Hotel Fraye: Nashville

For my husband’s birthday this year we decided to go on a weekend away in Nashville. We are Hilton Diamond members, so we tend to always look for a Hilton hotel. I found Hotel Fraye. My husband’s one big request was a big pool on a rooftop or at least up high with a fun vibe.

We arrived Friday evening. We were instantly impressed by the decor and ambiance. The room was lovely. I loved the little things the most, like motion sensor lights under the bed, the little pocket reading lights on the bed, the chaise, the decor, and the little hidden fridge. The bathroom was beautiful too.

I loved the mixed textures and sophisticated colors. The lobby and restaurant are classic and bold. I loved the furniture so much that I’m on the lookout for a couch just like the ones there.

The gym was exceptional. My one and only complaint about anything at all with this hotel was that the Peloton bikes didn’t have cages for shoes other than Peloton cycling shoes, and those weren’t available, so if you didn’t pack your own you couldn’t ride (also, if you have cycling shoes with SPD cleats they will NOT work).

The pool was everything my husband hoped it would be. The vibe was sophisticated and upscale, all while being fun and laid back. They had a poolside bar that had yummy drinks and snacks. The frozen grapes are a very nice refreshing treat. We met lots of really interesting people. The cool thing about Hotel Fraye is that it shares the gym and pool with an attached apartment building. This allows visitors to meet people who live right there in Nashville, and get real locals suggestions on what to do and where to go in the city.

Photo credit: Hotel Fraye

I was able to go for a run near the hotel both days without any issues.

Looks like a Golden Globe in one of the attached apartments. You better believe if I had one of those babies I’d be showing it off too!!

Right outside the hotel is Hattie B’s Hot Chicken and Chuy’s. Obviously, Chuy’s is a chain that you can find just about anywhere. Hattie B’s is a Nashville creation. We tried to go there, but the line was just too long. The hotel has a restaurant as well, but I didn’t see anything on the menu that looked good to me.

Super cool lighting in the lobby

We had the best weekend at Hotel Fraye, and are thinking about what future weekend trips we can take sooner than later. If you’re on the lookout for a cool, eclectic hotel in Nashville, I feel confident in recommending Hotel Fraye!

Pirate Party

We had so much fun at our little guy’s birthday party.

IMG_0724One of the games had four teams with two buckets and sponges. The bucket at the top was full of water and the goal was to fill the bucket at the bottom with water first using only a sponge.

IMG_0513IMG_0519IMG_0706The photo booth was a fun way to capture the people at our party. I got the whole set from Oriental Trading.

IMG_0585IMG_0586The party was divided into two teams. They each had to design and create a team flag using Sharpies, pillowcases, and their imaginations.

I loved being able to bring out my Halloween stuff to use as decorations!!

The menu was:

fish and chips : Goldfish crackers and chips

Blackbeard’s bean dip : Spicy black-eyed pea dip

Don’t whistle–hummus : hummus

Boats : hot dogs

Peg legs : pretzel rods

Gold bars : cheese cubes

Fresh Catch : tuna salad

Polly’s crackers : crackers

Tastes like chicken : chicken salad

Gemstones : strawberries, blueberries, and grapes

Devil’s Caviar: spicy deviled eggs

Treasure Map: pizza

Crocodile punch : pineapple-lime punch

I hope to share more about our pirate party soon.

Travel Fun Bags

Along with scavenger hunts, I like to pack little bags of treats and games for the trip. I like to get snacks and candy that I don’t normally buy. I always pack a coloring book and colored pencils in each bag. I try to buy a book for reading on the beach too.  This trip, I bought books of questions to go through with everyone. (My husband and I actually went through some of the questions from the original book on our first outing before we started dating). My super creative daughter used our Cricut to put names or monograms on sand coasters to use on the beach. My goal with every trip is to get closer as a family, get away from work, and have a good time. These little bags are hopefully one of the little joys that I can pass along to my family. IMG_0723IMG_0725IMG_0727

May the 4th Be With You Dinner

I’m busy planning and gathering supplies for May 4.  I’m still trying to pinpoint exactly what I want to serve for dinner. I’m thinking of 7-Leia Dip, Trooper Scoopers (scoops chips), Wookie Cookies, and Death Star Doughnuts, Fruit Light Sabers OR Hans burgers, Leia’s buns, Wookie Cookies, and Obi-Wan fruit kebabs.

This is what we did last year. I have to say that the children really do enjoy this kind of a dinner. It takes planning and a little more effort than a normal dinner, but I do love to hear how they plan on doing the same kinds of things when they have families of their own.

