Jem is my favorite cartoon character for at least three reasons: she has pink hair, transforms into a rock star with the help of her computer named Synergy, and she’s truly outrageous (truly, truly, truly outrageous).

My office seemed to think so too, and I arrived in costume at the airport (a strange place on Halloween) to find the gate attendants also sporting wigs.

Two flights later in Nashville, I met my wonderful friends Michael (seen here bronzed and brandishing his sword),

and Stewart, who revealed his secret Clark Kent identity:

Very much in need of brunch the next morning, we went to Marché for cheeses and my favorite sandwich, a BLT with a fried egg on top, along with blood orange mimosas.

Then, off we went to the Parthenon; Michael took this shot of us on the steps, marveling at this replica of the ancient structure (which, apparently, was originally colored).

And Athena, who looks like she had a geisha makeover, commands the inside.

More striking was my Facebook husband Stewart on the Nashville walking bridge later that night,

and the spider webs that glinted as the riverboat passed under the bridge.

Stewart played some of his repertoire (this is an excerpt of “Backseat”) before we went out, and kthread highly recommends Mad Donna’s as a neighborhood bar.

Sunday morning, I met my beautiful sister Kat and her boyfriend Reid (they flew in from Portland for Rachell and Lee’s weekend—congrats, R and L) and we drove back over to East Nashville.

Walking around, we discovered the East Nashville weenery (I Dream of Weenie),

and had long conversations about our new projects. I’ve missed them and their wonderful energy very much.

Wandering down side streets, we discovered that Nashville is so into tomatoes that they paint them on fences and have an annual festival (and there are bumper stickers in this area that say: “Tomatoes: A Uniter, Not a Divider: Bringing Fruits and Vegetables Together”).

Stewart and Michael met us at Marché’s sister restaurant Margot’s,

and Reid’s expansive hand gesture illustrates the excellence of the brunch menu here—

my pork belly was crunchy and then melted, the right accent for the grits and scrambled eggs.

And East Nashville is a vintage mecca, with Wonders on Woodland’s vintage jewelry and furniture and the Hip Zipper’s rack after rack of jumpers, dresses, hats (I couldn’t resist), and shoes.

Reluctantly, Kat, Reid, and I took off for the airport, Reid swigging Loveless Cafe’s famous sweet tea all the way.

People I love, local food, a healthy respect for tomatoes, and an intense outpouring of music from every venue—oh, how soon can I return?

The full set of Flickr images is here.

Related posts:

1. the great portland snowpocalypse
2. the fourth weekend in new york
3. america day III: a new hope in nashville

1. Dave C.:
   November 3rd, 2008 at 6:57 am

   Excitement, adventure; these are the things that Jem is.

2. Dana:
   November 3rd, 2008 at 8:50 am

   Oh, how nostalgic I’m feeling having watched those videos! I miss you all: K, Stewart, Michael, Katrina….we need to have a costumed reunion party soon.

3. Ben:
   November 3rd, 2008 at 1:06 pm

   lovely to see all these people i haven’t seen in far too long. that BLT sandwich looks amazing. can we re-create that sometime?

4. kat:
   November 4th, 2008 at 12:41 pm

   long live nashville! it was a delight to see all you superhero’s in your “human” costume. I just wish it could have been a larger c-ville reunion…thanks for the fun and pics kris. cheers to all*

5. amanda:
   November 5th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

   i. want. that. hat!
   (the wig rocks, too :))

6. Kristen:
   November 5th, 2008 at 12:28 pm

   Dave, so true. This might be my favorite Halloween costume yet.

   Dana, we missed you! And yes to a costumed reunion party where we will make…BLTs with fried eggs :)

   Ben, you were missed too; let’s all talk about Thanksgiving soon.

   Kat, was amazing to see you and your beautiful haircut. Nashville is now on the list of places to return soon.

   Amanda, I’ll bring the hat to the District when I visit next :) we still need to a kthread cooks there, I haven’t forgotten!

7. Stewart:
   November 7th, 2008 at 3:26 pm

   I finally got a chance to reassert my citizenship in the world wide web today- and Nashville is already posted! What a fun trip- and there’s more vintage to call you back, K. Missing you, Dana and Ben!

8. Kristen:
   November 9th, 2008 at 7:59 am

   S, cannot wait to return for the vintage, but mostly for you and Michael; so happy you are settling in and treating Nashville to your music—

9. kdog:
   November 14th, 2008 at 11:32 pm

   photos on walking bridge incredible. spider web -perfection- you are incredible- Kdog

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Posted by Kristen Taylor on Monday, November 3rd, 2008, 2:27 am * Filed in Design. * Tags: east, halloween, jem, katrina, kristen, kthread, michael, nashville, reid, stewart, taylor. Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.