My first solo trip in a long long time!
Like I said, I know other people travel solo ALL the time, either for work or pleasure, and traveling especially for a conference is totally commonplace for many others. But it’s really not for me!!
I have traveled solo on multiple occasions in my life- including to Europe, Mexico, and Guatemala- but it’s been a long time. And in my previous role of “regular nurse”, it was super rare to get flown away for work obligations.
My current role though has undergone a TON of (sometimes uncomfortable) growth and change in the last little while, and attending this is a fun new opportunity!
So, here I am. Ready to learn learn learn and network for the next few days. 🙂
But being as I haven’t traveled solo in so long, I have to admit it felt a little funny to be navigating an airport etc completely alone! Not bad, but I just noticed, hmmm, haven’t done this in a while! Which created a slight twinge of… uniqueness, I guess? (Even though I do almost all of our travel planning, so it’s not like I’m not capable to travel alone!)
Ivan dropped me at the airport a little after 8.
Had the BEST pumpkin nut bread with tea at the Madison airport! I’m usually not a big pumpkin flavor person, but this was SO GOOD! Am I a pumpkin person after all???
In Chicago O’Hare I had a longer layover, which came in very handy when my first flight was a little delayed for a maintenance issue.
I decided, hey, this is a rare occasion (eating alone in an airport). I treated myself to a pizza at Wolfgang Puck and lingered reading blogs on my laptop. Very lovely!
Made it to Nashville by 3:10, where I ended up meeting up with my boss (who had come into town early for the weekend to see a friend, and was now dropping off her rental car back at the airport…). We shared an Uber to the hotel.
Got unpacked and just chilled for a little bit.
Anticipating going out for dinner, I changed into a fresh different shirt (more country vibe?) and met my boss and coworker for drinks in the hotel bar first.
Of course, the hotel bar was not actually “country style” so my airport clothes probably would have jived better there… (yes I realize it makes zero difference what I wear, but I’m just sharing my thought process. 😆😆😆)
Had a nice little happy hour (during which I was very glad that I ordered “just” a single ($9.90) beer. The others had cocktails (x2 each) and their eyes almost popped out when their bills came and the brandy and gin cocktails they’d ordered were $25 a piece! I am not a cocktail drinker so I don’t know if this is normal, but damn! $50 for 2 drinks? No thank you. 😬
On that note, we headed out for dinner. Ha. I had thought my boss had other plans, but I guess she didn’t, because she ended up coming along too.
I had asked for recs on my Facebook page and some people recommended Miranda Lambert’s place Casa Rosa for Mexican. We weren’t sure how busy or not it would be (I had heard can be very busy!) so thought this could be a bust, but, it’s also Monday night.
We grabbed an Uber and decided it try for it. Fortunately, it was not busy really at all and we were able to walk right in (around 8 pm). (No one made reservations for tonight since we kind of just wanted to play the travel day by ear.)
I had tacos al pastor with a margarita and some very spicy and yummy árbol salsa.
The lower level bar area is super cute. Of course there was live music.
We just walked a block or so down Broadway before getting another Uber back. In my perfect world, I would have really loved to just slip into one of the honky tonks to listen to music for 30 minutes or so first. There were some great songs billowing out of those places!
But everyone was getting tired/it had been a long day etc. and it’s an early morning tomorrow. Besides, between my beer + one margarita, I was about at my max anyway for one day. Ha.
Still have 3 other nights for music + honky tonks though, so, should be all good!
And now, ready for bed! Need to be downstairs by 7:30 am tomorrow.
P.S. I even did my nails!
My usual Impress press on nails, in a nice grey/purple. (Fall vibes I think?). I cut them shorter this time.
The last time I wore nails I left them the regular length (supposedly already “short”) but they were driving me nuts and I couldn’t get my contacts in or out with them on. This cut length is perfect! I love them and will always cut them in the future. I could totally wear these on the regular for day to day! Much more comfortable and I think they still look super nice.
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for a nice first evening!
GRATEFUL KAE 
What a great start of a solo business trip! You’ve done a lot! I definitely wouldn’t have joined both cocktail and dinner! you know i need to go to sleep super early to be functional the next day, but hey.. it’s nice to hang out with the team/boss on a casual occasion.
