let me just say...

...that i may receive mixed reviews, but Monsieur et Madame Obama will be receiving an invitation to our wedding. the save the date has already been sent, and i'm sure that he's added our wedding gift to his christmas buying list for this year. so there you have it.

unconventional business travel

as a result of fall orientation for 4 local universities occurring at the same time this year, Lynchburg Virginia is facing a dearth of hotel rooms this week. and since my team didn't book far enough in advance, we're all having to scramble to find accommodations. some used their "platinum override" at the local Marriott to essentially kick out "common guests"; the rest of us who have hearts are scrambling to find an alternative.

my alternative consists of a local B&B, the Carriage House Inn Bed and Breakfast. at this very moment, i'm sitting in my four-poster bed surrounded by antique furniture (and wireless, of course). and in 7 short hours i'll be devouring a delicious breakfast of berries, croissant french toast, and eggs and sausage, according to the paper left on my pillow. i'm already excited about wednesday night, an excitement bound to be enhanced by the fact that even the B&B wasn't available tomorrow night so i'll be making the trek to a Super 8 in Appomattox.

my team thinks it's hilarious that i'm staying here tonight, and i suppose it is. we're all accustomed to accruing massive amounts of hotel points and staying in the same, cookie-cutter style rooms wherever we go. so to have a 3-course, country breakfast and a wrap-around porch complete with porch swing is quite a change from the usual routine. the hotel points and Marriott consistency can certainly be nice, but if you ask me, this is a welcome change.

articulation, where are you?! i'm sitting here in nashville on a friend's couch, trying to put some thoughts into words. the first thought is that i'm not altogether sure, and haven't been since my return to the states, that i should be writing post-Paris on this blog. should "wearingunderpantsinfrance" be limited to my time in the aforementioned land? i know i posted an article here earlier in the year, but as i didn't actually write it myself it may not count. i guess by virtue of writing at this moment, i'm deciding that this blog shall live on. so be it.

as i mentioned, i'm in nashville for the weekend. i came up thursday night, valentine's day to be exact, timing my arrival with the arrival of tyler "diesel" harlan, neal the spiel palmer, and matthew magic merker. after a romantic dinner with neal and tyler at Jackson's, we rendezvoused with matt, erica, susanna, and sarah before going out for a night on the town at a Nashville landmark--Jesse Zane's Nashville Nights. there's really nothing landmark about it, as evidenced by the fact that we were the only ones in the place, and likely the only ones to have set foot inside all night. but that didn't stop us from singing karaoke like we'd never sung before. we even got a few people to stop as they walked by and consider coming inside. the consideration was shortlived. despite wanting to get in bed by 1 to be able to work friday morning, i managed to get home by 3 for a short night's sleep. but of course it was worth it.

friday i met up with tyler, neal, matt and debo at the pantry with your and my favorite waitress, Mary Fitzpatrick. she was on her game as usual, particularly baffled by tyler's worldwide travels. being the busy businessman that i am, i had to get back to work for a couple of hours but called it a day at 330 and went to play disc golf with tyler, matt and dan, my high school friend at Vandy Med.

today has been a good day, highlighted by a HUGE game against Florida---in typical Vandy fashion we had to pull it out at the end. but it was great, nonetheless. now i'm headed to dinner with the DeBos, the soon to be Aldersons, and mr. harlan.

so much for a pensive post...