More About Molly: 20 Random Facts

I loved it when a long, boring high school day was interrupted by a friend who took the time to craft a random survey and email it around. As soon as you saw that email come through, you felt re-energized and knew that the next 15 minutes of your life would be more exciting than the Industrial Revolution or mitosis.

Since I never actually penned any of these surveys and am thus not very good at creating them (only responding to them), I am just going to list out 20 random facts about myself to give you more of a glimpse into who I am... 

1. I am left-handed and I hate spiral notebooks and munchkin-sized left-handed desks. Seriously though, why were the left-handed desks so much smaller than the right-handed desks? Anybody? Bueller?

2. I auditioned for Teen Jeopardy in high school. I didn't make it.

3. I hate mayonnaise and bananas.

4. I got married in 2013 but have yet to legally change my name. Slow and steady wins the race.

5. If one hand or foot gets wet, then I have to get the other one wet as well or I just can't deal.

6. Like every other American, the last movie I saw in theaters was Gone Girl. Check out my review here.

7. My first CD was Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill and my first concert was The Goo Goo Dolls.

  

8. I hate the beach. Shock, gasp, I know.

Check out this awesome tan from my last beach trip

9. My first car was a yellow VW Bug that smelled like a fresh box of crayons.

10. Due to some slow moving teeth, I had to get braces in 9th grade. Completely traumatized and pissed off at the world, I went on a two-week hunger strike. The braces won.

11. I love John Mayer and have seen him in concert 5 times in 4 different cities. The very first time I saw him perform, I got one of his guitar picks  from a man cleaning the stage, and my brother and I waited out back by the tour bus after the concert and got his autograph. It was my one shot to make him fall in love with me and all I could say was, "Thank you so much." Polite, homely girl until the very freaking end. He did say "you're welcome" BTW, so there's that. (Below is my favorite song from the last concert that I saw - "Waitin' On the Day")

         

12. I have never ridden a horse.

13. I once rescued a baby bird who was abandoned on the sidewalk in front of our home. I named him Tod after the fox in The Fox and the Hound and I fed him Hi-C and bread. Tod did not survive. RIP Tod.

14. When I was in grade school, my mom and I found a bunch of bracelets and necklaces in our front yard that some burglars had tossed after breaking into a house a few streets away. I thought we would get a reward for returning it...I'm still waiting.

15. I almost got booted from pre-school for cursing. Bad habits are hard to kick.

16. I can say the alphabet backwards.

17. I have freakishly small wrists (no over-sized bangles for this girl) and fingers (I wear a size 3.5 ring).

18. I have been on 8 cruises.

19. I incurred a $2,400 cell phone bill the summer after high school graduation. Roaming charges - who knew? They reduced the bill to $1,000 and I spent the entire summer babysitting to pay back my parents.

20. I have never gotten a ticket.

Hope you enjoyed these random facts!

<<<  Leave a random fact in the comments section below and I will pick my favorite one and send the winner something awesome, scout's honor. If you're lucky then I can try and dig up my Razor phone. >>>

Viral Video Vendredi: Ted Lasso

I was definitely that 90's girl with Mia Hamm posters plastered on every inch of her bedroom walls, sporting a "girls rule, boys drool-esque" soccer t-shirt as I bee-bopped along each and every day to soccer practice/soccer camp/soccer games. I'm convinced that the little circle of soccer trophies, jerseys, and soccer balls that I sat within while watching the 1999 Women's World Cup final greatly influenced their victory over China, and my soccer ball autographed by each member of the 1999 team is one of my prized possessions.  

Side note - the women's team is playing in the CONCACAF semi-finals tonight to secure their spot in the 2015 Women's World Cup - please watch! I am counting down the days until I head to Vancouver for the WWC final next summer - USA! USA!

While brunching it up with my aunt and cousin in Nashville last weekend, we got to talking about the hilarious viral videos starring Jason Sudeikis as "Ted Lasso," a former NFL coach who heads across the pond to coach an EPL soccer team. If you don't know anything about soccer or are one of those Americans who hates soccer just to hate it, then these videos aren't for you. If you know a little bit about soccer and love American football, then you will find these videos hilarious, just as we did. Enjoy! 

