Rehab - The Place to Stage a Comeback?
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.29.08, 5:29 PM)
Vogue, Bazaar, and Marie Claire have all made references to Lindsay Lohan's "comeback" in the past few months. I can only ask, is she paying them for their kind words? To my knowledge, the girl hasn't done anything to remotely show that she's coming back from anything besides home after her stint in rehab. She wasn't really ever THERE to begin with. Good for her I guess...that anyone is talking about her. I will give her credit for dressing really well and having a wonderful makeup artist, though. Maybe she's coming back to the salon? Either way, you can see her on the cover of practically every magazine this month.
Another Ice Cream Shop for East Nashville
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.27.08, 1:47 PM)
I don't really understand why Ice Cream joints don't come to West End or Green Hills, but it seems like East Nashville is overflowing with the cold, creamy concoction! Pied Piper has been scooping the treat for over a year now, and Mike's on Broadway is moving a location over there, as well. I guess I need to just get off my butt and make a trip across the bridge. I haven't tried Pied Piper but I've heard about their White Trash mix that they make. Apparently, it has every kind of candy bar imaginable jammed into a cone with a little bit of ice cream thrown in for good measure! Sounds like my kind of dessert.
Shopping Local
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.25.08, 4:54 PM)
I read the comments that people write to me on the blog. So, I decided to take someone up on their idea of looking hard to find the great local stores that Nashville has to offer. I did just that, and found Monkee's. It's in the Green Hills Hill Center that I've been to a dozen times or more just this month. It was my first venture into this particular store though; I guess I had overlooked it previously thinking that by the name it must be a children's store. What I found made me want to jump for joy...in a new pair of their wonderful shoes! They carry some great labels, and have other things for the not-so-shoe obsessed. Adorning the small boutique were custom charm bracelets, designer shades, and a few really great bags that happened to be reasonably priced. I honestly tried on almost every pair of shoes and I can say with a certainty that come payday, my check will be seeing the cash register at Monkee's. My closet will be overflowing with boxes, as well!
Superfoods in my Cocktail
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.22.08, 3:20 PM)
First there was the Pomegranate Martini. POM was sold out of every store within a 100 mile radius of me, I'm sure. Now, it seems like the Superfood of the month is the Acai. It's a berry with the protein profile of an egg and has 30 times the heart-friendliness of red wine. Wow, huh? That's what I thought anyway. Who knows if it works the same way when drowned in Vodka and sugar, but it can't be all bad! If it were available anywhere around here I might try it. Whole Foods carries the juice, and has a few frozen options, too. That definately beats nothing, and if I'm making a cocktail I'm not going to be squeezing each individual berry. I'm sure as the seasons change they will get a batch of the berries themselves in their produce department. Until then, I guess I'll have to stick to getting my protein and nutrients in liquid form!
Cupcakes!
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.21.08, 1:13 PM)
After saying not too long ago that there just aren't enough places around here that offers yummy desserts, I spotted Gigi's Cupcakes springing to life on Broadway. Located in the same building as the finally reopened Off the Grill, the cute little pink store is opening and selling coffee, as well. Is there a better combination? I honestly can't tell you how thrilled I am; I may run in and try them all at once.
Renting
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.20.08, 4:04 PM)
Is there another way to find condos for rent besides actually driving up and down each street, searching for signs posted up? I know Craigslist and Backpage like the back of my hand. Maybe what I'm desperately looking for just isn't on the market yet. Or, maybe I'm just not looking hard enough. Being the slightly impatient person that I happen to be, I am starting to get frustrated that my lease is ending soon and I haven't nailed down the perfect new place!
Lime left a Sour Taste in my Mouth
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.19.08, 10:59 AM)
Lime, the new restaurant on Broadway, looks really fun from the street. Huge, white light fixtures hang from the ceiling and looked to me like spun sugar. What's not to love about that!? We got there a little bit early (around 6pm), so it didn't come as much surprise that they let us have our pick of booths in the entire place. After ordering a really fresh Raspberry Martini, I opened the menu, completely starved When the initial price shock died down, I noticed that the descriptions of the items sounded great. We started off with the trio of dips and chips. Each dip came out served in very small bowls, but tasted great either way. We all decided to just split many of the other appetizers after practically licking the teeny bowls clean. To preface all this, I need to make it clear that when I think of appetizers, I think of food to share with others before your own meal arrives. So ordering 3 more appetizers after the initial dessert should have been plenty for a small table of girls, right? What arrived was comical. As in, could have made a cartoon punch-line, complete with drum solo.
Eavesdropping at the Preds Game
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.18.08, 03:35 PM)
The game should have been too exciting for me to pay attention to the attendees around me. We had gotten tickets on the ice, literally right behind that clear plastic partition. But the game seemed to drag on forever, with no one scoring or getting into a tussle of any kind. After my second drink I started to occupy my time by listening to the intensely colorful woman behind me scream, "Git 'er Done!" every couple minutes. In between that overused phrase, she herself was commenting about the people around her to anyone who would listen. There was one particular comment she made that really stood out to me. After seeing a girl pass by with a Coach bag on her shoulder, she leaned over to her husband and let him know how much she admired the bag. She then informed him that you could only purchase those purses in New York for $1,000. While most of you know that isn't the case, what struck me as horrifying was the realization of how truly horrible the Nashville market is in relation to designer accessories.
