Sophomores, Sweet Sixteen, Silver Anniversary & Songwriters

We kicked off August by making the trek down to Athens to drop Brayden off as she begins her sophomore year at UGA! Since she had her new car, the two of us rode together, while Trent and Hanleigh drove another car. We settled in at the hotel and walked to dinner at Chuck’s Fish, a restaurant that we’ve been wanting to try for a long time. It was absolutely incredible and is a mix of really high-end sushi, seafood and other delectable items. Their cocktails were amazing as well! We chilled back at the hotel that evening and woke up early the next morning to help Brayden move in, but not before driving down Milledge Avenue to see all the beautiful sorority and fraternity houses. Her house is so gorgeous and well maintained. There are rooms of all sizes, but the largest is called “the cave”, which occupies six ladies. While that sounds like a lot, they have it organized very well: all of the beds, two dressers, and two closets are in one room, while a separate room contains all the vanities and a very large closet. Because Brayden had a 4.0 GPA last year, she was one of the first people to pick her room and she chose wisely, just her and Hannah. We had the earlier move-in time, so we wiped every surface down, unpacked all of her belongings, and then she took us on a tour of the house. The bathroom upstairs is incredible and has plenty of space for all the women. There’s even a little nook tucked away that is a vanity with walls covered in mirrors and a couple sinks. The laundry room even has dry erase boards where they can write whose laundry is in which washer or dryer in order to notify someone when their laundry is done. The dining room is massive and is full of chairs and tables. After we were done moving her in, she did the requisite thing of adhering her sorority letters to the back of her new car. I remember doing this myself. It was very nostalgic! Overall, it was a really quick trip down and back and yes, it was hard returning to Charlotte, and there were definitely tears shed, but nothing remotely as painstaking as one year ago when she went off to college for the first time. That was so tough and I do get teary-eyed just thinking about it or thinking about other parents who are sending their first-born children to college. When we came home, Charlie still waited outside of her room, wondering where she was. I know we all miss her. Here comes another semester where we can’t wait to see how high she will soar! You’ve got this, girl!

We drove back to Charlotte and headed straight to dinner at Olde Mecklenburg Brewery as it was my 49th birthday on that same day, so we met up with Terry, Fran, and my mom. It was great to see everyone, even though I was pretty tired, but I definitely wanted to go out to dinner for my birthday. Mom made a cake for me, which was really sweet. We even joked that she took the center of it out, like she did one time at the beach. Meanwhile, back in Athens, sorority work week began and Brayden was selected as one of the girls featured in some of their social media posts, so they got all dolled up in their gear and had pictures taken at Sanford stadium! Pretty cool. Kendall and I got together for our monthly dinner, Hanleigh and Nana had lunch together, which was special, and Kyle and I had dinner with Dad. It was really great to see him and catch up! That Friday night, a whole bunch of us met up at Postino for some cocktails before walking over to the Amp to see the Fleetwood Mac cover band, Tell Me Lies. They were really good and of course, we were up front dancing to all of their hits! The next day, I went to the Morrison Y to provide a testimonial as to how important that YMCA has been in my life, since there is a deal pending whereby a local church is purchasing the Morrison Y and people are very upset about it. There are so many committees that have been organized to try to stop this sale from happening. There have also been organized, peaceful protests, and many other marketing campaigns to get the word out. I hope I can dedicate more of my time to this cause! The YMCA is so important to me: exercising brings me sanity to my crazy job, and I’ve met one of my best friends there, Julie. The convenience of it being so close to home is also amazing, coupled with the the incredible programs they offer of families. I know how impactful it was when we were raising our girls, from swim team to summer camps and a whole lot more!

Hanleigh celebrated her 16th birthday with some of her closest girlfriends and guy friends by going to Little Mama’s for dinner, followed by a pool party back at our house, after which the girls stayed over for a slumber party. The next day, more girls showed up for an afternoon pool party. She received lots of makeup and candy, and we gave her some kits that will be helpful to her as a new driver, including a safety kit (glass and seat belt breaker, flashlight), a cleaning kit (wipes, air freshener), and a posh kit (lip gloss, mirror). I had my monthly facial with Amy, and a couple days later, Trent and I celebrated our 25 -year wedding anniversary! It hardly seems like it’s been that long, which I guess is a good thing. Since we had not yet taken Hanleigh to dinner for her birthday, we combined the milestones into one dinner at Link & Pin with Nana, Fran, and Terry. It was there that Fran gave us the sweetest gift ever! A photo album and memory book from our engagement and wedding day. She even kept a pen from our rehearsal dinner and had all these pictures and mementos that it brought me to tears. It was so incredibly thoughtful! Thank you, Fran! 

