One year in Nashville

It was about a year ago when we had spent a month in California after coming back from living in the Philippines. We then packed up my car and headed east on one epic roadtrip. After about a week on the road, we ended up at our final destination: Nashville.

We've been living in this city for about a year now. So in celebration, I want to share some of my favorite things about "Music City":

- The size of the city. It's pretty perfect-- not too small and not too big.

- There is always something going on. On any given day of the week, you can always find something to do. There is also a lot of free things to do.

- Music is everywhere. It's not called "Music City" for nothin'. Whether there's a major act performing at the Bridgestone Arena or songwriters performing at open mics in small cafes, you can find live music with no trouble at all.

- Registering and titling your car is a breeze. And I'm only mentioning this because I had to go through it recently. It was pretty hassle-free (especially compared to California's DMV!). You just take your car through a drive-through smog place (which takes a few minutes), then take the paper they give you to the county clerk's office, pay the fee and just like that, they hand you over your new Tennessee license plate-- you don't even need a TN driver's license!

- The vibe. When we go out to places for a drink or whatnot (we're big fans of going out to east Nashville), the vibe is definitely a lot less "Hollywood". People are a lot friendlier, egos are not as big, etc.

- Speaking of friendlier people: for the most part, people are friendly. There has been countless times when I've been walking around and random strangers have said hello to me or struck up a conversation while waiting for a bus to arrive. Again, coming from California, that was new to me-- but I have gotten used to it and find it quite nice.

- Music City Bikeway. A 26-mile bike route that goes through Nashville. We've biked most of it and it's really nice.

- Radnor Lake. I really like this place. It's a great place for hiking and there are different trails you can do that are at different experience levels. Whenever someone visits us, we always take them here.

- And last, but definitely not least, the food: there is an abundance of restaurants in Nashville, ranging in all kinds of food. Some of my favorite restaurants in Nashville include Edley's Bar-B-Que, Mitchell's Deli, B&C Melrose BBQ, Pfunky Griddle, M.L. Rose, Gabby's Burgers, Calypso Cafe, Pupuseria Salvadorena, Thai Kitchen, Bombay Palace, Chicago Style Gyros... just to name a few. We're still trying to discover other places as well-- there's just so many places to choose from!
My only complaint though is that there isn't a good Mexican place. We've found one that was pretty good-- but our standards are set really high. J and I just decided to set the bar a little lower because let's be honest-- nothing beats Mexican food in Southern California. So far, our favorite Mexican restaurants have been Oscar's Taco Shop and Las Fiestas Cafe.

I can't believe it's already been a year since we've lived here! A lot has happened in this past year-- I guess time just flew on by. We don't know how much longer we'll be living here-- but then again, we don't even know what our plans are for next month, let alone the next year.

In any case, we are really enjoying Nashville!

New Country Music {via my husband, part 2}

My husband has been working hard on his music lately -- co-writing with people, networking, coming up with new songs, editing/producing tracks... etc. etc. etc. And I am oh so proud of him.

Here are his three latest (and I am really diggin' all of them!):







You can check out more of his music here, visit his website, like him on Facebook, and check him out on SoundCloud.


So, what do you think of these songs?

 

Things I've learned since being Nashville

When I was in the third or fourth grade I did a report on Tennessee. Everyone in the class got to choose what state they wanted to do their report on. I can't remember why I picked Tennessee. But my theory is I chose it because I liked the stars on their flag and I really loved the song "Tennessee" by Arrested Development. Both are really plausible reasons. Either way, I did really well on it and got an "A".

Twenty-plus years later and I never would have thought I'd be living here. Shoot- I never thought I'd live anywhere east of the Rockies! But- here I am.

We've been living in Nashville for about 7 months now. And I've learned quite a few things since being here:

* How to spell "y'all" correctly. (before, I'd spell it "ya'll" -- silly me)

* The South gets really cold in winter. (this really surprised me. When I would think of "The South" I would automatically think hot and humid 24/7, 365. I never thought it snowed here. Boy was I wrong.)

* It rains... a lot! (it sure does! So much so it flooded us out of our house!)

* BBQ is better here. (BBQ in the South is the real deal-- so delicious and the best I've ever tasted!)

* Country music isn't all that bad. ( I think I'm coming around- but shhh don't tell J! I told him before moving out here that I could never like country music. But truth be told, I'm starting to tolerate it more and more the longer we're here!)

* Not everyone here has a Southern accent and wears cowboy boots. (To be honest- it seems like only the tourists wear the cowboy getups- just take a walk down Broadway and it's swarming with them!)