Here’s last year’s post:

We ended up with breakfast for dinner. This is not unusual. We usually do this once a week on our more hectic nights.

The eggs were the Twin Suns.

image

Cinnamon rolls were naturally Leia’s Buns.

image

We had bacon and hashbrowns, which were a pretty terrible looking  “Chewbaccon”. At least we got a good laugh out of it!

image

The sausage links were Light Sabers.

image

I made Yoda Soda which was basically just a lime sherbet float.

image

I made Chewy cookies from Little Debbie Star Crunch cookies and added candy eyes and a frosting mouth and nose. I got that idea from Pinterest.

image

I purchased Star Wars plates and napkins. I also got some Star Wars fruit snacks for little treats. The children all thought everything turned out really cute and I think they love a themed dinner as much as I do.

I made all the signs and the framed “May the Fourth Be With You” sign using DaFont’s Star Jedi font.

imageimage

I’ll try my best to share what I actually end up doing on Thursday. I hope it turns out to be as much fun as last year!

Charlie Brown Christmas Dinner and a Movie

My children and husband had never seen Charlie Brown’s Christmas. I bought the movie and planned one of our Advent activities to be dinner and a movie so we could fully enjoy the experience together.

I found a roll of Charlie Brown wrapping paper at Dollar Tree. I decorated the table with that and the new nativity set I convinced my husband I “needed” for Christmas.

image

I made chicken with Peanut sauce, Pig Pen’s not that dirty rice, pigs in Linus’ blanket, and Peppermint Patty brownies.

imageimageimage

The children did truly enjoy the explanation of each dish. After dinner, we watched the movie. I have to admit that for many years I have felt like Charlie Brown. This year, I decided that I was going to let the world do its thing with Christmas and that I would do mine. I have enjoyed it more than I have in years. I still haven’t gotten everything done and still feel stress, but it’s way less than Christmas passed.

If you’re wondering what Christmas is really all about, Linus explains it best.

 

Linus’ King James version scripture reading from Luke 2: 8-14, read:

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

 

Hilton Head Island: Fall Break

Our fall break was rudely interrupted by Hurricane Matthew, but we still had a good time. We let our senior in high school decide where to spend her last fall break and HH was her choice. She didn’t make it to the ocean once before we had to leave. She did, however, get lots of relaxation time. We spent one day on a boating and private island excursion with Outside Hilton Head. It was nice to do something none of us had ever done before. I fished for the first time in my whole life. I caught two sticks and a crab. We also kayaked. My dad, at 71 years old, did it for the first time in his life. He loved it and said he wanted to buy a kayak when he got home. We enjoyed the shell island that our captain stopped and let us explore. I could have spent hours there. I have a few DIY shell projects floating around in my brain as a result.

Here’s a little peek at that fun we had on fall break.

img_8661

img_8691img_8714img_8720img_8770img_8775img_8783img_8793img_8805img_8826img_8827img_8838img_8855img_8863img_8876img_8885img_8889img_8891

Hilton Head, I miss you already.

Disney: The Sword in the Stone

image.jpeg

Photo credit:Disney wiki

The magical sword in the stone sits right in front of the carousel and very near the back of Cinderella’s castle. On my first trip to the most magical place on earth, I saw a little boy pull the sword up out of the stone one night. He had a crowd around him, and they made a proclamation about something and he was the prince for the moment. The next time I went to WDW, I tried my hand at pulling out that sword. I jokingly went over to it after my children had all given it a good try. I pulled it up and it resisted, but it came out of the stone. There was no one to make a proclamation. I had to yell at my dad to take a picture. We were all in shock. A little while later, my husband came over to see us give it another try. Again, all the children tried and it didn’t budge. I tried once more, knowing that there was no way it would happen again. To my complete and utter shock–I pulled it up again!

Now, the next time you’re in Disney World try to pull that sword out. There are a few things to know:

The sword does resist. It feels heavy as you pull it up.

It doesn’t come out all of the way.

Take a picture quickly because the sword will go back into the stone after a short while.

Try and try again. You just never know when you’ll get lucky!

Here’s the picture my dad took of me. It’s an awful one, but I’m glad I got photo proof because no one ever believes me.

img_5658

 

Spider-Man Stuff from Etsy

For my little man’s birthday party, he chose the Spider-Man theme. He has loved Spider-Man since I can remember. I ordered adorable invitations from Cindy’s Event Creations Etsy shop. I always try to make the children’s invitations with a picture of them on it;  that way the people who we invite have pictures of the children at each age. I think they turned out so cute! We put Spider-Man stickers on the back of the envelopes for a little extra Spider-Man touch.

