Chords of Hope--Band Against MS!

It seems like we've been in charity benefit mode lately! Last night was another fantastic event for an even better cause. We spent our evening here...

http://wildhorsesaloon.com/calendar/view/11567/2

As a venue, Wildhorse Saloon can't be beat. Although it tends to become a tourist trap on the weekends (don't all of the honky tonks on Broadway?!), the food is delicious (we dined on fried pickles, my favorite, and I had a philly steak sandwich on a pita, while Dave went with a tequila chicken sandwich), the cocktail menu is fabulous (I went with a hurricane and a Blue Moon; Dave chose a Lynchburg Lemonade and a Yazoo), and it's big and comfortable and there's plenty of seating. Last night's event was the 2nd annual Chords of Hope benefit concert put on by Band Against MS, a charity founded by country star Clay Walker, who was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS in 1996, to raise money for MS research at Vanderbilt. This cause is super close to my heart, as my mom has suffered from MS since I was little, and I was diagnosed almost exactly two years ago myself (my diagnosaversary, if you can call it that, is coming up on March 11--I plan on posting my thoughts on that later). I love that Clay Walker is using his celebrity status to affect positive change for himself and all of us who battle with MS every day of our lives. The entertainment was top notch. In addition to Clay, there was Rivers Rutherford, an amazing songwriter who performed "These Are My People" and Tim McGraw's "Real Good Man," Chuck Wicks (who sang his song, "Stealing Cinderella," that always makes me teary thanks to being a newlywed and a daughter who lost her daddy), Rio Grande, Steve Holy (who did "Good Morning Beautiful" and "Brand New Girlfriend," among others), and a few others. It was an amazing concert for an even more amazing cause, and I'm grateful to all the stars who gave of their time and talent to benefit MS research. In the words of Rivers Rutherford, "I'm not making a cent for being here tonight, I just think somebody ought to cure this damn disease!" Amen! Dave and I had a great time, and it was the perfect midweek date night in honor of a great cause.

Weekend Fun

This post is SO delayed (what can I say, it's midterms week!), but I couldn't let the opportunity pass to blog about our fun weekend. Friday night, we attended Three Blind Vines at the Factory. It's an annual wine tasting put on by Next Gen, the 20s/30s branch of the Heritage Foundation, to raise money for preservation projects in downtown Franklin. It was SO fun! The theme was 1920s speakeasy, so all the ladies (including myself!) wore cocktail flapper-style dresses (I repurposed an old BCBG fave that I used for New Year's Eve in New York City in 2008) and the guys all had on fedoras. There was a silent auction, live music, food from Franklin Mercantile, Battle Ground Brewery, Stoveworks, and McDougal's, and way too much delicious wine. Each couple brought one bottle of malbec, one bottle of sauvignon blanc, and a repeat of one of the bottles. The winner of the malbec category took home half of the repeat bottles, and the sauv blanc winner got the other half. We sat at a fun table full of mamas having a girls' night out (love that!) and enjoyed great wine and great company.

Saturday was mama's 59th birthday! We spent most of the day getting ready to host her birthday dinner at our house Saturday night. I made spinach/grapefruit/avocado salad, a pasta dish with artichokes, sundried tomatoes, pesto, chicken, and parmesean, and yellow cupcakes with homemade pineapple frosting (her request). It all turned out well and we had such a fun evening being together as a family and celebrating with her. Next year will be an even bigger celebration for the big 60!

Sunday we slept in and took it easy, and I spent most of the day studying for my big midterm on Monday. Thankfully, it was my only exam this semester.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekends!