good eatin'.

While I was in Nashville last weekend visiting my ever-since-we-were-little-girls best friend, she made sure that I got a taste of the town. The taste was so good, in fact, that I came home weighing three pounds more than when I left. You know what that means: Baby B loved all the food just as much as Mama B did, y'all! We went right to dinner when I first pulled into town, and she kick-started the weekend by taking me to The Loveless Cafe. Not only was it the cutest little setup with several different country stores to wander through while you waited, but it was also yuuuuuuuuuuuummy. I couldn't decide which vegetable I wanted, so I chose the vegetable plate and got all four that were calling my name: fried okra + macaroni and cheese + caramelized sweet potatoes + green beans. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

The following day, after enjoying my first-ever prenatal massage (which was heavenly, by the way), we ate lunch at The Pharmacy, another local restaurant known for its burgers. I enjoyed a chili burger + sweet potato fries. And when I say I enjoyed them, I mean that I reeeeeeeeeeally enjoyed them. The setting of this particular spot used to be an old pharmacy, which is where it gets its name, and I loved everything about it, indeed.

After lunch on Saturday, Ellybeth treated me + Baby B to ice cream at Jeni's. I'm not being dramatic when I confidently say that I have never, ever, ever had ice cream quite as incredible as this. When we first walked in, the sweet aroma almost made me start drooling. I had one scoop of "roasted strawberry buttermilk" ice cream + one scoop of "the milkiest chocolate in the world" ice cream, and it tasted like an explosion of the sweetest chocolate-covered strawberry in my mouth. I have no doubt that Baby B was cutting flips inside my belly as I devoured it!

Our last local meal of the weekend was at Puckett's Grocery in Franklin, a cute little town right outside of Nashville. I had a delicious barbeque sandwich with sweet barbeque sauce + another round of sweet potato fries. Ellybeth + I, also, shared a blueberry cobbler + ice cream for dessert, which was an added treat on top of the already wonderful day. This dinner was particularly special, because we got to listen to a live performance from Don Schlitz, the newest inductee into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame! With every song he played, I was flabbergasted at his talent, because a lot of my favorite old country songs were written by him. Just to give you an idea, here are a few of the songs he's written: The Gambler by Kenny Rogers + I Am the Greatest by Kenny Rogers + On the Other Hand by Randy Travis + Forever and Ever, Amen by Randy Travis + One Promise Too Late by Reba McEntire + When You Say Nothing At All by Alison Krauss. How amazing is that, y'all? We were in the midst of a legend, and he was singing to us! I will never, ever forget this night.

"I take my chances every chance I get."

-Mary Chapin Carpenter

(Lyrics by Don Schlitz)