It’s been 7 days since Christine got on the road for the very first Vivid & Brave tour, and 6 days since I boarded a plane. We’ve been having one amazing trip. Here are my Notes from the Road.
April 23rd – Calgary to Nashville, Tennessee (by way of Chicago)
- Breakfast with my kids at Denny’s. Or as Murmel calls it, “Danny’s”. They’ll be late for school. I’m not sorry.
- Afternoon flights are the best flights. No one should ever have to wake up at 3:30 am to be at an airport at 6 am. Ever.
- US Border Guard trick question: Have you ever been to the United States before? (Yes, every month this year.)
- Okay, United. Let’s get this airplane into the air on time for a change!
- YAY! We did it!
- Why is O’Hare so big? Why is my connecting gate all the way at the other end?
- We took off on time twice in one day? These are small miracles.
- Oh Nashville, you’re a cute little airport, aren’t you? This is good because I’m pretty sure I walked 16 miles through O’Hare.
- Christine is here! In the Mini! Time to kick this tour off with a salad at the only restaurant we can find still open at this hour.
April 24th – Nashville, Tennessee
- Holiday Inn Express has a pancake machine. Push button, get pancakes.
- Back up to the room to work on last minute details for tonight. Note to self: hard hotel room beds are a terrible place to sit for three hours.
- Off to explore the mall and grab a bit of lunch.
- Oh and get my eyebrows threaded because caterpillars aren’t in style right now.
- No time for shopping! Back to the hotel to get dressed and primped for tonight’s talk in Nashville.
- Gregory Byerline, our gracious host, has us set up in his studio for tonight. It has a disco ball, which is basically perfect for Vivid & Brave. (Note disco ball light effects on photo above.)
- The Importance of Purpose & Passion in Life & Work has been presented and our awesome attendees are even awesomer for helping us work out the first time talk kinks! I totally just made up the word awesomer.
- Dinner at Pinewood Social. Gluten free fried chicken? Yes please!
April 25th – Nashville, Tennessee
- Breakfast with an old friend from the days of planning my wedding on Ultimate Wedding. She has her adorable niece and nephew with her. Crepes are delicious.
- A self guided tour of the Ryman Auditorium (featured at the top of this post) seems like the perfect way to spend a few free hours in Nashville. But first, we spot a Target and take a detour. Maxi skirts are calling my name!
- Now, the Ryman. It’s beautiful. They’re setting up for a Foster the People show tonight, and there are light up multicoloured crystals involved.
- Step into Robert’s Western World. We have now been in a honky tonk. But we’re hungry, so off we go to track down some lunch.
- Dinner with another fried. I am being totally spoiled with amazing food experiences everywhere we go.
Thank you again to Gregory for being the most amazing host, and to everyone that came out for the Nashville talk! It was so wonderful meeting new friends and getting to see old friends again!
Part 2 – Charlotte, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia – will come tomorrow! It includes a road trip, fried green tomatoes, two more awesome cities and visit to the ER!
Stephanie Ostermann
I’m a communicator. That’s a PC way of saying I like to talk, but I also spend a lot of my time listening, and over the years, I’ve developed a sense for subtext – how one or two words can change your entire message, what people are really trying to say and how to weave the varied layers of your story into one cohesive brand message that your clients fall in love with.
When I'm not acting as editor in chief for Vivid & Brave, you can find me geeking out over words here.
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You should come to Cincinnati!