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How to Spend 24 Hours in Nashville

Date: June 12, 2018
Author: astottler
Categories: Uncategorized

I know I wasn’t the greatest at blogging this past year at school, but I both had minimal time, and didn’t do many interesting things. I want to get back to blogging a little more now that I’m here because I have more time and am doing and eating more interesting things! (i.e. not zucchini pasta every night.)

I’m working longer hours than I have before, but it’s been going really well. It’s also so nice to go home and relax, not study! That being said…having a little time to relax combined with spending all day doing veterinary medicine and talking about cases has actually made me want to spend some time at coffeeshops studying on my days off. This summer is turning out to be EXACTLY what I was looking for. Some time to relax, some time to actually DO veterinary medicine and practice my clinical skills. Plus, because I’m in a different part of the country, there are definitely differences in clients and cases/diseases, which is what I wanted. I get asked many times a day why I came all the way from California. I know people doing the same program I’m doing 20 minutes from school. It goes to show you that your life is what you make it. I wanted to spend some time in the South, in a different place, so I made it happen. And I’m so, so glad I did. I may have grown up in California and gone to both undergrad and now vet school there, but I’ve managed to spend a few months living in DC, Knoxville, St. Louis, and now Nashville. Not only has it been a blast, but it really opens your eyes to what the rest of the country is like. In a way you wouldn’t get just visiting for a few days.

In addition, I think Jackson is living his best life here. He quickly adjusted, and absolutely loves the place we are staying. He gets along with the other kitties, but mostly he loves looking at little critters out the window. Starting when it gets light around 5am until when I leave for the morning, he’s darting from window to window chirping.

While my days at work are longer than I’m accustomed to, they haven’t been totally wiping me out and dragging like I was worried they would. The only thing is my feet hurt SO much from standing all day! Hopefully they’ll get accustomed to it. In terms of fitness, with longer hours I just try to fit it in when I can. On days I start at 8am I do 6am Crossfit. Because I work 10-12 hour days, I make workouts a priority on my days off as much as possible. I may try 5am crossfit classes at some point…but I”m not ready for that yet!

I’ve been eating the same salad every day at work: peaches, goat cheese, turkey, and balsamic.

But back to the title of this post. Last weekend, my St. Louis friends made the 5 hour drive to visit me here! I worked Saturday, and they arrived Saturday afternoon and left Sunday late afternoon. We did a LOT in the 24 hours they were here, so here’s what to do in 24 hours in Nashville!

Our frist stop was dinner at a brewery really close to me, Tailgate. I’m OBSESSED with the atmosphere here. It feels like summer. There’s an outdoor area overlooking a hill, with lights strung up. At dusk, fireflies come out (which is mesmerizing for someone from California!

They also had REALLY good pizza. They had both GF crust AND cauliflower crust. It was so good we actually went again Sunday afternoon before my friends hit the road.

Everyone who visits me is coming here. It just feels like summer. I honestly didn’t exactly understand summer until I left CA and came to Tennessee 2 years ago. There’s something different on the other side of the country.

Next, we headed downtown to Broadway street. This is the main “downtown” that Nashville is know for. The cool thing about it is it’s a several block area with a whole bunch of bars, most of which have multiple floors with life music, and a lot have rooftop bars as well. We totally lucked out and the weather was in the upper 70s at night. We went in and out of a ton of different places. It was a blast!

On Sunday, we went to brunch at the highly recommended Biscuit Love. We went to the Hillsboro Village location, and I would highly recommend doing this. It’s their newer location, and after looking at their website, I was expecting an hour line to order, but we were able to order right away! Two of my favorite foods ever are biscuits and grits, so that’s exactly what I got. I got a bowl with cheddar grits, eggs, tomato gravy, and kale, and then a biscuit on the side. I only had a little bit of it though. It was good but not my favorite style of biscuit. In terms of gluten while I’m here, I’ve had a couple of small things and been ok, so I’m going with it. I didn’t push it since these weren’t my favorite style of biscuits, but biscuits are going to have to happen while I’m here.

My friends also ordered the Bonuts to share, which are biscuit donuts rolled in sugar and topped with berry compote and mascarpone.

Hillsboro Village is a cute little area near Vanderbilt, so we walked around there a little bit before heading to 12 South, my current favorite neighborhood, to take the iconic Nashville picture.