* People are a lot nicer here than where I come from - Southern California. (It must be the whole Southern hospitality thang! I like getting random "hellos"  and "good mornings" from strangers-- unlike in So Cal where it's all about people for themselves "stay out of my way" type of deal)

This is just the beginning of my learning list. I am sure it will expand the longer we're here!

To-Do list: Nashville Restaurants {an update}

Back in June, I posted my "To-Do List: Nashville Restaurants" -- places I had bookmarked on Yelp and had to try.

Well, that list was made over 5 months ago. And I just looked it over again and out of the 26 I had listed on my blog post- I have only gone to 3! THREE. Not so great. But there are several reasons why:
1. I made this list before I had even moved to Nashville.
2. Once we got here, I found that there are even better restaurants (& cheaper!), so I just stopped paying attention to my list.
3. I've come to not rely on people's reviews on Yelp. I think my taste in food is very different than that of the demographic that Yelp tries to target. I love "hole-in-the-wall" type of places, many of which are not even on Yelp.

With all that being said, the three places I was able to try that I had listed were:
1. Gabby's Burger: Yeah, the burger was good. So was the milkshake. And the people who work there are super nice. But I wasn't extra impressed with the taste of the burger. I guess In-N-Out has spoiled me.

2.  Pupuseria Salvadorena: Good pupusas! And cheap. But, we found a better and even cheaper place up the road from this place-- I don't even know its name and it's not on Yelp- yet!

and 3. B & C Melrose BBQ: Now this was a winner in my book! This has been my favorite place for BBQ so far! Not only is there BBQ delicious- so are their sides! They have an amazing potato salad (which is probably the best I've ever had- no joke!). Everyday they have a special type of grits. Thursdays are my favorite because it's jalapeño & cheese grits- So. Good.

Las Paletas was also on my list. I tried one of their paletas at the Nashville Cultural Festival, but I have yet to go to the actual place.

My pineapple chili paleta from Las Paletas. 

Now, J & I have been to several other restaurants in Nashville that were not on my list. These are the ones that I think are worth checking out if you're ever in Nashville:

+ Samurai Sushi (where we had our anniversary dinner)

+ Korea House (yummy Korean food. This is where we had J's b-day dinner!)

+ Chicago Style Gyros (my fave gyro place. Huge portions and yummy food at a super low price.)

+ Sip Cafe (my favorite place to get ice cream- Mike's Ice Cream!)

+ Calypso Cafe (where I can get a healthy but hearty meal for a great price!)

+ Pfunky Griddle (my favorite place for breakfast! You cook your own pancakes on your own little griddle-- and it's all-you-can-eat.)

+ Thai Kitchen (good Thai/Lao food- fresh tasting and they pride themselves in not using MSG!)

+ Dolce Vita Pizza
+ McDougal's Chicken Fingers and Wings
+ Cafe Coco
+ Baja Burrito
+ King Market
+ Drifter's BBQ
+ Mitchell Delicatessen
+ Village Pub & Beer Garden

Now, there were a few places that we went to that were very disappointing. I don't want to bash any businesses here, so I won't. But overall, we've been quite happy with the affordable and delicious restaurant options Nashville has to offer.

If you have any recommendations, please share them! I'd love to hear your input.

Thanksgiving: Year 3

Yesterday, J & I celebrated our third Thanksgiving together as a married couple. It was a nice, quiet and relaxing holiday for us.

We had a humble Thanksgiving lunch of rotisserie chicken, wheat rolls, mashed sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and some pumpkin-flavored beverage. It was all pretty darn yummy (despite what the crappy quality of the below photo may show).

We watched some videos on Vice.com (excellent site, bytheway. My favorite show on Vice is Fresh Off the Boat). Then we got ready to head out to Dave & Buster's. We walked about 2 miles to the bus stop and waited for about half an hour before realizing that that particular bus wasn't running that day. Bummer. So we walked all the way back home. But hey- at least we got a nice little walk out of the deal and ran across this pretty purple wall I just had to take a picture in front of:

We got home, got comfortable and watched movies the rest of the day. We even ate the rest of our Thanksgiving leftovers from our lunch for dinner. All in all- it was a pretty good Thanksgiving. We enjoyed it.

This is the third year that I haven't spent Thanksgiving with my family. I miss it- especially since our family Thanksgiving tradition is to go dirtbiking. Lots of fun. I hope next year we can spend it together.

Mine & J's first Thanksgiving as Mr. & Mrs. was spent in Ecuador at a gringo bar. Last year, we spent it in the Philippines. This year, we're in Nashville. I have no clue where we'll be or what we'll be doing this time next year. We will see...

