It’s July already, and I’ve been in Nashville for just under a month.  The hardest thing about being here by far is the fact that I’m away from my family and the rest of my fur-babies.  I’ve never lived alone, or in an apartment for that matter, so this has been a huge adjustment.  I have realized that I suck at grocery shopping, cooking for one person isn’t fun, and I really was the one who left all the cabinets open (sorry, Michael!).  Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and forget where I am.  Sometimes I come home and still expect my dogs to greet me at the door.  Now, it’s just me and Monster, holding down the [Nashville] fort.

This past weekend was the 4th of July.  Michael was able to come down from Ohio, America had a birthday, and we spent the long weekend exploring some of the great things this city has to offer.

Unfortunately, the weather didn’t exactly cooperate and we didn’t make it downtown for the fireworks, but Sunday was beautiful and we headed to Edwin Warner Park.  With this beautiful park only being a 30 minute drive from where I live, I will definitely be a frequent visitor.

We had no agenda, which was perfect.  We walked through the woods and up/down the hills (giant hills? mini-mountains? mini, forest-covered mountains? Tennessee, your terrain confuses me…) and just enjoyed being outside.  And it was gorgeous.

The trail we followed was 2.5 miles.  It had rained beforehand so it was a little slippery, and given this wasn’t a planned excursion Michael didn’t have the best footwear, but we were both so glad we went.  We took our time and enjoyed our surroundings.  It was a great way to spend a few hours on a slow, lazy Sunday.

Oh, and apparently the secret to making a good ‘sangria’ is not really knowing what the hell you’re doing.  

I took a bottle of white wine (Yellowtail), poured it into a pitcher, and added: citrus (orange, lemon and lime-all sans peel and cut into pieces), 2 apples-diced, and a peach-diced. I let everything get friendly for 3 hours in the fridge, then removed the citrus because holy bitterness and added 3 Tbsp sugar.  When I was ready to serve, I added some club soda and a splash of cranberry.  I was happy.

All in all, it was a great weekend.  I wish it was longer but with Independence Day, the great outdoors and a little vino, you can’t really complain.

-K