It's like a break up.. :(

Oh my word. I've been home a week!! My how time flys by when your having fun! NOT. Holy cow! Getting back "in the groove" has proven to be more difficult than I imagined. Yes, everyone has said "it always feels like that" after a vacation, but even though Nashville was a vacation, my time there was more like living there for a week since I didn't stay in a hotel and I was around locals. For the past week EVERYTHING has reminded me of Nashville. At work I've probably typed in 15-20 people's addresses who are from Nashville, and of course every song on the radio reminds me of my trip. I swear it's like a bad break up.. I was so caught up in planning the trip, getting ready for the trip, being on the trip, enjoying the trip, coming home from the trip, unpacking from the trip (which I've only done a little of) that it's truely like a break up! It's all I've really thought about since January, and now, I don't have anything to day dream about or prepare for, other than my 25th birthday. Seriously.. I've had a love affair with Nashville, and I'm having to quit cold turkey. Friday night I went out to Flying Saucer, went to the one in Nashville 2 times while I was there, so I went just to get the drink I like and their chips & salsa. Ridiculous!
On another note (sorta) haha Keith Urban is coming to Columbia TOMORROW & on a last minute whim I bought tickets. I had a promo code so I got a great deal on lower level seats. Hey, if I can't be in Nashville & a piece of Nashville is coming to Cola, I WILL take part. I just couldn't pass it up! :) Hi, I'm Morgan and I'm addicted to Country Music. Geeze! Very excited to see him live (again) last week was just a tease to make me want to go! Plus cutie Jake Owen (who I also saw live last week) will also be there! :D Very Excited!

Alright, I know I have YET to "finish" this blog from my trip. I had an extremely busy weekend trying to get stuff around the house accomplished, a 4yr old bday party, a baby dedication, some family time, father's day and a wedding. Whew! I have NOT had time to go through my pictures and decide which are good enough to post. Also, I need to finish the recap of the trip in writing before I forget what all happened. :) I may get to it tonight.. if not, sometime this weekend for sure! Maybe going back through pictures will ease the pain of the "breakup" ok.. probably not. :)

Unforgetable Moments Happen Here

I almost have no words for the amazing time that I've had the past couple days! Saturday and Sunday night's concerts were beyond amazing!!! This city is famous for throwing in surprises and Saturday night was no exception! Josh Turner brought out Scotty and Martina McBride brought out Lauren Alaina! I can not imagine what they were thinking when they saw nearly 70,000 fans cheering for them. Martina probably but on the best show Saturday night. Her voice never gets old and gives me chills every time! Saturday after the concert we went down to Broadway to a dueling Piano Bar called Big Bang. It was a very cool place & the pianist played every genre! It was great! Columbia needs to get one! Very cool atmosphere!

On Sunday Leslie and Katie left, so Daniel and I went and did a super "touristy" thing. We visited Barbara Mandrell's mansion. We ate lunch out there too, it was like an old country cookin restaurant. I had the best collard greens I've ever eaten (besides my dads), broccoli and mac & cheese! The mansion itself was cool too, it's the largest log cabin, and neat to see some memorabilia. After that we drove over to Centennial Park just so I could see the remake of The Parthenon. I'd seen it before but he doesn't live far from it, so he drove me by.

Fontanel Mansion

Finally it was time to head to the final night of concerts! It was truly the best night and included The Jane Dear Girls, The Band Perry, Eli Young Band, Tracey Lawrence, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Pistol Annies, and Taylor Swift!! I think I sang every word to every song at the top of my lungs!! Seriously, I had a sore throat afterwards and I don't have much voice today! :) So, like I said on facebook last night: WOW! What a weekend! Plane tickets: $215.40, CMA Fest Concert Tix: $200, not having a voice & having a constant ringing in my ears: worth it, seeing ALL of my FAVORITE country artist LIVE & singing every word along with them and 50,000 other people: PRICELESS!!!! Trip of a lifetime, something I'll never forget!

Taking it All In

Well, keeping up with the blog on the trip has proven to be a bit difficult! I've been SUPER busy! So I'll update you from Thurs through this afternoon (saturday).

