Paris was exactly how I imagined it would be. It looked just like the movies and photos you see. It seems like it wasn't that long ago that we were strolling the streets of Paris, eating sweets by the Eiffel Tower or high up in the sky on the ferris wheel at the Place de la Concorde. We started our 2 week trip in London but I loved Paris so much I figured I'd write about it first. Who needs order of events anyways! Lets first talk about how to get to Paris!
Hello hello hello! Its been a few weeks since we got home and while this weather has turned my frown upside down, I'd be lying if I wasn't wishing we were back in Paris laying in a park sipping on some cocktails while the kids ran around along with hundreds of other Parisians. Instead today I'm sitting at my desk in corporate America trying to see if I can buy tickets somewhere without Jerek going bonkers on me about finances. Oui!
Last year about this time I was explaining how excited I was to head to Mexico, get married, and finally be done wedding planning. I'm here to say that I'm even more excited for this vacation than I was for our wedding!
I feel like a pregnant women in her third trimester, counting down the days till her due date, wishing she'd go into labor. Three weeks till we leave and I'm wishing these weeks would hurry up already.
When we booked our two week vacation to Europe people were shocked when we said we were bringing the kids. I was thoroughly confused to be honest. Traveling with kids is exhausting, believe me we've done it. We've gone to California, Colorado, DC, Mexico and all over Michigan with the kids.
At the beginning of June I planned a belated 30th birthday trip for Jerek and I to go on. His birthday was the day before we left for Mexico and since we were busy getting ready I felt like we didn't properly celebrate. Having a destination wedding and already having kids we didn't have a 'normal honeymoon' like a lot of people do. We had an amazing wedding and trip as a family but I knew we would want some alone time for a couple days so I planned a little get away!
I looked into a ton of different cities but kept coming back to Nashville. I had been watching Alex's vlogs while she lived in Nashville and had been chatting with Helene about places to go and decided Nashville was it! I wanted a place we could drive to in a weekend but really was hoping to score some cheap flights. For some reason flights out of Michigan were hella expensive so we drove. Jerek didn't know where we were going until the day before we left. It was SUPER hard keeping it a secret too!
We dropped the kids off at his parents Thursday night and we drove half way and stayed in Columbus for the night. We got up bright and early and finished the drive and arrived in Nashville just in time for lunch. First stop was The Flipside. Helene had raved about the Bloody Mary's here but we were starving so we ordered lunch and a beer and enjoyed the open windows and sunshine.
I had most things for the weekend planned out like a pure nutcase. I legit had all the places I wanted to eat and drink at for every meal, snack and cocktail! I knew that I didn't want to play our standard 'where do you want to go? I don't know, where do you want to go?' game because we ALWAYS play it and no one wants to do that on a vacation with a limited timeframe!
We went down the road to have a cocktail at Urban Grub which was cute, trendy and hipster all at once, that's a thing right? After a delicious grapefruit craft beer we headed to our cute little Airbnb to check in and drop our stuff off.
We swam and relaxed by the pool for a bit and then got ready to go back out to the bars to listen to some live music and grab a bite to eat. I didn't have any specific plans for dinner (shocking!) so we wondered in and out of restaurants listing to music having a drink and then moving on to the next bar. Basically we bar hopped and I don't really do that anymore but it felt great! It was nice not to have to shovel food down your throat because someone is about to loose their shit!
There was a downpour for a bit so we posted up in a bar and waited the rain out; chatting, cheers-ing beers and indulging in apps. I got a little drunk and thought it was absolutely insane that you could walk diagnal (IE: Jay walk) and had to vlog us doing so but kept calling it "digitalling." You can watch the vlog here to laugh at me further! We called for an uber (get a free ride when you click the link and sign up) and were back in the Airbnb by midnight; party animals I tell ya!
Saturday morning we woke up and got ready to head out, I had the entire day planned. First stop was a coffee shop that people always rave about called The Frothy Monkey. We got there just in time because the line was out the door once we got our coffee! After we were caffeinated we headed downtown to a place called Another Broken Egg where I got THE best black bean bendict!
Downtown Nashville was amazing in the morning. The streets were insanely clean and live music was being played everywhere, even at 10am, it was awesome! We walked around and popped in an out of shops. We jumped back in our car and headed to Cumberland Pedestrian Bridge where we long boarded under tunnels and over bridges. This was also where I jumped off my longboard going way too fast, slipped on the dewy grass and gashed my knee up really bad. I taped a women's pad around my knee and we kept going #bosslady.
