for Hulu Plus and Netflix online, and then tell the Apple TV box what your username and password are and it pulls all that in. (I’m so technical – I know. Apple is probably calling me right now to offer me Steve’s old gig).

Tiny little box of magic, modern technology.

Hulu Plus is $7/month and Netflix (not the DVDs sent to your house, because like my friend Kim says, this is not 1995) – but Netflix Instant, like Hulu Plus, is also $7/month.

Now, there are other devices out there that will also stream these services – like Wii, Xbox and Roku, just to name a few. So, the way your TV and show selections all look now, is based on what device you’re using. Just like if you were using Comcast vs. DirecTV – the menus are different, etc.

If you’re an iPhone or iPad user, etc., you’ll love the ease of use with AppleTV. I figured it out in about 30 seconds, which is saying a lot.

When I say endless content – there is ENDLESS content. For example:

Hulu Plus – Hulu has more up-to-date shows. All the popular shows like Parenthood, Modern Family and Grey’s Anatomy (to name a few of my faves) will be updated with the latest episode by the next day, almost in every case. Maybe two days. So you search for your show or look in your favorites and click, and watch. Just like if you selected it from your DVR on cable. There are also tons of free movies, documentaries, and so much other stuff.

Netflix is not as up to date. They don’t have shows that aired yesterday – BUT, their backdated catalog is HUGE. For example, I’m up at 3:15 a.m. typing this right now because I can’t sleep, and I’m watching the pilot episode of My So Called Life. Remember that show from the 90s on MTV? OMG I wanted to be Claire Danes so bad and date Jordan Catalano, but I digress. All the seasons of the Office are on there, Friends, Saved by the Bell – and of course, more recent stuff too.

I noticed all the seasons of Breaking Bad are on there, which I plan to dive into, soon. It comes on AMC.

You can also purchase premium shows – like $2.99 for an episode of Homeland from Showtime or $31 for the whole season. The premium shows usually aren’t free, obviously. You can also rent newer released movies, just like you could order from Comcast or whatever, previously. We’ll probably still use RedBox for this, but it’s there if you want it.

I would imagine if you’re a Mom with kids, this would be a goldmine. Because there’s a whole “For Kids” section on both Hulu Plus and Netflix, fo’ free. Just hit play – virtual babysitter. (I don’t have kids – clearly).

Did I mention no commercials? That’s why we loved our DVR – but you still have to fast-forward. They aren’t even there, with Apple TV. It just streams straight through.

So, things I’ll miss:

The Today Show. I watched it every morning. However, we can plug our TV directly into the cable outlet and get the three major networks, so problem solved. I just have to watch it live. No big deal. So we just press the “source” button on the remote to go back and forth between Apple TV and basic, bunny ear cable.

College Football. Again, if a game is on NBC, CBS or ABC, I can watch it still. Otherwise, I’ll go across the street to Jed’s Sports Bar and still spend less than our cable bill per month. Boom.

That’s about it, really. So, weigh in if you know something I don’t – or tell me which shows I need to be watching now that I have access to so very many!

Callie wants to watch Downton Abbey because she’s such a proper lady.

XOXO,
Jenn

Mountain Mama

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Jenn

Rogers and I went camping a couple weekends ago. We stayed three nights, four days at Elkmont Campground, where we’ve stayed three or four times before. We LOVE Elkmont and the Smokies like I cannot describe to you. I seriously could stay there a couple weeks (before I’d have to get a real shower and bed).

We get so into our little camping routine and never tire of each other, without TV, computers, cell phones, etc. It’s really nice to escape everything else and we’re both just really in our element when you drop us in the middle of the Smoky Mountains.

We don’t shower (but we maybe bathed in the River – shhh, don’t tell the Park Ranger). We sleep in a tent (with an air mattress and down comforter – shhh, don’t tell Rogers I told you! It embarrasses him that I have to have an air mattress). We cook all our meals by campfire or tiny camp stove. We sit. We hike. We visit. We laugh. A lot.

Here’s a photo recap.

Entering the mountains – so excited!

Dinner night one – campfire hot dogs and easy mac. YES.

My view.

We had the biggest steak ever, thanks to Momma and Daddy’s freezer.

Rog wraps potatoes in aluminum foil and throws them in the campfire coals. The best baked potato!

Every morning – bacon and eggs. This particular morning we had leftover steak on the side! Hiking fuel.

Our camp. It poured on Saturday, but Rogers kept us dry with his tarps and crazy Eagle Scout knots.

