This post is coming for two reasons. The first is that my sister asked for more Nashville related content, which makes sense because she loves to travel, and she has an affinity for the South after living in Louisville for a number of years. Secondly, with my monstrous appetite, I have been on a mission to find all the best places to eat, and especially find the places that do takeout and delivery well as we might be resorting to that quite a bit when Penny arrives.

Now, I’ll preface this by saying that I’ve lived here less than a year so I don’t know all of the hot spots yet. Also, Matt and I really aren’t into doing touristy stuff. We haven’t been to the Ryman yet, or the Country Music Hall of Fame. In contrast we’ve been to most of the parks in the city to take Berlin on nice long strolls. Eventually we’ll get around to the touristy things, but we want to know the other part of this town more, the places where the people who actually live here go. And that sentiment is reflected in my restaurant choices.

So if you’re in Nashville, and hate me too much to call me up and let me invite you over for a roast pork sandwich, these are the places you should check out for yummy fare.

The Family Wash – We’ve taken my mom and dad here before, and it’s one of my favorite neighborhood spots because of the yummy comfort food (think mac n cheese and shepherd’s pie). You can go in any night of the week and hear some fun bluegrassy or rock music and try one of the many great beers that they have on tap. The Wash resides in a neighborhood so you won’t necessarily find lots of night life around it, but that’s what we like. Be sure to chat it up with the waitstaff and bartenders – they are some of the nicest people around. You’ll get a great meal for two including beers and tip for $25 – $30. There is rarely a cover charge, so you’re getting fine music as well, and it’s VERY kid friendly.

For full disclosure, I’ve never had anything other than their mac and cheese because it is THAT good. In fact, I’d imagine this is what I’ll be demanding an hour after giving birth.

The Local Taco – This is probably Matt’s favorite place in town, other than Rosepepper’s where the food isn’t anything spectacular but they apparently make the world’s greatest margaritas. You’ll have to take his word for that since I don’t like margaritas. But back to the Local Taco. We like to hit it after church on Sunday because it’s a quick drive over there, and the food is to die for. Unfortunately you pay for the tacos individually, and you don’t exactly get huge portions, so if you order enough to fill up you can easily spend $10 per person just on tacos. But they are fresh, unique and delicious. Their homemade salsa is to die for, and basically everything tastes of fresh cilantro. They have a lot of imported Mexican beers which is great fun if you’re not preggers.

Bosco’s – This is a place that is called “The Restaurant for Beer Lovers” which is interesting to me since we’ve only been there once when Matt’s folks took us there for brunch, and the brunch was divine. So I can’t vouch for their apparently exquisite beer menu. But their brunch was the best we’ve had yet in the city. We’ve been to a couple other places around here for Sunday brunch (which seems to be popular down here due to the church-goin population), and have honestly been a bit disappointed. But not Bosco’s. We’ll have to go back for dinner sometime to let you know what it’s like eating something other than eggs benedict.

Ok, this is Nashville, though right? So where is my BBQ joint? Well, I have to be honest in that we’re a little bit disappointed with the BBQ fare of all the popular joints in Nashville. We’ve been to a couple places, and we find that the neighborhood dives typically have the best BBQ. Everything seems to have been cooked to death, which is great for the meat but kinda gross for the “vegetable sides.” And yes, they consider mac n cheese to be a vegetable.

Jack’s has been the best BBQ so far, and we’ve only been to their downtown location. They have another location situated away from the hubbub, and I’d venture to guess their food is a bit better there. So if you’re in town, you’ll probably do OK at Jack’s where you can then stroll down Broadway and have your fill of neon lights and country music karaoke.

Overall, the thing that I’ve noticed is that different BBQ sauces seem to be really popular here, and perhaps the best BBQ that you are gonna get is slow smoked in someone’s backyard. I’ve found that I’m making  more and more BBQ at home and trying to perfect my technique, so maybe that’s what everyone else is up to. We’ve gotta get over to Memphis at some point to try some REAL BBQ there.

Eastland Cafe – This is my favorite place that’s worth taking a shower for. An ever-changing, very creative menu, good service, and a beautiful outdoor patio that is pup-friendly in the summertime! What more can you ask for? The food never disappoints, and they have a nice wine selection as well. Dinners are around $18-$25 per plate.

