The Road to Nashville

A couple of months ago I was approached by an LA-based PR firm about participating in the celebrity gifting suite backstage at the George Jones Tribute Concert in Nashville, TN. It would require lots and lots of work and some money, but Ben and I decided to go for it. We decided that even if the marketing didn't pay off in returns in sales we would at least have this amazing experience!

It was a long, hard road preparing for the show (read the crazy details here) which took lots of patience, help, and work from family and friends, but we did have a great experience!

 We packed the car on Tuesday and woke Whit up at 5:00 am to leave on Wednesday morning. That was a great idea-he slept for the first 3.5 hours of a 7.4 hour trip, and felt natural being in the car the rest of the day because that's where he woke up! We did take some breaks, though, including the largest tree house in America. Seriously, guys....

And the Knoxville Sunsphere and World's Fair Park: 

We decided to rent a house via airbnb.com for us, my photographer friend and her 2-month-old, my two sisters and 6-month-old nephew instead of renting individual hotel rooms. Best. Decision. Ever. There was plenty of room for all of us and the kids were much more comfortable there while my sisters took turns babysitting. 

Backstage! 

Megan and Ben helping to set up my condensed bedroom display on Thursday. 

We got a great response from the guests about my products, our display, and our enthusiasm on Thursday so we were given a place on honor for the big deal Friday gifting event: first beside the door! The PR company owner was so pleased with us that he even let our babies visit for a couple of hours :) 

Here are some pics of our favorite visitors: 

 Montgomery Gentry

Charlie Daniels

John Michael Montgomery

The hilarious "Soul Man" Sam Moore

The event wasn't exactly as we expected but it was really fun, and I was exhausted on Saturday. Ben and I both had sore throats from talking for so many hours, and my tongue had blisters on each side from talking while smiling so hard! We did make ourselves crawl out of bed on Saturday to enjoy some of Nashville, though. 

We visited Nashville's Parthenon

  

Went boot and cowboy hat shopping... 

And ate at a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives restaurant! 

Needless to say we were exhausted and ready to get back home on Sunday. We didn't leave until 9:00 am after packing up the car, and Whit was much less happy to be on a roadtrip this time. I was super irritable, he was crying off and on for about 5 hours straight, and I'm ashamed to say tensions ran a little high in the car that day. I guess we've learned that we all have our breaking points! I think mine is working insane hours for 8 weeks on one ultimate event in the midst of the Christmas shopping season, learning that the entire plan has changed and the workload has doubled, going out of town and having your unhappy child watched for 2 straight days by other people, putting your heart on the line for celebrity critique, having huge expectations which will undoubtedly get dashed, being the leader (and trying to be a happy, positive one) for 4 other people who are trying to create your vision, driving 8 hours away with furniture from the trunk to your knees, and all of the emotions that go along with it. 

I'm exhausted just reviewing it. 

And we didn't even get to see Taylor Swift's house.