Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Feathered Friend & Musical Love


My inanimate feathered friend , the one in my hair, is my new favorite piece of "jewelry" to wear. Its from Fire Finch- of course! Also in the new favorites category is the band, Novelift. They have been around Nashville for a couple years, I believe, but I've just recently gotten into them. And now I can't stop. I could listen to "a Lullabye Sketch Idea" forever. Hopefully they play around town soon! Until then, check out their music here!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Blake J



This is the CUTEST thing I have ever seen! Made my day.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Your Itinerary

It's almost time for the First Saturday Downtown Art Event! Yipeee!!!
Here is my suggestion:
Start the evening off eating dinner with friends at Downtown Presbyterian's Art Luck Dinner (I have 3 pieces here).
Walk up Fifth to the Arcade and peruse the many sights.
Saunter over to Eighth (also Rosa Parks Blvd) for Estel's new exhibition.
Now down Broadway for some tourist watching and to the Take 121 gallery on Third.
Still wanting more? My illustrious employer, Susan, and April will be keeping the Downtown Fire Finch open until 8:30.
Or, directly across from Take 121, visit Past Perfect (a cozy bar spot). Channing Lee and Quinn Matthews will be performing at 9:00. They are great, and there is no cover at the door!

Oscar was in Nashville Last Night!

Beth Gilmore and I strike our best red carpet poses! I think I need to work on mine a little!!!

In case you've been living in a hole in the ground, the Oscar Awards were last night. Was it the most exciting awards ceremony ever? Mmmm... maybe not... but it was an exciting evening that I spent with friends at a fabulous party at the Belcourt Theater!!!
From the moment we walked in on the red carpet (complete with hysterical "paparazzi") to the screening of the show, to the tempting food and drinks, it was perfection! Details were not forgotten- we even received Oscar 2008 books, the same ones used at the live ceremony.
The event is an annual fundraiser for the historic Belcourt Theater; Nashville has quite a few unique gems and this is one of them. If you haven't been recently- get out there! The Belcourt is an independent theater that thrives on local support.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Sweets for the Sweet

BEFORE
AFTER

Happy Valentines Day!


Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Meringues are white, pink, and yellow, too.
Hahaha. I'm sorry- I couldn't help myself.
Love, Love, Love.

*meringue courtesy of April P!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Snow Day!!!

Aka (pronounced ahh- kah ) is my sweet girl who loves to run. Aka is the Hawaiian word for "shadow". We adopted her from a wonderful pit bull rescue group, Tender Heart Canine Rescue, who took her in after she had been abused by her first owner. At first she was SO timid a name like "Shadow" seemed fitting; now that she is happy & confidant, something like "Fearless Tornado" may be more accurate.

This is Seamus (pronounced shay- mus, not sea- anus). The name Seamus is an Irish form of James, and I don't know the meaning of "james" but I bet it could be found here. We found Seamus when he was an 8 week old little baby bull on Petfinder.com.


As you can see in the pics from this morning- Nashville got snow today! We don't see that very often here, and even less often does it actually stay on the ground instead of instantly melting. By "stay on the ground," I mean it stayed for an hour in the early morning till the sun warmed things up a bit. It was fun while it lasted; watching Seamus and Aka play in the snow was the cutest thing- they were just SO happy and just bursting with energy.
They are both pit bull mixes and would not be kept alive in an animal shelter in Tennessee (according to state law, pit bulls are to be euthanized if brought in); Thank God for people like Jennifer at Tender Heart Canine Rescue and Jodi at Bless the Bullys.
Rescue groups like theirs are how we got Seamus and Aka; I can't imagine them not being part of our little family. Pit bulls get such a bad stereotype, and some communities ( Roane county) in TN are making decisions based off of hype, not facts. Legislation to ban pit bulls/ pit bull type dogs in Roane county is in being voted on in the next several weeks. Please be aware of what sweet, loyal dogs these are by nature- don't judge the breed because of things a few horribly irresponsible dog owners have let happen. If you want to know more about rescues or adopting a pit bull of your own please tell me! Petfinder.com is a wonderful resource,as well. Ok... it's time for me to call it a night. 30 minutes till V. Day...

Sunday, February 10, 2008

When I'm Not At My Fort...



... I'd like to be wearing these.
Burberry Studded Strappy Sandals - I love you.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

I Don't Know What You're Doing After Work, but I'm Going to My Fort.

So, yeah, I have a fort. Well, maybe it doesn't actually belong to me, but I found it, so that means it's mine. I was walking Aka the Fearless around the neighborhood last week, and we walked in a different direction than usual. Typically I head across 8th to Reservoir Park, and out from there, but not so last Friday. We wandered over towards Greer Stadium (where the Nashville Sounds play) off of Edghehill. Next to Greer, I spotted a grassy park, so I walked towards it. Upon closer inspection, I learn it is a historical site: the site of Fort Negley.
This is what the layout shape of Fort Negley looks like from overhead.
This is Seamus & I returning to our fort, this time with camera in hand and log in mouth.
"The guns of Fort Negley, commanding 3 turnpikes to the South & Southeast, opened the Battle of Nashville, December 15, 1864. This site was selected by Capt. J.S. Morton as the key strongpoint in the Federal line around the city. The European style fort, named for Gen. James S. Negley, was built of stone, logs, earth, and railway iron.", reads one historical marker sign.



I just find the view above fascinating for the imagination; these are original stone walls from 1864 opening out to a view of new stone buildings in 2008...


When this was built, it was recognized as the largest inland stone fortress in North America. I am so happy to have stumbled across this bit of history in my own backyard. Even though it is "my" fort, I will share it with you. Seriously, it's neat. There's been a lot of restoration work done on it fairly recently: signs circle all the way around it describing construction, the layout, the battles, etc, and boardwalks run out along the fortress walls.

Seamus likes it, too, so that means it must be uber -neat.

Nothing But Blue Skies


I hope everyone is able to enjoy the beautiful days we've been having in between all the gray ones...time to take it outdoors.