Tag: joy

Return to Solo Dining

It’s been a minute since I went to dinner by myself (that wasn’t a hotel bar/restaurant) and I recently plunged back in to the solo dining experience in the coolest way.

On a road trip back to see my family and meet my new nephew, I decided I wanted to actually sit down somewhere and eat a real meal. Usually I grab some Jesus chicken through the drive thru and keep on rolling. However, this night I wanted real food and in a cool place if I could find it.

When this option was presented to me, I was all in. I was driving home for the 4th, and a restaurant from 1776 was available? Yes please!

This beautiful place is in downtown Wytheville, VA and was one of the most quaint, happily situated buildings I’ve seen in some time. The parking lot was full – even at 7:30, and some locals even walked in from nearby neighborhoods.

As I climbed to the porch and walked in the door (that you had to push a little hard to open), I was grinning in happiness. It was all old beams and stone and wooden floors that creaked….and a giant bear with Ben Franklin glasses was there to greet me! Night made – and I was barely inside.

They led me to a corner booth in a room that may have been the original living room. It was a mix of stone and wood and the coolest lighting. The booth was cozy and creaky and just fabulous. Not the roomiest, but it worked.

The menu, surprisingly enough, was not colonial and bland. It was southern gourmet and had some surprising options. I settled on their special – pork chop stuffed with apples and spices and stuffing with garlic green beans and a baked potato. Everything was so tasty and different and I throughly enjoyed it. The idea of a sit down meal? This checked all my boxes.

The solo dining experience was intimidating and yes, a little scary. There were a few other people in the room and most of them noticed me but went about their own business. You tend to think that everyone is staring at you when you dine alone and I finally realized it was all in my head. No one really stared awkwardly or pointed or said anything rude. The couple closest to me were actually on their phones the whole time. Me? I looked around and took it in and had one of the best meals in a place that was just magical to me. There were so many historical elements to it and just imagining who may have dined there 250 years ago (and all the years since) – it was such a fun experience.

And you know what? That first step made it easier to do again. I’m on a business trip this week and tonight, took myself to a Japanese restaurant that looked to have a fabulous menu. This time I brought a book with me to see how I liked that experience. The girl at the hostess station smiled at me when I said “Table for one” and told me there were a few other people who asked for that tonight. “Are you doing a solo date?” Yep. “Good for you. You’re going to love this place”.

She was right, I did. I had a fantastic meal and enjoyed every second of it.

There were two young couples at the table next to me and they didn’t stare but shared some looks when I left. But guess what? I’ll never see them again and my experience was for me and I loved it. Now I’ve been through that and survived, so the confidence to do this again just grew stronger.

So if you find yourself in a situation where you want to try a new place or even have an hour or so to yourself, just go. Alone. Even if you hesitate or take a pause, it’s ok. In that moment, ask yourself if your curiosity is greater than your fear, and just walk in. I have a feeling you’ll be glad you did.

For me, it was taking that first step in a small town in Virginia into an historical setting where I gained a new experience and regained my confidence to dine solo. Here’s to more hidden gem experiences in unexpected places!

Rock on.

Reblog – You’re you. Stop trying to be someone else.

You’re You. Stop Trying to be Someone Else.

I Am A Writer

This title may come across strange, because I am legit writing on my blog, but it hasn’t been until recently that I felt the permission to state that claim. I have been writing things as long as I can remember – I’m pretty sure I wrote a short story in the fifth grade about some girl in a lake house. I can even vaguely picture the loose leaf paper I was writing on.

When I was in my 20s, I had a blog on a completely different platform, that I frankly can’t even remember the name of. But I remember writing a story about the time my roommate Lindsay and I found a mouse in our apartment and how I somehow became the official mouse disposer! (In unrelated news, there are probably a ton of wooden mouse traps with lil mouse bones in the forsythia bush across from our balcony.)

I’ve been writing posts in this blog since I was in my thirties and still, for some reason, thought it was too forward of me to claim to be a writer. I didn’t write professionally, I didn’t write regularly, and I wrote when I felt inspired. Or conflicted. Or wanted to encourage people in something I felt strongly about.

The ever so lovely Liz Curtis Higgs!!

In early 2024, I attended a writers conference in Louisville, KY led by the very fabulous, and very talented, Liz Curtis Higgs and I learned so much in two short days. I even got to meet Liz and have her sign a copy of one of her books I brought with me! She was the emcee of the event and I met some fabulous people and learned a lot from all sorts of writers. We attended speaker sessions, work shops and I still remember three of the ladies that sat at my table that first night.

I recently found a memento of that conference and it held some notes I had taken about some ways I was impacted by what I experienced. It also became apparent that I had broken a promise to myself – that night, I had committed to writing at least monthly. So, I am here to change all of that. If you like my writing and follow my blog, please look out for more. After all, I have a promise to keep!

In thinking back over my experience, I remembered a woman that I connected with and she told me about this writer Julia Cameron and her book called The Artist’s Way. She told me about a habit she learned through that book called Morning Pages and how she wrote three pages every morning. In my ignorance, I thought it was less and more than it is all at the same time. When I got home, I looked up that book and put it on my amazon Wishlist and there it sat. For over two years. Until last week. One of those random amazon notifications popped up on my phone, telling me something in my Wishlist was on sale. For once, it wasn’t arch support flip flops (yes, I’m old now), it was, you guessed it, The Artist’s Way. And not just the book, it was the starter kit.

I then learned something else, this little book of wonders is actually a 12 week course to unlock your creativity (ahem, Create just happens to be my word of the year) and Morning Pages is part of that. I am still working through learning what this is all going to look like, but here’s hoping this blog sees some of the fruit of that labor.

What is something that you dream of? Something that you wish you could say, I am a ______. If you do even a little part of that thing, you ARE that thing. Don’t let fear stand in the way of that dream you’ve been holding in your heart. Say it out loud. Give it some breathing room. Then go see what is meant for you.

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to hear Mignon Francois (look her up, her story is incredible!) speak and she said a few things that made me feel so strongly, that they’re written on my bathroom mirror. As you think about your dream, see if you can answer this question she so eloquently asked us – “What gift did God give the world when He made you?”

It is certainly something to think about.

Dream On!