Jake's 28th Birthday

Jake's birthday was this past week! The big 2-8. Gosh, we are inching toward 30, aren't we? Can't believe it. We took full advantage of Jake's birthday being on a weekend this year. Our families from New Albany, Guilford, Lafayette, and even Farmersville, OH braved the ice and snow to celebrate with us.  It was just awesome to have them all in Morristown. We went old school with a hot dog bar and picnic staples for lunch (wishful thinking for warmer weather, I suppose?).

And the big surprise of the day...a PS4!

Happy birthday, husband! I can't think of a better person to do life with. You are my absolute favorite.

Nashville: Our Picks

Thankfully, we have some wonderful friends that shared their favorite spots in Nashville before we visited. They did not steer us wrong! I highly recommend asking around before going to a new city. Our trip would not have been near as memorable without their help.

Here are our picks when traveling to Nashville. I hope they help if you ever find yourself there!

Ryman Auditorium
The "Mother Church of Country Music". This was the first home to the Grand 'Ol Opry. We geeked out over the Johnny Cash exhibit and the fact that they allow you to get up on the same stage where he once played! It didn't hurt that we watched John Mellencamp's crew set up his gear for that night's show!



The 5 Spot
I talked about The 5 Spot in my previous Nashville post, but it is just a great dive bar/venue experience. It's not intimidating at all and the bands were great!



 The Pharmacy
Fun, hipster restaurant in East Nashville. Gourmet burger, milkshakes, and a beer garden. They make their own sausages for goodness sakes!

Barista Parlor
Coolest coffee shop I've ever been to. It was once a car garage, so it still has vintage motor cycles and the garage doors as part of the decor. We actually went here two mornings in a row we loved the vibe (and coffee...and sausage biscuit) so much!


Crema
Another awesome coffee shop closer to downtown Nashville. I had a pear rosemary scone with my coffee that I wouldn't mind eating every day for breakfast. We went here on a rainy morning and it was so cozy I didn't want to leave.




 Hatch Show Print
Famous print shop where concert and event posters have been made for years and years. They still use a letter press to make their posters! They have such a neat, vintage vibe. They are each like pieces of art. They just moved their operations into the Country Music Hall of Fame. We bought quite a few to hang on our walls.

Third Man Records
Jack White's (of The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, etc.) record company. The have a record store, and they record and press their own vinyl next door. The store is quite the experience even though it's small. I highly recommend going!





Jack's Bar-B-Que
Iconic BBQ place right across from the Ryman. We went there right after our Ryman tour and just soaked up the atmosphere of Broadway Street. Oh, and the bar-b-que was delicious!

The Parthenon
Nashville has been called "The Athens of the South," so it's only fitting that they built a scale version of The Parthenon for their centennial celebration, right? It's smack dab in the middle of a beautiful park. The inside has the history of The Parthenon, an art gallery, and a HUGE statue of Athena.



The Hip Zipper
Best vintage store I've ever been to. A lot of times I'm intimidated by vintage stores and to even try anything on, but the girl working here couldn't have been more welcoming and helpful. She even gave us a huge list of of other vintage stores and her favorite restaurants in the area. Jake and I both walked away with some great finds!

Gruhn Guitars
a HUGE guitar shop just outside of downtown. Jake was in heaven. Mandolins, banjos, and lots of other things I'm sure he could tell you about. They even let you try out any instrument you would like. When else will you get to play a $5,000 guitar?



Opryland Hotel
This hotel has its own zip code it's so big. We didn't actually stay there (although I would love to someday), but we did pay to park and walked around for a few hours. There is  basically a small city inside the hotel, complete with tropical trees, rivers, cobblestone walkways, gazebos...you get the picture. It's huge, and definitely worth seeing.

Twenty One Pilots

We went to see them while in Nashville. This is not a "Nashville" pick per say, but they are just a really good band that you should check out! :) They are amazing live, too!!


Now go forth, and have a great time in Nashville!

The Brookses go to Nashville

Jake and I celebrated our two year anniversary a few weeks ago! So many of our friends have sung Nashville's praises, so we decided to take a little trip down to Tennessee for our anniversary. We loved it! It was a music lover's dream. So much history to see at the Ryman, tons of record shops (Jack White's Third Man Records!), and live music everywhere you go. Seriously though, we walked around at 3:00 on a Tuesday and heard many places with bands playing. 

The highlight of our trip actually happened on our anniversary. We went to Prince's Hot Chicken for lunch. It was an...interesting place. However, their chicken was really amazing. While waiting for our food, we met Brian. He is a music producer and told us all of these places in Nashville we should check out. He even invited us to see him play in a band that night at The 5 Spot. It is a great hole-in-the-wall place that was featured in the show Nashville!

The band was great and we chatted with Brian after his set about our upcoming days in Nashville  and what we were going to do. It was so fun getting to know someone from the area and trying something a little out of our comfort zone. Sometimes those circumstances make for the best memories I think.

It was a wonderful start to a great vacation!

Renaissance Festival 2013

We made our annual trip to the Ohio Renaissance Festival with Jake's youth group on Saturday. Luckily, we had a break in the rain just long enough to enjoy all it had to offer. 

I hung out with the Nordic Power Rangers...

 ...and Thor

 I found some writing utensils...

 ...and made a new friend.

 We stopped to smell the (iron) roses...

...and generally did some amazing people watching. Great day!

Touring Hanover College

When one of Jake's youth, Marissa, said she was interested in Hanover College, we jumped at the chance to show off our Alma Mater. We made the two hour drive from Morristown down to Hanover to tour the campus and visit historic Madison. It brought back so many memories (and funny stories)  as we went from building to building. Looking back, I can't believe I spent my freshman year in that small, unair-conditioned room in Donner. Such a special place for me (and Jake). We really enjoyed the day with Marissa, too!

Paul McCartney: Out There Tour

Well, I crossed something off my bucket list this July. Jake and I saw Sir Paul McCartney live in concert! I mean, he was a Beatle!! I still can't quite wrap my head around the fact that we saw him. The concert was very well done, and not near as flashy as it probably could have been. It was just him and four other band members on stage playing Beatles and Wings music for almost three hours. My favorite parts of the show were when he told stories about his days with the Beatles leading in to songs. One story in particular included both Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton at the same concert. He is living music history and I saw it. Unreal. I you ever have a chance to see him, go for goodness sake!

 

 For your listening pleasure, Sir Paul on ukulele. 

House of Heroes: Davis Park Show

I still can't believe it, but Jake booked one of my favorite bands, House of Heroes, to play at Davis Park a few weeks ago! Dream come true! It was a blast watching them set up for the show, and getting to know the guys a little bit. Jake even found that Matt from HOH shares his love of comic books and Spiderman (that was a dream come true for him, too). Curt Anderson and Come Wind opened for them as well, rounding out a night of great music. To top it off, the concert had a great turnout of area youth and HOH fans. Best night ever!

Croquet

Sometimes we learn how to play croquet in our backyard. And sometimes we find out that croquet is a bit more complicated than we expected...