We are going to Sleepover like it's 1994

So, as mentioned previously, we had a photobooth set up at my Birthday Sleepover. Steve was kind enough to set up his camera and lighting equipment and let us have at it. They are just so fun! Try keeping a group of bloggers out of the photobooth. JUST TRY! So here are some of the better and most appropriate snapshots from the evening. Kaelah and Jenna did some pretty sweet recaps of the evening which you should check out here and here, respectively. I can't stop giggling at these!

Top Row: Elle, Lauren, Jen, Lisa

Bottom Row: Jill, Me, Jenna, Kaelah

(Note: This is our new sorority house photo.)

Birthday Giveaway Winners!

Thank you for all the internet love yesterday! Y'all certainly helped make my 30th birthday very special. Now I'm ready to share the love and announce the winners of my birthday giveaway. Thank you so much to all who entered! If you won, please email me at oldredbootsblog (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll get you hooked up with your fabulous prizes!

 

The winner of prize pack 1 is Dorien of Bodacious Thought!

The winner of prize pack #2 is Tara from the Penniless Socialite! Congrats on winning all the cool handmade goodies!

The winner of prize pack #3 is Beth from Arrow in the Eye! Congrats on winning all this wonderful ad space!


The winner of Prize Pack #4 is Michelle of Creature Type! (Michelle is also my newest blog crush - I highly recommend checking out her Big Book of Cats series. I love this stuff so much- makes me really want to be a lady cat rather than just a plain old cat lady.)

Today I am 30

Sent to me this morning from the people at Blingee- How do they know me so well?

This morning I woke up and I was 30 years old. I thought I would wake up with a head full of white hair and be in the midst of full on menopause. Luckily, none of those things have happened (even though I pulled two gray hairs out last night). I'm not the best birthday person. If it was up to me I would hide in my house with the lights off with a blanket pulled over my head reading a book. But so far today has been a pretty good day, even though it is only mid-morning. I have received lovely messages from friends and family. I feel loved and special. I guess that is all I really need on my birthday. So, thank you lovely internet friends for being so awesome. 30 is going to be great I can feel it.

Poncho in the Woods

Happy Monday! I had quite an epic weekend. On Saturday night I had some of my favorite local Nashville bloggers (Lauren, Kaelah, Elle, Jen, Jenna, Jill, and Lisa) over for an old school style sleepover at my house for my 30th birthday. DEAR LORD THOSE LADIES ARE AMAZING. I might have had one of the best nights ever. It all started off with some New Old Ladies and wine and a good game of Cards Against Humanity. I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants multiple times during that game.

After Cards Against Humanity we played Quelf which Kaelah brought over. I had never heard of the game before. Let's just say that I got to slow dance with Jill and had to pretend to be Frankenstein for a good 30 minutes. The game later devolved into "glamour shots" followed by HOURS of talking and staying up past 4am. I couldn't think of a better way to start my 30th year. The next morning we hit up Nashville Biscuit House and I spent most of Sunday sitting on the couch being a bum. Celebrating is hard work!

Now let's get on task here: THE PONCHO. On New Years Eve I went thrifting with Lauren T. and Lauren W. Those girls are thrifting pros and always find such good stuff. I, on the other hand, have really bad thrift store karma. I rarely ever find anything good and if I do it is never in my size. I went with them to learn from the masters. Well these ladies brought me good luck because I found the poncho of my dreams.

Let me tell you all the things I love about this poncho. It is red. It has birds on it. It has fringe. It has tiny wood buttons. It was $3. That is pretty awesome. The wonderful tights were a holiday present from my Mom and I knew that they would have to be worn with this poncho. I'm an animal! ROAR.

 Poncho: Thrifted

Leggings: Gift from Mom

Shoes: Anthropolgie

 ****Don't forget to enter my fabulous birthday Giveaway!****

Food Friday: Etch

My parents, like me, are very much into food. I get my love of cooking and eating from them (I think they have fabulous taste!). Knowing that my parents were (1) in Nashville and (2) hungry, I had the opportunity to make reservations! At any place I wanted! Also, it was my birthday dinner after all! I opted to schedule my early 30th birthday dinner at the newly opened Etch downtown. It is owned and operated by veteran Nashville Chef Deb Paquette. One of my dear foodie friends (Ana Beth I'm looking at you) recently told me about her great experience and I was ready to try!

Etch is located in one of the new downtown condo buildings that just seem to keep popping up. Because downtown parking can be crazy I was very happy that they offered complimentary valet parking which made things very easy for my Dad. The decor is simple and clean. I was a big fan of their large eat-in bar. I love restaurants that have a food bar overlooking the kitchen (City House). I'm hoping one day I can sit at the kitchen and watch my food being made. But this party of 3 had a table by the window overlooking the Country Music Hall of Fame. Not too shabby.