Friday morning Mom and Dad met us at the Alum Cave Trailhead and we headed off for Mt. LeConte. The grandaddy hike of the Smokies.

Me and my Dad.

However, Mom was having some knee pain, so she and I turned around at the bluffs (2ish miles each way) and then went into Gatlinburg and shopped and ate Mexican food. Ha! We sent the men on to to the top. They got to see the Llamas! The llamas hike 12 miles roundtrip, three times a week, to bring supplies, laundry, food, etc. up and down the mountain. So cool. Look at ‘em!

Dad snapped this photo from the top. You can’t beat it.

Like I said, it poured on Saturday, so we stuck close to camp. In between showers, Rog taught me “land navigation” with a military compass. Now, if I get lost, I can find my way home…if I have a map and compass, which I clearly ALWAYS carry with me.

Views around camp.

When the rain didn’t let up, we went into Gatlinburg so I could get an internet signal and download a new book on my Kindle. Priorities, friends! We also may have acted like tourists for a minute.

Please notice I’m being photo-bombed by a stuffed moose on the right. (Rog).

Dinner on the last night – cheeseburgers and black beans. And S’mores. Duh. We had s’mores every night!

Rog cooked our last breakfast on a little gasoline powered stove made in 1966. He’s had it since he and his Dad used to go camping and it’s made by a company called “Rogers.” So awesome.

Until next time, Elkmont. We love you so!

XOXO,
Jenn

See ya, Summer

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Jenn

Tell your friend Fall to hurry on over.

We’ve been enjoying the last days of Summer but craving Fall so much.

Here are some of our end of summer happenings.

I recently went to Atlanta for my friend Crystal’s bachelorette party. She is a sweet friend and Phi Mu sister from UT. I can NOT WAIT for her wedding in Austin in a few weeks! We had a blast in Atlanta. The crew was about half friends from college and half friends from her post-college days in Atlanta. So that was really fun. We all got along so well and had a blast – duh, Crystal picked us all as friends, so we’re clearly all awesome. It was so much fun.

We spent Saturday “shooting the Hooch,” or tubing down the Chattahoochee River. So nice! It was like redneck tanning. Just laying in a tube, getting some sun and drinking from your floating beer cooler next to you. Yes indeed.

Then, it was bachelorette time. On the right is Edgin and I – my freshman year roomie!

There was a serious game of Jenga. Each piece had a question about the bride and groom on it or had a “drink three drinks” or “never have I ever” kind of phrase on it. It was hilarious.

Me and the bride!

OMG – dinner at Two Urban Licks. I had scallops over gouda grits. GOUDA! I love you.

Jen Hester and I have a mutual friend back in Nashville – like, besides the ones who know Crystal. Small world.

Beginning of night – end of night. 8:30 vs. 3:31. Wow.

Back in Nashpatch, we went to Bartender Bash. Just as fun as I remember! But the drinks were not as yummy as last year. There were only a couple that blew my mind. The rest were just, eh, so so. But when you’re in good company, it doesn’t really matter.

Stud!

Alice and I, and Samantha and I. Samantha, our month-long roomie, has moved back to GA since her rotation, and we miss her so! Hopefully she’ll do her residency at Vandy.

Beautiful Union Station Hotel where Bartender Bash was held.

End of the night – sorry so blurry, but things were…well, blurry.

Also while Samantha was here, there was a Food Truck contest in Centennial Park across the street from our place. We headed over because Samantha won a spot as a judge! She got to try like 20 food trucks on her last day in Nashville. Jealous.

I ordered lunch from Riff’s Fine Street Food, my favorite food truck that I’ve tried.

I had the shrimp and grits (OMG) and the salt cod fritters, which was their “tasting” portion available for the event. Y’all. I could eat those one more time, top it off with their cucumber basil (I think that’s what it was) lemonade and die happy.

Look at Samantha and all her loot! Fortunately, she left a lot of it in our fridge when she drove back to GA the next day. Muhahahah. I ate it. All.

Come on, Fall! I’m tired of sweating every.where.I.go.

XOXO,
Jenn

It’s Cool — I’ll Just Sleep Here, Too

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Jenn

If you’ve read the blog for long you know my love hate relationship with running. Some days I love it and some days I’d rather bang my face against the wall than run. Several months ago I started switching up my workout routine to try and come out of my “I hate running, especially in the summer” funk. I did a couple of bootcamps, which I loved, got addicted to BarreAmped, which I cannot afford, and bought a couple of random Groupons here and there.