                 

                 

Girls' Weekend in Nashville

Lately I have been making more of an effort to put my thoughts into action instead of just sitting on them and waiting for the "perfect" opportunity to arise. There will always be a reason to shoot down that event/trip/whatever that you have talked up but never committed to, but I'm not getting any younger and don't want to miss out on these opportunities anymore. So, this past weekend I finally made the long-overdue road trip to Nashville for a girls' weekend with two good friends who currently live there, Caitlin (SAA friend) and Caroline (W&L friend). 

I hit the road for Nashville a little after lunch on Friday with prosecco and housewarming gifts in tow (a gesture Mother taught me and which I am trying to practice on the reg now that I am a wife and I guess a grown up). Even though Nashville is not totally foreign to me (I am from Memphis and spent many summers in Nashville with my aunt, uncle, and cousins), I was excited to get back and experience the Nashville scene as an adult. 

(Disclaimer - I am still trying to figure out the best approach to taking pictures for the blog without becoming "that girl" who roams around and bugs people while snapping pictures of menus, doors, artwork, place settings, etc. Caitlin and Caroline were terrific sports (and I am grateful for that!), but I did not take many high quality pictures this weekend. We didn't even get a group pic, so here's a picture of Caroline's cat, Pepper)

We all gathered at Caroline's house Friday evening to sip our prosecco and catch up before our 8:30 p.m. dinner reservation. Once the prosecco bottle ran dry, we headed over to Whiskey Kitchen in an area of town called "the Gulch" for another pre-dinner cocktail. Caitlin and Caroline love a good meal at a popular restaurant just as much as I do, and they thoughtfully made reservations at two hip Nashville eateries for Friday and Saturday night. Up first was Adele's, a lively restaurant with an expansive interior also located in the Gulch. I think it used to be a mechanic's shop, hence the multiple garage doors that line the facade. 

I was bummed when I realized that the menus I had religiously perused a few days before my trip (who doesn't love doing that?) were outdated, so they no longer had the gin/caramelized peaches/basil cocktail that I had been pining after. They also didn't have sauvignon blanc (panic mode!), so I took one for the team and became the least classy of our trio by ordering an IPA from Yazoo Brewing Company, a local brewery. Caitlin ordered a delicious cauliflower salad that we all nibbled on while we sipped our drinks. Our waiter was very knowledgeable about the menu and I was appreciative when he steered me clear of the deceptively spicy shrimp risotto. Keeping in line with my barbaric beer drinking ways, I decided to go for it and order the beer-braised pork ribs with polenta and a peanut salad.

Oh my gosh. This dish was AH-MAH-ZING. The pork was tender and juicy, falling lovingly off of the bone and into the embrace of my awaiting fork (and stomach). The polenta was buttery and creamy and balanced the pork nicely. I didn't know what a "peanut salad" would entail, and wouldn't you know it, there were just peanuts on the plate! Duh! Truthfully though, the peanuts added a nice crunch to a dish that was otherwise soft and delicate. If you ever go to Adele's, I beg of you, release your inner fat girl and get the braised pork ribs!

After dinner we headed to the Red Door Saloon to finish out the night. If you go to this bar, check out the hole in floor that supposedly looks down into a basement with bones...

There's bones down there!

Caitlin had to work until noon on Saturday, so Caroline and I tackled our hangovers by going on a long walk throughout Nashville and enjoying the absolutely gorgeous fall day. We strolled through Vanderbilt's campus and naturally I snapped a picture of Vandy's Theta house.

We also passed a lot of the record labels, each one proudly displaying a banner for their golden child artist.

After about 2 hours of walking, we arrived in an area of town called 12 South, which had a ton of cute stores and lively restaurants that reminded me of the Virginia Highlands neighborhood back in Atlanta (there is even a Taqueria del Sol here!).

We posted up for lunch at a funky bar/grille called 12 South Taproom. This restaurant has a dog-friendly patio that a lot of Nashvillians were taking full advantage of on this sunny Saturday. We opted to sit inside and began perusing the extensive beer list and menu. For my hair of the dog beverage, I selected a Pumpkin Ale from Czann's Brewing Company, another Nashville brewery (and one of the better Pumpkin Ales that I have tasted). My cheeseburger was seasoned really well and was delightfully delicious, a diamond in the rough compared to the food that other bar/grille restaurants produce. The vinaigrette-based pasta salad was a fresh accompaniment to the burger and also had a great flavor.