While there, we had to stop at Jeni’s ice cream. Another place that everyone who visits is going to go to. I’ve been DYING to try the gooey butter cake flavor, which is actually GF! When I went before and when I passed by a Jeni’s, they were both out! So of course that had to happen. It’s AMAZING. I got it with dark chocolate.

After we saw everything in that neighborhood, we walked the pedestrian bridge. We were going to try and park on the other non-downtown side of the river, but we drove in circles across the river trying to find a place to enter or park, so we ended up parking downtown in a cheaper lot that our Uber driver from the previous night actually recommended. To get to the bridge, we walked through Broadway, which was just as much in the day as at night.

Note: we didn’t actually go to CMA Fest, but there was a lot going on all weekend!

Here are the views from the bridge:

And then it was back for pizza before they headed out. I am so thankful for my zoo friends. You know true friends will drive hours to visit you! (They drove 10 hours to visit me in Alabama last year!) It was such a great weekend.

And that’s how to spend 24 hours in Nashville!

Nashville Things

Date: June 11, 2018
Author: astottler
Categories: Uncategorized

I’m in Nashville! Yay!

I thought I’d recap what I’ve been up to so far before works starts getting crazy (I work pretty long days). I’m currently blogging from a coffeeshop, the Frothy Monkey, downtown. I have a drink with beet juice and cocoa powder. I didn’t think it had any coffee in it, but I actually am not sure if ti does or not…

I’m definitely not expert on Nashville, but I’m trying to get the most out of my time off!

Sunday was spent mostly settling in. Side note: when I got in Saturday, it was so late nothing was open so I went through the McDonald’s drive through. I got the Southwest salad with grilled chicken and it was actually REALLY good.

I went to Target on Sunday on pretty much bought one of everything. There are just a lot of things necessary to live! I also wanted to spend plenty of time with Jackson on my first day to make sure he was settling in ok.

Yeah, I think he’s fine.

The main event was Sunday afternoon. I researched spin classes in Nashville, and came across Cyclebar, which I’ve heard of. I wanted to go to a class on Sunday, and happened to find that they had an outdoor class at a brewery. Um, sign me up! We got to cycle outside, with a great view of the Nashville skyline. and then, we got a free beer at the brewery!

I also figured this was a step up from drinking alone! It was at Jackalope, and I had the Lovebird beer, which was a strawberry/raspeberry hefeweizen.

Afterwards, I went to dinner at the Frothy Monkey location in 12 South, an area I went with my friend when I visited Nashville a few years ago. (I think I will probably go back there and not come here to the downtown location, just because parking is RIDICULOUSLY expensive here). I got a sandwich with smoked turkey, cheese, and avocado on GF bread, and a salad with citrus vinaigrette.

Afterwards, I walked down the street to Jenni’s ice cream. I was hoping to try their Gooey Butter Cake flavor (#stlouis) but they were out. I “settled” for dark chocolate and salty caramel. You can do two half scoops of different flavors! So this was technically single scoop, but it was huge!

Monday morning I went into the clinic I’m going to work out to do some paperwork and get oriented.

I was home in time for lunch, and discovered a new quick and easy salad combo that apparently I haven’t take a picture of yet. Bolthouse farms Salsa Racnh dressing, deli turkey, and american cheese. The American cheese I got tastes a little cheddary so it works!

Monday afternoon I went to a new Crossfit! I had a comprehensive evaluation of my movements beforehand. I can tell the coaching here is really good. I’ve been to 2 classes so far and they’ve definitely been challenging! It’s really nice to go somewhere different and get pushed, plus it’s smaller so there’s more individual attention. For better or for worse, they have 5am classes. Which might become a thing when I start work at 7am and work until 7:30pm (ouch, we’ll see).

Because I work such long hours, I’m going to try to go as much as I can, when I can. Which means on my days off, I really need to hit it!

After Crossfit, I made myself a giant salad with salsa ranch, corn, tomatoes, Mexican cheese blend, and BBQ chicken.

This is a super easy dinner that will be on repeat this week. I’ve made this before with lime juice and olive oil as the dressing!