Speaking of – if you are in the Nashville area, I have about 15 day-passes to the Delta gym if you’d like them. Lemme know.

I told myself that as soon as I sold my house I’d get a YMCA membership. All my friends (i.e. all the cool kids) are members and I wanted to be too – but just needed to wait until the damn house sold before incurring any extra expenses. (That’s what grown-ups do…ahem ahem).

Anywho…

So I joined the Y a little over a month ago and HOLY gym rat, Batman. I am one of them. I am LOVING the Y and all the options I have now. I’ve gotten totally addicted to yoga, circuit blast, swimming and am dabbling in cycling, now. I just took my first cycling class last night and can barely sit down today. You know – in the crotch area. Wow.

But I LOVED cycling! I had no idea. Riding a bike up pretend hills while listening to rap music as someone yells at you to “BREAK AWAY FROM THE PACK!! You’ll come in last if you don’t KICK IT!” through a microphone? What’s not to love?

So, here’s what a typical week looks like for me now – of course, meetings and happy hours occasionally drop in there on the evenings, but if I had NO obligations, this is how I’d roll.

Monday
6:00 a.m. – swim a mile downtown (indoors, friends)
5:30 p.m. – yoga with Debbie downtown. She rocks!

Tuesday
6:00 a.m. – Circuit Blast (in East Nash.) with Nikole, my Hungarian beauty. This is 50% of why I joined the Y. (No, not to meet hot girls). My friends are in this class and (rightly so) talk about Nikole non-stop. She seriously is amazing. She’s so encouraging, puts so much thought into planning workouts for us and pushes us till we about die every time. YES! We fondly call it “hell class.” The folks in our class recently raised over $2,000 to send her and her daughter back to Hungary for a visit since she pines for it regularly and hasn’t been in many, many years – so that should tell you what an impact she has on her classes.

Evening – rest

Wednesday
6:00 a.m. – swim a mile or run 2-3 miles, depending on how I feel
5:30 p.m. – cycling downtown

Thursday
6:00 a.m. – Circuit Blast with Nikole again
5:30 p.m. – rest or yoga downtown (am trying this class tonight for the first time). How well I like the instructor totally makes or breaks yoga for me.

Friday
5:30 a.m. – Pancake Run! 3 miles.
6:00 p.m. – Yoga with Gina in Green Hills (Nashville peeps. Have you been to Gina’s class yet? Lawd. She about killed me. It is hardcore, but awesome. Come with me if you’re here!)

Saturday
REST! Eat and drink. It is football season, after all.

Although…there is a spin class at 8:45 a.m. that I’m checking out this Saturday. :) I’m addicted.

Sunday
4:30 p.m. – power yoga with Ed. Again – quite the challenging class.

Start it all over again.

So, you’re probably wondering how in-shape I am and how much weight I’ve lost after doing this routine for a little over a month, now? Well, first thing first….I’ve GAINED a couple pounds. UGH! Dang it. It sucks being a woman. Rogers “cut back on his carbs” the past two weeks and has lost nearly 20 pounds. I’m not kidding you. TWENTY POUNDS. I workout like crazy and eat mostly healthy and I GAIN weight because my body is all like “OH NO! Reserve the fat! What if we want to have babies one day?! Must.hold.onto.fat.” DUMB.

In other news though, I know some of the weight gain is from muscle strength. I have lost inches, I can tell, and am much stronger than I was when I first started Nikole’s class, for example. So, I’m not too mad about the scale. So long as my pants continue fitting and I don’t bust out of them like the Incredible Hulk when I walk, I won’t worry about it.

I don’t have a recent picture of me in a sports bra to show you my workout bod progress — but this one looks pretty much just like me, so it’ll work.

source

Ha.

Are any of you members at the Y and have a class that you just love? Tell me! As you can see, I like to try new things. :)

XOXO,
Jenn

Happy Anniversary, Wades!

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Jenn

Happy 3rd Anniversary to these two little love birds.

Love you, Josh and Ashley. Congrats on a wonderful three years. The way you’ve been there for each other and grown together through good times and bad is an inspiration to everyone around you. We all love watching you be so in love. Don’t ever stop.

XOXO,
Jenn

Category Archives: Things I Love

Eight Years

My Juice Cleanse Experience — The Juice is Loose!

Bring It, 2013

Happy Birthday, Little Brother!

Keeping Austin Weird

The Boob Tube

Mountain Mama

See ya, Summer

It’s Cool — I’ll Just Sleep Here, Too

Happy Anniversary, Wades!

Follow “”