Always 10

This past Friday Rhett and I FINALLY got to go down to see the Braves retire number 10 and honor Chipper Jones. We bought tickets as soon as they went on sale, so we've been looking forward to this for a while. I booked us a room at a Double Tree in Buckhead so that we could eat a delicious cookie before the game. The hotel was pretty nice, although the 6AM trash convention outside our room was an unpleasant surprise. I have never seen it take that long for a trash truck to pick up the trash. I gave up trying to go back to sleep at about 6:20. Ridiculous!

Anyway, after we checked into the hotel and had our cookies, we headed over to the nearest Marta station to catch the train. The whole Marta system is pretty neat! With game day traffic, it was quite tight on the train, but I imagine on a regular day it's probably not so bad. Some of the stations are definitely sketchy though. I probably wouldn't ride it alone, I'll just put it that way.

We were worried about getting to the game on time since we had to wait so long for the train and the shuttle, but we made it just in time to see the number retirement ceremony! If you're not a baseball fan, this is a ceremony to honor a retired player and hang their number up at the field. The number will never be worn again by a Brave. It's Chipper's forever! He was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame earlier that day too.

It was just SO AWESOME to be there to witness this moment. Rhett has been a Chipper fan as long as he's been a baseball fan, which is a long time, so I know it was really special for him. The game went really well and the Braves came out on top! There were several good plays and some home runs to keep things interesting. This was probably my favorite major league baseball experience to date.

After the game we hopped back on the shuttle, then on the train back to Buckhead. It was nice having a crowd around so I didn't feel so vulnerable. We did see a guy get arrested at the Marta station on the way back, so that didn't do much to put me at ease. I'm probably just a wimp, but I'm used to my little North Jackson bubble :)

We woke up the next morning (early because of the stupid trash pickup) and headed to the Georgia Aquarium. This post is already pretty long, so I'm going to save the aquarium for another post. It was an AMAZING weekend! Even with the 6 hour drive there and back + horrible traffic, I loved our weekend.

Wedding Talk: Girls Weekend

So last weekend my super sweet bridesmaids threw me a wonderful bachelorette party. They are truly amazing girls, and I'm so glad to call them friends! Me, Emily and Miranda went up to Nashville Friday evening, picked up my dress and enjoyed some time together with Libby. We all woke up Saturday and made some DELICIOUS waffles. I'm training for St. Jude, so we all headed to a park in Brentwood so I could run. It was hard to run while I knew they were having fun on the playground, but I did it anyway :) After we got back to the house and got showered we had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory...OMG so good. After that we headed to the hotel in Franklin that we stayed at Saturday evening. It was so cute...kind of had a modern feel, but with a few retro touches.

We had a couple of hours to get ready before dinner, so we just goofed off for a while. The girls tried on their dresses for me. They got wrap dresses, so they can play with them and find whatever style they like best. I was personally really frustrated when I was trying to put one on, but they seem to like them ok. They do look very pretty when they are put on! Emily also gave us our bachelorette party favors. She got some cool glass mugs and made cozies for them. So fun! I picked out a blue one with some vintage fabric that was her grandmothers.

I acted a fool while everyone else got ready. I'm not a primper, so I had a lot of extra time. After a while Alanna, Paige, Kelsey and Gabrielle joined us and we headed over to Buca di Beppo (or Beeca da Bopbop as I called it all weekend). It's a family-style Italian restaurant and I absolutely LOVED it. The format was perfect for a large group, and the food was delicious. I was especially fond of the eggplant parmesan (as I usually am). They also brought out this weird brownie/icecream/whipped topping concoction. It wasn't particularly good, but it was a nice gesture.  

My lovely lady friends

After dinner we headed downtown to a dueling piano bar called Big Bang. It was a blast! It was pretty crowded so it was hard to find a good spot to stand, but we could hear the music anyway. The performers were quite good, so it was fun entertainment. I got to see another bachelorette go up there, and I was extremely thankful my friends didn't send me on stage. I would have died of embarrassment! After a few hours at Big Bang we got ice cream downtown and headed back to the hotel. It was such a fun night! 

