Or maybe it was just Nashville and other outlying cities…
But we did it with sass, a sense of adventure, and some classic red smoochers!
This past weekend with one of my best blends, Melissa, was EPIC…as will this post likely be sooooo let’s just skip the intro and get to recappin’! 😉
Melissa arrived in Broccoli Land Friday afternoon. After attacking her with a huge hug, I skipped into the kitchen and presented her with her #broccolitreats swag bag basket! And yes, we totally made up a hashtag for our weekend!
Oh and just FYI, come visit me and you get tons of free shit! 😉
We set out our adventurous weekend right away with a trip to a Momo’s, a local Korean BBQ place…Melissa’s first time trying beef bulgogi! I forgot how much I love this place, but now that I’ve had my memory refreshed, and reminisced last night with a coworker on how often we used to go together, I’m planning another trip soon!
Afterwards, we popped around town a bit before heading over to Beachaven for a little wine tasting…where I realized mine and Melissa’s tastes are basically opposite…all the better to conquer the world though, right? Right!
As for dinner later that night, that was planned even before we settled on the date for her visit. Neither one of us could WAIT to dive headfirst into this platter-o-deliciousness from Mesob, my favorite Ethiopian restaurant I introduced Melissa and Sarah too back in November and we made SURE to order extra injera to sneak home in our purses…ha!
We went with the vegetarian and meat combo again…this time on a “smaller” scale since it was just the two of us. Yet we STILL couldn’t finish this tray that was easily the size of Ethiopia! Cinnamon-spiked lentils, roasted beets with ayib (Ethiopian cottage cheese), and all the other mystery dishes were just as fabulous as they were last time…well, except for the horseradish lentils which were voted OFF the “island” of injera! 😉
The next morning, we were up bright and early and out the door for what I THOUGHT was going to be a fabulously relaxing and zen hot yoga experience…except when we got there, the instructor introduced the class as hot yoga “bootcamp”!
#FAIL!
I swear to you this was the fastest most extreme flow I’ve ever seen/done in my life! By the time savasana came, I’m pretty sure Melissa was about ready to kill me! For the record, as we were talking about the class on the way to the car, another woman heard us and was like, “omg, that was INSANE!” 😯
Back at the house, we got cleaned up, fixed some grub, and then were off for more Nashvillian adventures starting with lessons on how to be a hipster, aka a trip to one of the cities most popular coffeehouses, The Frothy Monkey.
Seriously you guys, is this not the most gorgeous thing EVER?! I’ll confess, ordering an artsy latte has been on my foodie bucket list for a while now. So let’s just pretend, in the sake of happy memory purposes, that that gluten-free chocolate coffee cake in the background didn’t taste like ass!
After that, it was a whirlwind of activities including of course, a visit to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and the international supermarket, because what do foodies do when they get together other than EAT delicious food? We SHOP for delicious food! 😀
Since the weather on Saturday was abso-FREAKIN-lutely fabulous, we couldn’t NOT stop for some fro-yo amidst all the fun! Let it be known this was my first cup in over SIX months! I was a bit lactose-leery so I only got a small bit of coconut mixed with orange sorbet, but of course I went a little LOT topping crazy!
We ended the day with a stop at another one of my favorite places, Thai Phooket for a little summer roll and curry action!
Shrimp summer rolls served with an amazing WARM peanut sauce!
Mild green curry for me…because I’m a total weenie…and a spicy panang curry for Melissa…because she’s badass like that! 😉
When we finally made it back to the house at the end of the day, we were both BEAT! The rest of the night was spent on the couch, sipping some wine, and talking about anything and everything until it was finally time to hit the hay.
Unfortunately, the next day was “back to reality” as we awoke to a gloomy overcast sky and cold misty rain….basically the exact opposite of what we experienced the day before. It’s hard to believe the weekend went by so quickly! We had SO much fun and it makes me even MORE excited to see her and so many of my other favorite ladies at Blend this summer…less than THREE months to go!
If I were visiting YOU for the weekend, where would we go?
Fun weekend!! I think we’d head into the city for Native Foods because it’s my freaking FAVORITE or hang back in the ‘burbs for some Pablo’s Mexican food. Mmm…I’m getting hungry at the thought. When are you coming? 😉
I’ll be there in time for lunch! 😉
You can totally rock that red lipstick, girl! If you were visiting me in Central PA… we would go take a Zumba class, then refuel at the Hershey Pantry. They have the BEST breakfasts.
Ahhhh! I’m crazy jealous. Next time I’m crashing NASH with you guys. 🙂 I bet Melissa and I drink alike. #justsaying
You’re coming to visit meeeeee next! Vietnamese and killer workouts will ensue. Get your tummy and your buns ready. 😉
I bet!!!
Hahaha! Oh we’ll be ready!! But seriously, yes! You have GOT to come up sometime and go exploring with me! We need to go to The Farm House!! 😀
I said it already twice on IG, but you girls look freaking gorgeous!!
And I am so SAD that I live so far away from all you guys! All these blend meet ups, I want to be part of it! 🙁
If you came to visit me, I would take you to my favorite Yoga Studio (they don’t do Bootcamps :-)), we’d go to buy some Ovomaltine Crack and other Swiss Goodies and since I know you love walks, we would totally go up to gorgeous Swiss Alps! And IF you were to stay longer, I would even take you to our beach house in Spain!
