Hello, Spring

Springtime is nipping at our heels and March looks as if it'll be coming in like a lion. Today, I woke up to 66 degrees, 84% humidity, and thunderstorms in February. Love that Tennessee weather.

I forgot how much I love spring. In the craziness of living life in Namibia's perpetual summer last year, I missed spring - literally and figuratively. I missed flowers blooming and trees budding. I missed thunderstorms and tornadoes. I missed love in the air and baby animals. I missed the fresh smell of new life.

If you're new to the blog, it's important for you to know how much I love seasons. I love seasons. Seasons of life, seasons of weather, seasons of development. Seasons are beautiful and biblical. I love that the Lord loves seasons.

Clearly, springtime is lovable. It's a time of rebirth, growth, and renewal. We are able to shed our heavy winter coats and shake off all the density of the old year. This is a beautiful thing.

So on today's "extra" day of the year, I'm celebrating by leaping in the wet grass, eating donuts, and watching the ominous clouds fly overhead. Oh...and I'm buying anti-allergen bedding today to ring in spring as well.

Best Hot Chocolate: Nashville Edition

Y'all! It's here! Extra extra read all about it!

That's right. After five years of meticulous studying and semi-secrecy, I'm going public with my Best Hot Chocolates of Nashville List.

As a non-coffee drinker and appreciator of chocolate, I have spent the last half a decade "researching" Nashville's best hot chocolate - also known as my excuse to become a coffeeshop connoisseur. It's not all about the cocoa; the coffeeshop itself matters, too. My experiences include everything from ordering on-the-go and late nights of studying, to Saturday afternoon reading and coffeedates with friends.

In light of your short attention spans, I'm going to give you two lists and Tweet-sized reviews of each coffeeshop (for you luddites out there, that means 140 characters or less).

Leave me a comment! What's your favorite place to grab some cocoa in Nashville?

Best Hot Chocolate:
Based on taste, warmth, appearance, and presentation.

1. The Cocoa Tree
2. Crema
3. Fido/Hot & Cold/Bongo Java (Belmont & East)
4. Dose
5. Edgehill Cafe (Edgehill & Lenox Village)
6. Ugly Mugs
7. JJ's
8. The Perch
9. Portland Brew (12 South & East)
10. Roast Inc.
11. Sam & Zoe's
12. Merridee's
13. Cafe Coco
14. Star Bagel
15. Starbucks
16. Drinkhaus
17. Panera
18. Krispy Kreme
19. Frothy Monkey
20. Fiddlecakes

Best Atmosphere:
Based on how much I want to sit & chat with a friend or bring a book & camp out there.

1. Crema
2. Bongo Java: Belmont
3. Frothy Monkey
4. Edgehill Cafe: Lenox Village
5. Fido
6. Edgehill Cafe: Edgehill
7. Dose
8. Portland Brew: East Nashville
9. Ugly Mugs
10. JJ's
11. Starbucks
12. The Perch
13. The Cocoa Tree
14. Bongo Java: East
15. Merridee's
16. Panera
17. Cafe Coco
18. Sam & Zoe's
19. Star Bagel
20. Roast Inc.
21. Portland Brew: 12 South
22. Krispy Kreme
23. Hot & Cold
24. Drinkhaus
25. Fiddlecakes

Tweet-Sized Coffeeshop Reviews:

Bongo Java: Belmont - Belmont - 2007 Belmont Blvd - big sister of fido. located in old house. quiet nooks for reading. great "everyday" hot chocolate. best big shady porch in town!

Bongo Java: East - East Nashville - 107 South 11th St - original fido/bongo relative nestled in east nash five points. teeny tiny coffeeshop. great "everyday" hot chocolate like fido and bongo.

Cafe Coco - Vanderbilt - 210 Louise Ave - open 24 hours. delicious food. live music. great place to play board games or meet friends. hot chocolate is average. don't walk here alone.

The Cocoa Tree - Germantown - 1200 5th Ave N Ste 104 - top 10 best HC in america according to...everyone! homemade chocolate, homemade marshmallows & grahams. several varieties. so, so rich.

Crema - Downtown - 15 Hermitage Ave - delightfully smooth, rich hot chocolate served in big warm mugs. friendly baristas. cozy. porch. good for hipster & celebrity spotting.

Dose - Sylvan Park - 3431 Murphy Road - really, really good hot chocolate served in mugs. great woody decor and bright, open one-room shop with both booths and tables.

Drinkhaus - Germantown - 500 Madison St #103 - best non-alcoholic peppermint hot chocolate ever to hit my tummy. austere but sunny atmosphere. unfriendly staff. no background music!

Edgehill Cafe: Edgehill - Music Row - 1201 Villa Place - cool wood tables, big windows, great hatch show posters on walls. tasty syrupy hot chocolate. good place to work at.

Edgehill Cafe: Lenox Village - Lenox Village - 6900 Lenox Village Blvd - partnered with the rabbit room! sells great books & cds. friendly staff. delicious, syrupy hot chocolate. cozy fireplace atmosphere.

