Girls Weekend in Louisville #OCGsDoLouis

So it's been two years in the making (we got together with kids last time) but we finally got together for a Girls Weekend.  We talk about it all the time but this time, we finally did it.  We were all connected by I-65 so I suggested meeting in Louisville since it was somewhat centrally located for people who live in Lafayette, Indy, Nashville and Birmingham.  Poor Krissi had to drive the farthest but she was willing and ready to party.  

 The Indiana girls drove down together and waited at a brewery for the southerners to get there.  The brewery was dark and we were getting a tiny bit tired.  THEN the southerners told us that when Birmingham picked up Nashville, they started chatting and ended up heading toward St. Louis for about an hour.  WHOOPS.  Indy and I thought we probably wouldn't go out since they were going to get there so late.  But then...

 Then we went to Fourth Street Live! We had one drink and it was ON like donkey kong.  I have no idea what they put in those drinks but we were jacked up and ready to go!

 Birmingham and Nashville got there and we dragged them back down to 4th Street Live! Group Pic! (Be prepared for tons of group pics and drink pics. You were warned!)

 First drink pic! Cheers to the years we've been friends! About 20+ years now I think!

 We went to a dance club and Krissi got pulled on stage to open a gift.  They gave her a pregnancy test and condoms.  What? Uhh, bar humor?

 Another group pic! (I told ya!)

 Meeghan wins the award for getting approached by the youngest guy.  I think he was like 23.  WHAT? You have 3 kids?? Smell ya later! Haha!

 Group pic.  This was closing in on 3 am.

 THREE A. M.  I haven't been up that late in a LONG time (unless you count getting back up with a newborn).

 But then we went for pizza at Spinelli's.  We had to wait something like an hour for flipping pizza.  We met some AWESOME Australians that made the time go fast.  They were shipping off to Boston in the morning or else we would have hung out with them some more.

 So what do you do while you're waiting for pizza with two Aussies at 4 in the morning? The Robot, of course.

 Ugh, the next morning... we slept in (hooray!), got massages (sweet!), and then went for brunch (awesome!). We ate at Wild Eggs which was amazingly delicious.  Almost Magically Delicious.  :) Seriously.  Find one and eat there.  So good.

 Then we went to the pool.  The pool overlooked the Ohio River.  Such an awesome pool!

 Except the building and sign could use a coat of paint but otherwise, not bad.

 Pool drink pic! :)

 Then the pool got FRATTY.  Frattier than this, if you can believe it.

 Hey, is that another group pic??? I can't believe it.

Awww, Indy and Nashville! Cuties!

That night we decided to hit the Highlands Bars for dinner. While we were waiting for a cab, we decided to put our trust into the doorman to take our picture.  We were not especially impressed with his skills but throw an instagram filter and it's not so bad.

 That night we went out for wine and sushi.  What is this? Is that a wine drink pic? No way.

 SUSHI! Yum! We went to Sapporo on Bardstown Road for dinner. The Highland Bars looked super fun but we didn't stay there too long.  I did get some thrift shop gifts for the kiddos.  (I am not going to pass up a t-shirt for Tommy with a tiger riding a bicycle, that's for sure!)

That night we decided to stay at the hotel and drink for a bit because one of our friends who couldn't make it... That would be Albuquerque... put a $50 credit on our hotel room so we could get some drinks.  Cue the chorus-- Weeee Loooooovvvveeee Yooouuuu Brrriiiittttannnnyyy!!! :) :) :)

While we were there, Fandom Fest was going on.  It's essentially Louisville's Comic Con. We met some interesting characters!! I ain't afraid of no ghost!

We met a famous person too! This is Julio from The Walking Dead. He apologized for smelling like weed. Ha! He said he's on the next season. Although this wiki page seems to think that he's gone. Just in case, watch for him! He's in this group pic so you never know! 

We got our picture taken with this nice young lady.  I wish I would have gotten a close up of her face.  So disgusting.

Then Bill Paxton from Aliens let us borrow his guns to pose for a picture with her too.

Krissi really enjoyed the gun show.  I think it's going to be her next big purchase!

Hey, look at that! We met Hank Williams Jr!  Ok not really.  But he was very entertaining.  