Meat Market
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.15.08, 4:29 PM)
Southerners know their food, BBQ being top dog on that list. I know my desserts, but I'm clueless when it comes to a good steak. Tonight is date night, and I'm being whisked away to Ruth's Chris; his decision. I've been before and gotten the lobster, which was phenomenal. But what about their meat? Do they rate at the top of the Nashville steak connoisseur’s list? You know I try to shy away from chains, so if I had my pick I would probably be going to Sperry's...but not for the beef. They have the best coconut/chocolate/ice cream confection called a Snowball. Try it - you'll be in love, too. But this isn't about sugar; this is about the main dish. I'm going to make it a point to try a bite of the filet tonight and rate it among the others I've had. More than likely I'll remember the side items above the actual entree, since I do remember them covering every one of their sides in cheese!
Valentine's Day
Posted by Beth Alexander
(02.14.08, 3:59 PM)
I love Valentine's Day, too. It's a free holiday! If you do something for someone else, great. If not, it's probably not a big disappointment (unless you've made the mistake of choosing someone who puts a lot of stock in being honored/gifted on every relevant occasion). I miss my mom on Valentine's Day. She always made a big deal about it, cutting out Cupids, lighting red candles and sprinkling the kitchen table with candy hearts. She was a romantic and loved the song "My Funny Valentine." Now, some of my favorite treats are the heart sugar cookies from Bread and Co., and the very funny musical Valentine's cards from--yes, Hallmark. I love seeing the delivery guys carrying vases of red roses all over downtown, the pink balloons outside various businesses and smiles on the faces of the recipients. Though my sons are far away, i packed a half dozen of those iced sugar cookies, some funny cards and two really soft new T-shirts in a box and overnighted them yesterday. Somehow, I think that would also make my mom happy.
V-Day
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.14.08, 1:38 PM)
Speaking of flowers, I just received the most beautiful bouquet of roses to my office. The note was even better than the flowers, though! I know that many people have a Love/Hate relationship with Valentine's Day, but I've always loved it; even when I was single! I love the little candies and chocolates that take up the middle isles of Walgreens. Yes, I realize that's the cheap stuff. But sometimes a girl just really needs a heart-shaped box of Whitman's finest! I usually buy myself candy (just did today, as a matter of fact). But it was a little bonus to be given a gift from someone else. Cupid hit me this year, even though dinner celebrations aren't until tomorrow night. That was my doing, since the restaurant my fiancé loves was booked solid for this evening, but is wide open Friday night. So that's my treat to him. Bon Appetite!
Not your Average Florist
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.13.08, 12:38 PM)
A coworker is in the hospital, so I would like to send a bouquet of gorgeous flowers to cheer her up and have something to look at besides daytime Soap Opras. The issue I'm having is that I have no idea which florist to go to! I haven't had to deal with sending flowers in Nashville up until this point, and I know how horrible of an experience that can be. Baby's Breath, anyone? I need a florist that creates their own arrangements and doesn't use filler flowers to make it appear larger than what you actually paid for. On that note though, I also don't want to work with someone that thinks their creations are worth more than I make in a year. Recommendations would be wonderful at this point!
Sugar"Less" Fix
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.11.08, 11:45 AM)
Craving sugar, which isn't at all unusual on the weekends, a group of us headed out Saturday night in the search for a fix. Going to our old standby, Bobbie's Dairy Dip, I was horrified to see that they close at 5pm for winter. Almost in tears, we all racked our brains to think of another place we could turn to for homemade goodies.
Stepping down at 75-years-old
Posted by Heather Burchfield
(02.10.08, 05:28 PM)
I'm afraid I have some bad news for some of you.
Old Navy's spring lines
Posted by Heather Burchfield
(02.10.08, 4:52 PM)
I was catching up on reading my Women's Wear Daily (WWD), which I always get several days late and usually five or six at one time. That's beside the point though. One of the cover stories for the January 28 issue was about Old Navy's make-over. They not only have a new logo, but they are going to start having entirely new lines for each month. WWD quoted Old Navy's president Dawn Robertson saying February's collection was an urban safari look. March will be bright whites inspired by Palm Beach. April 's collection will have a surf appeal, and May will be a tropical theme. June is going to be full of glitzy ensembles due to Old Navy's sponsorship of the MTV Music Awards. I tell ya, I've seen the pictures. If you're shopping on a budget and you like to dress as if you weren't, then check out Old Navy in the next few months. I would do the same, but too bad I gave up luxury shopping for lent. Oh well, I'll live vicariously through you. Here's the link to the article if you want to read it for yourself: http://wwd.com/search/article/121808?query=Old+Navy
It's not Always Easy being Green
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.07.08, 3:31 PM)
My office has finally decided to get with the current times and do something positive for the environment. What exactly do they plan to do? Take away our styrofoam cups. That's pretty much it. We still go through 100 cans of diet coke each day, not recycling one of them. We still use 100 lbs of paper a day, all of that going into the trash as well. But even if you don't buy into the whole "carbon footprint" idea, there's still the fact that SOMEONE is going to have to wash all the new, shiny coffee cups they purchased. That's right, 144 mugs will most likely be sitting, half-full of cold coffee, just waiting on the one person that has the decency to stick them in the washing machine...and then put them up after they are clean. Enough of my "Maid for Hire" rant. I guess you don't realize how much you waste until you start looking around. I just threw away the remains of my afternoon snack, complete with plastic utensils and paper plate.
Tornado Season?
Posted by Mandi Coleman
(02.06.08, 8:40 AM)
It's not that season quite yet, but last night's storms were enough to make anyone think we had been lifted out of Oz and sent straight to the heart of Kansas. If you watched the news at all, you would have seen 5 or so tornados in multiple spots all over Tennessee. Getting into bed, I could hear the wind beating on the window...it wasn't comforting! Luckily, the majority of the storms stayed away from Cool Springs. The 70 degree weather was a wonderful change, but if those are the consequences I think I'll take my frigid temperatures and wait until Spring for T-Shirt weather.
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