Less Hustle More Coffee

It’s hard to describe the rush you get when you walk into the Christmas Village. Christmas everywhere, gifts to find, even flying reindeer (a toy flying around near the entrance). The HUNT is on for different gifts for our family and friends. What will we find? Will we see anyone we know? The down side is all the crowds. But it was easy enough to eventually get where you needed to get and be where you needed to be. I even tried on a couple of shirts – yes they had dressing rooms in the booths where there were clothes, usually. We found great success and even found a few things for us to wrap up. There are booths coming from everywhere. Do you ever attend one of these? Here’s the scoop:

What we like about Nashville’s Christmas Village:

1. We arrived at the start time and was able to park easily.
2. There was a shuttle that took us up to the building.
3. The ticket booth to get tickets was fast.
4. There are so many varying types of booths with different items you never see in a store.
5. The vendors are usually really nice and cheerful and helpful.
6. There are LOTS of samples.
7. There are ample bathrooms in convenient locations.
8. The buildings are now connected and no need to venture out into the cold.
9. Food and drink is available to buy as your hunger arrives. (We had other plans and didn’t eat buy there.)
10. The food samples were everywhere in the food booths.
11. You probably will see some folks you know. We always run into someone – well we live in these parts.

The down sides to the Christmas Village, but they don’t keep us away:

1. It is often really cold upon arrival, which is good for the Christmas spirit but be prepared to deal with about 30 to 45 minutes of being exposed to the elements. We DID have a shuttle this time. We had to wait about 10 min and then once at the building had to wait about 20 or 30 to get our tickets and get in. And if the shuttle takes too long you may end up walking anyway. We should have bought our tickets in advance as we would have saved some money and also less time in the cold.
2. It’s hard to dress warmly and not have a bunch of coats and scarves to deal with inside the facility. So dress wisely. I wore a pretty warm long sleeve shirt that I knew I would not be too hot in on the inside but would keep me warm on the outside. I should have taken a scarf to wrap around my head outside and just let it hang on me when inside. I forgot! We are still kinda used to our warm temps around here and haven’t gotten the cold weather wear routine down yet here in the South. I had a light jacket but it was a very good windbreaker so I was fine when I stood behind George and in the sun. lol
3. The crowds are a little annoying at times when you are trying to stay together, or trying to get a food sample, or to even pay for your item. It’s kinda like trying to belly up to a popular crowded bar, lol. However, with a little patience it really was pretty easy and everyone is usually in a good mood. I will say that around the food samples – is where the waiting is the most hard. People would get their sample and then sit and stare at it instead of moving away. I guess they are tasting and going through that process of “should I buy it or will Uncle Johnny like some for Christmas?” But anyway, for us foodies, that was hard. You find yourself saying in your head, “lady if you could just move over an inch I could get a toothpick and get my sample of cheese”. lol lol But we were patient. We LOVE our samples and were like kids elbowing each other “hey, look, coffee samples over there”. lol It’s like Sam’s Club on the weekends.
4. By the end of our 3 to 4 hour shopping excursion, we were starting to get pretty laden with packages and sacks. I took a sack. Be sure to do this! Some people had carts. I personally found them annoying trying to get around people and their carts. It really hampered the crowds and could cause tripping hazards, but of course we kinda wished we had one ourselves. It’s kinda like having an umbrella at a football game. You want one but you don’t want others to have one so you can see the game. lol We put all of our items in one bag that we each had so that “no packages are left behind”. Be sure to have a bag with comfortable handles. George’s bag was hurting his hand by the end of the day. And the shuttle was no where to be seen and we had to walk a ways to our car. Had to stop so George could re-position his bag and swap hands.
5. Lots of walking – this is not necessarily a bad thing but will put it here for precautionary reasons. You DO want comfy shoes as there will be a lot of walking and standing on concrete in the building and asphalt and gravel to your car.
6. Have more than one method of paying for cash. Vendors are from all over the US so if you are at a TN booth one minute buying something and then a Vermont booth the next – it sends your bank a flag. We had a couple of denied purchases b/c we were buying from two states and not online. But we had other cards and also some cash. If you had one card that would be bad.

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After this, we went to Applebee’s to eat as we had a gift card. Our last one for the year. We always enjoy our gift cards. This was the last one b/c there are not many Applebee’s around anymore and we are hardly ever in this location.

Those garlic mashed potatoes are what sold us for the Bourbon Chicken and Shrimp dish that came out sizzling. I did worry about having all of our purchases in the car though. But all was fine.

This is the place to go for any Asian type foods you want to fix. George cooks with Asian ingredients a lot.

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Next on to Frugal McDoogle’s for a few things. That is a huge discount liquor and beer store. A friend turned me on to the Daura Damm beer.

They have this there. And so I bought a six pack of that. I will drink craft beer out b/c I like to try to the various flavors. But for home if I am going to have one, I try not to drink the full on beer but something light. And this is one I love that still has a hearty taste. The plan is to take this to Texas! I bought a nice white and a red to take with us as well for watching those gorgeous sunsets in Katy’s sun room. Or with Thanksgiving or whenever we decide to drink it – if we do.

So…after that we came home I think. I got all the packages in the house while George took the dogs out and then I joined him in meeting our neighbor’s new dog, Baxter. He was a friendly dog and happy and seemed to be unphased by Roger but scared of Maisy and her barks. He liked me and that made my day. He came over to be petted by me several times. I didn’t get a pic as I didn’t have my phone on me.