We headed to John Seigenthaler bridge for a standard Nashville tourist picture and within seconds of taking the photo it started to down pour so we ran back to our car and headed to Centennial Park to see the Parthenon replica. We walked around for a bit and stumbled upon a cute college bar called Jeds, where there were games of bags being played and cute dogs lounging on the patio. We had a couple cocktails and again, soaked in the sun and the fact that we weren't rushed to be anywhere at any time.
We headed back to the 12 South area for a late lunch at Bar Taco. A place I kept hearing about and the tacos were as good as I expected. They reminded me of Imperial in Ferndale (if you live in Southeast Michigan and frequent that fine fine establishment you'll understand!) We attempted to ride off all the food we ate by renting city bikes and headed to Las Paleta’s for a home made Popsicle, those also didn't disappoint!
Back to the Airbnb we went to take a nap, shower and get ready for dinner. If you're wondering if we did anything besides eat the answer is yes, we also drank. As I've gotten older my absolute favorite thing to do is to enjoy good food and good company and I'm pretty partial to Jerek so the two went hand in hand. We weren't really feeling the downtown Nashville bar scene (IE: grandma status) again so we went to a beer garden and burger joint called The Pharmacy. The outdoor seating area was what everyone dreams about. Bistro lights hung in all directions, large picnic tables and greenery everywhere, it was glorious. We hailed an uber back and face planted in bed since we had to be up early for the long drive back home.
Sunday morning wasn't glamorous, we packed up and started the 8 hour drive back home to the boys. Thankfully we didn't hit any construction or traffic, which I'm still not sure HOW we pulled that one off but we did!
Over all the trip was exactly what I hoped it would be! It was fun and relaxing, romantic and semi spontaneous and exactly what we needed, a weekend just devoted to Jerek and I. If you haven't seen the travel vlog of the weekend you can check it out here or below to see everything I talk about but with your own two eyes!
I hope you enjoyed our weekend recap, although its been almost two months, sorry about that! If you are contemplating spending a weekend in Nashville I highly suggest finding an Airbnb, they are MUCH cheaper than any hotel you will find downtown. Take Uber's, so you don't have to pay for parking or fight the masses to find spots downtown. It costs us about $5 to and from our rental; much cheaper than a DUI or parking tickets! Go with plans but also be open to wandering around the beautiful city and taking in the charm Nashville has!
We'll be back Nashville and with a whole new list of places to eat at!
As I stated a few days ago, on Friday I left work, ditched the boys and headed north with my mom to a little place called Cropping Daze.My mom had gotten me a weekend getaway for Christmas and this was the weekend!
My mom has been coming to Cropping Daze at least once a year, sometimes more with her girlfriend (who we also went with this past weekend.) The bed and breakfast can sleep 12 people comfortably with two full bathrooms, two living spaces, a large dinning area and a remodeled garage turned scrap book room! The scrap book room is open 24 hours so you can pull some all nighters if your little heart desires! It's also fully stocked with soda, H2O, snacks and lots of other goodies {SCORE!}
Lets get to the food shall we! My pictures do it no justice as I can't even articulate the taste Holly's food left in my mouth! When I say Jerek is a good cook I mean it. When I tell you that my dad is a chef and it's hard to beat his cooking, I mean it. But I can't even begin to explain how every meal got better and better! With the menu changing every 6 months you are bound to try something new and exciting the next time you come back, because there WILL be a next time, promise!!!
The food schedule looks like this:
FRIDAY| 5pm Apps- 7pm Dinner/dessert- 11pm Late night snack
I can promise you, you will not leave any meal hungry {I didn't even post snack pictures!}, in fact you will feel slightly bad because there is no possible way you can finish any of the meals {Okay, maybe the cream puff!} Don't worry though, Holly's chickens eat very well if you get my drift!
