Nashville Recap!

I love to travel.  I love being a tourist.  I love seeing new landmarks.  I love (read: am obsessed with) meeting new people. 

So... what better way to kick off my Fall Break from Creighton than with a long weekend to Nashville with my best friend Carey!  We had talked about going to Nashville for what seemed like YEARS.  We finally pulled the trigger in August and booked our trip.  There were some things we spent money on and some things we went the "college student" route with.  When it was all said and done, we sat in the airport planning our next adventure and our next adventure back to Nashville.  I may or may not have told everyone in Nashville that I want to move there...

To begin, Carey and I decided to fly Delta to Nashville.  After doing so, next time we'd fly, we'd probably take Southwest.  However, we met some phenomenal people in the airports, including the ONLY "cowboy" we met the whole trip.  He was a handsome, tall, athletic man who was just returning home from a business trip.  Go figure he played both baseball and basketball at Vandy.  He had even been to Omaha in the summer for the College World Series to see his alma mater win the national championship!

Carey and I stayed in the downtown Nashville Hostel.  In retrospect, this was a GREAT decision to make since all we did was sleep there and it only cost us a whopping $35/night.  We were roomed with 6 other girls from England who were studying abroad in the United States of America.  They came to Nashville to see Paul McCartney perform and said adorable phrases like "Oh! That's mad!"  I would highly suggest staying in the hostel because it's two blocks off Broadway, extremely clean and safe!  We both think for the next trip we go on hopefully we'll have a bit more of disposable income so we can upgrade to a hotel room. 

Doesn't it look like we were at camp?
Seriously, the hostel provided clean sheets and you could "rent" a clean towel for $1.
The bathrooms were clean and there were even private suites you could use.

 

Thursday: Our first night in Nashville, my friend from undergrad met up with Carey and I.  It was SO nice to see a familiar face.  Josh played baseball at Aquinas and I played basketball, but we had some classes together.  He went to Vanderbilt for grad school and is now a CPA for pWc down in Nashville (the same accounting firm Carey will be working for)!  Everywhere we went had live music.  Josh informed us that the bands/performers get better as you go up levels in the bars.  He guided us to a few of the establishments we had to hit up on our first night. Unfortunately he had to work the next day, so he went home early. Need not to worry, Carey and I still lived up our first night on Honkey Tonk Row! I wish I had photos and videos of the performers because they.were.all.amazing.

Carey and I on our first night in Nashville.
#CCxNashville
Don't we look pretty?!

 

We may or may not have arm wrestled some guys...
Per the rules, we were allowed to use two hands.
Pictured above is the referee of the competition declaring my victory!

Friday: Carey and I woke up super early (not by choice... one of our English friends was experiencing a bit of the "brown bottle flu") so we decided to put on our walking shoes and head towards Vanderbilt to get some breakfast (read: find an establishment that served bloody Mary's).  We had a delicious meal at West End Café before we continued on to campus. I just had to see Vanderbilt's baseball stadium since they are a perennial powerhouse.  At first, I did not think much of it because I'm used to Comerica Park and now TD Ameritrade. But wow... if only Aquinas had a baseball stadium like Vandy's!

 

We checked out the Parthenon and truly just enjoyed one's company on our walk.  We stopped in at Tootsie's on our way back for a nice cold one and to listen to the live music before hitting the showers before everyone else in the hostel did to get ready for Friday night.  Well, go figure that Carey's cousin and one of my dear friends, Sarah, was in Nashville with her roommates! Like what were the chances?! Sarah realized that from my SNAPCHAT story! 

The Parthenon!

Carey and I met up with Sarah and her roommates for a bit before we went our separate ways around dinner.  From there, Carey and I sat down with two Nashville business men at a happy hour and had quite an enjoyable conversation, received a few "touristy" tips and even made business connections. Maybe a move to Nashville in the future is a possibility! Ha!

Sarah, Carey and I couldn't resist getting a touristy photo of
the "Bang This" twins.

Friday night was truly just a whirlwind, but I was fortunate enough to run into a former foe on the basketball court (again, what are the chances?!). The music was great everywhere we went on Broadway. 

Former Macomb Area Conference basketball foes!
Birthday twins, too!

Saturday:  Carey and I woke up on the wrong side of the bed Saturday morning, but we quickly realized to suck up the exhaustion (yes Mom, exhaustion, not dehydration). We headed for a walk north of downtown to check out the area and find a "hole in the wall diner" for a bite to eat before we met up with my friend, Eddie! I swear, the power of social media is unreal! Eddie saw one of my INSTAGRAMS and reached out to me letting me know that'd he was headed to Nashville with his friends. Eddie went to U of D Jesuit and ran for my Uncle Bell.  We someone developed a friendship and have kept in touch ever since.  (Side note, Eddie sent me the BEST Valentine when I was a freshman in college, which consisted of a CD of 19 romantic country songs. When I told Eddie I still had it, he did not believe me... I do, I sent him a photo of it just this past weekend).

