TrashyNashy – a Bachelorette Weekend in Nashville

I’m sitting at home with my coffee and oatmeal – the first meal in about 6.5 days not accompanied by between 1 and 15 Ohio friends. One of the bar performer’s albums is playing on Spotify and the collaborative Snapfish album is buzzing with new material as everyone uploads their photos, finally bridging some of the haziness between memories.

My week in Nashville was pretty damn perfect. I went in a few days early – Lauren (the bachelorette and my BFF since age two) was on a work trip so I crashed her hotel room, did some extra exploring and writing while she worked, and we got to spend a little QT together before the chaos started.

Below are some snippets from the week – obviously respecting the Trashy Nashy confidentiality agreement and the reputations of those involved and keeping it PG…

Oh and Lauren? ps : reunion trip in the works.

Day One – aka “Sarah Explores & Bar Scouting”

lunch with nuunHTC teammate Elizabeth at The Southern, disappointingly celeb-free |||  5.5 sweaty midday miles to Centennial Park |||  L & S “research” bar crawl incl stops at B.A.D for songwriter’s night, bypassing on nude karaoke at Printer’s Alley, leaving some artwork at Paradise Park, and requesting Garth Brooks from anyone on stage that would listen to us

Day Two – aka “Sister Sister & the BFE Secluded Cabin”

sweet potato pancake, overeasy egg, BBQ sauce at Puckett’s (to die seriously)  |||  begrudgingly passing on boot shopping due to self-imposed “fun shopping” ban  |||  wandering down by the river  |||  settling into the digs at our VRBO rental, a ridiculous cabin about 20 miles outside of town

Day Three – aka “The Arrivals & You Can Still Drink in the Dark”

squeezed in a run while the rest of the group poured in (confessional sign says “I went running while everyone started drinking”) ((it was 9am))  |||  four girls may need tested for lyme disease after exploring the backyard trail and coming back with ticks  |||  grilling and at-home dining made for a budget-friendly weekend  |||  I played in the thunderstorm because “GUYS IT DOESN’T RAIN LIKE THIS IN CALI!!” and I miss Ohio  |||  … and then the power went out and we played Kings and Apples to Apples by candlelight

Day Four – aka “Tourists & the Black/White Big Night Out”

exploring Opryland hotel  |||  lunch at JD’s  |||  soliciting around the Grand Ole Opry looking for famous people (only tourists)

the whole gang decked in country black & white  |||  last-minute fireball shots before the cabs  |||  L on stage hat-swapping with Jeremy McComb at The Wheel  |||  an ugly but valiant karaoke performance  |||  dropping it for a street performer, showcasing a multi-threat dance arsenal and that country girls CAN “shake it for me”

Day Five – aka “A Beer Will Probably Help & Downtime During Daylight”

line dance lessons at Wild Horse  |||  tip jars fit for hicks  |||  accidentally found the same band from our last stop the night before, where a few Trashy Nashy attendees may have fawned a little hard over the lead singer (and he definitely recognized us)  |||  dinner at Jack’s for the “best BBQ in the world”; gave an A+ to their sauces smothered on mac&cheese, salad, and cornbread  |||  this giant hat Shea found to cap off the night

Appendix – aka “Drunk Pinterest’ing”

Lauren was very adamant that she wanted the weekend to be mostly low-key, with no crazy itineraries or penis necklaces or stupid games (not verbatim). But I still wanted her to be the focal point – this was HER weekend, not just a random girls’ trip!

We decorated with balloons, crepe paper streamers, and a glittery “L” from the Dollar Tree, to give the cabin a little bit of a party feel.

The cowgirl veil was made from strips of tulle and wide lace ribbon from Michaels – both bought with 40% off coupons and came out to around $10. Picked up the black hat at a souvenir shop for $20 and swapped it between that and the tan Target hat she brought with her. It turned out super cute (in my not-so-humble opinion) and was a great attention piece.

Laur modeling the homemade interchangeable hat veil

To help combat “is this my beer? or is that one mine?” and leaving tons of half-drank bevys around I blinged out Can Grips for each girl. Their names were on the gingham ribbon, tied up with some lace and rafia, and either a yellow, green, or orange ribbon to make location a little easier. Plus it’s just fun to have a handle on your beer can. Fancy buschy pops!

can grips >>> coozies

For a momento/flight home entertainment we set up a “Remember When…?” confessional. Each girl wrote a note(s) of a funny, fond, or embarrassing memory of Lauren, and sealed them up in a simple index card holder I wrapped in leftover lace ribbon. It was simple to prep and set up, and fun to see people throughout the weekend jotting stuff down.

I’m sure all the ones from Friday night while we waited for the drunk munchies to bake were real gems.

And now that this is written I guess it’s officially time to get back to “real life”. Guess I’ll start with a detox run – can’t say I’ll miss the humidity, bugs, or the 16% grade 1/4mi driveway to start and end with…

no but really. extended vehicles can’t get up it and two of our cabbies left giant skid marks at the base.

Sarah OUaL