Well, let's see, it's suddenly 2023!

 

Well, it only took me 22 years, but I finally won the Burgess Falls Fantasy Football League that we have played in together and I have been commissioner of all this time!  Ashlee has won it a couple of times, and I have made the finals a couple times, but never won it all.  This year didn't look likely either as I limped in as the eighth and final seed with a losing record and proceeded to win three games in a row as an underdog in each one.  Ashlee actually had the most accumulated points of all 12 teams over the season, but fell in the playoffs (not to me, thank God! lol!).  On to year 24!!! 

Sunday, January 9 - We dropped off Sunny at doggy daycare today in Mt. Juliet and picked up our friend, Bethany, and headed over to the Flat Tire Diner in Hermitage/Old Hickory to check out their tasty-looking breakfast menu.  Using pastrami in their hash (photo above) and their eggs-Benedict had us the most curious.  It was legit!!  As were the house-made cinnamon buns with cream cheese icing! Wow!  This won't be our only visit here, I am sure!! 

Monday, January 10 - The 2022 Collage is up on the wall!!  That's # 24 in the collection representing 32 years together!  It was another fun year, and I thought the collage came together pretty nicely.   The addition of cool stickers from RedBubble.com the last few years has really made these things pop!  

January 12 - Well, we had one HAIL of a pool party today.  A hailstorm in January? Tennessee weather...she can be a weird one! 

Sunday, January 15 - We headed down to Cedar Glade Brews in Murfreesboro today with Sunny since it's one of the few breweries in the area that allow dogs inside (no kitchen) and we needed that (cuz, baby, it's cold outside).  Our friends, Bethany and Emily, joined us as well and we enjoyed a few pints as well as some darn good wings and bbq from the Single Tree BBQ food truck outside.  

Tuesday, January 17 - It was $6 movie night at The Roxy Theaters (recliners!) here in Lebanon and we went to the see the new Tom Hanks film, A Man Named Otto with our friends, Lisa and Toney.  The movie was excellent and definitely a tear-jerker.  

Saturday, January 21 - We had a fun little impromptu road trip eastward today to Crossville to visit our nearest Buc-ee's (yes, it's worth the drive!).  Ashlee got some new T-shirts.  I got a new hat that happened to look pretty good on Sunny too!  We had some of their awesome sandwiches for a late lunch as well.   We stopped in Cookeville on the way back and had a beer at Hix Farm Brewery and picked up a 12-pack of donuts across the street at Ralph's as well.  Good, good trip!! 

Sunday, January 22 - We went to see an afternoon matinee of the new Oscar-buzz film, The Whale, at our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) today.  We applaud our little independent theater for bringing such an important, arthouse-style of film here to Lebanon.    The film itself was hard to watch, but so well done and definitely deserves the Oscar hype for Brendan Fraser in the lead role.

Tuesday, January 23 - It was $6 movie night again at The Roxy Theaters (recliners!) here in Lebanon, so we decided to check out the newish animated movie, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.  While we are not the biggest fans of the Shrek series, this spinoff is getting good reviews and focuses on one of our favorite topics: cats!!  (And as of today, it's an Oscar-nominated film as well.)  The movie was fun and creative.  I could definitely see it winning the statue.  

Thursday, February 2 - We had dinner tonight at Lebanon's second (yes, second!) craft brewery that has sprung up in the last year.  Tenn Lakes Brewing is over in the old Woolen Mill Complex where our beloved Lady Godiva English pub was at one time.  They've teamed up with Prince Street Pizza from Gallatin, which was smart, because their food is fantastic!  Good luck to these guys in a space that's cool, but never seems to garner much longevity for whomever is occupying it.    Hopefully, good craft beer and tasty pies might finally do the trick! 

Friday, February 3 - We loaded up and headed over to our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) tonight to meet our friend, Lisa, and her mom, to catch an opening weekend showing of the new comedy, 80 for Brady.  What a great cast!  Including Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda (how does she still look that good?), the hilarious duo from the great show " Grace and Frankie."  And, hey, Rita Moreno and Sally Field are no slouches either!  The movie was cute and funny.  We really enjoyed it. 