There are a handful of places we’ve visited and have been nonplussed by including Noshville, Marche, and Allium. We’d like to try the Pancake Pantry which gets rave reviews, but last time we tried the patrons were such complete jerks in the waiting line, that it left a bad taste in our mouth and we walked away. We have yet to try Loveless Cafe, PM, and Southern Bred which are all high on my priority list.

So that should give you a couple of places to try if you’re ever in our neck of the woods, and maybe a few places to steer clear of.

Any Nashvillians have recommendations of places we ought to try?

I have been dreading this day, February 18th, 2010 since July 7th, 2009. Today was my original due date.

I envisioned having to write a title for this post along the lines of “Priscilla and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” But so far it hasn’t been like that. What in the name of Desmond David Hume?

I woke up this morning to the sun beating in through the windows, Matt fast asleep beside me, Berlin curled up at our feet, and Mojo sitting on my face meowing for his breakfast. It was perfect aside from that last part. Matt got to sleep in because he didn’t have to leave for work until noon, so I lay in bed a while longer daydreaming about what I would eat for breakfast if I were on a cruise ship and had that huge buffet sprawled out in front of me. Scrambled eggs laden with salt and pepper, bacon, sausage, croissants, cheese, a grapefruit half, strawberries, cantaloupe, orange juice and a bottomless cup of coffee. Sweet gastronomical bliss!

Then I couldn’t take it any longer. I woke up Matt to find out what he would eat for his cruise breakfast. It was basically all of the above but replacing the coffee with tea. He would hit the poolside burger grill for lunch and a margarita and would finish the day with surf and turf for dinner. We climbed out of bed and I whipped up some banana bread, coffee and tea which was ready by the time Matt got out of the shower. Then we meandered outside to the back deck and ate our breakfast while I threw the tennis ball for Berlin. It’s 44 degrees outside, or such saith Accuweather, but it felt more like the high 50s.

We sat outside for a solid hour soaking in the beautiful weather, the sun, the fresh hot morning drinks, and a puppy playing in the grass. We chatted about the summer, how each night when he gets home from work we’ll grill out on the deck, take a walk around the neighborhood, put Penny to bed, then settle in with books and iced tea in our Adirondack chairs until it’s dark out. Isn’t the best part of summer the fact that the sun doesn’t set until 9 pm? I think so.

On the list of things to accomplish today is a trip to Home Depot (of course) and a trip to Target. I think I’ll treat myself to the greatest indulgence in the world – a leisurely stroll through every single aisle of Target. It’s the equivalent of chocolate cake. I have more work to do on our taxes this afternoon, and I think I’m going to make something delicious for dinner. Like homemade BBQ chicken pizza and a big ole salad. And we’ll watch The Office and Matt will chortle loudly.

I wish I could be meeting my first child today. But I can honestly say I no longer fear death because I have somebody to meet on the other side. I’m a changed person, but the biggest change is an overwhelming feeling that I am insanely blessed. I have everything in the world that a girl could ever want. I spent such a long time chasing and working for the things I wanted in life, and here they are. All right here in my hands, and I am insanely content. I want to think that if it were all taken away tomorrow, I would still be grateful for the time I’ve had married to my best friend, laughing with friends and family, being surrounded by adorable four-legged animals, cooking and eating great food, traveling the world, and experiencing the crazy miracle of pregnancy.

After Matt left for work, I checked my email and saw a sweet note from a dear friend who remembered that today was the day. It made my heart really really warm. I know there are people looking out for me, thinking and praying for me today. Life is what you make it, and I think that today we should make it an absolutely perfectly lovely day.

It is gor-ge-ous here. Ok, well not specifically right now. Right now it’s drippy and dreary from rain, but it’s 56 degrees, is what I’m sayin! The past few days have just been downright springy. And I almost don’t know what to do.

After Christmas, I had myself all ready to settle in for a long winter’s nap in front of the fireplace with hot cocoa and National Geographic. We had a week which was referred to as the “Deep Freeze” wherein our hot and cold water lines to the washing machine started to freeze up. But after that it became positively lovely, and I will be darned if that’s going to change.

Every morning I wake up and hear the chirping of birds outside my breakfast nook window, and I brew myself some coffee and sit down to check my email. And when I take the dog outside, many afternoons I don’t need a jacket. I could really get used to this.