We finished up our leisurely lunch, migrated to a different bar to watch the first half of the Alabama game, and then headed home to get ready for the evening. Our dinner reservations were at a European-chic 9:30 p.m., so we picked up some cheese and crackers to munch on while watching the Ole Miss-Tennessee game. We then Ubered off to our Saturday night dinner locale, Rolf and Daughters, located in the Germantown area of Nashville. This is apparently the hot new restaurant, and I was very excited to try it out!

Our table wasn't ready when we arrived, so we hit up the bar for a pre-dinner cocktail while enjoying the early-2000s jams playing throughout the restaurant (Destiny's Child, Sisqo, you name it). Why did no one tell me that specialty cocktails, when made with tender love and care, are so delicious! I have been living in a world of alcohol fear and thus stick to the beers/wines that I know, nothing more. I honestly didn't know most of the ingredients included in my drink, but I remember it having Pimm's, mint, soda, and lemon. It was crisp and refreshing and did not have that strong alcohol taste that makes you wince when you take a sip. I could have drank about 3 more of these, but the $12 price tag held me back. The bartender at RAD was like a drink magician, mixing whimsical, colorful concoctions three at a time and pouring them into funky glasses with ease.

My drink

Caitlin's drink was too pretty not to document

The hostess offered us a seat at the long communal table in the middle of the restaurant in case we did not want to wait for our individual table to open up. We politely declined (we weren't committing to a 9:30 reservation to be plopped down at a communal table!), and I am glad that we did because this group of guys who awkwardly stared us down without shame as we walked into the restaurant sat down at the communal table a few minutes later.

The only complaint that I had about RAD was our waitress, who was painfully awkward and did not introduce herself to the table or try and engage us. She simply came over to the table and asked us if we knew what we wanted without explaining how the menu worked (the top half are plates meant for sharing, the bottom half are pastas meant for individual consumption). Given that most of the descriptions on the menu included food that I had never heard of, it would have been nice for her to walk us through it with a little more enthusiasm. She would also slowly stroll past our table throughout the evening, staring us down and looking to snatch up plates before we were finished. This is a very minor complaint as everyone else who worked there was very friendly and approachable.

Once we figured out the menu, we each ordered an appetizer to split with the table (a mozzarella-esque cheese plate, blood sausages, and a salad of fresh lettuces). I would love to give you the exact name of each dish, but RAD's online menu isn't up to date and like I said, most of the ingredients were totally foreign to me.

Fresh lettuces salad

For my main course, I ordered the garganelli verde with pork ragout. You could tell that this pasta dish had been lovingly prepare by the chef: fresh homemade pasta, a light pork ragout that gently coated each noodle, a fine dusting of cheese. This restaurant is all about providing you with a dish that is beautifully presented, simple yet rich in flavors, and deceptively filling (no Cheesecake Factory, diabetes-ridden portions here, folks). I'm disappointed that I hit the food-coma wall and could not finish my last 6 noodles, which we jokingly considered asking our lovely waitress to box up.

Since we are over the hill and couldn't handle another night of going out, we ended the night by watching an episode of Happy Endings (RIP) back at Caroline's house. Gosh this show was funny, why oh why did they have to cancel it! If you liked HE, then check out the new comedy Marry Me on NBC which stars HE's Penny.

On Sunday morning I packed up my things and said goodbye to Caroline and Pepper. I drove over to my aunt's house to visit with her and my cousin, and the three of us went out for an early brunch at BrickTop's. It was really nice to get in some family time on my trip to Nashville!

Thank you Caitlin and Caroline for being such great hostesses! The invitation is now open for y'all to come down to Atlanta for another foodie weekend!

Over It: Catcallers

Ladies, have you ever been out and about just doing your thang and had a man say something to you that was totally unsolicited? Did it absolutely infuriate you?

There is a woman in Minneapolis who started a campaign called Cards Against Harassment, and she bravely confronts the men who harass her on the street and (if she feels safe) engages in an open dialogue with them about why they said what they said. It is scary that most of these men feel like they are giving a compliment to a woman and in no way shape or form view it as harassment.