Meanwhile, down in Athens, Brayden was going through rounds two and three of rush. They have such awesome themes and really go above and beyond to make the potential new members feel at home! Hanleigh attended the Ke$ha concert with probably 90% of the teenagers in Charlotte. It was crazy seeing the Snap Map of all of their friends centrally located at the concert! Brayden had her preference round for rush and slowly but surely, the girls were close to choosing what’s sorority they would join!

To celebrate our 25th anniversary, Trent and I spent a long weekend in Asheville at the Grove Park Inn! I stayed there a couple times when I was little, but never as an adult, and he had not stayed there before. We left Friday morning, got there around lunch time, and enjoyed lunch and relaxing by their outdoor pool. After getting cleaned up, we headed to dinner and on our way there a brown bear crossed our path! We arrived in downtown and dined at Cúrate, a nationally recognized restaurant that serves delicious tapas. After dinner, we enjoyed watching the drum circle and then made our way back to the Grove Park to listen to the pianist in the lobby. It was so lovely! The next day, we woke up early and headed down to the spa, which was the main reason we were staying here. Neither of us had been before and it is world renowned, so what a perfect reason to indulge! Cell phones aren’t allowed, so they gave us these little cell phone sleeping bags that are so cute for our phones. We started our treatments separately with Trent having a de-stress body wrap while I had a fire, rock, water, and light treatment (body scrub, hot tub, massage). We then had about an hour between our next set of treatments to relax in the grotto where they have hot and cold plunges, hot tubs with waterfalls, and even a pool that plays music under the water! Then, we had an amazing couple’s massage that was probably one of the best ones we’ve ever had! Once we were done with that, we spent the next four hours just lounging around, eating lunch, and enjoying the facilities. It was top notch! It was very expensive, but it definitely will not be my last time there! That evening, we dined at Edison, Craft Ales + Kitchen, which is located inside the hotel. We were lucky enough to dine on the patio with a beautiful view of the property and the expansive mountains in the distance. After dinner, we returned back to the lobby to hear from another pianist, who was equally talented. It was an incredible weekend celebrating it with my amazing husband! Here’s to another 25 years, sweetie! Mom, thanks for watching Hanleigh, Myers, and Charlie! We appreciate you so much!

Brayden had her bid day at the sorority and was so excited to welcome all the new ladies! They always throw such a great party for these girls! Hanleigh continued to go to the living room on Sunday nights, which has been an amazing place for her to gather with other teenagers for youth group. She really enjoys it! Brayden kicked off the first day of her sophomore year and is currently taking Introduction to Sports Media Broadcasting Production, Spanish Cultural Dialogues, Reporting II: Research, Data, and Documents, Introduction to Video Journalism, and History of the USA (1865 to present) Honors. She does not have classes on Wednesdays or Fridays, so that allows her time to focus on classwork. It’s definitely a busy schedule! Hanleigh officially got her driver’s license as well. She had tried the week before, but there was a bit of a miscommunication between her and the driver’s ed teacher, so unfortunately, she didn’t pass that time around, but this time, she did! She was all smiles at the DMV. We came home and it wasn’t too long before she was excited to get in the car and take her first drive solo. But, not before we asked her to sign the driver’s contract that we had created previously when Brayden got her license. It’s basically a bunch of safety rules and common sense things that she has agreed to. When she drove off, I did get a little teary-eyed, but it was just more an out-of-body experience watching her back out of the driveway. I honestly don’t know how she’s already 16 years old! It’s so cliché, but they do grow up incredibly fast. I know I’ve said this before, but as the saying goes, the days go by slow and the years go by fast.

Hanleigh had an open house at her high school, so it was nice to acquaint ourselves with where her classes are. I had a nice dinner at Juniper Grill with Lisa and Andi where the three of us basically talked about the process of sending girls off to college and all of the implications that it has for them and us. It’s always nice to commiserate with people who are experiencing the same things you are. And, both Lisa and Andi were sending girls off for their freshman year, so that’s always tough. Hanleigh went to “optional” flag football practices, which is super exciting and she is really loving it. Naturally, practices began ramping up in preparation for tryouts and their game days on Saturdays, where they will have double headers. We absolutely love watching her play!