Fiddlecakes - 8th & Wedgewood - 2206 8th Ave South - no hot chocolate, yet calls itself a coffeeshop! have yet to eat anything tasty here. located in awesome house, but could do so much better.

Fido - Hillsboro Village - 1812 21st Ave South - classic nashville. big & often busy. full of friends. best "everyday" hot chocolate, offered with BOTH marshmallows and whipped cream.

Frothy Monkey - 12 South - 2509 12th Ave South - spacious, cozy, homey. a favorite of locals. terrible hot chocolate and other drinks. love to go here, but sometimes don't order anything.

Hot & Cold - Hillsboro Village - 1804 21st Ave S - part fido, las paletas, & jeni's ice cream. can get hot drinks (incl rich drinking chocolate!) & cold sweets dipped in choc. tiny tables.

JJ's - Midtown - 1912 Broadway - classic college study spot. music changes w time of day. HC served in tall glass w a cookie stick. choc syrupy taste. great market attached.

Krispy Kreme - Woodbine - 408 Thompson Lane - typical cocoa, but only place to get coffee in the early AM in woodbine. great paired w their seasonal pumpkin donuts. big, open atmosphere.

Merridee's - Franklin - 110 4th Ave S, Franklin, TN - extensive delicious baked goods, bfast, and lunch. classic hot chocolate. lovely busy small town feel! ample seating but can get very busy.

Panera - usually 21st or West End - decent cocoa, but i'd rather buy 3 large mac&cheese bowls. cocoa seems better paired with a pastry. good for doing work outside of lunch hr.

The Perch - Brentwood - 117 Franklin Road, Brentwood, TN - cocoa and crepes? PLEASE! cocoa is usual but seems even better paired with a sweet s'mores crepe. cozy, sunny place with tiny tables.

Portland Brew: 12 South - 12 South - 2605 12th Ave South - used to be cold and bare, but now boasts good syrupy hot chocolate, more seating, brighter atmosphere. great local neighborhood coffeeshop.

Portland Brew: East Nashville - East Nashville - 1921 Eastland Ave - same cocoa as 12S. great, two-story shop with spacious seating, board games, good lighting, light music. good alt to other ones in eastnash.

Roast Inc. - Crieve Hall - 4825 Trousdale Drive - great neighborhood locale. boasts in their tasty, specialty coffees. cocoa is good...and pumpkin cocoa in the fall! few seats.

Sam & Zoe's - Berry Hill - 525 Heather Place - great quirky exterior. typical syrupy hot chocolate. decent seating and has extensive food options.

Star Bagel - Sylvan Park - 4504 Murphy Road - cocoa is decent. even better paired with their fabulous bagels. seating inside and outside. good neighborhood place.

Starbucks - usually 21st Ave, West End, or Green Hills - cocoa is too rich & heavy for me to love. but tastes even better when bought on a giftcard. major celeb sightings at 21st and green hills.

Ugly Mugs - East Nashville - 1886 Eastland Ave - delicious cocoa with extra syrup. lots of seating. great place to hang out with trendy nashvillians and have occasional celeb sightings.

Nashville Nugget #15: The Pharmacy

Last week before the highly anticipated Vanderbilt v. Kentucky game, several of us ventured out to East Nashville to try the newly-opened Pharmacy. Located behind Holland House, The Pharmacy has become known for its good beer, tasty burgers, and old-timey feel. It boasts the unexpected mix of "burger parlor" and "beer garden" - and pulls it off surprisingly well.

Despite waiting over an hour and a half for our group of nine to be seated, we enjoyed their wide selection of drinks - from specialty beers to sodas and milkshakes - on their heated back porch while admiring their expansive lawn and picnic tables, sure to be great for happy hour in the summer.

Once seated at our table - in old church pews! - the service was friendly and fast. Making a menu decision was agonizing. Everything from their specialty burgers to their bratwurst and sandwiches sounded immensely delicious. Several of us ordered their famed Farm Burger - local beef, ham, bacon, maple mustard, and a fried egg. I ordered their Cheese Burger - cheddar, swiss, and muenster with garlic aioli. All burgers are served on fresh cushions of bread straight from Provence - heavenly.

Honest to goodness: this is one of the best burger places in Nashville.

I can't end this post without devoting a paragraph to The Pharmacy's sweet potato fries. Un.be.lie.va.ble. I'd go so far as to say these are the best sweet potato fries in town - thin, flavorful, not dried out, just the right amount of salt. Delectable.

The Pharmacy is located in East Nashville at 731 McFerrin. Go! 

Why I Need a Significant Other

Oh readers, do not be dismayed. This is not going to be your typical angsty twentysomething's post about being single. Truth be told, singleness is lookin' good on me these days.

But the beginning of 2012 keeps poking me in the side.

See, almost daily I am tempted by announcements of new shows coming to Nashville. And my professional position doesn't exactly allow me to splurge even a little on shows. Don't even get me started about shows at the Ryman Auditorium (if I've said it once, I'll say it again - it's the best concert venue. Ever). Why can't they charge some kind of membership fee at the start of the year so that instead of paying >$32.50 for every show you see, you pay once for the venue and then pay just, like, $5 for future concerts?