Now, I can't claim that my experiences are totally similar to this woman's. She has to walk through very urban environments to get to work, whereas I drive to work in the comfort of my own car and avoid contact with people on the street. My personal experiences with harassment have actually occurred in my own neighborhood, Buckhead, which is known for its upscale stores (which we can't afford) and multi-million dollar mansions (which we really can't afford), and not necessarily street harassment.

1. When I go for a run, all that I am focused on is hurling my sweaty, post-college beer-body down the road one step at a time without keeling over and dying on the sidewalk. Honks from passing cars and strange men rubbernecking out of their windows is not even on my priority list. I kid you not, a boy no older than 14 was riding around with his friends and yelled some unwanted comments at me as I ran past the effing Georgia Governor's Mansion on West Paces. Kid, I know you think that your sh*t doesn't stink because your parents shell out $20K+ per year to send you to a Buckhead private school, but perhaps the three of you need to sit down and have a chat about how harassing women who are almost twice your age as they run down the street is completely inappropriate. If I had reacted faster and gotten the license plate number then I probably would have contacted that kid's school and turned him in. Hell, when we were in high school our headmaster would get calls from concerned citizens if they saw girls smoking in their uniforms after school, so I think harassing women is definitely worthy of a phone call. You better believe my future sons will get a lecture about respecting women.

2. While in Nashville this past weekend, my friend Caroline and I were out for a long walk, enjoying the beautiful weather and taking in the different neighborhoods of Nashville. All of a sudden, here comes a party limo filled to the brim with guys and girls who are already wasted at 11:30 am. I thought to myself, "That looks fun! I bet they are out celebrating a birthday and having a good time!" As the limo got closer, however, the frat boys started catcalling and told me to shake my booty. Excuse me? Are you serious right now? From afar you looked like a group of people that could have easily been me and my friends. Up close? You are terrible human beings and I feel sorry for your future daughters. I really hope that the girls in the limo let the guys have it, because if I was around my guy friends and they said something like that to a stranger then they would have felt my wrath.

3. One evening after work I decided to go for a long walk and call my grandmother to catch up. It was pretty cool that evening, and since I wasn't running I didn't really break a sweat on my leisurely 45-minute stroll through Buckhead. Upon my return to our condo building, I was joined on the elevator by two men I had never seen before and who had clearly just had a cocktail or six at King and Duke next door. The larger man looked at me and said, "We working out?" (Um, no. I just went for a walk, you just walked home from the bar.) I told him that I had been out for a walk, and he proceeded to belittle me and say that I accomplished nothing because I did not work up a sweat. I fibbed a little and told him that I had just had ACL surgery to make him feel bad (it was 2 years ago), and he busted out his little violin motion just for me. He got off the elevator a few floors before me and I felt like I had just been slapped in the face. How did he just make me feel bad for going out and walking for 45 minutes? I exercise multiple times a week and play on a coed soccer team, and this guy has the nerve to tell me that I am a lazy sack of sh*t? Oh hell no! Would he have said those things to me if my husband had been on the elevator with me? Probably not, because he is a coward and likes to belittle women to make himself feel high and mighty. What a catch!

As women, we have to always be aware of our surroundings. Depending on the situation and your level of comfort, I think some of the tips above on how to stop street harassment are effective ways to let the offenders know that their behavior is not OK. My personal experiences have definitely allowed me to find my voice, and I will be sticking up for myself from here on out. 

PS - To the people who may read this and think, "Wow, this girl needs to relax and not act so crazy about a few "joking" words or gestures" - How would you feel if your "private" encounter was recorded and then shown to your family, friends, employer, etc.? Not so tough anymore, are you?

Viral Video Vendredi: Thorne Travel Agency

Since I am traveling to Nashville today for a girls' weekend, I felt like this viral video from a Scottish travel agency was the perfect candidate for VVV.

There are so many awesome things going on that you can literally find something new and cringe-worthy each time you watch the video. Here are a few of my favorite things that these Scots are bringing to the table:

• The lone male travel agent who is strutting his stuff and rocking that pink skinny tie like it ain't no thang
• Flash mob
• Creepy man in a boat captain's outfit that is 6 sizes too large
• A clearly male stunt double wearing a dress and doing crazy flips off of the sidewalk
• The scariest Micky and Minnie costumes ever
• My current obsession: the sassy snap

                                      

Enjoy!