Here and There and Everywhere

The Setting: An unfamiliar apartment so generously littered with baby paraphernalia that it already feels like home.

The Soundtrack: Appropriately enough, GCB on Hulu.

On the Stovetop: Rabbit, Pork, and Ginger Sausage with Kale.

The Scenario: Phase one of summer relocating is underway: BeingTSI is currently coming to you from Dallas!

We intended to depart from Indiana at 10 a.m., immediately following Hoosband's last final. So, naturally, we hit the road a little after two.

The car ride was long, and at intervals loud, as Oia proclaimed her feelings about her car seat.

But soon enough we approached the friendly, night-lit silhouette of a familiar skyline and were welcomed to Nashville by warm smiles and open arms eager to take the little one off our hands for hours at a time.

The stop in Tennessee was brief, but long enough to see a few faces, feast on falafel and lamb gyro from Mediterranean Cuisine in Brentwood, catch a good show by the Brown Brothers Band at Mickey Roos in Franklin, and stop in for a three-dollar Yazoo draft at Sam's in the Village.

I also had the long-awaited pleasure of popping into the Anderson Design Group Studio Store by the Parthenon to pick up a "Taste of Music City" calendar and check out the shop--if you read the Music City in the Midwest post, then you've seen a couple of their charming vintage-inspired prints--so cute!

But all too soon it was time to hit the road again.

Graceland billboards, BBQ, and Beale Street tempted us along the way, but we had a baby asleep and a schedule to keep.

Roadwork in Little Rock kept us from an exploratory dinner in Arkansas, but a personal pan pizza and wings delivered to our hotel room just before bedtime sustained us till morning.

Before we had the wee one, the last leg of the trip might have included a stop at Crater of Diamonds State Park (as seen on 18 Kids and Counting), but, bundle-of-joy in tow, we just couldn't see that welcome-to-Texas sign quickly enough.

Even the shortest road trip with three people can seem like an eternity when one of the three tends to suffer sporadic bouts of bawling.

We were, however, quite blessed. Oia slept peacefully most of the way, we made it to our new apartment safely (as did the boxes of baby stuff we shipped), and we popped into Taco Cabana in time for frozen-margarita happy hour and a dinner of brisket tacos and flautas.

It may not have been haute cuisine, but so far Dallas tastes good.

We're still getting settled down here, so please pardon the tortoiselike trickle of posts. I promise it will pick up soon!

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.