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My love affair with the city of Nashville began roughly five years ago.

I had made the trip, along with my sister, to run the Nashville Country Music Marathon (that's us the day before the race!). We felt the presence of old country legends at the Grand Ole Opry, strolled up and down Broadway, and enjoyed the country twang and rock blasting from everywhere. I could have spent days in the iconic letterpress shop Hatch Show Print, admiring every single beautiful poster. As if we weren’t already in heaven, we found out that Sheryl Crow was running that weekend too!

When the TV show Nashville debuted a year later, I was hooked and I luckily found a fellow tribe here at Smudge Ink—ahem, Sarah and Kate. Our fandom extended to the Nashville Live in Concert Tour, which was making its way to Boston. With tickets in hand, I made it my mission to get autographs for my sister who was getting married the following week. What else do you do for the one who wants to dance “A Life That’s Good” (hands down the most sentimental country song from the show) on her wedding day?

Sarah and her roommate Kobe joined me under the high-vaulted ceilings at the Citibank Theater. As Aubrey Peeples (Layla Grant) graciously entered the stage to a thunder of applause, I texted a photo (shown above) to my sister in California. Her response: “I’m so jealous.” Needless to say, the concert was full of wonderful sets and surprises. It would be wrong (criminal even!) of me not to leave you with highlights.

Welcomed by a cheer of screams and whistles, Chris Carmack (Will Lexington) joined Peeples on stage to perform their duet, “If Your Heart Can Handle It.” A hush came over the audience as sisters Lennon and Maisy Stella (Maddy and Daphne Conrad) tackled melodic harmonies, demonstrating their wiser-beyond-years musical prowess. They introduced their onscreen dad, Charles Esten (Deacon Claybourne), the ultimate showman with an “aw shucks” smile—and also my sister’s and Kate’s TV crush.

The crowd roared when a nymph-like Clare Bowen (Scarlett O'Connor) announced she would be singing her bewitchingly beautiful performance of the song, “Black Roses.” Three words sung, the drop of one D Minor, and everyone immediately silenced. Chills. CHILLS. Then all of a sudden, she called out Sam Palladio (Gunnar Scott) who hadn’t been advertised during ticket sales. With one stride of his boots, Gunner mania had ignited. Bowen and Palladio sang their duet, “Fade Into You.” If you had not wrapped your arm around your sweetheart by then, you had really missed your opportunity to do so. The show ended as the whole cast stood up on stage for their encore number, appropriately none other than “A Life That’s Good.”

Not forgetting my mission, we gathered to a side door where an impromptu meeting with the cast might occur. Seeing the barricade of fans, the possibility of a failed autograph outcome was making me quite anxious. And then Lennon and Maisy came out! Not the elbowing type, I quickly passed my Sharpie and poster to someone closer. Though overwhelmed by the crowd, the two stars actually looked for me to learn about the poster and sign it. I am so grateful that they did. In fact, three out of the four cast members that sing “A Life That’s Good” left their autographs (see photo above). Connie Britton, if you’re out there, can I send you my sister’s poster to have you sign it?!

Feeling emboldened by my success, Sarah bravely asked for the Deacon Clayborne for his autograph, explaining it was for her boss Kate who couldn’t be there because she was celebrating her mother’s 70th birthday. Let's just call it mission accomplished (see video below)!

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One of my favorite parts of going to the Stationery Show is not only meeting our customers but also getting to know the other companies that make the stationery industry so great. This year, I stumbled on the charming and mighty Felix Doolittle. The exquisite watercolor display lured me in, and then as I reached out my hand to introduce myself I saw “Newton, MA” on Loren’s badge. Wait, you’re in Boston? How have we not met before?! And so began our friendship with Felix and Loren and their Doolittle team.

On a record-breaking hot day last week, we hopped on the Pike and made our way to visit their studio. We were greeted by a cottage-like building covered in vines and boasting a sunny yellow door that instantly made you happy. Once inside, Felix joked that the tour lasted about 5 minutes given the small space but he would try to stretch it out. It wasn’t that hard to fill up an entire afternoon!

(image: pretty address labels in the midst of packaging) 

We met the rest of their team, arduously at work printing, proofing, trimming, packing and getting orders out the door. You could tell everything was handled with care and precision, a characteristic that clearly stems from Felix’s artwork. A quick look at any his illustrations and the amount of detail is remarkable, creating a world in itself. We were stunned to learn that the large pieces on their gallery wall were actually replicates as Felix’s originals are always so tiny—postage stamp tiny at times. It’s a gift he’s had ever since he was doodling as a child and didn’t want his teachers to reprimand him for not paying attention in class.

