Last week I had dinner with my friend Kimberly, she owns Emerson Grace boutique, at Santo in Green Hills! It’s one of our favorite quite spots with incredible Mediterranean inspired food! We shared the ahi tuna carpaccio, whipped feta, chicken & beef skewers, french fries, and broccolini. They also have a sister restaurant, Lola, which I’ve been wanting to try!

Today, I’m going with a girlfriend to Butcher & Bee for brunch – this is one of my favorites for brunch and dinner. Just make sure you get the whipped feta, its delicious!

While I was in Dallas last week, I tried a new-to-me coffee shop, La La Land and it was SO good. I tried the dirty chai and their honey & lavender latte and both were amazing. The avocado toasts are not to be missed either. Of course I also went to Honor Bar for lunch because I can’t go to Dallas and not eat the crispy chicken sandwich. Literally the best. I had brunch with a girlfriend at Il Bracco, which I’d only been to one other time for dinner. We shared the crudo, crispy artichokes, and both had the spicy gemelli pasta. It was incredible. Other places I ate while there: SASA Sushi and iFratelli’s pizza – both are long time favorites!

So much progress has been made in the last week with our outdoor spaces!

The pool deck was completed and looks incredible. We used a local company in the Nashville area who resurfaced our 1980s concrete into something beautiful to emulate stone. It’s not stamped concrete, I was incorrect last time! I don’t know if there is an actual name, instead just a process of different applications. If you’re local, send me a message and I’ll give you the details on the service.

Our outdoor fireplace is 90% done! All we need is a chimney cap, I”m trying to decide between black (to match the trim of the house), white (to blend in with the brick/chimney), or copper as a fun pop! I change my mind daily so TBD there. We also have to source large stone slabs to cover the tops of the log containers. After that it will be complete! I found a coffee table at RH outlet on Thursday and I love how it looks with all the other furniture outside. I picked the weathered teak to tie in the natural color of our outdoor dining chairs. I can already tell we are going to be spending a ton of time outside this summer!

This was a lighter week with social plans but Friday night I celebrated my friend Stefani’s belated birthday. She had never been to Drusie and Darr, located in the stunning Hermitage Hotel downtown Nashville, so I booked us a reservation for the celebration. We planned to get there about 30 min before our reservation, so we could sit at the bar and have a cocktail first. The atmosphere is stunning. Think feminine art deco vibes. The women’s bathroom is just every shade of pink marble and so stunning! I hadn’t sat in the bar/lounge area before and I’m glad we were able to do that first! FYI you can eat dinner at the bar, but we opted to keep the dinner reservation and go to a table.

For dinner we started with the ahi tuna tartar, crispy sushi, and the hopper shrimp. All of it was amazing. For the mains we each shared/split the grilled prime filet and the rigatoni WITH a side of fries. For dessert I had the warm chocolate cake which is like a lava cake (my favorite), and Stef had something strawberry (I can’t remember and it’s not on the menu), but she loved it! It was fun to get dressed up and enjoy a girls night and such a gorgeous spot!

This week we had a team start on resurfacing the “pool deck”. The concrete around the pool is very old, has a lot of cracks and just needed a face lift. I should have asked Will before starting this post, but I think its a stamped concrete finish. Basically the area around the pool is going to look like the bluestone patio we have in our backyard where the outdoor dining and fireplace are. It should be done by Wednesday and I’m so excited!

We also had someone come out to measure for new shutters for the front of the house. The original ones were very old, and didn’t survive the removal when we had the house painted. I was trying to decide if I wanted to leave the house without them, but I feel like it looks a little bare and I still wanted to keep the character of the original style. They will be installed in 10-12 weeks, so hold tight for pictures!

We are finalizing the next demo phase of our remodel with the laundry and powder room! Jessica has been helping with the project and I’m obsessed with the powder room sink design we are doing. Think bold but sophisticated!

Switching it up since I’m in Dallas for most of the week!

Honor Bar in Highland Park Village is one of my favorites and I have to come here (at least once) while visiting Dallas. The Ding’s Crispy Chicken sandwich is literally the best sandwich I’ve ever had. The truffle fries are not to be missed, and while I’m sad they took the Schramsberg sparkling rosé off the menu, the French 76 and spicy margarita’s are just as good!

Thursday night I met my friend Merritt for dinner at Odelay TexMex. It’s a newer restaurant on Lovers and was SO good! I had the brisket tacos, queso blanco, and a spicy margarita. Love the atmosphere, but it’s pretty busy so make sure you get there early or sit at the bar!

Friday afternoon I had lunch with two girlfriends at RH Rooftop on Knox/Henderson. I’ve mentioned this place before and its another favorite! I love that the Dallas location is a rooftop setting vs. Nashville is a courtyard setting. For lunch we shared the shaved vegetable salad and all had the lobster rolls!

Friday night we had takeout from Cana Rosso which was one of my favorite pizza places in Dallas. The honey bastard is THE BEST pizza!

Today is Emma’s bridal shower at Sixty Vines which is another fun pizza/pasta/wine restaurant and such a fun atmosphere, but if you live in Nashville, they did just open one on Broadway!

Don’t miss shopping in Highland Park Village for all your designer needs! It’s such a gorgeous shopping destination, even if you don’t buy anything, it’s just beautiful walking around! I did get these earrings which have been on my list for a long time and the store finally had them!

I was also able to sneak in an appointment to get my haircut from Michelle at Revel Workshop. I have been going to her for years and since I come to Dallas so often, I haven’t found the need to find anyone else in Nashville.

I’m SO excited because our outdoor fireplace is so close to being done! The team we hired has a lot of projects right now (everyone is so backed up), so they are fitting us in as they can, but this is after just two full working days! The “boxes” you see on either side of the fireplace are going to get finished out a little more and that’s where the logs will be stored. Once the brick work is done it will get painted Benjamin Moore Classic Grey (like our house) and then I’m going to have hydrangea bushes planted all along the back of the retaining wall just to make it nice and lush.

This week I’m going to try and go to a local nursery to find some small trees and plants I can keep in pots around the front and back of the house. I would also love to plant climbing hydrangea somewhere against the house, but I need to get some advise with the local nursery to see what will work best!