His buddy, Keith Urban, did not enjoy us calling him that.  Maybe his shirt was too tight. :-) 

We got a group picture with the "celebrities" Hank Williams Jr, Keith Urban and Danny McBride. Danny McBride thought he looked like someone from Metallica but we chose to stick with Danny McBride.  Not sure who the girl in the back is.

After hotel bar drinks, we walked around laughing at stuff.  Like shoe shining stations!

And bike racks that are shaped like dragons!!

And stores called "The Love Boutique"! We had an awesome time our second night.  We stayed out until 2 even though we wanted to go to bed much earlier.  We also ended up at Spinelli's for pizza again.  Yikes.

The next day we visited the Slugger Museum to pick up some souvenirs (or weapons, pretty much) for our children.  Last group pic I promise!

We had an amazing time last weekend.  It was seriously so great to get away just us girls for the first time in forever! I'm so glad we have maintained our friendship this well for this long.  We always pick right back up where we left off.  OCGs forever!!
See you next year! Brittany, you better be there! ;)

Tommy's First Roadtrip: Day 3

On Day 3 it was time to go home.  

 We packed up our hotel room and headed out.  

Tommy had his Scout and his backpack.  He was ready to go.  

 Here he is reflecting upon his time in Nashville (actually it was Franklin but who's counting).

I couldn't stop taking pics of him with his backpack on.  He was just so cute.  

 I snapped a quick pic of the brochures we picked up.  I picked up the Nashville Zoo brochure.  Then I spotted the brochure for Cooter's.  Ten percent off??? You can't beat that at Cooters! Tommy picked up the third one.  He really loves playing in the water if you can't tell.

When we left, we thought Tommy would be good for the first couple hours.  Turns out, not so much.  He had some leftover energy to get out so we stopped in Nashville proper.

We just randomly ended up on Broadway which is the live music bar area.  I swear we walked by a thousand bars (Morganism).

Since we were in Nashville, there was a Elvis statue every block.  Doesn't it look like Elvis is singing to Tommy T?

Tommy didn't know what to think about Elvis.  Especially since this Elvis was missing a finger.  Ew.

We walked all the way down to the river!

 Nashville is a very cool city.  We were surrounded by huge buildings...

 ...that Tommy was obsessed with.  He liked Nashville very much.

 There was a lot of room to RUN!

 Especially up hills to tire him out before our big car ride.

By the time we got back in the car, Tommy was ready to chill out.  He spent some time with his nose in a book.  How appropriate is that book???  I just bought it because it had Mickey in it and it was a Lift the Flap book.  Didn't even look at the title.  Duh.

 He also played with his Cars stickers and his new Lightning McQueen toy.

When we left Nashville, Andrew told me to google some place to eat lunch in Louisville.  I started googling and found a place that looked mighty interesting.  We decided to give it a try.  Turns out, you have to drive through a really bad neighborhood to get there but it was pretty darn worth it.

Welcome, friends, to Lynn's Paradise Cafe.  What a kooky place this was.  Tommy LOVED it.  Next time you need lunch in Louisville, you should check this place out.  It's slightly off the beaten path but hey, this place was on Oprah and several Food Network shows (read the website for more details).  

 We sat in the very back of the restaurant next to this rainbow giraffe.  The waitress told Tommy he could have it if he could carry it out.

 Tommy was really impressed by this place.  It was so dang colorful.

 It had a dish of plastic animal figurines on the tables.

 There was a Rooster Lamp sitting on our table.  There was just a boatload of awesomeness all around this place.

 Just look at Tommy's face! He can't get enough of it!

 This place is so colorful you can hardly tell where the tables end and the decorations begin.

The food was amazing too.  They made Tommy's oatmeal up milk-free and full of fruit, just like we asked. He loved it.

They had lots of places to pose for pictures.  Here's Tommy on a polka dot hand.  

The ride back was smoother than I thought it would be.  Tommy did incredibly well.  He was such a good boy.  I hope even with all his allergies/lack of sleep/tears, that Tommy had as much fun as we did.  

Thanks for an awesome weekend, Gilarragees!! Nashville, we can't wait to come back and visit!