(image: a selection of Felix's sketches at different stages)

(image: from left to right, Loren, Kate, Felix, and Deb)

 A big thanks to Loren, Jenny, and Felix for the warm invitation and treating us to some local ice cream!. We had a lovely time and hope to be back soon (with gummy bears in hand!).

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(image: smiling Yerman by Ryan Brunty)

As you can see our traveling card—affectionately named Gustave by Clayton—was quite the jetsetter this summer. Gustave came with me to visit my in-laws in Las Vegas. Perhaps he was expecting a week of gambling, DJ parties, and dazzling shows but alas, my husband and I never made it to the Strip, choosing to spend time with family and watch movie matinees instead.

On a whim, we did catch a tour at the Zappos headquarters. I was particularly interested in Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh because of all of the work he is doing to revitalize downtown Las Vegas after the company moved into the old City Hall. His vision is to transform what once was a derelict neighborhood into an environment where entrepreneurship, creativity, and tech can thrive. It’s certainly a huge challenge and one that he’s promised $350 million of his own money towards meeting. If you find this at all fascinating like I have, I highly recommend listening to this podcast.

(image: hallway mural; wish I knew who to credit!)

The tour was a great glimpse into the Zappos culture. One of its core values is to “Create Fun and A Little Weirdness” and you certainly got that sense just by looking around and seeing the random knick knacks, toys, balloons, and stuffed animals everywhere. There’s even a ball pit in the HR department. One thing that really struck me was all of the graffiti, chalk art, and murals in and outside the office (and thus all of the photos I took). Most of them were done by Zappos employees. Others are part of an effort to showcase local artists and their work, here again one of the many ways Zappos is connecting its campus with the community.

(image: mural by Dray Wilmore)

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Next stop: Outer Banks. That’s where the traveling gnome card—that I have decided to nickname Gustave—traveled along with myself, friends, and friends of friends.

The Outer Banks, a 35-mile sandy strip of land along the coast of North Carolina, boasts a distinct beach house architecture that includes a labyrinth of multi-level porches and staircases atop elevated foundations (hurricanes, people). Unlike the Californian beaches that I am accustomed to, the Outer Banks exudes a certain country Jason Aldean beach vibe, Virginian and Carolinian accents included. Mike and his family’s beach house could not have arranged for more beautiful weather (thank you, Snivelies!). And with Jen as grocery food list maker, Mike as breakfast cook extraordinaire, and Ronnie as Corona beer (and limes) runner in addition to master bbq’er, generous rations of food quelled any fears of hunger.

The days included ample amounts of beach time, lighthouse tours, sun bathing, ocean water, and time spent in good company. Culinary excursions included Mama Kwans and Fish Heads, the latter being my favorite. How can you argue with live bands, buckets of shrimp with old bay, and old couples that cut a rug the ol' fashioned way? All in all, it was a pretty great relaxing vacation, even if Gustave didn’t come back with a tan.

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In early August, I drove five hours north to Montreal with my husband for a mini vacation. For three days we meandered through neighborhoods, ate incredible food and spoke French with an American accent while accidentally using Spanish words (that was the wine working its magic). Without question the biggest highlight was having time together away from our children. Love them as we do, Randy and I actually had a conversation that lasted longer than 30 seconds! Quality time aside, discovering Montreal was invigorating and all together inspiring. Here are the highlights:

LODGING. We stayed at Casa Bianca, a simple, understated bed and breakfast perfectly located on Mont Royal Park. One of our first adventures was biking up to the top of Mont Royal to see a panoramic view of the city—breathtaking and a great way to get your bearings (see pic below). Montreal is bike friendly: take a tour or just rent bikes and follow your nose, which is what we did.

(image: Randy and me at the top of Mont Royal Park)

FOOD. I have never seen so many restaurants in one city! The options are endless and it’s not an exaggeration to say that every meal was delicious. Our most memorable dinner was at La Bremner in old Montreal. The setting—a covered porch alongside a quiet alley—was memorable and our meals were scrumptious, not to mention the friendly, warm service. Our yummiest lunch was at Mandy’s (Avenue Laurier West location). Their hearty salads are creative and surprisingly satisfying after a long morning of meandering. Needless to say, we did not go hungry. 

(image: dinner on Avenue du Mont Royal East)

MURALS. Walking around Montreal we noticed the many murals painted on random buildings, even parking garages! We stumbled upon a handful of them as we roamed between neighborhoods; it was inspiring to see so much public art and fun to turn a corner and see such enormous bursts of color. Through our innkeepers we learned that Montreal hosts an annual mural festival every summer. Definitely a good reason to go back.

(image: one of the many fantastic murals throughout the city)

Other adventures included an afternoon at the Rogers Cup, our trip to the Botanical Garden (where I snapped the shot of the roaming I Get Around card), and our Habitat 67 spotting. Fun times, Montreal. Merci beaucoup!

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