Of course I'm having cocktails for my birthday. I stuck with my go-to drink: the Old Fashioned. Etch made a good one. I especially like the addition of sweet dried cherries to the mix. Gave it a different flavor than the soaked kind. My Mom was feeling adventurous and opted for the Brandy Crusta which contained Courvoisier VS, Maraschino, Cointreau, Lemon Juice, and a Sugar Rim. I thought her drink was pretty good. The sugar rim added a much needed sweetness to the tart lemon juice.

I know what you are thinking: WHY ARE YOU SHOWING ME A PLATE OF BREAD AND BUTTER?! Well, let me explain. Etch offers a butter tasting. NO JOKE.  You get four types of specialty butter and some bread. The best part is that the type of butter is hidden under the cup so you are supposed to guess which one you were eating. I love food games! The butters displayed were truffle butter, smoked plugra butter, goat butter, and duck butter. My family's favorite (far and away) was the truffle butter. I was sticking my finger in that little dish trying to scrape out any remaining fat solids. This is a must order at Etch.

The second appetizer we ordered to share was the chilled mussels, which was a lot more than just mussels. There was a layer of pork loin that sat on the bottom with Moroccan spiced mussels and calamari on top. And for a bonus they sprinkled chunks of feta on top. It had a good kick, but I wouldn't go as far as to call it spicy. It was good, but very hard to split among 3 people. This is a 2 or less appetizer.

For my entree I ordered the duck. I'm a pretty boring dinner companion because if duck is on the menu, I normally order it. My birthday dinner was no exception. The duck was Moroccan spiced and served perfectly cooked. I like my duck breast cooked more like a steak with some red in the middle. Good job Etch chefs! It was served with ginger grits, cranberries and carrot puree. I have never had anything like those ginger grits before. Even my Mom who isn't the biggest fan of grits had to admit that these were damn tasty. I was a member of the clean plate club.

My jaw dropped when my parents entree arrived (yes, they both ordered the same thing). They ordered the short ribs and this is what arrived. HOW BEAUTIFUL. We had no idea from the menu description that they would be getting a very sushi-version of short ribs. Those sushi bites are short ribs that are braised and then rolled in panko and fried. They had the best texture! The green is not wasabi, but pea puree. The large bowl contained glass noodles, carrots, mushrooms, sugar snap peas and tons of shrimp topped with fresh cilantro. I usually think that my choice of entree was the best option, but clearly my parents won this round.

Seeing that it was my birthday celebration I had to have some sweets after all! This lovely creature that looks like a mushroom was the panna cotta. The panna cotta itself was a chocolate/chai mixture that was topped with pear sorbet and a lace cookie. The whole bottom of the bowl was covered with dark chocolate sauce and toasted hazelnuts. This was heaven- so good that I even shared a bit with my parents.

I loved everything about Etch. I know it's kind of a pansy review when you don't really have anything to critique, but I didn't. My parents both loved Etch and they kept talking about it the next few days. I know that this will be a place they want to visit on their next trip back. For my sake, I hope it is!

Birthday Wishlist

1.This wonderful cat necklace from Locketship. I pretty much love all of their quirky jewelry -especially the ones with cats on it!
2. This awesome chandelier from Ikea. 
3. Badass cat leggings from Pretty Snake. I've been lusting after these for a while.
4. This fabulous Pendleton Sweater.
5. I still want my JC Cat Litas but I can't seem to find them in stock anywhere.
6. I would love the Fillmore Sofa from Thrive. A girl can dream!

*** Don't forget to enter my 30th Birthday Giveaway*****

30th Birthday Giveaway!

Happy New Year! I'm planning on starting 2013 off right. The start of a new year means one thing for me- Birthday Countdown. And this is a special year as I'll be turning 30 in a week. Because I want my readers to be able to celebrate with me I've asked my lovely blogging buddies to help offer a fabulous giveaway! And because so many prizes are available, there will be 4 winners! I'll pick the winners after my birthday, January 8th.

Happy New Year and here is to 30!

1. This awesome desk calendar and chevron note card set from Jam + Toast

2. Handmade crochet coasters from The Quiet Owl

3. This awesome vintage purse from the ladies at Miskabelle Vintage

a Rafflecopter giveaway

1. The pink handmade pennant on the right from Swell and Stylish

2.  $20 shop credit to GypsyBee Vintage or GypsyBee Handmade.

3. Hand knit bike gloves from Tricycle Sweets Co.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

1. One Large Ad Space on Kaelah Bee!

2. One Large Ad space from Little Lady Little City

3. One Large Ad space from Pony Chops

4. One Large Ad space from Tea Tree

a Rafflecopter giveaway

1. Large PomPom crown from The BombPom
2. One Style Photo Shoot with the talented Mr. Steve Cross.

a Rafflecopter giveaway