On Thursday I took a cab (which was an experience in itself, not a bad one, just not use to having to do that) down to Broadway. When I got down there I walked down to Riverfront park to see a few concerts. I saw Gary Allen, Jake Owen, and Steel Magnolia. Not all at once but spread out throughout the afternoon. I ate lunch at  the Wildhorse Saloon. I had a yummy pulled pork BBQ sandwich and kettle chips and about 5 glasses of water. It's RIDICULOUSLY hot here!!! It's been in the upper 90s every day and LOTS of humidity, sometimes there is a breeze but not much! I also just walked around Broadway in and out of shops during the afternoon. Bought another poster from Hatch Print Shop as my souvenir & tried on a cute pair of boots, but they were nearly $300 so I decided that my one pair of boots that I bought here 3 years ago for $50 was plenty! Thursday evening was the first night of concerts, Daniels sister and friend came into town and went to grab a bit to eat before walking 20 blocks to the concert. Thursday night's show was great! We saw Zac Brown Band who brought out Randy Travis and Alan Jackson, Easton Corbin, Sara Evans, Jason Aldean, and Brad Paisley! GREAT SHOW!!!

Friday- Me and the other girls went downtown again and walked around the convention center where it was nice and cool! There we saw Corey Smith, Joe Nickels, Steve Azar, HLN Anchor Robin Meade, and Thompson Square. Then Scotty and Lauren from American Idol showed up. VERY hard to see them in the crowd and through all the media that was following them, but I got a glimpse and I was in the same room! :) I did see both of their mothers though! The process for meet and greets is a bit ridiculous and you'd spend most of your time only standing in line for one. You have to get a ticket to see them, which we couldn't figure out how to if it was a lottery or if you had to buy them. Or you could standing in a hopefuls (hopeless) line. We just chose to get as close as we could and take pictures! It worked for the most part! After that we watched a young (maybe 15) singer/songwriter perform. She was pretty good, and good to see a fresh face getting started in the business! We went to happy hour and then out for the concerts.. Friday night was great too! We saw Ashton Shepherd, Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban (with Jake Owen), Sugarland, Lady A and REBA! After the concert we went out on Broadway with some of Daniel's friends, we bar hopped a bit, fun but VERY crowded this week! We got in late, and then slept in late.

Saturday- We got ready and went down and ate at a place on Broadway, I had really good turkey club on pretzel bread! Then we walked on down to Riverfront and watch Corey Smith. It was SOOOO hot we decided to go in to a restaurant and sit and talk and drink.. I had the biggest glass of water! I can't drink enough of it these days! Now we are about to get ready, eat dinner then go to tonight's concert. Tonight's performers are Chris Young, Little Big Town, Josh Turner, Trace Adkins, Martina McBride & Rascal Flatts! Should be another great night!

Sorry there are no pics with this post.. too much work! I have pictures on facebook, catch them there!




 

Pancakes, a Mansion and a few bugs!

Yesterday I decided to stay near Daniel's apartment for the day which is in Hillsboro Village. It's really a cute side of town! I walked about 4 blocks down to a little shopping/eating area and went to the famous Pancake Pantry! Apparently, famous people eat here and there is always a line to get it. I waited maybe 6min to get in. I was a party of one and passed a party of 7 & a party of 5. #Winning! haha The pancakes were AMAZING!!! I love pancakes and these were THE BEST I've ever had!! :)

 

After breakfast I walked around in that little area and went into some cute and unique shops. Then I walked on another 4 blocks or so to the grocery store to grab me some breakfast items for the rest of the week! I can't live w/o my Simply Orange OJ! :)

On my way to the store I realized how LOUD the Cicadas are! Oh.My.Word. Everyone says they have almost all died or are mostly gone, but it's still loud in the middle of the day and they fly around and almost hit you in the face! I saw a bird catch one mid-air on my walk yesterday which was kinda cool. Anyways here is a picture of a DEAD cicada, the one that almost smacked me in the face was NOT dead! GROSS!!! Apparently, they are making their own music in Music City! ;)

Yesterday afternoon I decided to walk about a mile to Belmont University and tour the Mansion. I learned a lot and I like to do education things on vacation. Or maybe I'm just a dork who has an obsession with old houses. Anyways, it was a beautiful place and then I walked around campus. I couldn't take pictures on the tour, but the outside of the house is stunning. I really liked the inside, however it has been restored, so only about 30% of the furnishings are original. It has been in the hands of many over the years, but they are almost done preserving it to it's original state. However, the college uses parts of the house as offices. The owner of the mansion was a woman, which was rare. And she named it "Belmont" because it was on the highest hill and she could see the city from the top, "Belmont" meaning "Beautiful Mountain."

