Jackie's tacos (short rib and crispy fish) were very good

I had the waitress pick this Chicken Chorizo Tostada over tacos and she was right, it was excellent and very filling

Since it was Valentine's Day customers got a glass of champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries...the strawberries
were great, they had a drizzle of chipotle but the champagne, not so much.  I thought about my fabulous sister-in-law
Kara when I sipped what I believed to be Andre Extra Dry Champagne, yuck!! If they were going to serve sparkling
wine instead of real champagne, they should've at least served Cook's Grand Reserve, Kara and I figured that out
way back at our Christmas Party when we introduced champagne.  I think at this year's party we need to serve chocolate
dipped strawberries to take it up a notch.

The guy in the cowboy hat is Nestor Andress (not a typo).  He and his buddies were there passing out his new CD
and Hershey Kisses during lunch.  They were tying one on and one of his buddies asked that they play one of the
tracks from his CD that he released that day and they did and it was really good.  So when it was over, I clapped and he
came over and shook my hand, gave me a CD and the kiss.  Jackie and I listened to the CD on the way home and it
was really good.  I do think he should change his name tho.  You know, John Legend's real name is John Stephens.  

Dang blurry shot of Sheryl Crow with her band (and original guitarist Peter Stroud) on stage at the Nashville's
Schermerhorn Symphony Center.  One of my favorite Sheryl Crow concerts (and I've seen her 12 times).  You
can see the symphony behind her.  That place was really cool...

The place was packed.  I loved her set list, she played "The Difficult Kind" off her second album, I'd never heard it live
before.  She also sang "I Shall Believe",  "Am I getting through" and "Hard to make a stand" all of
which I'd never heard live.  I was surprised last May when we heard her in Little Rock and she played "Sweet Rosalyn" and others I'd never heard live.  

Dang blurry camera 

That place was amazing and had such great sound

I saw this on Chloe's camera roll of Buddy and I had to add it

Chloe's talented

This was Christmas morning of Biscuit

Oh Buddy.....

I don't think he's happy here....

Monday, February 15, 2016

Sheryl Crow performed with the Nashville Symphony on Valentine's and Jackie and I were sure to be there, of course.  I'm so glad she still tours and sings her hits from her rock albums.  Her song list was impressive as she sang several from her first two albums and I was thrilled to hear Perfect Lie (which she did say she felt like Taylor Swift when she wrote it about her breakup with Lance Armstrong), Run, Baby, Run, Always on your Side and It's the Best of Times, some of my favorites!  We only heard one country song which I found crazy since we were in Nashville but I was thrilled with the songs she sung.  It was one of my top 3 concerts in the 12 we've seen.

We had a late lunch at Bakersfield Tacos, just two blocks from our hotel on a rainy and cold Sunday.  Bakersfield is a cool, taco and whiskey chain that has locations in Pittsburg, Charlotte, Cincinnati and Columbus.  The menu was great featuring salsas, tostadas, tacos, sandwiches and salads.  They also had a long list of tequila and whiskey, none like I'd ever seen anywhere.  Of course, we don't drink whiskey or tequila so Jackie and a local beer Yazoo's Dos Perros and I picked Sonoma Curter Chardonnay.  I did crave an unsweet tea but much to my disappointment they only serve sweet tea.  (I know Kara's gagging) So I had a diet coke for my caffeine craving.

Our waitress helped me pick between a tostada and the chicken tacos.  She said the Chicken Chipotle Tostada was her favorite and it was fantastic.  It is served in a little cast iron dish with salad underneath it.  It was a huge portion that I couldn't finish.  Jackie and two versions of short rib tacos and the crispy mahi taco.  All were delicious.  We rarely get appetizers but we got the chips and queso with their house pickled jalapenos that were marked (HOT).  We got them and they were not.  Pretty disappointing.  I was planning on getting knocked over with the all caps HOT next to them.  My homemade pickled jalapenos are the gut busting bomb of (HOT).  Theirs were pretty wimpy.

