Nashville weekend

Around the first part of December, the weekend after we got back from Las Vegas, I traveled to Nashville to catch up with some girlfriends from high school. We were a close little group in high school, but many of us had lost touch over the years and hadn't spent much time together. My friend Brooke is a nurse at Vanderbilt hospital down there, so we met up at her place and let her show us around her favorite hotspots. :) I had so much fun, and really was wishing we had done this sooner. I feel like I try to avoid my high school friends a lot, because I don't like to be reminded of the person I was back then. Does that make sense? But, like it or not, I am who I am, and the past is a big part of that. And, like it or not, your childhood friends tend to know you better than anyone else, and while that can be kind of scary, making peace with that was a cathartic experience for me. 

The first day there, we ate breakfast at a famous Nashville restaurant, the Loveless Motel and Cafe.  It was amazing southern food, of course! How I miss the way southerners fix biscuits and gravy! 

That afternoon we did tons of shopping and enjoyed the Christmas charm of historic Nashville...

(Yes, Brooke is wearing a Rudolph nose. The other three ladies are random Dickens characters...)

That night we went to see the Nutcracker at the ballet. The guy who was sitting next to me was drinking a really strong beer and the smell was making me really nauseous in the warm theatre... I almost said something when he got up for a second one! I should have just puked on him, hehe. 

Dressed up and acting a little silly! I feel like I kind of look like a hooker in this picture...

This pose was a throwback to all our old "Christmas Ball" pictures! 

Brooke

Julia

and my beautiful cousin Amber!

Girl time is the best, especially when you're just chilling in your pj's, eating ice cream and playing your own version of Truth or Dare! (Sorry girls, I couldn't resist! Hehe!) The only sad part of the weekend was that our friend Ariel wasn't able to join us, due to being terribly sick in her first trimester :( We missed you, Ariel!