I digress.

2012 has already been inundated with announcements of remarkable acts - and it's only February: Bela Fleck & the Flecktones...NEEDTOBREATHE (sorry for yelling at you)...Punch Brothers...James Taylor...Keith Urban's We're All For the Hall benefit concert...Alison Krauss & Union Station...the sold out Mumford & Sons shows...The Head and the Heart...Bluegrass Underground (it's in a cave, y'all)...Coldplay (Atlanta's close enough to count as local, right?). At least Rodney Atkins and Gloriana will be free post-marathon in April.

Some of these shows have made the precious cut as I reallocate my food budget and use it instead for concert tickets. Nonetheless, I find myself yearning for someone who would pay for me as their date.

Joking? Mostly. After all, this screams "first world problems." But seriously...

Mac&Cheese and Clydesdale Horses

I almost cried at Superbowl 2011 because I was far from home and unable to indulge in American foods and lazing on sofas and watching a big screen.

I almost cried at Superbowl 2012 when I discovered two things: Kraft mac&cheese was not in my belly and I hadn't seen a Budweiser clydesdale commercial.

That's because, for better or for worse, these two things are full of memories. When we were kids and got together with old family friends to watch the Superbowl, regardless of what the adults ate for dinner, mom would whip up a mega bowl of Kraft mac&cheese. I never saw a bowl that big the other 364 days of the year. But at the Superbowl party, I could eat as much as I want. And eat I did.

She also loved those annual clydesdale commercials. When I finally searched the internet this morning for a replay, I was disappointed. I had, in fact, seen this commercial last night, but had no idea it was THE Clydesdale commercial. That's because those precious horses and their faithful dalmatian companion were hardly even featured.

Boo to clydesdales of 2012, but enjoy this Sue McGee favorite from 2008:

The Element of Surprise

When I was in high school, I made a pact with my newfound best friend that we would both throw each other a surprise birthday party sometime in our lives. The idea of a surprise party made me giddy! The air of anticipation, the coming together of people who love you, the truth that friends care enough about you to think of the sneakiest and best way to surprise you...and then are good enough friends to keep the secret.

Let's face it: you have to be known real well for someone to pull off a surprise for you. They not only have to know what will surprise you, but they have to know what will delight you and how to craft the surprise just so.

Over the span of pre- and post- Advent season, two of my favorite bloggers, Russ Ramsey at the Rabbit Room and Ryan Brazile in Madagascar wrote on the very topic of surprise...and more importantly, of surprise as a unique Kingdom experience. You could continue reading this post, or just as easily read those two men's accounts and get the same effect.

Russ writes of the time he had the privilege of witnessing a surprise birthday celebration for a friend that was organized by this friend's wife. He goes on to talk about the story of the angels visiting the shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem - where one angel delivers the message, followed by a multitude singing "Glory to God in the highest!":

"It was as if one angel had been chosen to bring the news of Jesus' coming to the shepherds, so the others said, 'Alright, but as soon as you spit it out, we're bursting in - because this is the greatest news ever!' It was as though they were waiting behind the celestial corner of heaven's door, and as soon as they were able they rushed in to celebrate what God was doing."

He goes on to say:

"One thing [the surprise party] awakened in me...is that in this life I am being led by the hand of God through the concert hall that is this world, and one day he will lead me to the stairs, and together we will ascend. God only knows what I will find there, but I'm certain my reaction will be something like, 'You got me. Wow. Look at all these faces of the people I love. Wow!"

Our God is a God who delights in surprises.

Ryan writes about why we love surprises so much. As he said,

"Perhaps it is the joy of thinking, 'You are about to be far happier than you realize."...'I was thinking about you and planning this party/gift/surprise when you weren't even aware. You were being loved behind the scenes the whole time, even when you thought everyone had forgotten your birthday/anniversary/you in general.'...Sometimes we surprise people people to give them something they would be too shy or timid to ask for because they never thought we would actually give it."

How true, right? But as I said, our God is a God who delights in surprises. For as Ryan points out,

Perhaps it is His joy in thinking, 'You are about to be far happier than you realize."...'I was thinking about you and planning this joy/grace/act of love when you weren't even aware. You were being loved behind the scenes all along, even when you doubted and thought I had forgotten your need/prayer/you in general.'...Sometimes He surprises us in order to give us something we would be too shy or timid or shortsighted to ask for because we never thought He would actually give it or even be able to give it."

I've been through seasons of surprise in my life - over friends, jobs, provisions, plans - and often shame myself for being surprised. Shouldn't I expect God to do great things? Why do I continue to be at such a loss for words?

It's because my God is a God of surprises. He knows me more deeply than anyone on earth and knows how to delight me.

That's why the Lord carefully plans my life, allowing me to only see small glimpses of His grace and glory as it unfolds. That is why He teaches me expectant patience in the waiting. He delights in my unexpected joy.

Here's to more and more days of surprises and glimpses of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.