Yesterday* started out like any other weekday, but by the time I got home last night ** it had turned into a great reminder of why I moved to Nashville. See, one of my coworkers sits on the Board of Directors for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, and we all love to support them when we can. Unbeknownst to me (I guess nonprofits don’t have ginormous advertising budgets?) there was a fundraiser concert called Stars for Second Harvest going on at the Ryman Auditorium that night. With the economy the way it is, fundraisers like these have really taken a hit, and ticket sales are down. The organizers didn’t want the performers to look out and see so many empty seats, since they had donated their time and all, so my coworker was able to secure some free tickets for us. She sent an email with the details, I skimmed it and saw Luke Bryan’s name and said, I’m there!

My friend Katrina is much more savvy about the Nashville Music Biz and she knew who the other guys were, names I didn’t recognize. And in retrospect, I’m a little embarrassed that I didn’t know who they were, but then again I don’t know how I would have known. But the important thing is that I know now, and I will never forget, and I am here to tell you about it!

So this was the program: Craig Wiseman & Friends present Stars for Second Harvest. The first hour was Craig Wiseman, Jeffrey Steele, and Tony Mullins sitting on stools with microphones and their guitars. Have you ever heard any song ever recorded by Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Phil Vassar, Montgomery Gentry, Tim McGraw, Rodney Atkins, Leann Rimes, or Brooks & Dunn, just to name a few? Then you have heard the songs written by these masters. It was so entertaining just to watch the three of them play and sing their own songs and each other’s songs. Even though we knew that there were some great artists waiting backstage, my friends and I agreed that we would have been happy just to listen to these three all night.

But there were others! First Joey & Rory came out and performed, in Rory’s words, their one hit. Then Heidi Newfield showed us what she can do with a harmonica. Impressive. Then Luke Bryan, the reason I was there, followed by a truly terrible (but philanthropic! he bought his own plane ticket and flew in from New York!) comedian, Gary Mule Deer. And finally Rodney Atkins wrapped up the show. Surprisingly he did not do “Fifteen Minutes.” But of course he did “Watching You.” I guess that’s his signature.

And that’s what it’s like living in Nashville! You just never know when you wake up in the morning if you might wind up at an awesome show at the Ryman that night!

And don’t worry, I made a donation to Second Harvest Food Bank the next day.

* not really yesterday, it was actually almost two weeks ago, I’m just really behind on my blogging

** also not really last night

Here are the new adirondack chairs. Still need cushions, and probably a table or something.

And remember my little treetop garden, with the marigolds that were practically on life support because they weren’t getting enough sun?

They have exploded:

I let the kitties go out on the patio, and before long there will be a fence back there so they can hang out back there all the time.

I also bought a halter and leash for Daisy, so look for pictures or maybe a video of that before too long.

Well it’s been a month since I moved in. I haven’t touched the table and chairs from my last post. I promise to post more pictures once I finally get around to that. Oh, and once I find the charger for my camera battery. I hate to admit it but I still have a lot of unpacking to do! I don’t know how to explain the fact that I moved from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom condo and had no trouble filling up both bedrooms! But the bedrooms are both pretty disorganized right now, because I tend to spend all of my time downstairs. And I’ll really never want to leave the living room once my new couch arrives–I got a sectional with a chaise. (sidebar: how do you say that word? I say it like “chase” so maybe that makes me a hick… the saleslady said “shayze”)

I just got this kitchen table secondhand. It’s a little shabby, and it smells like cigarette smoke which was completely unforeseen!

Ignore the clutter please–this picture is for reference. Ocean blue walls and lots and lots of white. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it on the blog but I was sort of going for a Coastal Living look in the kitchen. I’m still deciding whether to keep this shade of blue or tone it down a little. But I love the white.

Obviously I am going to have to paint the table. I’m still kind of a rookie when it comes to painting, but I’m assuming that I’ll need to use Kilz due to the smoke smell. Now I need some opinions on what color to paint the table.

Tomorrow there’s a baby shower at work. My closest coworkers and I don’t really know the mother-to-be, but we decided to chip in and give her a little something. I was elected to do the shopping, but everything on the registry was so boring. So I decided to make a diaper cake. I’ve never made one before but I googled “how to make a diaper cake” and I found some good instructions. It was very easy, and I’m pleased with how it turned out. Can’t wait to make another one!

I am now moved in to the new house, and with my parents here to help for four days, got the kitchen and living room painted. Here are a few pictures.

Daphne’s all, what is up with this green?

What is up, indeed.

Enter Tidal Pool blue.

Looking better… now on to that gross yellow! (Yes, the yellow that I initially thought was fine. I changed my mind.)

Here’s more of the yellow.

And here is the new gray next to the blue.

And more gray.

And finally, here is my first furniture purchase for the new house!

Any Reba fans in the audience?

Tonight I tried something new– speed dating. It was actually pretty fun. There were 9 men and I think 13 women. Each participant had a list with basic info about all of the people they’d meet, and at the end we turned in sheets with yes or no circled next to each name. Out of the 9, I circled yes for 3 of them. If they said yes to me too, we’ll get each other’s contact information in about two days.

Getting ready to decorate this new house is daunting. I have lots of ideas floating around in my head but I am not totally confident in my choices. The first decision I came to was that I want the kitchen to be an islandy, oceany blue. For many years now I have resisted having any blue at all in my decor. I guess now I’m ready for a change. I have to give some credit to my sister because she’s the one who put the idea in my head for these bright colors, a year or more ago.

I went to Lowe’s last week and browsed paint colors. I thought I wanted a greenish blue, so I was quite surprised when I realized I didn’t like any of the greenish shades, only the true blues. I picked up several paint chips and was showing them to my realtor while we waited for the attorney at my closing on Friday. She advised me to go to Ace Hardware and pick up some samples of Benjamin Moore. I was a little disappointed in the selection. I didn’t see anything that was exactly what I’ve been picturing, but in the hopes that paint on the wall looks different from paint in a little jar, I chose these three to try. Stay tuned for updates!