what i have to report

this past weekend i was in nashville for the southern c summit — a really well put together networking and educational event by the ladies from the southern coterie, an online social network for all things southern.

we were fed delicious treats at every break, including cocktails (how great are these old fashioned mixers by white whale (homemade in durham, nc!)

i’m not kidding – they were downright tasty – and i maaaaaaybe an expert on a good old-fashioned.

the other highlight was most definitely the shrimp and grits made to order from the southern, a phenomenally great restaurant in the sobro district of nashville.

do you see those pats of butter? arrghhh!

i tell you what – the eating in nashville is right on. my faves were:

–rolf & daughters : voted by bon appetit as the third best new restaurant in the country this year, their ‘rad old fashioned’ started things off just right, followed by a dandelion and blue cheese salad, steamy sourdough bread with seaweed butter, and a farro gemelli dish with wild mushrooms, kale, lemon and garlic. good lord.

–the southern: they have a dish called ‘bless your heart”. did you know that’s one of the loose meanings of i suwannee? amazing brunch here – shrimp and grits, whisky sipping cream, brown butter linguine topped with fried eggs.

–husk: deviled eggs. deviled eggs. deviled eggs. and a plate of southern vegetables. can’t go wrong.

–the mad platter: a cozy dimly lit room with books lining the walls and booths tucked into corners. the escargot, risotto and bananas foster were the definition of comfort food.

during a rare moment of not eating, i toured the southern living showhouse where we had a lovely chat with lindsay bierman, the editor of SL, who explained to us the history of the fontanel mansion and the showhouse’s plans for the future (to become a bed and breakfast on the grounds).

you’ll be glad to know that i finally had some business cards made, so i could do real lady bizness – i’m quite happy with how they turned out.

you’ll see featured there one of our very special handmade bracelets from the flea. we may have gone overboard and made about 39234 of them, so if you didn’t grab one, please come and shop from our selection that includes phrases such as ‘won’t stop’, ‘i just ball a lot’, ‘cash money’, ‘twerk’ and ‘dime piece’. real collector’s items. and classy too!

speaking of collector’s items, our constellation pop-up shop is coming down this week (because we have one of our most exciting ones yet ready to go!) so if you haven’t snagged a print or a porcelain box, i’d get on it. i love how jessica from the aestate styled her constellation box, matches and rainy day box. and you’ll regret it later if you don’t go ahead and get that nate berkus tray from target. i bet you could find a home for this too if you tried.

more on the flea tomorrow, but just a few things worth mentioning today:

our t-shirts. pretty legit right?

pink balloons are always the best

i scored a leftover bouquet of wildflowers from the sale

izzie refused to part with her fanback rattan chair. she said it was priceless. unless there was an indecent proposal, which she would consider.

just for perspective

and the best sellers: glitter pumpkins and pumpkin chai candles. we still have online and in the store, but this batch will be our last!

and in other animal news:

rowdy’s friend mattie scored some finds at the flea.

brian meares scored this (we thought) stray (we thought) baby cat and decided it was essential that WE take it in, and on, and benefact it, or something. as fate would have it, after night one a sign went up on the corner: ‘missing black cat’ – so we called, and the 11 year old housecat was tearfully retrieved by its owner (who wondered why in the hell we’d had her cat for 24 hours?). all is now well.