Eddie and I.  This photo depicts our friendship perfectly.

I'm so happy we met up with Eddie and his friends because one of the guys' sister lives in Nashville with her friend. Needless to say, Carey and I made two BFF's, Gina and Kristin, and spent the day bouncing around downtown Nashville with them!  For dinner, we headed up to "midtown" where we met back up with Eddie and his gang. I would highly suggest heading towards midtown one night if you're in Nashville and hit up the Red Door Saloon, Rebar, etc.

After some Mexican food (and tequila), and bouncing around the establishments in midtown, we headed back down to Broadway.  Boy oh boy was it packed!  We went to the The Stage Thursday night and headed back on Saturday and I was confident that I had never been there because it looked so different and was packed.  I'm not sure if I've conveyed how happy I was to be in Nashville... but Saturday night and the music at The Stage alone made the whole trip worth it.

Honkey Tonk Row

Meeting Gina and Kristin (sister of Eddie's friend) was a highlight of the trip.  Truth be told, I could see Carey and I meeting up with Gina and Kristin not only in Detroit when they're home for a holiday, but also inviting them to join on our next adventure.

Sunday: Carey and I were craving bloody Mary's, again so we headed back to what we already knew...

My friend Josh met up with us for breakfast.  Gina joined us just in time to take us to another establishment and insisted Carey and I get a "bushwacker." Basically, it's a really strong milkshake. We were able to take in some of the Detroit Lions football game before we were antsy to keep exploring on our last day.

Gina, Josh, Carey and I all headed to the Bluebird Café to take a touristy photo in front.  I am so sad we did not get tickets to see a live show, but in fairness, they sell out in ten minutes on Monday morning.

Josh and I outside the Bluebird Café. Isn't' he a studly looking man? 

I'm glad we were able to take so much of the city in, but I'm sad we did not get to venture outside of it much.  Next time I go, I'll definitely rent a car and take in the historical aspects of Nashville, not just the music scene. Also, I would check out who is playing a big show and get tickets to it. Once I heard Kip Moore was playing Friday night, I cried inside because Carey and I did not have tickets to see him perform. 

Nashville, thank you for an amazing weekend.  Thank you for lighting the travel bug inside me.  Carey, thanks for being the best travel companion I could ever imagine.  Here's to trip #1 of ___ together.

"Well, I like my loving done country style.

And this little girl would walk

a country mile to find her a good 'ol

slow talking country boy" - Loretta Lynn

 

xx - Conway Twitty

Inspriations

I am so thankful for my MBA program at Creighton, specifically my Business, Ethics & Society class.  We have had guest speakers from the Omaha business area and WOW, are these professionals rock stars!  We also have had the opportunity to interview professionals who are BBB Integrity Award Winners or Omaha Business Hall of Fame Inductees.

Following one PR expert's presentation, I followed-up and met with my now mentor, Joyce. (Go figure we hit it off, her middle name is Clare, without an "i"). She was gracious enough to have me over for a cup of coffee and just talk.  She gave me great advice about "figuring out" my future, which was to come up what I'm good at, what I like to do and what my bottom lines are.

Example:
What I'm good at: Working under pressure (Doesn't necessarily mean I like to work under pressure, but I am good at it... "never let them see you sweat"...).
What I like to do: Events (I love planning... such as the St. Clare Golf Outing..., going to, hosting and I even don't mind cleaning up events).
What my bottom (lines) are: Location (Omaha, NE)

Do you have any "what I'm good at" or "what I like to do" bullets I should add to my list?

While interviewing a Hall of Fame Inductee, Aldo Tesi, CEO and Chairman of Election Systems & Software, I was yet again inspired about my future.  Aldo is a phenomenal man, lives a life "above the line," and is so passionate and vibrant about work.  One of the biggest take-a-ways I had during this interview was not necessarily the ethical questions I asked, but rather a reminder to add to my daily to-do's to never become jaded.

I would be remiss to note that Aldo took THREE hours out of his day to meet with my partner and I.  He gave us a tour of the office, Quality Assurance test rooms, put election hardware to work and treated my partner and I to lunch. Oh! He even gave us The Oz Principle book to read... If you're into leadership and learning about organizational structure, this is a must read for you. Below is a photo of the DS850 vote scanner and tabulator machine.  

Needless to say, I fell in love with Election Systems & Software I am so thankful for the opportunities I've had thus far. Inspiration is all around!

live about the line

xx