Is It Because We Live In Nashville?

Uncle R and I call it “caterwauling”. And we run into it almost anywhere we choose to eat. We are seated in a restaurant of our choice… sitting down and looking over the menu with engaged interest… and then it happens.

Someone walks in through the restaurant’s front door with a guitar and an amp and shuffles over to a corner chair to begin setting up to play and sing. Most likely it’s a collection of songs of their own songs.

Is it because we live in Nashville?

Probably.

But we sit back in our seats and look at each other with sighs and a gentle shaking of heads… as if to dispel the rest of the thoughts that we had hoped to express to each other over our meal. There will probably be no more talking. Why? Because we won’t be able to hear each other.

We love our musician friends. I mean – after all – Uncle R is an amazing musician in his own right. But if we went to hear every friend, colleague, fellow church member and person that reaches out to us on Facebook… we wouldn’t have time for anything else.

Is it because we live in Nashville?

Probably.

But – even though I live too far away from my dear, beloved Pamela’s Girls – I still love to live in the town where I chose to come to college so many years ago. When I describe it to other people who live elsewhere or to those who are considering moving to town, I often say; “It’s a large-sized city with a small town feel.” There are most of the cultural opportunities that a person might require and yet you are still likely to run into someone you know at the grocery store or your favorite breakfast spot. People will take great pains to give directions to strangers and very nearly get to the point that they offer to drive them there themselves. You may find yourself standing in the formidable Pancake Pantry line that routinely wraps around the corner of the building and down the block on a Saturday or Sunday morning, talking to the couple in front of you and before you know it you decide to sit together and chat more over breakfast. Somehow I just don’t think that there are many places that have that kind of atmosphere.

Lunch tables almost anywhere in town will blend cowboy-booted, jeaned music industry hopefuls with law-firm-appropriate suit-wearers. Spiky hair and tattoos will sit along side blonde and tanned soccer types. For a Southern town we are probably surprisingly diverse for the buckle of the Bible belt. I love to walk through stores and hear other languages and see the variety of skin shades and hair textures that make life interesting.

As I have said before, Uncle R and I have come to the realization that we thrive on ethnic foods and undiscovered (for us) spices and seasonings and Nashville has given rise to a happy variety that keeps our explorations interesting. We love getting hugged by our laughing Bosnian chef when we happen by her café and trying out our high school Spanish at the most authentic Mexican restaurants that we can locate. There aren’t enough French offerings here in town to suit me or to give me the chance to have some of the wonderful things that I partook of while in Paris, but there are excellent sushi restaurants, Indian buffets and Middle-Eastern eateries with mouth watering hummus, sharp and salty feta and surprising desserts such as their own restaurant-made version of rose & saffron ice cream with crumbles of pistachio nuts. And there is now a full compliment of creatively tasty coffee shops with locally-roasted beans and tables to camp out with your laptop.

Last night after our church’s Good Friday service and tonight at the end of our busy afternoon, Uncle R and I decided to eat out and we made it a pact that we couldn’t choose anywhere either of us had ever been. That took some thinking. So – last night we sat out at a wooden outdoor table in front of a tiny bricko block building with traffic roaring past us, eating “hot chicken” so spicy that it made my lips hurt for an hour.

Tonight we opted for a local restaurant that we had heard offered French cooking. And – they did. I had some wonderful French onion soup and Uncle R had some lightly sautéed trout, garlic grits and asparagus. We tried each other’s food, nibbled on freshly baked rolls with honey butter and were happy as clams…

Until the guy walked in with his amp.

(sigh)

Love to the sweet Pamela’s Girls and Happy Easter! I am thankful for the supreme sacrifice that Jesus made to clear our debt of sin, welcome us with open arms and let us come gratefully close to Him with our hearts able to cry “Abba Father” to the One who made us. I am so glad to know that the Pamela’s Girls may not be able to be together all the time now, but will one day be together forever!

Kisses and hugs from –

Auntie J

My First Salad Gone Right Recipe

I never share recipes, probably because I don't have any natural ability to cook like Pamela, Cici, Auntie J, and Mommy M. I've accepted it and it doesn't bother me, but I still try a couple times a week. One of my girlfriends makes really good salad, like the kind you get at a nice restaurant. We went to Trader Joe's together this weekend and she helped me pick out some ingredients to make my own salad. The only thing I was missing was salad dressing. My friend told me she makes hers with a touch of this, tad of that and such and such to taste. SanFran S cannot cook that way; I need exact measurements of every ingredient. So I asked Cici, who always has the right answers for me. It turned out SO yummy and I'm really proud of myself. I don't know if it's anything Pamela's girls would like, but I thought I'd share just in case along with a picture. I should have taken the picture on a cute plate, but it was too late by the time I thought of sharing with you.

Sunny's First Salad Gone Right Recipe
- Arugula bag lettuce
- Roasted Lentils (I bought them already cooked ready to go in a bag)
- Reduced Fat Feta Cheese Crumbles
- Roast Pine Nuts
- Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing (Newman's Own Organic)
- Side of Multigrain Wheat with Flax Pita Crackers (For crunch instead of croutons)



Love,
SanFran S

Auntie J's Influence

This is my latest art project...