We did Thankful Turkeys in my pre-k class.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday filled with much love, blessings, and food- of course!

Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival

Last Saturday, I ventured out by myself to the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival at the beautiful Centennial Park. I went by myself for a few reasons:
1. J was working
2. I love cultural festivals (well- just different cultures in general, really)
3. It's a short mile and half walk from our house and the weather was perfect
4. It was free
and last, but not least: 5. I haven't made any friends here yet (sad face)

Anyways, either way, I am so glad that I went, despite being a loner. It was a good time. The park was set up in different sections- from a Global Village, to a World Market, to a kids area to food. I kept busy the whole 3 and a half hours I was there!

First order of business for me was to find something to eat (of course!). There was all kinds of different food there- from Peruvian to American BBQ to Serbian! And there were a TON of different options! I had such a hard time deciding that, you know what happened?? I just got a popsicle instead. But it was a delicious pineapple chili pepper popsicle that hit the spot! I then went to the Global Village and walked around the different booths of the countries being represented there. Then I went into the Parthenon, which was free for festival day. I then checked out some live music and performances. It was fun to see all the different cultures there and seeing how diverse Nashville really is-- which makes my heart happy. =)

Parthenon

Huge statue of Athena inside the Parthenon

Spent almost 4 hours there and all I bought was a pineapple chili popscicle and got a free fire chief
hat from the Nashville FD tent for my preschoolers.

The only thing I was disappointed in was that the Philippines wasn't representing! I saw a couple of Philippine flags hanging up, but that's about it. No Filipino food vendors. No Philippines at the Global Village. No Filipino performances. I was kind of bummed because I hoping to meet some fellow Filipinos. Maybe next year? =)

Anyways, if you're ever in Nashville in early October which is when this festival usually happens, it's definitely worth checking out. Such a great time and fun for the whole family! Here is the website for more info-- and for better descriptions of things because I am sucking at my writing game as of late!: Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival.

Taste of TN Craft Brewers Festival

We had a great Friday evening at the inaugural Taste of Tennessee Craft Brewers Festival. It was located at the state fairground on the infield of the speedway. It was a festival showcasing beer from 25 Tennessean breweries. The entrance fee included unlimited brew all night (which totaled to over 55 different beers!). There are three different tickets you can get: VIP ($75), regular admission ($40) and the designated driver ($15) which I think is really cool that they offered that.

When I first saw this event, I wanted to take Jason as an early birthday present. But then the flood happened and we didn't have the extra money to spend, so I got bummed out. But then I saw that Yelp was giving away a pair of tickets, so I took my chances and entered-- and I WON! It was really awesome.

So right after work, we got ready and headed out. We just walked there because it's only a mile and a half from our house- plus we knew parking would be crazy. We entered the speedway and were handed small little tasting glasses that were mini mason jars.

We headed towards the tents and started making the rounds. There was plenty of beer, but also some non-alcoholic drinks for those who weren't drinking-- for the designated drivers.

 That night was also my very first time playing cornhole. For my first time, I was actually pretty good. J was telling me how good I was and I explained how I used to be a pitcher for slowpitch softball, so that probably gave me an upperhand. When J first told me about cornhole several years ago, I just laughed at the idea-- I mean, throwing beanbags in a hole-- seems like child's play! But, you know what- it's actually really fun!

Along with a plethora of beer being served, there were a few food trucks as well. The Grilled Cheeserie, Wrapper's Delight, Hoss' Loaded Burgers, and Biscuit Love Truck were all there dishing out some good eats. After several minutes trying to decide what we wanted, we finally decided to split up and get something from different trucks.

J went to the Biscuit Love Truck because he saw a guy walk by with some and it looked good. He got The Princess: Hot Chicken, honey, homemade pickles and mustard on top of biscuits (of course). It was actually really good!

I was craving something more fatty, more juicy... so I went to the Hoss' Burgers truck. I ordered the Red, White and Blue: a burger stuffed with blue cheese, topped with wing sauce and ranch. Oh my-- it was awesome, especially all the melty blue cheesiness! I also got some parmesan fries-- also really good.

It was a really fun night and J enjoyed himself- which I'm glad because it was for his birthday afterall!

Some of the favorite brews from the night (J made a list):
- English Pub Ale (Black Abbey Brewery)
- Pumpkin Ale (Blackstone Brewery)
- Berliner Wiesse (Cool Springs Brewery)
- Raspberry Wheat (Smoky Mountain Brewery)
- Lovebird (strawberry raspberry Hefeweizen) (Jackalope Brewery)

Great times. Good drinks. Good foods. We'd definitely go to the Taste of TN Craft Brewers Festival again!