Tuesday and Wednesday I had off of work. Tuesday morning was lazy until I went to 11:30 Crossfit. It crushed me. We did RDLs for the strength, which I am definitely feeling now. Followed by box steps ups. I like the accessory strength work that we do as well. I think it’s important! The WOD was a 15 minute AMRAP of 15 cals rowing/15 wall balls/9 burpees. I finished just over 5 rounds. We also do some “cool down” work here, and today it was sideways leg raises which I am also feeling.

That morning, I went to Walmart (I don’t have one near me, but they have some awesome healthy food things! The new Peach Halo Top is fire.) which happened to be near a GF, nut free MUFFIN bakery. The Wild Muffin is a super small shop that specializes in GF muffins, and I’m obsessed because muffins are the superior baked good. I got a lemon blueberry and a pumpkin cheesecake, and they were still warm. They were both gone in a day, and this is going to have to become a weekly occurrence.

After lunch, I went to Radnor Lake to hike the trail around the lake. I figured I should do some outdoor things while it’s still 80s here! It was really beautiful, and the trail around the lake took me about an hour and 10 minutes.

Being outdoors like this feels like summer to me!

When I arrived home, I cleaned myself up and went to a Nashville Sounds baseball game! The minor league team here is the AAA affiliate of the Oakland A’s. The stadium is really nice so it’s a fun time!

Nothing like beer and baseball in the summer!

More to come soon!

Flying with a Cat

Date: June 7, 2018
Author: astottler
Categories: Uncategorized

I’m here in Nashville! As I write this up, it’s Wednesday. I got here late Saturday night, so I’m still settling in!

How did Jackson do on the flight? Read on for more!

I’ll have a separate post up in a little bit with Nashville things, but this is enough for its own post!

Let me just start by saying that I was SO nervous for this. I was worried he would be super scared. He’s pretty scared of new people and new places. But I also sort of knew he would be just fine. He’s really good in the car, and rides 2 hours in the car fairly frequently. After some debate, I decided not to use any pharmacological intervention. I really didn’t want to because it just adds another variable, but I was worried he would be terrified. So how did it go? First, we flew Alaska Air. They had a pretty good pet policy: $100 for flying with the animal, and they don’t require any records or paperwork if he travelled in the cabin with me, which was something I DEFINITELY wanted to do anyways.

I was really nervous to go through security, because I wasn’t sure how that would work. They gave me the option of holding him as I walked through the metal detector and his carrier went through the machine, or taking him out in a private room for when the carrier went through the machine. I opted for the private room because I wasn’t sure if he would make a run for it. He was really good for this process. When I took him out he seemed scared but not terrified. As we walked around the airport, he meowed some. Not yowling, just reminding me he was there. The next few hours were a little bit of a nightmare, but he was a champ. We got onto the plane, and then immediately had to get off because there was something wrong with the plane. That led waiting an hour or so to get onto a new plane. Then, once on the new plane, we taxied for a while and then they brought us back to the gate because a warning light came on. THEN they had to change flight crews because due to the delays, the pilots had been working too many hours in a row. So MORE delays. I was a bundle of nerves at this point because it was 2pm, and he had been in the carrier since 8:30am, and we still had a 4 hour flight ahead of us. Meanwhile…he was fine. As soon as we started taxiing the first time (before we got called back to the gate), he curled up and fell asleep. And then was asleep through the whole delay and pretty much the entire rest of the flight. I was worried about the noise at takeoff, and that he would be terrified….nope, he was asleep. He didn’t make a single peep on the plane, and only meowed again when we were off the plane. I put my hand in the carrier a few times to check on him…he purred. So he was definitely not traumatized!

In terms of logistics, I brought a big tupperware container and a bag of litter (which 100% will get flagged at security if you do this), as well as some small paper bowls and a bag of his food. When we got to SFO, I took him out in a pet relief area by the gate and gave him an opportunity to use the litter, which he didn’t. I gave him the chance to drink water on the plane and I don’t think he did at all.

Due to the delays, we got to the house we’re staying at around 10pm…meaning he had been in the carrier for almost 12 hours. I had a letterbox and litter delivered to the place so it would be ready for when we arrived, but not only did he not urinate in his carrier, he didn’t use the litter for a little while.

I was also nervous for how he would be in a new place since he tends to be scared of new places. Nope. He was purring and flopped out on my bed pretty much right away.

He seemed very comfortable and was happy to explore a new place. He especially loves all the window sills! There are critters that he loves watching out the windows on the back deck.