The master bedroom and bath of our house used to be a mother-in-law suit. We love it because it is VERY spacious. The bedroom was a living room/dining room and the bathroom was the bedroom, so the bathroom is extremely large. I have pondered over what to do with all the wall space in there. When we were helping Uncle R move a few weeks ago, he had taken down a large frame off of the wall and was going to throw it away. I immediately snatched it up because I knew I could somehow use it in our bathroom. I searched around for different ideas and found a painting that looked like you were gazing at the beach out of a window and I fell inlove with it. Daddy L helped me nail the frame to the wall and then I created the mural inside. I used a painting of Barbados, so we can always remember our fun, relaxing week there. Now I really love going into our bathroom and pretending I am back in Barbados looking out over the beautiful ocean. I also took some photos of some pretty spring flowers in our backyard with our new camera. I loved them so much that I framed them and added them to our bathroom wall.

Last weekend we hosted our church supper club group at our house. One of the ladies owns a really cute art gallery on the square and she immediately commented on how much she loved my painting of the State House. I was very honored since she is such a good artist and since this was my first painting (with much assistance from Auntie J and Uncle R). They helped me get started on it while I was visiting them in Tennessee. It was so much fun going to eat a delicious meal and then coming back to paint... and then go to eat another delicious meal and coming back to paint... and so on. Auntie J gave me tips on techniques and Uncle R helped us create various color combinations with different paints. Now I just throw colors together until I am happy with the result, but Uncle R knew the exact percentage we needed of each color. It was so much fun and a memory I will NEVER forget!

I think SanFran S and I were both born with a love for art and drawing. I know Cici and SS encouraged us both in this love by allowing us to color and draw whenever we wanted to, but I also feel that Auntie J has had a huge influence on my love for art. I remember watching her draw when I was little and being amazed at how life-like her drawings of little girls(SanFran S and me) and dogs(Skippy) were. A lot of our time together was spent drawing and coloring (when she wasn't braiding my hair:).

Because of my visit in Tennessee with Auntie J and Uncle R a few years ago, they helped me find a new love in painting by showing me techniques, how to create colors and by starting me off with my the necessity art supplies. Now it is one of my FAVORITE pasttimes! I think it is very impressive that although we are far away, an Aunt and Uncle can have such a huge, wonderful impact on their nieces. I know that one day Baby B and Baby 2 will feel the same way about their aunt.







Love to Pamela's Girls!

Mommy M

Grandfather's Treasures

I just finished the first painting I've done just for Daddy. As we've been discussing family heirlooms a lot lately, I asked Daddy what his favorite gun was of Papa's. He brought out this nickel-plated pearl-handled revolver which was made in the early 1900's. It belonged to his grandfather Walter Pleasant Boyd, which was given to Papa. I told Daddy that I wanted to place it on the table to take a picture of it. We then realized that everything on the table, including the table, were special heirlooms to Daddy. Grandmother Ettie Howell Boyd bought three marble top tables from a traveling salesman so she would have one for each of her sons. Of all the things in Vivian and Papa's house, this was the main piece of furniture that Daddy wanted to keep. The lamp also came out of Ettie Howell's house. It was a kerosenes lamp but Papa wired it to make it electric. The pocket watch was Mr. Boyd's. Daddy said that he worked for the railroad and would always carry that watch and his pistol.

Now that I have finished the painting, it is going to be hard to wait another month to give it to him:)

Thank you for all of your sweet baby wishes! Although I am still a little sad at the thought of not having a little girl, I am thrilled to think that in a few months we will have another precious little boy like Baby B. I am also enjoying imagining all of the fun Baby B and his little brother will have playing since they will be so close in age... Hopefully a name will be announced soon!

Happy Wednesday Pamela's Girls!

Love,

~Mommy M

Crazy Busy Or Just Crazy?!?

Dear Fellow Pamela's Girls:

I am VERY sorry that I have been so terrible about getting posts up... It has been extremely busy at work and then with commitments after work, I have stared into my laptop at the end of my long days with a helpless inability to formulate complete sentences. (sigh) I will seriously try to do better!

We recently had one of our NY peeps pay a visit to the Nashville office to help me with some valuable additional training and advise and instruct our office in regards to some important new procedures. She was such a pleasure to have with us and was so helpful! It was fascinating to find that C. lives in the same town - just across the river from New York City - that Daddy N was born and grew up in, Elizabeth, New Jersey and just around the corner from where Cousin Elsie lived! What a small world we find we are in sometimes!

I had the opportunity to pick C. up each morning to bring her into work and had some great extra chat time. One morning she invited me to have breakfast at the new, modern Nashville hotel, The Hutton, and I both enjoyed seeing the inside of this interestingly-designed hotel and tasting their breakfast food.

C. was one of my Project 365 photos of the day that I have been posting on Facebook and I'll include it again here. She was so lovely and several of us thoroughly enjoyed introducing her to southern cooking. We took her to a couple of meat and three's and she was fearless, trying anything we suggested. I think that the biggest hit, though was sweet tea and I promptly gave her Mommas' tasty sweet iced tea recipe including the suggestion to include a sprig of mint whenever possible on a hot summer afternoon.

I am also including a photo of C. and the very sweet F. who I work with everyday.

During the same week I also moved from the temporary office that I was first placed in at work and am now in my official office. There is no window, but it is a very nice-sized office with soft gold walls and high ceilings. I have carted in a few of my paintings and my faithful framed poster of the French artist, De Palmas, and now I'm all set.

I will be waiting with great excitement tomorrow to hear any news that Mommy M may be sending!!!

Love to the Pamela's Girls,
Auntie J