All this to say, in the midst of the “Deep Freeze” I had a heart to heart with Matt wherein I mentioned that um, hello, we’ve moved to Tennessee where it’s not sposed to be so darned cold, and we bought a house, and I had kinda hoped that when it was so darned cold out we could just open the dog door to the backyard and let Berlin outside without having to shoe up and jacket up and scarf up to keep her company. I mean, we’re not apartment dwellers anymore. We have a fenced backyard. Dog should do dog things back there without the need of an escort. So I asked, would he please put together a Behavior Modification Plan for Berlin?

And he did.

See, our pup loves being outside, and she loves romping in our backyard. But she doesn’t like being places without us. We are her security blanket, so she’d rather hold her bladder in the house all day than go outside by herself, bless her heart. When we take her outside for potty time, she needs us to go out the door, down the back deck steps and out into the grass with her. Then and only then will she pee and poop. But she might not do it in the dark because she’s scared of the dark.

Well let me just say, my husband is a brilliant man and my dog, despite her many fears, is very smart as well. Matt put together a plan, and the key was consistency – we each had to do the same exact thing when he took her out in the morning and I took her out in the evening. Gradually we would make her try harder things, which wound up being not so gradual because she’s a very quick learner. (Aside, will trade husband for a week of potty training your toddler in exchange for two David Gray tickets at the Ryman!)

We started off by making her use the dog door when she came back into the house. Then we would stand at the bottom of the deck steps but wouldn’t go out into the grass with her. Then we stood in the middle of the steps. Then at the top of the steps. She didn’t like that phase. Then we would stand at the top of the steps and she had to go both in and out of the house via the dog door. Let me also note that no treats were used. See, she’s not food motivated, she’s praise motivated. So there was a lot of yelping and “WAY TO GO, BIG GIRL!” And our neighbors officially think we are nutty!

Then yesterday as the sun was setting, I took her outside, and she zipped right out the dog door, down the steps and into the grass. I sat in an Adirondack rocking chair on the deck while she played in the backyard, completely out of my sight. She eventually brought me a ball which I threw off the deck and into the backyard for her and this version of “fetch” ensued for about a half an hour. Then towards the end, when it was completely dark, she flopped in the grass to rest out of my sight chomping on her ball. So I snuck into the house, and about two minutes later she was back in the house via her dog door.

Of course, the next step will be just saying “Wanna go outside?” and having her run over to her dog door and out into the backyard without anyone’s accompaniment whatsoever. We’re getting there.

But frankly, with this gorgeous spring-like weather, I kinda wanna be outside with her. You know, endorphins and whatnot.

From Daily Daguerreotype

Last night Matt was scheduled to work an evening session from 6-8pm about a half an hour from our house. As he was about to head out into the magical snowy evening, the dad called to cancel the appointment because the roads near his house were “very dangerous.” I overheard a portion of the phone conversation where the dad said in his thick Southern accent, “I’m sure you’d be fine on the roads, it’s just these rednecks down here who don’t know how to drive in the snow.” I chuckled audibly.

I’m gonna go ahead and insult Matt here for a second, but I’m not crazy about riding in the car with him while he’s driving in the snow. Now he’s had plenty of practice, mind you, but he doesn’t have that natural New England instinct that I have for evasive maneuvering in inclement weather. I don’t mean to openly brag here, but I could drive a bus full of elementary school kids through a Nor’easter without even glistening.

Anyway, we decided to head out to run some errands because hey! We had the evening together! (And I accidentally forgot a webinar I was supposed to attend, OOPS!) Off to Babies R’ Us we drove where Matt was elated to be able to park in the “Expectant Mothers” space right near the door. Except it really didn’t matter because the entire parking lot was empty. The store was dead and the employees were hovering near the door to take pictures of the snow with their camera phones. All of the kids had had a snow day from school, and families were all cuddled up in their cozy houses with their fires blazing. And there we are, in Babies R’ Us perusing the clearance items.

So then it was off to HomeGoods where we scored a beautiful new rug for the nursery (pictures forthcoming). And as we head out of the store, the guy at the register asks “How are the roads?”

“Eh, totally fine. It’s the parking lots that are pretty slippery, but the roads are fine.”

He looked at me like Rep. Joe Wilson, and I was convinced I was about to hear a vehement, “YOU LIE!”

“Sorry, we just moved here from Boston, so I don’t really know what to tell you.”

Out to the slick parking lot we went, and I don’t know if Matt was really excited about the great deal we got on the rug, or if he just doesn’t care about improving my opinion of his inclement weather driving, because we get in the car and as he backs out he says, “This is perfect for doing doughnuts.”

