Lifestyle

So I am normally trying to get one post up a week. But it is back to school time and I am worn out. Not a good excuse but there it is. Some highlights of my week include baking bread, trying beer, eating snacks, and listening to tunes and audiobooks.

This week was one of the most normal mundane 2 weeks in my life. Besides my kid being sick. Before our kid got sick. We started off the week baking lovely bread. It is a hobby that I am trying to start. Well I am trying to have any sort of hobby. Flo always says I don’t have hobbies. To bake my bread I have been using Paul Hollywods 100 Great Breads. I would say it turned out the best this week. I made the halloumi and mint bread. I love it and so does my family. Only alterations that I make is adding more salt and putting a pan of water at the bottom of the oven. In terms of ingredients and materials that I suggest. I have a specific bread flour. I use the King Arthurs Bread Flour and so far it is my favorite. But I am still a novice and so I will be continuing to try new flours and yeast etc.

As the rest of the week went on it was pretty normal for the most part. Minus my son being at home instead of at daycare. I would love to tell you I have a trick for treating toddlers with ear infections but I don’t. It is honestly just survivalist. I was lucky that my parents came to help out with him when he is was in such a bad place.

While they were here to help that gave us an excuse for a date night that we had already had planned. But instead of a babysitter we got grandparents the best thing. We are apart of the Offline Nashville Club https://rb.gy/t6vx5 which I have thoughts on. It is a monthly dinner club where you pay 15 dollars and you get anywhere from 20-50 dollars off your two choices. My thoughts are 50/50 on it. Some months are amazing and you try these really good either new or well known restaurants. But on the flip side some months you end up with only struggling restaurants that either the service isnt great or the food is not worth the price.

But this months were great we did an Offline Nashville event for Hi-Wire Brewing you paid 10 dollars and got two beers. Which in most places is not a bargain, but in Nashville getting anything for 5 dollars is a steal. We had a blast and loved it. The reason I was so pumped for this brewery is because it started in my hometown of Asheville, NC. The beer is the same as the original which is what I love about it because I am a beer snob. Asheville has some of the best beer in the country and Nashville has not lived up to that standard in terms of beer. I will say the vibe of this place is very modern and very Nashville which makes sense. The vibe in the original is total opposite. Both are good just different from each other. There is tons of seating and ping pong. There is a small outdoor section as well if you want to bring your furry friend. I would rate this place 10/10 for us mainly because it is great beer, vibe and includes parking which in the gulch is unheard of.

The next place we went to with Offline Nashville is East Park Doughnuts which I already knew I loved. They are located in East Nashville which is one of my favorite parts of Nashville. Plus do not hate me but it is my favorite doughnut place in Nashville. Yes I like it over Five Daughters do not come for me. I love the vibe which is primarily locals with their families just drinking coffee and eating either doughnuts or breakfast. I can say that there coffee is a 9/10 for me and doughnuts are a 10/10. Our favorite thing is to get coffee and doughnuts and take them to Shelby Park for a picnic and a walk. It is a great thing to do if your visiting Nashville with kids.

You may be thinking hold on Jessica isn’t this a travel blog. Yes it is a travel blog but we are trying to save some money right now by staying where we live and enjoying the city we live in. But no worries we will be gearing up for another adventure in the tiny plane at the end of the month. Plus my plan is to do some single engine packing guides etc. throughout the month. I hope to see you next week with a new post.

Family with Wings

Links: (All thoughts are my own only links that I make any money off of is the amazon affiliate links)

Amazon Affiliate Links:

• Paul Hollywods 100 Great Breads(opens in a new tab)

• King Arthurs Bread Flour

Offline Nashville: https://rb.gy/t6vx5

I personally love reading weekly recaps. In my brain I thought how hard can it be. Apparently remembering your ordinary daily life is more challenging than I thought. But nonetheless I am going to give it my best shot. 

Honestly the beginning of this week was pretty ordinary. Some of my highlights were baking our favorite Spanakopita pie from one of my favorites Half Baked Harvest. I swear everything I cook for her is delicious. Her’s always come out looking picture ready. Mine not so much but super tasty. 

A lot of my week was spent trying to resist the urge to buy coffee out everyday. If you know you know. But I did make an exception one day because I was on the struggle train at work. But the smores mocha from stompin grounds brought me back to life. I highly recommend checking out Stompin Grounds in Gallatin TN if you’re local. They have the cutest interior and every drink is amazing. 

Another great local gem that we went to this week in Gallatin was Grant’s Kitchen. If you love meat and 3 this is a great option. Mainly because of its cute interior and it has a drive through window. Need I say more, drive through windows and grocery pickup saves all the busy moms out there. 

Then by Friday it was time to go on a little get away just the two of us. Our kid went to stay with his grandparents and mom and dad got a night to ourselves. We spent it by going to Richmond, Virginia. We were there to see my husband’s favorite band at Jam Packed Beer Festival. We stayed in the Best Western Plus by the Airport. This was my first time staying at a Best Western and I was surprised. I had low expectations but there were some good upgrades that they had. The hotel was old with renovations and probably still needed some more. But I will say the breakfast is one of the better included breakfast buffets that I have had. Trust me I have had a lot of them. Also they had a shuttle to the airport. That was a game changer not to have to worry about another Uber. For the price of 109 per night it was worth it. Also we booked using our Capital One Venture Card. Highly recommend this card if you travel a ton like we do with and without our Tiny Plane. 

Now on to my review about Jam Packed Beer Festival. I have some feelings on this one. It was more of a music festival than a beer festival. Tickets were reasonably priced at 40 per ticket. But you had to buy your cans of beer for 8 dollars a can. To me that was way too high for what you’re getting. They only had IPA’s and Lagers not to mention the people working the booths are volunteers and don’t know anything about beer. I think you really can’t call it a beer festival when you have very few types of beer. The music was great and that is why we went. It is out on Browns Island in Richmond. Love this cute venue with the best bridges and a river to sit beside. My advice is if you are going to go and you only want to see the headliner, wait to go till 8pm. Otherwise you will be melting for hours in the sun drinking expensive beer. 

Honestly this week was light on the mom content, but heavy on the eating, drinking, and traveling. I hope you enjoyed your week as well. 

-Family With Wings

This is the part where I introduce myself….. When trying to figure out what to write in this blog post I kept coming up blank or with generic boring things like where do you live, work, etc. But I want this blog to be more like a conversation or a story. Less like a boring life resume. But that is essential. 

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