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Well, the daytime doesn’t end until after 5, so if I want to experience any of Nashville, I have to go out at night! It’s just the way it is! I am fine with it though. I’m not exactly a night owl, but I also feel it’s not the end of the world to break routine sometimes and live a little! 🙂
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I like how you started enjoying this trip immediately, at the airport. I love traveling alone! I hope the whole trip is fun for you. And, I love your nails! Definitely a fall vibe.
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Yes!!! I was like, ok, I’m going to soak this up and treat myself!
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I’m glad you had a great first day and didn’t have any issues with your connections. I travel alone most of the time so it’s weird for me to travel with others! I have to remind myself to slow way down, especially with children along… It’s just a whole other experience to only worry about yourself.
Your outfits are both super cute! Hopefully you get a chance to listen to some music on this trip. I will say I get 0 chance to do fun things on work trips since my schedule is out of my control and I’m usually too tired to do anything fun after a day of meetings and instead get dinner and then go to bed early. Before I had kids, I would extend trips and stay for the weekend to see friends/do something fun, but those days are over for quite awhile as I would feel bad adding on any time to a trip knowing how hard solo parenting is for Phil!
Your nails look great!! I should try to learn how to use them. I need a tutorial from you! Do they ruin your nail bed when you take them off? That has been my issue in the past with fake nails or getting gel manicures!
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Yeah, it’s a bummer you don’t have more downtime on your work trips but I suppose with the amount you travel, you maybe don’t even really care about seeing/doing new things! This is a much more rare situation for me, so I want to really enjoy it!
I have not found that these ruin my nails at all! I buy the ones that already have the adhesive on the back, so you literally just wipe your nails with the enclosed alcohol wipe (prep step) , peel the backs off, and stick them on! (Prior to this I look through the options in the kit and eyeball which ones are the right size for each nail and kind of lay them out on the table in order.) Then, this time, after putting them all on, I grabbed a nail clippers and cut them a bit shorter. The end!
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That first outfit is SO CHIC. Seriously. It looks like you walked out of a fashion magazine. Love it (and those shoes are adorable – are they Rothy’s?)
Love your nails. They look perfect and definitely project fall vibes.
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Thank you! 😊😊 Yes, Rothy’s. I just bought two pairs for the first time ever- I really like them so far!! Super comfy and cute and functional. And I love that they are machine washable.
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I was going to compliment as well! Where is your jacket from? Those of us who WFH love seeing outfits on those rare opportunities for work events.
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The black jacket? It was actually a very random buy from Stitch Fix! It’s extremely comfy and I think it comes in navy or black!
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I don’t think I can handle press on nails! Some kind of sensory thing. I would not be able to forget they were there (never done acrylic or gel for those reasons too – just regular manis on occasion).
I’m glad you got to go out a little!! I tend to go out more on work travel (not super late but more than my boring regular life) bc I don’t have to get up as early (no kids to drop off or hurry along the AM routine!)
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It’s funny you say that- I’m super weird about certain sensory things (most pants in my waistband ?!?! 😩) but these nails don’t bother me at all! When I first put them on and press them on hard, my nails kind of “feel them”, or a sense of pressure, for just a little while. But then it goes away and is totally fine. (When I had them longer they were very irritating. But since I cut these shorter, they’re great!)
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How fun! There is a bit of a learning curve for solo travel, but I really think it’s good to get away on your own once in a while – or in my case once a month while everyone else is away. And can I also say that it’s good to get away if you have a young dog at home – IYKYK.
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Yes, agree! I do feel like there are certain things that I tend to “default” to my husband when we’re together – like paying the bill, adding a tip, ordering an Uber, etc. I do feel like it’s good to be fully in charge of everything from time to time again!
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So fun you got to travel alone. I often travel alone and I enjoy it so much when you don’t have to consider anyone else 🙂
Your first outfit is really cute. It would be totally my style. I am going to a training event next week and realize, I don’t really have any “nicer” outfits, like not even a cute blazer. I haven’t needed one for so long.
Every time you mentioned the Impress press-on nails, I think I want to try them but I’d also have to cut them really short (besides, I have very small nails (= kid-size) to begin with… I know they’d bother me. They do look really nice and I like the color!
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Well, the nails aren’t overly expensive (though they’re up to close to $10 for a pack now compared to $5 a few years ago!), so you could always just try them sometime for a special event or something! Definitely helps me to cut them. Technically they are already supposed to be “short” but their idea of short does not match MY idea of short!!! The regular length drives me nuts, but with them cut, they really aren’t bothersome!
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