Like I said before, I have the BEST friends. It meant so much that they all came out to spend the evening celebrating with me. I have to be honest, it was insanely weird to have an evening center around me. I know birthdays kind of go that way, but I've never been a huge birthday person, so I'm not used to it. I guess it helped prepare me for being the center of attention next weekend (yep...only one more week until wedding time)! Just thinking about having 200 people looking at just me and Rhett makes me kind of squirmy. I guess I'll just have to get over it!

Karen Elson + West End Cafe

About a week ago, I spent a Saturday in Nashville with my dear friend, Alanna. We found out a while back that Karen Elson was going to be playing a free show that day, so we made plans to go. WE WERE SO EXCITED! Not only is Karen Elson an amaaaaaazing model, but she put out an album that I absolutely love.

That morning we hung out in her apartment, then did a bit of antiquing, and I dropped in to see a former professor of mine. Later in the afternoon we headed out to Centennial Park for the show. There were several artists playing, and we wandered around the food trucks while we waited for Karen Elson. It was so much fun listening to all the artists and seeing all the adorable dogs people had brought out. We stopped at the Blue Monkey to get some shaved ice, and then plopped down in the grass in front of the stage.

The show was great! She played about 7 songs (I think...I didn't really count), mostly from her album. I just love her unique sound, and I enjoyed hearing a little story behind some of the songs. There were a bunch of kids that were dancing in the grass in front of us while she played. It was a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e. If you live in Nashville, you should try to go to this event one Saturday this Fall. I think it's running until the end of October, and they have some great artists every weekend! Check out Musician's Corner for more info.

After we left there, we walked about 10 minutes down the road to West End Cafe for dinner. We were the only ones there, so I was a little nervous. But it turned out to be really good! The food was mostly out of my price range, so I decided to get a burger. Alanna's had a fried egg on it! I tried it and it was pretty dang good. Mine was more of a classic burger, and it was also delicious. I would definitely recommend it if you're around the area.

This was one of my favorite weekend days in a while! Sometimes I just need a day to get out and do fun things, ya know? I wish I could do this more often, but I guess it wouldn't be as special if it wasn't rare :) I was sad when Alanna moved, but it's actually been really fun going to visit her and doing new things in the city.

Coral Weekend

Sometimes I have to come up with an excuse to actually put some effort into my appearance, and Saturday was one of those days. I asked Margaret if she wanted to get together and take some outfit shots, so that was my excuse this time. I put together some of my newer (and new favorite!) items, and it was a great outfit for just running a few errands and enjoying a nice day. CONFESSION: I didn't actually wear these shoes all day...I slipped on some comfortable sandals for walking around stores. Hey, don't judge.

First, let's talk about that fun shirt! I got it in my most recent Stitch Fix, and this was the first time I've worn it. The fabric was a little clingy, but it was overall pretty comfortable! I like loose tops like that, especially when they are a pretty color. Recently I got two pair of Levi's at the outlet in Nashville, and I love them both, especially these gray ones! I definitely recommend them (just don't buy them online...made that mistake once). The daffodil earrings came from a shop on Etsy (stranded treasures). She makes them from polymer clay, and she can do different color combos. I was thinking of wearing them in the wedding, but now that I have them I don't think I will. My favorite flower is the daffodil, but the earrings don't look as much like daffodils in person as I anticipated. Oh well! I still like them.

details:

top- Ark and Co. from Stitch Fix

jeans- Levi

shoes- Target

earrings- Etsy

Saturday was actually a really great day. I didn't have any obligations, so I was able to work on a lot of projects for the wedding. I even got to go grocery shopping! I will say that sitting cross-legged in my floor cutting strips of paper wasn't great on my knees. I'm still a little sore from all that crafting :)