Weekend Edition : No. 1 "Tourists For A Day"

Hello, friends!

It's been a long time since I posted last. Heck, a whole season has come and gone- but instead of reliving that period, I say it's time to move on and share a few pictures of our weekend.

We started off our Friday evening with sushi at a local hole-in-the-wall with two of our closest friends and their sweet boy Ollie. When I say hole in the wall, I mean it's located in a part of town that I never venture in to. The vestibule is so sketchy, the dried up fountain looks like death.... But of their sushi is so fresh and so so good. The reviews on yelp echo the same sentiments, that it's in a shady area and is dimly lit from the road but has some of the best sushi in town. It's a must try if you are willing to give it a go! 

We followed up dinner with coffee at our favorite coffee shop in Franklin, Frothy Monkey. Everyone grabbed a hot drink and we all split an ever so yummy chocolate port cake with cherries soaked in port wine. Divine.

 

Sweet little Ollie hands!

Our friendship with them is easy- there's no need to keep up appearances or impress one another. We laugh, we are honest and are purely ourselves. I hope they know how much we appreciate their friendship, they are true blue friends.

Saturday was grey and had a constant misty rain fall all day. After shopping every weekend in December and braving the crowds, we opted out of a busy mall and headed to The Frist. If you're not from the Nashville area, The Frist is an art museum in downtown Nashville on Broadway. I had always drivien by and thought, "Oh, I'd love to visit there someday!" but never took the time. 

I had seen a few ads recently that Kandinsky, one of my favorite painters for many years, had pieces that we're being shown for an exhibit until January 4 so I knew that I had to go. I'm so glad that I did. The pieces that I had seen so many times and had posters of on my walls in high school were now right in front of me. I could see the brush stokes from inches away! In walking from room to room I became so excited to see more pieces and learn more about Wassily Kandinski. The India ink drawings were fantastic in their simplicity and I believe my favorites were the ones he painted in his latest years - I fell in love with his works all over again. 

I took a couple of pictures at the beginning of the exhibit but didn't realize it was forbidden so I quickly put my phone away.

After touring around the museum we walked towards downtown and grabbed a bite to eat at Merchant's. Again, a place I, nor Adam had been to before. Aww shucks we are just so darn adventurous! We originally planned to grab a slice of pizza at Luigi's (best $3 slice of pizza after a Predators game) but opted for something new.

I knew I would love it for being black and white with marble tables. I just love me some marble tabletops.

We split the grilled cheese Sammy  and tomatoe soup as well as the grilled chicken sandwich. Definitely the meal of the day- filling and quite decadent considering all of the cheese. 

We walked a couple of miles afterward so we didn't feel so darn full. Merchant's was great overall- quick service and good food. Another must try if you're downtown! ( Oh and their bathrooms were very clean as well! Total bonus)

Sunday we slept in for as long as we could muster and then headed into town to take care of errands. 

We caught the early afternoon showing of "The Imitation Game" which is the story of Alan Touring and both really enjoyed the film. It was smart and witty and we both walked away saying how well we felt Bendict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightly acted. I hear it is getting lots of Oscar buzz and can definitely see why! 

The rest of the evening was spent catching up on household chores and grocery shopping... I'll spare you the stories of folding laundry and catching up on Friends on Netflix. (I'm slightly addicted)

Today was hardly anything to write home about- just a Monday that I am A-O-K to forget about. 

So cheers to a new week, in a new year!

I'll talk to you soon,

Xoxo bd

The Preds

If you live in Tennessee I'm sure you are aware of our NHL team, The Predators. Growing up I could have cared less about hockey as a whole but within the past few months I have really grown to enjoy the game...live that is.

Adams dad is an avid sports lover and invited us to go with him to a game in November. Ever since then we have gone once every month to see the intense sport play out!

Tuesday night The Preds were playing the Vancouver Canucks and we came out to watch.

It was Barbara's (Adam's mom) first time to a hockey game and we were so excited to have her come with us! Not to mention Aunt Debbie and Keith were in town so it was perfect timing! {Thanks Aunt Debbie for treating us!!}

Unfortunately the game was so close that they went into over time, then a shoot out because overtime finished... which after about 6 rounds led to the Canucks win.

