The Non-Bachelorette Party

The last week of May finally arrived, meaning it was wedding time!  Mom and I left for Nashville on Wednesday (Taylor and Dad drove down the following day), arriving mid-afternoon.  We met up at Andrew and Juliana's house before going to check out our own Air Bnb, The Hobbit House.  The interior decoration was very shabby chic, but the beds and couch were comfy, there were a lot of windows, and one of the bathrooms had a lovely and relaxing open-air rain shower, which I took advantage of before being picked up by Juliana for Girls Night.

The other shower was like a canister.  Andrew and I were immediately reminded of Luke on Hoth in Empire Strikes Back.

We stopped for groceries and made an alcohol run before heading to another Air Bnb just down the road.  Juliana had invited me to come along with her and some of her oldest friends to spend a couple days away from wedding stuff right before the wedding, which was very nice and inclusive of her.  I was a little nervous, as it was going to be a lot of time spent with new people and I tend to be more awkward than normal in those situations, but her friends were very cool and welcoming (most of them already knew each other).

That night we met up with a handful of Juliana's 'in town' friends for a nice dinner out and then Robert's down on Broadway for obligatory bachelorette shots and a little two-stepping.  After that we took an Uber back over to the East side to places I was more familiar with: Dino's, a small dive bar, and 308, a more trendy, hipster bar right next door.  After a few more drinks we caught another Uber back to the house.  Juliana and Meb went right to bed but I stayed up with Dani and Jenny for a late-night talk sesh which turned into a really heavy and emotional talk about race and growing up as a minority.  I, not being a minority, just listened to their stories, but it was a harrowing tale of the bias and disgusting behavior that a lot of people think is ok.

The next day we were all pretty hungover, so we mainly sat around in between naps and a late afternoon yoga session.  One of the girls contacted Juliana's favorite yoga instructor who agreed to come over to the Air Bnb and lead us in a hour of relaxing and restorative yoga.  I had never done yoga before but I was excited to try.  The teacher didn't really take it easy for myself and the others who weren't familiar with how it works, but luckily my mat was next to Jess, who apparently is/was a yoga instructor so I just followed her lead.  I stretch everyday so it wasn't too difficult, but I don't think I'll seek it out in the future.  If I'm going to work out I want to really feel it and push hard, which is why I like running.  It was fun to try though.

After that hour of movement we were ready for dinner so we walked a few blocks to one of Andrew and Juliana's favorite Mexican restaurants to pick up some tacos and guacamole.  We made a round of margaritas and settled in around the tv, where we watched the National Spelling Bee, guessing the words and commenting on the middle school-age contestants.  When that was over, we called it a night and went to bed early so we would all be well-rested for wedding preparation activities the next day.  Juliana's friends were all unique and interesting, and I feel like I got to know her a little better just seeing her in a different surrounding, and it turned out to be a fun couple days.

(photos by e.hunt, collected from swleague.ru, and by m.byrne)