Spiderman invite for blog

 

Since having David, I have bought him a shirt with the theme of his birthday and his name or initial for every birthday. They are sweet reminders of how he has grown. I also ordered this from another Etsy shop called  Auntie Donna’s . It is perfect and we all loved it!!

FullSizeRender (1)

I highly recommend both these shops as great places to get these Spider-Man necessities.

I can’t wait to share more about our Spider-Man fun!

 

Meet the Disney Junior Characters

Of all the Disney World parks, Hollywood Studios is ranked lowest on my favorites list. I feel like there are not enough rides and that for our family, there isn’t quite enough to keep our attention for very long. On our last visit, I took the littles with me while my husband took the bigs to ride Tower of Terror ( I’ve done it once and I’m good). We decided to meet the Disney Junior characters. The lines were long, but not horribly long. I loved seeing all the little kids just eager with the anticipation of meeting these characters. It was adorable. My parents were with me, helping me wrangle the children. It was incredibly hot that day and they needed water and cold treats and cold napkins the whole time we were in line so I was so thankful they were there! 465 When it was finally our turn it was magical and memorable and they loved it.

 

023

459

David was a little shy with Jake. He really liked Minnie Mouse. But he LOVED Sofia.

485

 

488

490

491

There was so much laughter at that kiss. He had obviously been thinking it out since he saw her. It was priceless and I’m SO GLAD we got pictures of it.

Meeting these characters is completely worth the trip to the park. You don’t get the opportunity to meet them (with the exception of Minnie, of course) anywhere else. If your little ones are Disney Junior fans, then they will definitely enjoy this experience!!

 

 

***********************************************************************

This site has an auction with a lot of different and really awesome stuff up for auction all to benefit the Meyers family (The Freckled Fox), if you want to check it out.

 

Grandmama

It’s been over 20 years since my grandmother, lovingly called Grandmama, passed away. There are lots of things I remember about her, just like it was yesterday.

She always smelled like Dove soap (the original scent).

She had a wonderful laugh. It was quiet but her whole face lit up when she laughed.

Her house was always spotless. Not just clean; there was never a single speck of dirt anywhere and nothing was ever out of its place.

She fed me bologna on white bread with a slice of American cheese and mayonnaise every time I came over.  I craved that sandwich with one of my pregnancies. I just swapped the bologna with turkey.

She loved General Hospital. I was glad I had watched it with her and knew the general storyline and characters because when I went to college, I had to watch it for my roommate and report back what happened (you know, because DVRs weren’t invented back in the olden days).

She was tiny. She was short and probably weighed 85 pounds soaking wet. Her nickname was Midge (I know, not politically correct). I was probably about eight when I finally found out her real name.

She worked at the famous Loveless Cafe as a waitress for my entire childhood.  (I’ve never even eaten there.)

She had 5 sons and 2 daughters. I can only imagine how hard life must have been sometimes. She was kind but tough and you could tell that that’s how she had to be.

She once caught a tree frog  for me just because I wanted it, but was too scared to catch it myself. The funniest part of all is that she was scared too. When she caught it, she screamed like a 5-year-old.

My favorite story she told me about her childhood in rural Kentucky was one in which she was being bullied by another girl. The girl was chasing her and my grandmother spotted a line that was half down (I’m guessing a fallen clothes line) and she stopped , got out of sight, and picked it up and held in such a way that the girl didn’t notice. The girl tried to keep running after my grandmother, but she got caught by the line and thrown to the ground.

Her eyes always watered and she always had a handkerchief in her pocket. I carried one of hers in my bouquet at my wedding.

She held on to this side of life until every single one of her children got to the hospital to say good-bye. I had the privilege of getting to say good-bye as well.

When we were driving from the funeral home to the cemetery, we had to ride part of the way on the interstate. There was roadwork going on (is there ever NOT roadwork going on). As the funeral procession passed, all of the workers stopped their work and took off their hard hats as we went by. It was so touching and sweet and I hope to never forget it!

I wish she had been able to see me get married. I think she would have just loved my husband.

I wish she could have seen me graduate from college. I was the first of her granddaughters to accomplish that.

I wish she could have met my children. I’m awfully proud of them and I know she would have enjoyed them so much.

I wish I had known her in adulthood so I could have been able to get her advice and hear her stories about raising her children.

I was blessed to have had such a sweet woman as my Grandmama. Even all these years later, I still miss her.

 

***********************************************************************

This site has an auction to help the Meyers family (The Freckled Fox), if you want to check it out.