Archive for March, 2008

Yay!  I’m finally back!  I thought it might be a good idea to visit Austin, Texas for a spell, but I missed Nashville too much to eva leave again.

So, now that I’m back, I’m here to tell ya whatcha gotta do tonight.  You need to head on down to Mercy Lounge for a cancer benefit show.  The gig starts around 9pm & the minimum donation is $10 & you’ll feel good doing it, I know.

The band line-up is some folks called the Features, Ricky Young and The Slow Films, Cassino, Tommy & The Whale and Pico Vs. Island Trees.  Not too shabby, eh?

See ya there.

Beware the alligator, ye be warned.

None other than Green Hills Mall has seen Tennessee’s first Lacoste shop.  Now we can all dress like sweater-draped Steeplechase goes, hooray!

The brand spanking new 1,703 square foot store is located on the mall’s lower level near the south entrance & is sporting some very jaunty mannequins, which I am oh so tempted to place PBR in their stiff little hands.

I know I’m being a little cynical about the alligator coming to town, but it does show that Nashville is getting more things on the map.  I mean, as if a Mac store & Betsey Johnson boutique weren’t enough.

Come on, raise of hands- who’s already been to Lacoste?

Good morning, all.  I hope you have not only managed to peel yourself off your warm, cozy bed but also come up with a solid excuse for why you were an hour late for work. 

The day after St. Patty’s Day excuses are always so fun, “Oh, man.  I am so sorry I’m late, it’s just these little green guys kept coming over & giving me Guinness & kept talking about whose pot o’ gold was bigger….”

On a windy note, expect to enjoy some gusts out there today, but still manageable with a little bit of luck & perhaps a trench coat or two.  It might look like you need a sturdy umbrella, but it’s more threatening than promising.  High today of around 70, with thunderstorms on the way on the morrow.

Jeez, it’s kinda new playing the weather gal, now all I need to truly feel the part is a plastered smile, pointer finger & a mine of makeup. 

So what to do tonight, that is the question.  This is what you’re gonna do to recover from the little green me o’ last night- you’re going to drop by the closest video store & pick up Love in the Time of Cholera (and drool over Javier Bardem).  Then you’re going to head over to either the California Pizza Kitchen in Green Hills or Sitar for some carry out.  And then you’re going to do nothing but relax & contemplate love and how good food truly is.  There, a plan in a pinch.  Enjoy.

Things to do in Nashville when you’re dead, excuse me, I must have Andy Garcia on the brain. 

So, are you wondering this dreary-eyed morning what you’re going to do to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?  I mean, other than wish & hope & hope & wish that sexy Cindy in the office will pinch you just where you like it?

Well folks, I have created a nice little green list for ya.  My orders are pick two & write me in the morning about how much Guinness it takes to screw in a Mercy Lounge light bulb.

Here ya arrrre~

Les Kerr and The Bayou Band’s St. Patrick’s Day Show at Jimmy Kelly’s:  starts at 6pm & goes until you leave.  Cost, free!

Totally Snake and The Bones Explosion at The 5 Spot:  starts at 9pm.  Cost, $5.

St. Patrick’s Day Extravaganza at Windows on the Cumberland: begins at 6pm.  Cost, $5.

My personal fave- St. Patrick’s Day Irish Whiskey Tasting at Stoney River:  the whiskey starts pouring at 6pm.  Cost, $20 per person.

Livin’ The Music St. Patrick’s Day Celebration at 3rd & Lindsley:  music kicks off at 8pm.  Cost, $10.

George O’Ducas at 3rd & Lindsley:  starts 6pm.  Cost, $5.

St. Patrick’s Day Party at The End:  begins at 9pm.  Cost, $5.

The Secret Commonwealth St. Patrick’s Day Celebration at The Boro:  starts 9pm.  Cost, $5.

St. Patty’s Day Party at Cafe Coco:  8pm.  Cost, free!

And then there’s always the back-up plan, go to an Irish bar & hope that you can find a seat & a beer within an hour of entering the door. 

Whatever your sweet ole Irish heart decides, may the cat eat you and the devil eat the cat or go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat!

Morning, fellow Nashvillians.  The gray morning that started off yesterday turned into a sunny keep-the-doors-open kind of day, so I can only hope the same for today.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my favorite Nashville area restaurants & how much I would miss them if I ever moved away.  You know how that goes, you move to the likes of windy city Chicago, just wishing you could have one more bite of Taco Loco from Garcias. 