Today I plan to head on down to Broadway & see what I can get into... there are of course concerts going on today, but if it's too hot or it's nobody I'm interested in, then I can shop, go to Hatch Print or visit the Ryman or Country Music Hall of Fame.. some or all of that is up for today! :)

When you're at the Opry you never know what can happen!

The week has definitely gotten off to a great start! The Grand Ole Opry never disappoints and last night was definitely no exception!! We had great seats, 3rd row of the balcony! The performers for the evening were Little Jimmy Dickens, Darius Rucker, Jerrod Neiman, Martina McBride, The Oakridge Boys, Lady Antebellum, Singer/Songwriter Bill Anderson, and Carrie Underwood. There was even a little surprise-- see the pics below! They all sang great songs and being apart of a live radio broadcast is always fun! Here are a few pictures from the night! :)

Little Jimmy Dickens

Darius Rucker

Jerrod Neiman

Martina McBride

The Oakridge Boys

Lady Antebellum

Bill Anderson

Carrie Underwood

And SURPRISE... Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery !!

All Dressed Up In Her Cowgirl Boots

 

My Friend Katie came down to help me back last weekend and then we went and took a few pictures in the field! I LOVE the hay and had a "vision" for these pics! :) I love how they turned out! Thanks Katie!! I don't know of another friend who'd cross a busy road, go into a field, get bit by an ant and sweat to death just to take silly pictures! LOVE YOU!!

Also... Just wanted to Thank ALL the people who helped make this trip possible! If I hadn't babysat my way through the year I don't think I would have financially been able to take this adventure! So thanks to the Escoe's, the Asbill's, the West's, my parents and of course everyone who is praying for safe travels!

THANK YOU & I LOVE YOU ALL!!

Packin' for a Plane Ride

Well.. just a few days to go!! I CAN NOT believe it's finally here!! It seemed liked it'd never get here and now I'm just days away! Holy cow! I have so much to do to get ready! I've made TWO to do lists. That's crazy! The first is all the stuff I need to take care of around my house before I leave so that when I come home I don't walk into a dirty cluttered house! The other list is everything I need to pack! It's quite ridiculous! I've always been an "extreme packer," to put it nicely, I'm sure my dad would say I generally tend to take everything but kitchen sink, but I'd prefer to say I'm a "generous packer." One time when my family went to Boca Raton, FL my bag weighed more than the 50lb limit (this was before the institution of paying for baggage) and they put a bright red tag on it that had a stick figure struggling to pick up and object and said "Caution: HEAVY!" Made me laugh! :) I will try (with the help of my best friend) to pack only what I need... HA. I feel like I need it ALL, I mean, you need to have choices, what if you don't feel like wearing exactly what you packed for that day on that day? That could be a major problem! ;) I'm flying Southwest (which by the way I hope the plane is your typical "colored" Southwest plane-- I've never flown in a plane that wasn't white or silver!--It's the little things!) Anyways, Southwest allows me TWO FREE CHECKED BAGS!!! I'm a girl, I WILL take advantage of this! :D

Pretty Colored Plane! :)

Oh how I wish I could fit everything in 2 bags this size...

I did buy a new carry on bag from Vera Bradley.. it's the Get Carried Away bag, how appropriate right? Anyways it came yesterday and it is going to be PERFECT!!! I think it will be my new "go to" bag for every little excursion! :) 

This picture doesn't do it justice.. it's got great pockets inside and out!

 My only other hope for my flights to and from is to run into someone famous at the airport.. hey it could happen there will be plenty of famous people having to get to Nashville from other places.. so there is a small chance I could have a close encounter! :)