Despite the loss we had a great time and I'm ready to see another game!

Vlogmas: Day 9 {Opryland Lights}

There are so many things going on this weekend that I am excited to capture all of the moments and be able to share them with you...not to mention view them years from now.

Last night we went to The Opryland Hotel to view the famous Christmas lights display they have every year. The hotel is adjacent to The Grand Ole Opry which is home to country music at its finest.

The hotel's namesake, I believe, is because of the concert hall and when previously there was a theme park, Opryland USA. Sadly the park was shut down in the late 90's and a large mall now sits in its place.

If you grew up in the Tennessee area around the 80's/90's you most likely have very fond memories of riding the flume zoom where you can now buy a pair of GAP jeans. It's funny how things change....

I still have a picture that a park artist drew of me from 1998. Classic.

Okay but on to the fun stuff, I'm excited to share with you our night out as a family to walk all around the hotel and be together.

Today we'll be visiting Downtown Franklin for the Dickens of a Christmas with my aunt and uncle! 

I'll talk to you tomorrow, have a fantastic day!

xoxo bd

Vlogmas: Day 2

Welcome to the second day of vlogmas...

As I said in yesterday's post, I will be vlogging everyday until Christmas.

Normally I would talk about all that we did but to be honest, the video speaks for itself. Literally and figuratively.

Here's a look at our lovely little life...

xoxo bd

Leipers & Loveless

As promised, I wanted to share with you our day spent with the family.

Everyone, being my parents and Papa and us two handsome Davis's, drove to a town called Leiper's Fork for the morning. Leiper's isn't a very big city whatsoever, in fact I'm sure you'd miss it if you weren't paying much attention. It is known for Puckett's Grocery and also where Naomi and Wynona Judd live. {Did you catch The Judd's on OWN? I sure did!} 

Also in the small town is a restaurant, formerly a motel, The Loveless Cafe. Famous for their biscuits (and for darn good reason) they are typically no less than an hours wait to sit down. Some people claim it is no different than Cracker Barrell, but it is about the experience and the history! If you are ever in the Nashville area and want some good southern breakfast, check them out and come early so you can get a taste of that amazing blackberry jelly they make.

Along either side of the restaurant are shops special to the cafe where you can browse everything from pottery and antiques to ham or bicycles. It's really just a fun place to go, especially in the fall!

Followed by our breakfast was the actual town of Leiper's Fork. There is a small strip of shops with restaurants, antique shops, local artists galleries and the ever so special, Yeoman's. 

My husband, being the Civil War history buff and fanatic that he is was enthralled by their inventory. They sell mainly rare books, namely first editions and war documents.Out of respect of the store I chose not to take pictures. But my grandfather was able to hang out with one of his old school buddies, Ben Franklin. Oh the stories they told us! 

We had a great morning followed by a trip to Nordstrom's which just opened here in Nashville. Where have you been my whole life? High end beauty and fashion at your fingertips is always a bonus!

I hope your weekend was filled with fun and exciting activities, here's to another productive week...

xoxo .bd

{All photo credits - Betsy Davis}

A side note about yours truly, yes me.  The last time I went to Loveless, in September 2008,  I was with a bunch of girlfriends for a Sunday brunch we held every month. Each time we would pick a different restaurant to try out and that particular time we visited Loveless, The Travel Channel was filming a breakfast show. Lo-and-behold our table was asked to be interviewed. You can catch me every once in a while at roughly 2am on Breakfast Paradise. I say the ever so interesting, "It's just good food!" which I'm sure hooks every last person who watches that episode! DVR it, I dare you :) 

You know you are in trouble when your mom gets on to you for not posting.

Since my last update that was oddly enough exactly one month ago today, many things have happened.

To celebrate Valentines Day, Adam and I went to Do for sushi as we have per tradition for the past three years. To my surprise, I was given lilies, my absolute favorite flower!

What a wonderful husband I have! He loves and takes care of me so well; just call me spoiled.

One of the reasons why I love lilies is that they tend to last me for a couple of weeks at least; they are definitely worth the price and beautiful to boot!

Each day the sun would shine welcoming in what seemed to be the start of Spring with warm afternoons and short sleeved shirts. Of course, all good things must end as yesterday and today’s weather has been unkind. A dreary gray colored the skies with cold air seeping in through our windows. (We lack insulation in our house. I am not kidding.)