So, to commemorate all that Nashville has to offer for my tongue & tummy, I thought I would share my top ten restaurants in the area & maybe you’ll do the same, at least I hope so. 

Okay, here we go:

1. Garcias- located in Franklin, with new restaurants in the Madison area as well as the Boro.  The freshest & best Mexican fare around.  You cannot miss their cheese sauce with warm chips, Taco Loco, whipped banana pudding & of course, their famous margaritas
2. Alley Cat- need I say more than ‘fried avocado’?
3. Amerigo- with locations in Brentwood & downtown, this Italian screams, “I may not be all that healthy, but I’m damn good.”  Favorites:  fried eggplant, cheese fritters & their delicious tiramisu with creme anglaise & chocolate kahlua sauces
4. Thai Spice- nestled in Franklin, this is one of the best kept secrets of local Thai cuisine.  Their Thai tea is out this world, as well as their soups & spring rolls
5. Provence- the best French-style desserts this side of Paris
6. Pei Wei- an off shoot of P. F. Changs’, this Asian Diner has gotten me addicted to their hot & sour soup, fried crab wontons & Pad Thai with just the right amount of lime & peanuts
7. Noshville Deli- because latkas are truly the gift of the gods
8. Pancake Pantry- if you can sit down & enjoy their silver dollar pancakes with an ice cream scoop of butter in less than an hour, consider yourself lucky
9. Star Bagel- for that Ghirardelli hot chocolate that hits just the right spot on cold days, with good & quick lunch fare
10. Cocoa Tree- this chocolatier in Franklin really understands the meaning of dark chocolate cravings

Now, tell me, where did I go wrong or right?  You know, I shouldn’t have written this post on such an empty stomach!  Now I’m craving all of it!

Ahhh, Wooten Wednesday.  It’s been too long since I’ve enjoyed a Wooten Wednesday, ahhhhhhhhhh to the times that I didn’t get up so early in the morning.  And today is looking to be kind of a gray one at that.

The Wooten Brothers, a Nashville institution, will be taking the stage at 3rd & Lindsley at 9:30pm as they have done for every Wednesday for many a year.  Cost to get in is $5, but never fear, you will get that much out of some tasty conversation, not to mention the wicked funky riffs. 

Make sure to show up a bit early so you can grab some drinks & dinner, not to mention a seat!

Morning Nashvillians!  Sorry, was that too loud just yet on this looks-like-it’s-going-to-rain-any-second-now Tuesday morning?

Well, you must pardon my enthusiasm this early morn, as I’m rather tickled about our new design over here at Nashville is My Home.  It’s a little shaper, the categories a little clearer & the recent posts a little visible-er…? 

But since this blog is more about Nashville than it is about design, lemme know what you guys think.  I mean, I know you’re just about as tired of Bret Michaels’ face as I am, but maybe this new kicking design cancels out that unsightly, full-lipped blemish.  Lemme know….

Nothing to do this weekend?  Kinda bored of all this rain & wanna get out and do a little partying?  Well then, good ole Poison-man himself, Bret Michaels, has just the thing for you.

Friday night at the Wildhorse Saloon, Michaels will be reigning in the stage starting at 6pm, but you know how that goes, he’ll probably be on at midnight.  Yes, for only $35, you too can participate in such hits as, “Talk Dirty To Me” or “Every Rose Has Its Thorns.”

Speaking with the Tennessean’s Cindy Watts, Bret said of tonight’s show, “The Wildhorse show will be unbelievably incredible.”

“It’s very important people know I play all the Poison hits in the show. It’s a full-on show. It’s a full-on band. We’ll do solo songs, the new ones and some cover stuff. It’s like an electrified Storytellers. It’s a rock party.”

The star of VH1’s Rock of Love 2 talks a big game with those seemingly surgically augmented lips of his, but I’m going to have to leave this show up to you, as I just don’t think I could stomach it.

Are our personal blogs tickling the feet of Big Brother or generally just backfiring on us?  It’s becoming an interesting problem, as I noticed this phenomenon take place recently.