He pulls up on the emergency break, and we start sliding across the parking lot until I stated very loudly, “You do realize that you have an Expectant Mother in the car with you?”

I think this officially qualifies him for the title of “Redneck Who Doesn’t Know How To Drive In The Snow.”

Everyone has them, right? Those things you really want to do when you have kids, and nothing will detract you from it, sohelpyouGOD! I know they’re probably a bunch of crock and that the most important thing is to love your kids, to be flexible, and to be constantly there for them. But I kinda think it’s good to have some expectations and hopes for yourself in advance.

1. Cloth diapering from day one. Yeup. I’m planning on having plenty of disposables around for travel, emergencies, and moments when it would just be dang easier to have a disposable around. But for the rest of the time I’ll be rockin bumGenius’. Not only will we save money in the long run, but oh gosh… what those disposables are doing to our earth!

2. Breastfeeding. I know it’s not always possible, but I am hopeful that I’ll be able to breastfeed. Good for the baby, and really good for me – in lowering my chances of breast cancer. And cheaper! Three cheers for cheaper!

3. Spaced-out vaccines. Yup, our kid will get all of the necessary vaccines – that’s SUPER important. But not all at once. I’m hoping to find a great pediatrician that will let me space out the vaccines and come in more frequently so there are fewer vaccines in each sitting.

Is it because of Matt’s line of work and a fear of Autism? No. Sorry, but research has debunked the theory that Autism is linked to vaccinations. Frankly, your Baby Einstein videos are probably more to blame.

The reason I want to do delayed vaccinations is because I think it’s important to watch for reactions to vaccines, and it’s harder to do that when your kid has had 5 shots in one day. Plus, I couldn’t handle 5 shots in one day, so why would I submit my kid to that?

4. No TV til age 2. I know, this makes us the strangest back-woodsy people on the face of the planet. But studies continue to conclude that early childhood development is best when there isn’t exposure to TV before age 2. It would be really easy to become that family that always has the tv on from dawn til dusk, and I really don’t want that to happen. Plus, who needs kids TV shows when you could be dancing to the Beatles?

5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This is HUGE for us. We just don’t want a ton of baby junk. We don’t feel it’s necessary to have millions of toys everywhere, and bottle warmers and video surveillance systems. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. It works for some people, and that’s their prerogative. But Matt and I just don’t want all the stuff! We’re going to take any and all hand-me-downs that we can, and because of that we only have 21 things on our registry (Wait, you already have a registry at three months? More on that another day…). I just want to raise low-maintenance kids, and I’d rather they have a library that rivals the Library of Congress, than to have endless toys and baby gear. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

6. Spending lots of time romping with pets outside. I’ll admit that this one has a lot to do with the fact that I personally love animals and I personally love being outside. But I think it’s really important for kids to get fresh air every day. I also think it’s really important for them to play in the dirt and be surrounded by animal germs and allergens to build strong immune systems. Kids spend way too much time inside, and they need to get their energy out and roll around in stuff. But I promise to clean em up and wipe em down with Purell before they come to your house.

7. Southern Manners. So it will be a while before the kid in my womb is running around chatting it up, but one thing I love about people down here is how polite they are. We’d like to teach our kid to do the whole “Yes, Ma’am/No, Sir” thing, and just about every adult we meet will have a title before their name. I love that about kids down here, and I want that little piece of Southern charm to rub off on my family.

These are just the first few things that Matt and I have discussed, and I guess it sounds pretty old school. But I really believe that less is more, and I don’t want my kids to wind up like Gen Y brats. What hopes or expectations did you have as a first-time parent?

OHMYWORDILOVEITHERE. I love the space, I love moving all of our stuff around, I love our new showerhead, I love my ever-increasing West Elm wishlist.

But you know who really loves it here? MOJO. I’m serious. He is like a new cat. The whole upstairs is his domain until we finish it, and he is constantly running up and down the stairs reveling in all of the nooks to explore and insulation to stick his feet in. My sister-in-law’s ginormous cat lost thousands of pounds when they moved into their house just from running up and down the stairs. I am so hopeful that this might happen with The Moj.

Berlin… is… getting there. She digs the backyard. She digs being able to go outside multiple times daily. But she is also spending a lot of time under our bed. Guess it will take her a while.

So we’re getting there with the unpacking, but you know what this house is really missing? A CHRISTMAS TREE. Matt’s letting me get one the first weekend in December. BOO-YA.

Pictures soon.