Sunday, February 5 - We had a (Sunny)day, Fun Day today.  After picking up our friend, Bethany, in Mt. Juliet, we headed over to the trendy Capitol View area of downtown Nashville (free parking!) where we ate some awesome tacos et al at Condado, a new-to-us restaurant that has a dog-friendly patio that we were able to use with Sunny. 

Our next stop was the newest Tailgate Brewing location over in East Nashville.  This was our first visit to this location.  They had a nice, covered patio for us to hang out in with Sunny.  Our friends, Wendy and Charly, met us as well and brought their young bulldog, Barkley. We enjoyed some craft brews, conversation and the warm sun coming through onto the patio.  

Back in Mt. Juliet, we ended the day with a quick visit to PetsMart and some tasty Haagen Dazs Ice Cream cones! 

Monday, February 6 - We hit another brewery tonight in an impromptu dinner and drinks with our friends, Curtis and Kate, at our new Cedar City Brewing Company on The Lebanon Square. 

Tuesday, February 7 - Tonight, we feasted on a couple of awesome Christmas gift steaks ordered from The Golden Steer Restaurant in Vegas where we had a fabulous dinner a few years ago before seeing Barry Manilow.   Thanks for the great present, baby!!    They were delicious and so easy to prepare!  Now we know who to really cook steaks!! 
We also had a nice bottle of Argentinian red wine with our meal to remind us of our recent big trip down south.  It was a 2020 malbec from Espuela del Gaucho Vineyards in the Mendoza Region. 

Tuesday, February 14 - Happy Valentine's Day!!!  I picked up some pretty roses from the good ol' Publix for Ashlee, and she got me some heart-shaped Dunkin Donuts as well as a box of heart-shaped Hostess Ding-Dongs (the way to my heart for sure!)  

We had club Level tickets to see Fitz and the Tantrums at The Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville tonight along with opener, Sammy Rash.  He didn't do a lot for us, but I wanted to make a note of it on here in case he's playing stadiums next year at this time. Beforehand, we had an excellent Valentine's Day dinner at Jane's Hideaway in East Nashville.  We left the Fitz show a little early since we've seen them several times, the place was packed again with annoying people (probably our last show here, it's just not our favorite), and it was still a "school night."  

Plus, we had to get home to this little valentine sweet tarts!!  Tabitha and Daphne (Taffy and Daffy for short) are our newest foster babies, and they couldn't be sweeter! 

Saturday, February 18 - We took our old boy, Zippy, out of Wilson County for the first time today and over to Green Hills for a fancy trim and groom.  His winter coat is at full shag, and we figure he might need a little help as he gets older.  

Yeah, he was, and we have no idea how it's going to turn out!  And HE DID GREAT!  What a trooper!  He's just a good (crazy) boy.   A little extra CBD in his breakfast this morning might have helped too! 

While Zippy was getting his fancy grooming, we had a nice and tasty hipster breakfast in the happening 12 South area at Ladybird Taco where they bring "a little Texas to Tennessee."   

After dropping Zippy off back home quaffed and pampered, we headed up to Gallatin to check out yet another new and nearby craft brewing called Big Trouble Brewing.  We both enjoyed one of their Jean Claude - Belgian Strong Ales (photo above).  

Monday, February 20 - We celebrated the President's Day holiday (Ashlee was off. I wasn't) with a late lunch in mild weather at a new dog-friendly patio back up in Gallatin at Double Dogs Sports Bar and Grill.  The food and atmosphere were great.  We will definitely be back here sometime!  Sunny enjoyed the car ride and the stray French fry now and then. 

Tuesday, February 21 - You had us at buy one pizza, get one free!!  It just so happens that Sunny's new training class in Mt. Juliet is across the street from Jonathan's Grille, so we had dinner beforehand tonight (and lunch tomorrow) thanks to this great deal.   Sunny's class is for six weeks, so let's see how many of these we can hit! 

Thursday, February 23 - We had tickets tonight to the SOLD-OUT Henley Restaurant and Cascade Hollow Distillery's "Gold Label Bourbon Dinner" at "The Rabbit Hole" in Nashville's West End.   This four-course dinner with accompanying George Dickel Bourbon cocktails was very reasonably priced with some the proceeds going to The Giving Kitchen charity.   The food and drinks were excellent!  We will definitely consider coming back to the Henley for dinner again based on what we tasted here and the fact they validate parking which is valuable as well in the ever-growing Music City.