Once inside, I wanted to sit down as we’d been on our feet all day except when in the car or eating. But I was so tired I knew if I sat, I’d likely not be getting up. I was cooking a late dinner and had laundry to do and I needed to start packing. So I started the wash and folded towels and packed my Isagenix kit for cleanse day Monday. I ironed my work pants and those are ready to go.

I cleaned the kitchen (rebooted dishwasher, washed dishes, bleached the countertops). Then I began cooking up the spaghetti sauce and letting it simmer for a while.

We then went and took inventory of all we bought and I wrote it down on my list so we would know where we were with everyone. I also pulled shirts out of the closet that I knew I’d be wanting to take to Texas. And began pre-packing.

Gosh I could sure use another pair of jeans or two. I don’t have enough to take a winter vacation. lol I have tons of capri jeans but in looking at the temps it’s going to be highs in 50’s or low 60’s and lows in 30’s and 40’s so I’m thinking jeans are a must. But Katy has a washer. So that will be good. I’ll wash darks a couple of times while there. I will wear them twice. I can’t wear jeans and pajamas more than twice. I do have khakis and brown pants that I could take I guess that are fairly casual and comfortable, but I’d rather have my jeans!

Finally I fixed the noodles for Spaghetti and we ate dinner and watched a show on netflix, called “Wine Country”. It was really good. And funny! A light show, fun, not heavy, and even George enjoyed it.

Of course, with scenes from Napa Valley, and eating spaghetti, I had to have a glass of red. I’ve been into Chiante these days with it’s deeper taste over my normally favored Pinot Noir, which is lighter. I like both or any dry wine, but you know how you go through phases of things. I had Chiante last night. The Bolla seems to hold it’s flavor when buying a big bottle (value) so it will last for days. I will buy that again. I like the Bolla. Always thought they had good tastes. My boss at Dillard’s used to buy us manager’s wine kits for Christmas with two in a set in a wooden box. Those were the days. lol One manager gave a Christmas ham. That was special. I get a Walmart gift card now of $25 (I think) as an employee gift. So I will go buy something for the house as is my favorite thing to do. Might be a rug this year. I hate to spend money on rugs but I love them! I wish we had wooden floors and not carpet, but I won’t go there. 😉 I also won’t talk about my desire for new stove and countertops. 😉 Nor my desire for the RV van. lol Life is an adventure and I can’t help it. I love to decorate and have adventures. So I play games and watch You Tube shows and sometimes HGTV or read. So I can tame myself. Ooops squirrel – rabbit hole!

So went to bed and slept hard for several hours and then woke up when George came to bed, and then again about 4 more times during the night as my arm kept falling asleep or I had to go or was thirsty. My guess is that I ate too many carbs yesterday and not enough water. But we had a FUN FUN day and accomplished much in the way of shopping.

Maisy wanted me up at six this morning! She cannot get up without me! So at least it’s better than the 4:00 a.m. hour during the week.

I can’t wait to my next “free credit” with Audible. Well technically it’s 9.99 a month or so – and it’s not really free but I don’t want to spend anymore than that. Anyway I get a credit each month for a “free” download of a book and I can listen in the car. It’s working out really well. I will download this one in December. Also want to download a book about Captain Lee from Below Deck. Yes, I’ve asked for Audible Gift card from George for Christmas.

I sat the other day and listed things for George and it was really hard. I mean everything I could think to give him was…digital. I will need to download a digital mac version of PSP and I will want to do that right away in January. Video editing software for the iMac. It may come with it already but this is too soon to know which version I want to work with in the future. I want to learn to make videos in 2020 and learn to use the drone (taking it to Texas so I can practice). So I like my audibles and Kindle and I hardly have time to read all the books I have sitting on the shelf (or even the Kindle) but the Audible gets time. I have switched over to the unlimited iTunes music so don’t really need iTunes cards unless it’s to buy games with or something – I guess I could use that. I would like the Swag from all those shows I watch or $ to become Patreons, but he wouldn’t know what to order. And it seems cheesy to want to become a Patreon for Christmas but I would love to support those shows I love so much and they send you extra footage and information too for becoming a Patreon. I didn’t ask him for that. So it’s all fine. I did come up with a few things and honestly he’s getting me a computer so – what could be any better? But he wants me to have things in my stocking and also things to unwrap. I was just amazed at so many of things becoming digital where it’s hard to give as a gift. I think he can probably get an audible gift card.

Anyway. I do shop on Amazon a lot I guess that would be a good one. I forgot to tell him that one. I don’t think I have to though. He sees the deliveries. lol

Speaking of deliveries, my planner arrived and so I saw it starts in November. I’ll be switching mine over today and looking forward to that “getting organized” part of my day. I will do more laundry today also and pack and gather items together to take and go over my list of things I need to gather at the last minute – like cosmetics, toothbrush, meds, chargers, laptop, ipad, phone, shoes, jackets and so forth.

I am also going to fix a big bowl of popcorn and watch shows. I will do my nails tomorrow after work during cleanse day so it’ll keep me from eating. And I really want a day at home today since we were gone the last two days.

And that is all I know for now! I’m still trying to wake up and can’t believe it’s already 9:30. Time flies when you are having fun. I love my mornings at home when I can get them. Have a warm and cozy day!