The waitress offered us a glass of champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries for Valentine's Day.  That was a neat gesture but would've been cooler if the champagne wasn't rough.  I seriously think it was Andre Extra Dry, one of the cheapest California Sparkling Wines on the planet.  The only reason I know this is that Kara and I had a California Sparkling Wine tasting a few years back to pick a reasonable one for our annual Christmas Party.  We eventually went with Alexis' recommendation of Cook's Grand Reserve and now Kara's moved on to another one she gets at Buster's in Memphis.  I'll have to share that brand when we serve it up this December.  The strawberries were great and had a chipotle caramel drizzle over them.

We stuck around and table watched what eventually we found out was a young, and talented, country singer named Nestor Andress and is entourage next to us.  They were loud, putting back some beer and margaritas.  Their crowd grew over the two hours we were there.  One guy showed up with a box of CD's and Hershey Kisses.  When I went to the ladies room (and it was a damned good one too by the way), I over heard a girl hand his CD to the bartender and ask him to play track #3.  It was a great song called "Drunk at a Bar" which was what they were.  When the song was over, I clapped and he came over, shook my hand and handed me a kiss and the CD.  While we were there, I googled him and he released those tracks that day.  We listened to it on the way home and they were really good. I wish him well with his CD.  I do think he should change his name though.  Like Bruno Mars is really Peter Gene Hernandez, Jay Z is really Shawn Corey Carter, Jamie Foxx is Eric Marlon Bishop and the list goes on.  You never know who you'll run into or see in Nashville.  Jackie's cousin Blaine took yoga with Nicole Kidman when she was at Vanderbilt.

When you're in Nashville, be sure to check out Bakersfield Tacos.  Or I guess at any of their locations.  Bakersfield Tacos, 201 3rd Ave, Nashville, TN 37201 (615) 522-0970.
http://www.bakersfieldtacos.com

Buddy Blissful, Birdeye

Buddy's hair is getting long but we love him when he looks unkept

His teeth...

This is Bentley who Chloe trained last week.  He's one smart yellow lab

No words

Chloe had me get a shot of Buddy following her (I'm not sure why)

Chloe's props for a Buddy photo shoot....
Dr. Calico always has a look on his face like "ya'll are wasting my time and yours"

Hilarious....milk bones on a silver platter and Legolis on a coffee mug....lol

Great shot of Biscuit...his hair....lol

Gumball

Michael and Bentley, the brothers stayed with us one weekend, tons of training and fun

Great shot of Buddy, when he runs, he really has all four feet off the ground at the same time

Michael

This is Addy, we fostered her around Jan 1 and she left Thursday to live with a family on a house
boat in Kennebunkport, Maine.  She's insecure mostly because she spent two years tied up to a tree in Trumann, Ark.
Chloe and all of us helped her with her self confidence.  We're glad she made it to Maine.  Here she is on the house boat
after leaving Thursday from Forrest City, she got there Saturday at 4 pm.  We hope to hear from her adopters again.

Chloe had a piano recital Friday.  She was the only high schooler there.  She had a mild panic attack about the piece
but of course, she did really great.  I'm glad she's still taking piano and she hopes for tougher stuff to play.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Chloe's been busy dog training and boarding, I don't think we have been without a boarder or foster dog since the beginning of the year.  She started an Instagram account for Buddy similar to an Instagrammer from Aspen that features a cute Golden Retriever.  I've shared some of her photos on here, she's really good with a camera.

Buddy's Instagram Page:

buddy_the_birdeye_poodle

Buddy Blissful Smith

 🔸adopted 💼working at a vet clinic💼 🐿squirrel chasing is my game🐿love hiking and cheeseburgers🍔 try to top my hair💯 Arkansas is my backyard 🌏

Here's a link to Chloe's website: http://chloemsmith01.wix.com/chloes-dog-boarding

Happy Birthday Harmon and Jeanie, Birdeye

Happy Birthday Memaw and Grandad!  Sorry about Stella's eyes closed and missing Whit and August

The Whisper Challenge....Chloe and I love to copy off of Jimmy Fallon's games on his show.  This is where you have
head phones on and have to read lips....we had funny things like, "How do you get to sesame street," "Brett Bilema",
"Uptown funk you up", "10 minutes can save you on car insurance," etc....tons of fun!