When do you arrive??
OMG I’ll be there TOMORROW!
Omg, you had me at CRACK! Oh girl,I’ll be there in an hour! 😉
This looks like such a fun time!! Ive always wanted to order an artsy latte as well, I just have no idea where to get one from. Is that something you can google? 😉
Let’s see, if you were to come visit me here in LA, our 1st stop would clearly be froyo, because there’s only about a zillion and a half places out here to try. After we were stuffed to the brim with that goodness, we’d then head to Venice Beach, where we would walk down the strip and watch all the weirdos. You’d get a new, super cute piercing for your nose while trying to convince me to get mine pierced, which would end up with you holding my hand and me getting a nose piercing, much to my husband’s approval. The next day we’d hit the spa, sipping mimosas while we watched the gross Swedish man prance around in his gold man thong.
Tell me that doesn’t sound like fun! 😉
Hahaha! Sounds like a dream come true!! Oh girl, you paint a good story picture! I feel like I’m there already! Which now makes me kinda sad because I realize that I’m not! 🙁
And we totally Googled coffee shops for pretty lattes! Lol
You girls are SO beautiful! Looks like you had so much fun 🙂
#blendenvy
Ahhhh can’t wait for Blend! If you came to visit me, I would take you to my newly-discovered-new-favourite sushi place, and then to Chil froyo so you could load up on the dairy free stuff….and then to a gym class of your choice because my gym offers a million. So now you want to come visit me, right? :-p
I do! I do!! You KNOW how jealous I am of your gym classes and well, sushi and froyo? I don’t see how it could get any better! Oh wait…include some poutine and I’m in! 😉
Ahhhh visiting you looks like so much fun!!!
NYC has almost too many places, but Chelsea Market and Gotham West Market would definitely be near the top of the list!
When you come visit me you better bring that free shit along with you! And we would likely rotate between a diet of pancakes, burgers, pizza, thai food then walk a block and repeat. Bring an extra stomach because things are gonna get wildddd!
We’re planning on heading to TN whilst we’re in the US visiting Jesse’s family in Louisiana so all of your adventures are inspiring me!
If you were visiting Sydney, the major must do is to head into the city to Sydney Harbour/Circular Quay or some of our beaches as they’re absolutely gorgeous!
Ohh, what part of TN will you be in? Are you guys gonna check out the Smokies?
We’re flying into Nashville and then staying in Portland?
Oh yeah, I know where Portland is! I grew up in a city about an hour outside of there. You guys just seeing family or do you have any plans to explore Nashville? I could give you some recommendations if you want!
Recommendations are needed! We’re seeing some of Jesse’s friends and then we have no plans after that – haha.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
i am a wee bit jealous, but its okay cause i get to see you both at blend! will you bring all this deliciousness… and the wine, duh
Gatlinburg, TN! It’s a fun town in the mountains 🙂
Oh I LOVE Gatlinburg! I’ve been a few times and have always had so much fun…beautiful city too! 🙂
Ahh what an awesome weekend! If you were visiting me here I would take you to Tamp Coffee Co so you could get another artsy latte, to my fave sushi place where we would give ourselves the biggest sushi food babies, and probably to Blacktree so you could have the most incredible foodie experience of your life!
Yes, yes, and YES!! 😀
Omg, I want everything you ate last weekend!! I tried Ethiopian food for the first time when I was studying abroad in Paris, purely by accident…and went back all.the.time. I haven’t had it since so this made me very homesick for it!
If you ever visited Malaysia, I could get you excellent Indian food. Tandoori chicken, garlic naan, and sweet lime water…all for about $3.00!
Haha, of course it would be dirt cheap when you go to the source…now if I could only find a way to teleport myself there riiiiiight NOW! 😉
I need to get an artsy latte one day it’s so cute 🙂 And all the food and goodness, glad oyu enjoyed yourself lady!
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Bahaha the tribe has spoken. Oh my gee I CANNOT Wait to visit you now….. there I’ve shamelessly invited myself. You know how to jam pack so much awesomeness in one vacation!
If you were to visit Sydney- I would whore the city out over 2 days then take you to Melbourne and whore that city out too. It would start and end with vegemite.
Ha! The invitation has always been open to you anyway, love! And bring ON the vegemite, but I also want to sink my teeth into some kangaroo!
I’m pretty sure you’d know where I’d take you if you made it to Cleveland, although we never did get to that apple orchard. You come in the summer time and we can go berry picking or even crash my family’s vacation in Canada. Hell, you’d need a passport for that, but we could add ‘eh to the end of every sentence and have a blast on the beach. Wine makes the smores go down.
I’m glad you had a fabulous time with Melissa. So much delicious food; I myself want the Ethiopian meal. 🙂
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Come visit me…and we’ll go….well, there’s not many places to go in Tuscaloosa, but I’m sure I’d figure something out. I just found this crazy hole-in-the-wall Mediterranean restaurant in Birmingham…which is where the Whole Foods is….
Or maybe we should just meet in Nashville. Or LOUISVILLE! (Attack Brittany together?)
Yes to Louisville! Actually, I meant to ask you when I saw your text earlier…are you planning a trip soon??