The good life in Tennessee

This weekend was hot! Just moving from California, it was a bit harsh being out in the heat on the beautiful deck at Arrington Vineyards just south of where we live in Nolensville. Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn, Winemaker Kip Summers and Fred Mindermann partnered together to bring to the Southeast this breathtaking and award winning winery. It was very hot & humid, but the music was nice, and the chardonnay was chilled, and we munched on our picnic lunch with lots of happy people.


My fave place to eat right now is Mad Donna's in East Nashville. Yummmmy garlic green beans, sweet potato enchiladas, and extreme chocolate desserts there are just amazing.

Michele Muska, Susan Faherty and I hung out there with friends after work and I had the BEST martini I've EVER had in my whole life at Mad Donna's. If you go there, ask for the stuffed olives with blue cheese in your martini...OMG they make them individually for each drink! Oh, my gosh!

We also went to Leiper's Fork on Sunday afternoon to browse through the galleries and hang with the locals. Scott and I went nuts over these unbelievable cement garden sculptures.

This one had metal bottle tops pressed into it. I am dying to learn how to make these. Do any of you know how? My mom and dad who live in Oklahoma, make the ones that look like leaves, but I don't know how these are done.

This guy cracked me up! He's about 2 feet tall and is adorable. I'm thinking about going back to snatch him up and put him in my front flower bed.

And if I figure it out, I must do one for herb gardening. They were so natural and I believe they would become more beautiful after sitting in the elements through a few seasons in Tennessee.

The bluegrass music at the Franklin Farmers Market was so sweet. We sat in lawn chairs, sipped iced tea, and did a little toe tappin'. We brought home a planter filled with basil, sage, and rosemary plants. Pizza is going to be much better now with pinches of basil, fresh tomatoes and garlic.

I'm such a lucky girl...Scott always has a nice cold drink and a snack ready for me every day when I get home from work. Ahhh, life is good in Tennessee.

Lovin' Tennessee

We are lovin' Tennessee, and feeling like it's home. With so many people moving into this area for corporate positions and with a strong economy, it is a great place to live and meet new people.

I got a BIG SURPRISE last week at a Michael's Craft Store, when I was walking down the needlework aisle, when lo and behold, MY BOOK was right there on the book rack! CHEESE, how cool is that???? So, when's the book signing gig? (just kidding.... :-)

Peeps at work have quickly turned into friends after work, and Karen Brandon is a hoot to hang out with. We had some Italian food and drink and good times...

When the waiter asked me how I wanted my left over yummies to take home, I joking said, "what, you don't do foil swans?" and guess what, in about 10 minutes he returned with his fab aluminum foil swan! It's still sitting on my dressing table.

Me and Michele finally got a little time away from the office, and our hubbies kept us in stitches all night! We are gonna have to get them in the pics next time.

Franklin, Tennessee has an annual arts and crafts fair, and we spent the afternoon checking out all the amazing artists from this area. I fell in love with these round appliques' on fine linens.

One of the artists did outrageous decoupage and metal art sculptures, and if I weren't saving for a vacation I would have taken this one home with me.

If you click on the photo above, you'll see that she used recycled cans and other metal objects to build a collage of colorful art in dozens of sizes and shapes.

We ended up in the chocolate shop to duck in from the rain, and it was spectacular! I had a chocolatte', Scott had an espresso with a shot of pure chocolate, and THEN we had two sinfully delicious bites of chocolate that seriously made our eyes roll back in our head. ahhhhhh.....