Tonya and I took Heather out to Burton’s for her birthday dinner to celebrate, and it’s always an amazing time when the three of us are together. Mom and I had great dinner together on another night as well! It’s so great to see her and connect and now that we’ve established a monthly dinner cadence, I look forward to those special evening! Brayden has another amazing opportunity through her major to do sports broadcasting on Friday night for the high school football games in the Athens area. She’s really enjoying it and her first game was where Kirby Smart’s son plays and she was on the sideline right next to him! Pretty cool! We had a girls night on the books so earlier in the day, Tonya, Heather, Kendall, Julie, and I spent some time at Tonya’s pool, got ready there, and then headed to dinner to Albertine which was absolutely delicious, followed by going to Vinyl. We were in search of a place to dance, but it wasn’t in the cards that night. There really isn’t a dance floor there, so the next time we will have our hearts set on shaking our booties somewhere! 

I took Hanleigh back-to-school shopping at the mall to get her some new clothes for the school year. She is also training as a hostess at her new job, which will provide her with some money for savings and spending! Brayden had her new member retreat and Abby, Mimi, Aunt Patty, and Christel met up and had dinner together at Firebirds. It was great to see them all and catch up! Hanleigh began her sophomore year in high school and is taking English II Honors, Principles of Biomedical Science, Sports Medicine, AP Psychology, and Spanish III. Brayden and four of her best friends from college also signed a two-year lease where they will live their junior and senior years. As it turns out, there are four new houses in a row, all of which will be occupied by her sorority sisters. You can’t get any better than that! The houses should be done sometime next spring and they are adorable! The college frat parties ramped up with Brayden attending the annual Fiji rave. 

I made the trek to Nashville to meet up with Stacy and Laura, a trip that we have been planning for a very long time. The last time the three of us got together was four years ago in Charlotte! It’s crazy how fast the time flew and this trip was way overdue. We also had no intention of doing this, but this was also the week after Dolly Parton had passed (RIP, Dolly!), so you can imagine how busy the city was and how much of her music we heard. Stacy and I ate dinner on Wednesday night at the Iberian Pig, which is an absolutely delicious tapas restaurant. Laura flew in the next day and it was so great seeing her. She has been through so many challenges over the past few years and has continued to rise above, just like I would have expected. Her attitude is super positive and I’m so proud to call her a friend. When she arrived to the Airbnb, we made our way to Milk & Honey for yet another amazing meal! Naturally, lunch was followed by awesome shopping at some local boutiques. That night, we went to The Listening Room, which is a venue where songwriters tell the stories and perform some of the hits that they have written for major country music artists. I would definitely go back there each time I visit Nashville. It was such a cool experience! After that, we headed to Sunda New Asian for a tasty dinner and then headed to L.A. Jackson’s rooftop bar where we took in the beautiful views of the Nashville skyline. As we were sleeping that night, we were awoken around 3:00 a.m. to the very loud fire alarm in the entire condo complex. We quickly ran outside and sat for what seemed like eternity, but was probably about 45 minutes. Oddly enough, not that many people were outside, which I guess at the pure example of a Darwin award. Thankfully, didn’t seem like there was a fire and the fire trucks came and went and we were safe to go inside.

The next day, we just meandered around Nashville and had a delicious dinner at Aba, which I had been to before in Austin. There’s only three locations in the United States and I highly recommend that if you are ever near one that you go. Not only is the food incredible, but the atmosphere is stunning (greenery everywhere)! After dinner, we hit up Broadway (Stacy had not been before), so it was great to see the look on her face when she saw all the chaos. We went straight to the most famous place, Tootsies Orchid Lounge, and enjoyed a female-led band that was doing an amazing job on stage. Then, we headed to Laney Wilson’s Bell Bottoms Up where we watched another band and danced! It was such a fun night! The next morning, we headed to the Pancake Pantry for some yummy breakfast and then ventured over to the CMA Hall of Fame & Museum where we watched another songwriter’s session with Ana Cristina Cash, Johnny Cash’s daughter-in-law! How cool! After that, we decided to see Broadway during the day, so we headed back there and hung out at Robert’s Western World for a while. That night, we had all intentions of going to an Italian restaurant for dinner, but we were tired and just wanted an evening to sit at the house and just chill out together. Also, Stacy and Laura had really early flights the next morning. So, we canceled our dinner reservation and ordered Aba takeout (it was so delicious, we just wanted to eat it again!). I concluded the month with another facial with Amy and Hanleigh had her official flag football tryouts, which of course she made the team! You go, girl!

View Photos | View Video