And of course he has been loving hanging out in the sink. I don’t get it.

The one weird thing is that he didn’t eat really at all the first day. That’s really unusual for him. He’s usually constantly eating, and he loves his dry food! He didn’t seem stressed at all, and was behaving normally. And he ate a couple of treats. But then I was unpacking a can of his wet food, and he was instantly interested so I fed him that, and since then he has eaten normally! Kittens…

Overall, despite my own stress, we had a great flying experience. I’m so lucky that he’s so good about this kind of thing, and I think taking him in the car regularly from a young age was really helpful. It’s also SO nice to have him here with me!

Have you flown with a pet before?

DC Weekend: Wedding, Sweets, and Fitness

Date: June 6, 2018
Author: astottler
Categories: Uncategorized

So. I finished my first year of vet school. A week and a half ago.

^officially 1/4 of a vet!

In the past week and a half I: went to a wedding in DC. Spent time at home in the Bay Area. Moved to Nashville. Whaaat? It’s been a crazy couple of weeks to say the least. So before I start with the Nashville posts, I wanted to recap my DC trip! It was a whirlwind for sure, but so fun!

I basically went straight from my final to the airport. I was traveling alone, but my friend had a flight out around the same time as I did so we got celebratory beers.

I didn’t get to DC until midnight thanks to the time change. I slept in Saturday morning (does it count as sleeping in if you’re on the wrong time zone?) and then headed out for a few of my favorite DC things: monument run and Sweetgreen. Can you believe it’s been 4 years already since I lived there?

I mostly stayed at a hotel nearish the airport, on the blue line of the metro (which was under construction all weekend so the delays were crazyyy). For my run, I took the metro to Arlington Cemetery, and then ran from there.

^ducklings!

It was really crowded so I definitely had to walk in some sections because of all the people.

It was also quite warm and humid! I definitely missed these sights though! I ended my run at the Sweetgreen in Foggy Bottom (the area I lived). I got a beet and goat cheese salad with chicken and wild rice, and balsamic dressing. SO good.

When I got back, I picked up a rental car to drive to Maryland for the wedding. It was held about 30 minutes outside of DC, and the drive was terrifying. Look, I’m a good driver. I’ve driven in Southern California. I’ve driven in San Francisco. But this drive….not fun. The roads were confusing and the drivers were so unpredictable! I had a terrifying moment when another car swerved into my lane, nearly into me, out of nowhere. Thankfully, I arrived at the hotel safe and sound, and got myself ready to go to the black tie wedding!

It was held at a beautiful mansion. It was supposed to be outside, but minutes before we were supposed to be seated, the skies fell and it started POURING. They had a wonderful back up indoor area, and it was a beautiful, intimate ceremony!

Congratulations Jenni! We went to undergrad together and I knew this couple from the very start!

Sunday morning, I packed everything into my backpack (yes, including my floor length dress), checked out of my hotel, and dropped off my car. I decided that Sunday afternoon would be my Georgetown time (read: cupcake time), so I took the metro into Rosslyn and had a quick lunch at The Little Beet. It’s similar to Sweetgreen, but different flavors. I got a bowl with chicken, brussels sprouts with cranberries,  pickled onions, avocado white bean spread, and chimichurri sauce. It was one of their suggested bowls, and while there were a lot of flavors going in, they worked together!

I then walked across the bridge into Georgetown, straight to Baked and Wired! The Georgetown Cupcake line wasn’t too long either, and I honestly probably should have stopped there too…

I got the one gluten free cupcake option, which was vanilla with chocolate chips!

So good!

Then, I walked along the waterfront and settled on some big steps to read my book for a little bit.

At this point, the sky was getting DARK and I thought for sure I would get poured on. Somehow though, it held out. I checked back into my original hotel and relaxed for a few hours before heading out into the drizzly weather to go to Alexandria. Old Town Alexandria is super cute, and wasn’t too long of a metro ride from where I was staying. I went to Le Pain Quotidien for dinner, another place on my “must gos” for my trip. I got a chicken and mozzarella tartine on their delicious seedy GF bread.

When i saw there was a Kilwin’s in Alexandria, I knew I needed to stop. I went to one in St Charles (near St. Louis) for ice cream and it left an impression! I got the salted caramel, which comes with chocolate covered pieces of caramel! I actually ate this outside in the rain because there wasn’t anywhere inside to sit. Worth it!