I was eating dinner out the other night & letting my ears roam free over any conversations that might play as my dinner companion.  I heard the usual chit chat & then happened upon a fascinating dialogue between two work colleagues.  They were discussing an individual they had almost hired until they looked at, through the help of a friend, their MySpace page & found that the person was quite the partier.

So that brings up a few topics, right?  One- should potential employers look at potential employee’s personal blogs/MySpace pages?  Two- should you allow yourself to omit items on your personal pages just so you don’t have to worry about a fretting Big Brother?  Tell me what you think, as it’s becoming quite the issue.

I don’t know if you’re following the story or not, but Ashland City’s Cheatham County is dealing with this same issue.  The newest school board member, 26-year-old Kurt Scott, wrote a post three years ago about using marijuana.  As you can imagine, parents were calling in to see if this appointment was really in the best interest of the school board.

Kurt wrote, back in 2005, “Life of someone like me, who likes to smoke weed, can sometimes br (sic) dreary,” a post that he is calling a “poor attempt at poetry”, and taken almost entirely from another source.   Which rather makes sense, seeing as how in the same MySpace post he penned, “Today is a good day, I didn’t even have to use my AK.”  So, unless we all think that this Kurt dude is walking the streets of Ashland City, toting an AK-47 with your name on it, we can all agree this post should not be taken seriously.

But should we even be dissecting this young man’s personal Web posts?  I mean, in this oh so modern world we’re developing, where has all the privacy gone?  Or maybe that’s just it, if you’re putting yourself out there, you deserve what you get?  That sounds more like the old celebrity response, if they didn’t want their picture taken all the time, they shouldn’t have been actors.  Or the good ole rape line, if she didn’t want trouble, she shouldn’t have worn such a short skirt…

Tell me what you think.

I’m not sure how many of you are following the Academy of Country Music Awards leadup, but since the nominations were revealed Tuesday at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Ford Theater, I thought we’d give it a gander at least.

Carrie Underwood & Brad Paisely, who stole the show with a few too many noms, were on hand yesterday to unveil  2008’s Academy of Country Music Award nominations.  Here are the noms, in their entirety:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
- Kenny Chesney
- Brad Paisley
- Rascal Flatts
- George Strait
- Keith Urban

TOP MALE VOCALIST
- Rodney Atkins
- Kenny Chesney
- Brad Paisley
- George Strait
- Keith Urban

TOP FEMALE VOCALIST
- Miranda Lambert
- Martina McBride
- LeAnn Rimes
- Taylor Swift
- Carrie Underwood

TOP VOCAL GROUP
- Diamond Rio
- Eagles
- Emerson Drive
- Little Big Town
- Rascal Flatts

TOP VOCAL DUO
- Big & Rich
- Brooks & Dunn
- Halfway To Hazard
- Montgomery Gentry
- Sugarland

TOP NEW MALE VOCALIST
- Luke Bryan
- Jack Ingram
- Jake Owen

TOP NEW FEMALE VOCALIST
- Sarah Buxton
- Kellie Pickler
- Taylor Swift

TOP NEW DUO OR VOCAL GROUP
- Carolina Rain
- Lady Antebellum
- The Wreckers

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
- 5th Gear - Brad Paisley
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Miranda Lambert
- Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates - Kenny Chesney
- If You’re Going Through Hell - Rodney Atkins
- Taylor Swift -Taylor Swift (Big Machine)

SINGLE RECORD OF THE YEAR
- Don’t Blink - Kenny Chesney
- Famous In A Small Town - Miranda Lambert
- Lost In This Moment - Big & Rich
- Stay - Sugarland
- Watching Airplanes - Gary Allan

SONG OF THE YEAR
- Don’t Blink - Kenny Chesney
- Lost In This Moment - Big & Rich
- Moments - Emerson Drive
- Watching You - Rodney Atkins
- Stay - Sugarland

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
- Don’t Blink - Kenny Chesney
- Lost In This Moment - Big & Rich
- Online - Brad Paisley
- Stay - Sugarland
- Watching You - Rodney Atkins

VOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
- Because Of You - Reba McEntire Duet With Kelly Clarkson
- Find Out Who Your Friends Are - Tracy Lawrence With Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney
- Shiftwork - Kenny Chesney Duet With George Strait
- Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore - Bon Jovi Featuring LeAnn Rimes
- What You Give Away - Vince Gill With Sheryl Crow

So, who are you rooting for, anyone?