Before I forget, I wanted to mention that we took a trip back to Nashville last weekend to celebrate my birthday and search for apartments. I am now the ripe ole’ age of 23… I’m a spry one.

My parents were generous to take us out to The Cheesecake Factory to indulge in the most amazing corn fritters and chocolate mousse goodness. I kid you not when I say I have a big weakness for cheesecake. After that wonderful night, we spent all of Saturday driving around Cool Springs, Brentwood and Nashville for a place to live.

After touring many places, we decided on the first apartment we viewed which had the best deal of them all!

I cannot express how excited I am for this move as I have been counting down the days. {Two months & three days}

While my excitement has been brewing, Adam has become increasingly anxious as it means he will have finals to take and papers to write. Sorry, my love.

On top of his anxiety, he was plagued with the flu this past week. He was miserable for 6 days straight and rarely slept through the night. Thank you, Jesus, for the invention of Tamaflu as without that powerful drug he would still be under the covers with a fever.

Since then, the sheets have been cleaned, everything de-sanitized and he is now the proud owner of a new toothbrush. What a week!

Hoping you enjoy the rest of your Sunday evening, I will let you go.

Talk to you soon,

Xoxo .bd

{Photo Credits: 1 2 3 }

Wednesday is already here, our home's favorite night of the work week. 

For lunch today a few of my co workers, along with Adam and I, went to Moe's. Tomorrow is the last day for one of our interns, Leah, and Friday is my last day.  In honor of the good things about to come this summer for the two of us we celebrated by chowing down on mexican food.

 I haven't mentioned it in any previous posts as I wasn't sure of many details; Adam and I will be taking a break from Memphis for the summer and will be in Nashville. We had initially planned on staying here but knew there were many more opportunities available to us elsewhere. In faith we trusted that God would provide for our finances regardless of rent and other bills due while away.

Out of the blue a friend offered to watch our home for the summer as well as help pay for utilities which helps immensely. Also the two of us have landed jobs that will supply enough income for our necessities while in Nashville and back in Memphis. Blessings Blessings Blessings.

There have undoubtedly been hitches yet we know God's plans are far great than we could imagine. This is a learning process for sure.

We'll leave Monday morning for our summer adventure and I must get to packing! Oh my word there are too many things we have to bring. Where will we find the space? 

Have a lovely hump day, I'll talk to you soon!

xoxo .bd

{Photo Credits: Fabio Barlett Photograhy, BHG}

I'm back from under the proverbial rock but only momentarily as we still don't have internet at our house.
Can you believe it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post? I'm pretty sure I'm having withdraws from my blogging and daily blog stalking. We have currently switched Satellite and internet providers leaving us with scrounging from local coffee shops and McDonald's.
Lots of events have occurred which I feel sad I haven't documented with this here space but you do what you can with what you have, right?
Spring has sprung in Memphis if only for a little while giving way to break out our summer clothes.
I am now the ripe old age of 22 and feel no different but celebrated the day with the most amazing of all men, my husband! Being as great as he is, he cleaned the entire house, top to bottom, washed, folded, hung up all our clothes, swept and mopped the entire house (hardwood floors throughout), cleaned the bathroom, made the bed and best of all had lillies waiting for me when I got home from work. A man doesn't fully know how big of a gift taking care of the house is until his crazy wife jumps up and down for about 10 minutes. Later that night we went to a sushi restaurant in what I wouldn't call the safest part of town but proved to be worth it as the food was unbelievably affordable and delicious!
My parents visited for my birthday last weekend where we were able to show them the new law school, devour the yummiest breakfast and bar-b-q all the while searching for a new coffee pot. {Thank you Mamma and Daddy, we are royally obsessed and coffee-holics!} I adore having them in town and staying with us in our home, they bring such a fresh perspective on things and make everything better, you know?
After they left we enjoyed the beautiful weather and invested in an outdoor grill which we have used for almost every dinner and/or lunch this past week. {Even pizza on the grill!} In an effort to further our love of the outdoors and change of seasons we also bought a rake and cleaned up our back yard. We're in the process of beautifying what little space we do have by planting flowers and grass. We may not have green thumbs yet but just you wait! I'll post pictures as soon as I have a camera and computer in the same room.
We're now to Sunday afternoon having spent the weekend with our families and Miss Holli Denham {love that girl!} in Nashville! The times we spend always seem cut too short but soon enough those problems won't be there.
I must get back to family time as I'm neglecting everyone I've come to see on account of this post!
I hope this finds you well and that you've enjoyed your weekend as much as I have. Please say a quick prayer for our drive back home and I'll post some time later this week.
Love you all!
xoxo .betsydavis