Holly & her staff also put out a cook book every year of the delicious food that they whip up. Which my mom included in my Christmas gift as well! This year they are celebrating their 10 year anniversary so the menu we had just happen to be the favorites from the last 10 years {lucky us!}
Aside from the food and scrapbooking there is also a wonderful masseuse that comes to the house to offer massages, which I just had to get! I vlogged a little bit while I was up there which you can watch {here}. I know as a mom I need some time to myself and this place ensured that I had just that! There was no wake up call for meals, they simply waited until you were ready and served it hot for you. There was no bedtime/lights out you could do as you please and there were no bed sharing as everyone had a nice cozy place to sleep! I had an amazing time and got 17 pages done for two different scrap books. If I'm away from the boys over night, I need to make sure it's worth my time and it was totally worth it! Although I missed them I had a great time and was a much needed mind, body and soul reset. I will be going back next yearAlthough the next getaway I take, I want it to be with Mr. Jerek {we are long over due for a date night out!}
For more information on anything I didn't cover, you can check out the website here or if you have any questions, ask away! Thanks to my dear old mamabear for the great Christmas gift, you really are a peach.
Going to work is overrated, so I took three Tuesday's off in a row. #sorrynotsorryboss I did this not because I like coming back to an inbox of 100+ messages after only being out for 24 hours but because it was a much better option than sticking the boys in daycare while our aunt was gone for a few weeks.
These past few weeks of only working four days have been northing short of amazing. I mean who doesn't like sitting around in your pi's, bra-less and sipping on coffee while you know everyone else is at the morning meeting wishing it was 4pm. I can't say that Tracen wasn't a jerk from time to time but over all he was a good little chap.
My girlfriend Sarah or better known as Snydypants, came over and we packed up the boys and headed to the zoo. We have a family pass and the weather showed sunny so I figured lets get movin! Que winds, clouds and coldness and that's what welcomed us as we walked through the gates. I told Tracen we would go unless it was raining so I had to keep my promise, otherwise Jer would call me out for lying to them for being a baby in the wind {wah wah wah}
This week has been so busy with work and family it was nice to spend a night out and enjoy the beautiful fall air that has slowly crept it's way through Michigan. A year ago us kids were trying to come up with ideas as to what to get Jerek's parents for Christmas. They are some hard people to buy for as they both have different hobbies and tell you "I want nothing" when you ask. sweet, NOT helpful guys!
We decided that we would all go in on a big gift together instead of small, somewhat meaningless gifts.
Well last year I came up with the bucket list gift, and was pretty proud of it if I do say so myself! Jerek's dad was just recently forced to sell his share in a small airplane he owned with 4 other people. The other men were older and decided to sell the plane, meaning he was SOL and was selling his share as well. With that coming to an end and I knew I had a great idea up my sleeve; a hot air balloon ride!!! Yep, I nailed it, everyone thought it was a great idea! I did some research and found a place about 45 minutes away that my grandparents had used years ago. I've been OCD mildly obsessed with reading reviews ever since I found out I was pregnant last winter and the reviews about this company were great! Here is the place we ended up going through if you live in the mitten or will be visiting any time in the near future! The customer service was amazing, the balloon owners were so knowledgeable and mother nature was a perfect lady.
When it came time to giving the actual gift we didn't just want to hand them a gift card and say Merry Christmas, no we wanted something more than that! Jer's sister made this awesome scaled down version of a hot air balloon. We had every intention of "flying" it over to his parents sitting on the couch but shit happens and that balloon ended up on the kitchen counter sitting nicely.
We all dipped out of work a tad early and met up in Oxford where we followed our balloon man/team and headed to the take off site. I was a little antsy because I was about to eat my arm off a little hungry, but Jer said we were staying in downtown Oxford to eat dinner so I put my big girl panties back on and womened up. The site was beautiful and the sun was just starting to go night night, as Tracen would say.
After the three balloons took off we got into our cars and followed the "chase car." It was like a movie and the balloon just flew over us and we stopped and waved and were acting all touristy and shit!
The ride was about 45 minutes long, which was the perfect amount of time for the riders and the follows if you ask me. Tracen wanted out of the car and I was still "hungry." We all thought that there was some calculated landing point but it was far from that. We landed in someones back yard..and the kids living there were on cloud nine. It was like a movie as they saw this balloon descending from the sky into their backyard as they ran out of the house barefoot, to take in all the excitement. This picture is taken by Jerek's sister's husband, in other words, my brother-in-law (if Jer and I were married that is) *wink wink* He hates on the iphone so bad and we all hate on his whateverthehellphonehehas but damn...the picture quality is on point!
We ended the night with some dinner at a place in downtown Oxford called Red Knapps. It had THE most amazing chili I've ever had I'm going to write a review on Yelp for it, and I never do that!
So if you need Christmas ideas, and I know we all do as it's October 12th and Christmas is only 74 days away, a hot air balloon ride might just make you the gift giver of the year, I'm just sayin!