After dinner and dessert, I had a relaxing night in at the hotel. When planning this trip, it was tempting to try and fit in 101 things into the short 2.5 days, but I eventually decided that I was going to be exhausted post-finals so I decided to try and make it a little more relaxing.

Monday, my flight left in the afternoon so I didn’t have a ton of time to do things. Since it was Memorial Day and Murph is legitimately one of my favorite Crossfit workouts, I decided to drop back into Crossfit Foggy Bottom to do it. That was my box when I lived in DC, and although I don’t think any of the same people were there, it was good to be back! The interesting part of this Crossfit is that it’s in the basement of a fancy hotel! That made the running of Murph a little more interesting…we had to run through the locker room and then the hotel lobby, and up stairs to go outside! I wasn’t super concerned about my time, I just wanted to do the workout, so the time difference as a result was fine. This workout is a great reminder to remember those who have served and lost their lives.

The workout went well for me. it just doesn’t crush me in the same way it used to. Plus, my pull ups just get better every year. I maintained sets of 5 until the very last round. And my legs didn’t feel quite as heavy on the second run as they have in the past! I think one of the worst Murphs I had was when I did it with a semi-broken foot (the boot came off later that week)….I hadn’t squatted at all in a month or so, and 300 squats after all that time off….ouch.

Thanks to the humidity and 100 pull ups, I was a sweaty chalk monster at the end!

This Crossfit is part of a gym with fancy showers, so I was able to get cleaned up there before traveling!

I made a couple more stops before arriving at the airport. First off, Sweetgreen one more time! I got the Guacamole Greens and subbed sweet potatoes for the onions.

And the final stop? Shake Shack. Their frozen custard is SO good. When I was in Philadelphia in the middle of winter, I ventured into sub-freezing temperatures at night just to get some! I got the vanilla concrete with hot fudge.

Then, it was back home for 4 short days!

Nashville recap coming soon!

It’s the Last Week of School!

Date: May 21, 2018
Author: astottler
Categories: Uncategorized

I can’t believe it’s the last week of my first year of vet school. Things are pretty crazy for me right now between studying for finals and getting ready for all kinds of travel. 2 hours after my final, I will be on a plane to DC for a wedding, and a week later I head to Nashville for the summer! I’m definitely a little worried about traveling with my little one.

He’s great in the car, but he gets scared of new people and new places.

I also just discovered he still has some residual baby teeth on his back molars and I need to have them taken out. I’m trying to figure out when and where I can get that taken care of.

For now, I thought I’d share a super fast full day of eating from today before I get back to studying!

Breakfast:

I got this super amazing apricot jam at a farmer’s market back home. It’s basically all apricot with minimal sugar. I’m trying to finish it up this week so it doesn’t go to waste! It’s super delicious with sunbutter and yogurt. Mango on the side.

Lunch:

Salad with grilled chicken, blueberries, honey goat cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. GF cheddar crackers on the side. Plus a little something sweet.

I ended up doing my workout on my own this afternoon, since the Crossfit workout called for deadlifts and I’m not quite ready for that yet with my back. I figured I might as well share what I did!

5×5 back squat working up to 165ish# I say “ish” because I’m pretty sure I had a 2.5 plate on one side and a 5 on the other and kept feeling off balance. That explains it…

8 minute AMRAP: push ups and box jumps I like this little couplet and do it a lot because I work on my strict push ups from my toes, and the (padded) box is higher.

8 minutes: 20 seconds max effort on the assault bike/40 seconds rest

2×25 hip strength exercises My hips are still a little jacked up from squatting but they’re a lot better. I figure some focused strength + stretching couldn’t hurt.

Snack:

Bar+freeze dried grapes and then some real grapes.

Dinner:

Leftover cauliflower crust pizza and a kale salad massaged with poppyseed dressing and topped with parmesan.

Dessert:

I’m in the “eat things up” phase and I realized I had a mostly full box of this vanilla cereal left. I decided it would be good with chocolate chips, and then kicked it up a notch by heating up some gourmet marshmallows (seriously the best I’ve ever had) and making an impromptu rice crispie treat type of deal.

Snack #2:

Mid studying I had a brown rice cake with whipped chive cream cheese.

Back to it my friends. We’re almost at the finish line!