Visiting Girlfriends in Nashville, Calgary, and Michigan
Brian is finishing up his last segment of his UCLA-NUS EMBA program in Los Angeles for the final 2 weeks of August before he graduates. While Brian is in school, I decided to take an impromptu trip to visit some girlfriends because I know how important the final session is in grad school. Not only for your grades, but to bond with classmates and build those life-lasting relationships before the program ends. Those classmates can become future business partners, clients, or employers / employees for Brian. I didn't want to interfere with Brian's studies, and I certainly did not want to make him feel like he had to "check in" with me when he was out having fun with his classmates or come home early. You're supposed to party hard until the wee hours of the morning with your classmates when you're in grad school!
So I booked a 3-part trip to visit 3 girlfriends in Nashville, Calgary, and Detroit suburbs.
Here are highlights of the whirlwind 3-part Nashville, Calgary, and Detroit suburb trips:
Nashville, TN: Erica Sunshine Lee is a good friend of mine from San Francisco I met 10 years ago at a mutual friend's San Francisco raging rooftop party during the much anticipated Fleet Week. She is a talented country rock singer, song writer, and producer who tours around the world and recently released her 7th album. Although we only see each other occasionally due to the distance, we've remained good friends over the years.
After arriving in Nashville at 11 pm, Erica and I dropped off my luggage at her home and then hit Broadway Street's live music bars. Nashville knows how to party!
Watching the many talented singers, songwriters, and musicians of Nashville.
At the Honky Tonk Bar, we saw an improv performance by Cole Swindell who is a famous country singer based in Nashville. Unfortunately I don't know country music too well, so I didn't understand what was going on when people were screaming and cheering for this singer on stage until Erica told me Cole was a big deal in country who released albums with Warner Brothers. You can see here that Cole was extremely drunk and probably doesn't remember this night. He stumbled onto stage, and when he jumped off stage he nearly fell flat on his face.
The best party about Nashville was Motown Mondays in East Nashville! I loved this non-pretentious crowd. It didn't matter who you were or what you looked like. Everybody just got on the dance floor, and danced.
Motown Mondays
Motown Mondays
Erica performed at the Listening Room's Songwriter's night. Unlike the cover bands that play pop songs along Broadway, songwriters nights displayed original songs by artists. There are so many incredibly talented musicians in Nashville! It totally blew me away.
It was quite the party in Nashville, and I'm glad I had an insider like Erica show me the ropes of America's Music City. I learned a lot about the ups and downs of the music industry in Nashville through the eyes of Erica. I admire her for the tenacity, grit, and integrity that she has in a cut throat music industry where people in the industry are known for taking shortcuts. I think it's incredible that she can still be so successful while staying true to herself.
Arlene in Calgary, Alberta. Arlene is a dear friend of mine that I met at the University of Oregon's Journalism School. We also served in the Multicultural Club's leadership team together, specifically the Filipino Club. Over the years she's visited me several of times in San Francisco and even came to my bachelorette party in New Orleans! Sadly I've never visited her all of these years, so I wanted to pay Arlene a much needed visit in her Canadian hometown.
Arlene took me to world-famous Banff National Park, which was a 1.5 hour drive away from Calgary. The beauty of Banff was jaw-dropping! I can't believe how emerald the water is at Lake Louise.
Beautiful Lake Louise at Banff National Park
In addition to experiencing Canada's beautiful Rocky Mountains, Arlene and I had a lot of girlie time together whether it was getting a manicure and pedicure, catching up over dinner and wine, and watching a hilarious broadway show called "Hello Pretty Woman" that was a parody of the famous movie.
I'm thankful for girlfriends like Arlene who inspire me to be better and push me equally. I can't wait to have her visit Brian and I in Hawaii soon.
Lauren in Detroit suburbs, Michigan. Last but not least, I visited Lauren, one of my best friends who I met 9 years ago through a mutual friend in San Francisco when we were single girls in the city. We became so close over the years that we were even in each other's weddings as bridesmaids.
Lauren and I on my last night in Michigan.
Thanks to our mutual friends who introduced us one night over sushi dinner, Lauren and I became very close over the years. We were even in each other's weddings as bridesmaids.
Lauren moved back to Michigan years ago and met her now husband. Together, they have the most adorable little boy who I got to spend a lot of time hanging out with that week.
With Lauren and Dave at Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan, aka Henry Ford's playground
Lauren and I hung out with her 1-year-old all week watching movies, taking stroller walks in the neighborhood, and cooking. Although our time together now is far different than the days where we used to be single girls working and partying in San Francisco, I'm so thankful for the strong friendship we built over the years despite the distance after she moved to Michigan. We still talk once a week after all of these years whether by phone or Facetime, even while I was traveling overseas this year.
Hanging out with J!
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It takes effort and work to maintain long-distance friendships. But when those efforts are equal and mutual, friendships can still blossom despite the distance.
It's really neat how different all of my girlfriends are that I visited this trip: from our professional backgrounds, hometowns, cultural and regional upbringings, and even different life stages.
I love the fact that even after all of these years we can pick up right where we left off, talk, and laugh for hours and hours on end.