{Photo Credit: Elements of Style}

Hello hello and a happy Monday to you!
After a fun weekend in Nashville with our families we are now back in Memphis just in time for a little snowstorm that hit us this morning.
Saturday morning my mom and I were able to get our nails done together which we had never done before. In fact this was my mom's first time to have hers professionally done and they look so good! My feet were in desperate need and that poor guy who took care of me deserved every bit of that tip. All of my toes are a sweet light pink shade in honor of valentine's day. {Aren't you just so excited for Sunday?} We spent our time between both families watching movies, going shopping, church and lunch at Red Lobster. Such a nice gesture for Adam's parents to take all of us out! We left Franklin early as we wanted to make it home before the Super Bowl started so that we'd still have somewhat of a weekend at home before the work/school week started.

{Side note: Adam's from Louisiana leaving us to cheer for the Saints of course! Who dat!} 

Much to our surprise we woke up this morning to a text from Adam's friend Zach stating that the snowbird called for snow and school was cancelled for him. I scoffed at the text "knowing" my work wouldn't close for anything as we have many patients to attend to yet after texts between a few girls from work were exchanged and a call to the boss we were told to enjoy the snow and not come in. Thank goodness, we would have had to leave at 7 normally but instead I laid my head back down on the pillow.

Excited to have the day off I lazed around on the couch watching the morning tv shows and quickly jumped off the ole tush to clean clean clean. Adam had to pick up his friend from the airport who attended the super bowl and didn't know if he could take him all the way to his apartment and might have to have him stay at our house.  

Wipe the sink down. Wipe the kitchen counters. Make the bed. Assemble all the dirty clothes from the luggage and stuff in the washer. Stuff Stuff stuff....you know they'll fit!

Having been pretty low key all day I'm itching to get out again but the forecast calls for another 3"-6" of snow overnight. I'm sure cabin fever will kick in if work isn't open tomorrow but all is well because we have Mad Men Season 1 to catch up on. Yay!

Long entry coming to an end promeese.

Love you all, I hope you have a lovely evening!

xoxo .betsydavis

{Photo credit: Love is A Big Funny Word}

Can you believe it? We've reached the sweetest month of all, February and nothing could be sweeter than pastels and flowers. ...and maybe even a cupcake or two :)

The rainy weather has put a damper on my day despite my getting all chores done I have felt pretty blah. Maybe I should shave my legs or paint my nails, that always gets me feeling girly since I'm home alone.  In fact reason being, Adam is out for the evening at Rhodes for a seminar on Brown v. Board of Education. Seeing as we live in Memphis which has such a large civil rights background it seems quite apropos. Anywho he's there until 9 and I'm watching The Deep End.

I bought a large sketchbook last night at a local art store for allll of my magazine clippings from Elle to Lucky & Saveur to House Beautiful. Since I was 11 I've been obsessed with magazines- the glossy photos, the tips and tricks with abounding inspiration, I just can't get enough! Needless to say I've accumulated quite a few {ahem...hundreds} of those lovely periodicals and felt I should break them down to their finest pieces according to what I like and chuck the rest. For now I have two separate books to hold my wonderful torn out pages and feel quite liberated to be truthful. If I get a chance in the near future I'll post the progress.

Tomorrow Adam and I leave for Nashville to celebrate Daniel, Adam's brother, on his 18th birthday. His brother will be taking the ACT and working most of the time leaving us to get our tires rotated, an oil change and my muuuuch needed 6 month long awaited pedicure. Come to me soft feet! Hello there buffed heels and goodbye calluses. Eeep I'm elated!

Have a lovely Thursday night, I wish you the happiest of dreams.

xoxo .betsydavis