Whit had a flute-a-phone recital for their birthday celebration, it was really good!

Somehow the afghan Pharoah ended up on the couch and August lost his shirt....lol!  Here we are watching the movie
Chloe made of last weekend when we had the cousins over...Chloe's a great movie maker

Whit and Stella playing the Whisper Challenge

Pictionary

Stella dressed up for their filming...I love that I got the portrait of Biscuit and Chloe in the background 

The kids lip syncing is a lot of fun to watch...Chloe's IPAD was hooked up to our TV so we could all watch it....

Another one....hahahahaha!

Sunday morning Chloe and I took her boarding dogs down the back roads for exercise.  Here's Michael and Bentley

Buddy in the back has all four paws off the ground at the same time...hilarious.  That is how he runs all the time :)

Sunday, January 31, 2016

We celebrated Memaw and Granddad's birthday Saturday night.  Kara made bread and blueberry pie and I made salad and manicotti.  Jackie made the comment, of course, that manicotti is my usual crowd meal and it is because I make it ahead of time.  Kara brought her new, DELICIOUS, bread and of course, her blueberry pie was wonderful.  We had a fun time eating and playing games.

January 2016 in Pictures, Birdeye

Since we're getting ready for the Little Rock Half Marathon,
I've been taking Buddy running with me, he loves to wear a backpack
and it's good for me too cause he can carry my juice if I get a low blood sugar.
He loves, loves going with me...I took him recently on the Village Creek
10K Trail run... he did better than I did in the rain!

Chloe got a drone for Christmas from her Matt and MeMe...this is
its first voyage....and we've learned to never take it up unless there
is absolutely no wind....it takes great photos with her Go Pro

Chloe was the liturgist at church two Sundays during Christmas....she is a great public speaker

August fighting a huge Darth Vador in Target....hahahaha!  We kept Whit, Stella and August last weekend when Kara
and Martin were out of town....we had a blast....school was out Friday and we had an epic, I mean epic and long monopoly game with smores over the fire so Saturday we took the kids to Chick-fil-a and a movie

Photo booth at the Jonesboro Mall....TONS of fun!

Chloe helped me with Children's Church a couple Sundays ago, our
lesson was on Lazarus...this is Katie Bradshaw

August, Stella and Caroline Curtis doing a skit

We played Twister after the lesson

August giving Yoda the force.....lol!

Whit, Chloe, Stella and August

I get blamed for a lot of stuff around here like feeding Biscuit too much but look at this shot I got of all the dogs begging
for Jackie to feed them....Thank goodness for this evidence...

This is Michael, a lab Chloe's been training....she's taught him a ton of obedience.  He loves to ride in the floor board...

This is Goliath, one of the pets that Chloe and her friend have raised money for people that can't afford to get their pets
spayed or neutered...They're helping her with 10 spays/neuters.  THAT'S A LOT OF DOGS!

This is Jake, another one

I got this of my arugula and spinach beds...I love growing greens in the winter

Stella loved having Chloe do a bun for her on Sunday....I think it turned out pretty good!

Photo by Chloe from Friday's snow....she's got talent and yes, I'm bragging,,,

Chloe got this shot of Buddy at Village Creek State Park recently

We had a blast! Buddy is hooked up to the sled with his harness from the cart that Memaw and Grandad got her for Christmas

Chloe and Whit let his dogs out while they were at our house over the weekend...She got
this shot of Kara's bike covered in ice

Sunday, January 24, 2016

We've had a great January, it's hard to believe it's February on Monday!  Chloe's been busy training dogs, studying and enjoyed being out of school last Friday for the snow.  We're proud of her, she got only 1 B last semester...she's in all advanced classes and doing publications for the high school so she hasn't been bored.  We are also taking our third semester of yoga at the community college in Wynne after school.  It's a great class full of teachers, grandmothers and other students.  We are looking forward to spring break and then summer, of course!