Here’s the deal. I am friends with the manager of {PUB}licity and I told her that the best burgers are made with muenster cheese. Said choice of cheese was added to the menu so naturally, I had to try it. Luckily I have another burger loving friend who met me there so we could experience this wonderful treat together!

Wow. Just wow. Yeah, that’s about all I could say. The bun was soft but held up to the juicy burger and the addition of the muenster cheese along with caramelized onions brought out the amazing flavor of the beef. The burger is cooked on a flat top and not grilled, which is kind of becoming my new favorite thing. It keeps the outside of the burger crusty while allowing the center to stay nice and pink, the way a burger should be.

Guys, I am telling you, this burger is awesomesauce.com. Take a little trip out to Bellevue and give it a try. And drink some of their fancy beers while you are at it. In fact, let me know when you are going and I will meet you there!

First of all, any restaurant with the word burger in the name is normally really good. I am basing this on my experience of visiting like 3 places with the word burger in the name, so this is obviously a very factual and well-researched statement. Second, I had a very fun lunch date so that definitely added to the great experience. Third, I’ve decided to go to a place with the word brew in the name at an acceptable drinking hour next time, as the only thing that would make that burger any better would be to pair it with a beer. Yes, I would get a Miller Lite, but they have all kinds of fancy stuff for my beer snob friends.

I ordered the blue cheese burger with bourbon caramelized onions, avocado, arugula and horseradish mayo. That pretty much sums up the amazing flavors of this killer burger. The bun was pretty (I totally judge buns and their overall appearance), obviously homemade and held up to the gigantic burger that I completely consumed. As in, every last morsel. I did offer said lunch date a bite but he was concentrating on the hella big burger topped with a fried green tomato, fried egg and an onion ring. Wowza! I forgot to take a bite, but it looked amazing as well. I will be back to Pour House again and highly recommend you check them out!

Each year gets better for me, but it’s because I am growing up. This is what I’ve learned so far.

Learn from your mistakes: Don’t do the same stupid shit twice. You’re not 5. You know the difference between right and wrong.

Learn to love yourself: Sounds lame, but it is important. Yeah,  I want to lose a few pounds and read more (classy) books, but in general, I am pleased with the person I have become. I love myself. Not in a conceited way. But in a way that is healthy and necessary.

Learn to be alone: Spend time alone. Without the kids. Or your friends. Or your phone. Or your computer. Just be alone. And enjoy the silence.

Surround yourself with positive and supportive people:  No, not ass kissers who tell you that you’re perfect. Find friends who will tell you the truth, even if it hurts, but who won’t talk about you behind your back.

Do what you love: Get a job working with people who have the same passions and are supportive of your strengths. If you don’t like what you do 40+ hours a week, find something else.

Love: Love your family, your friends, your community, your job, your body, your past, your future and even your ex.

Be gracious: Say thank you when the waiter brings you a new fork. Tell your co-worker that you appreciate the long hours they put in on that project. Be thankful for what you have and say thank you to those who have helped you get there.

Stop caring what people think: Do what you want to do. Be who you want to be. Listen to the music you like. Watch the movies you enjoy. Wear what you want to wear. And stop caring what others think.

2013 is going to be epic because I am going to make it that way. Cheers to a Happy New Year and a Happy New Beginning.

In the 3 years that I have been writing about my favorite burgers in the Nashville area, a few still stand out as truly amazing. Here are my top 5. And remember, the way I rank these is totally based on my opinion. It’s that simple.

1. Fido (consistently my #1)

2. Bunganut Pig

3. Gabby’s

4. Tavern

5. Puckett’s (with pimento cheese)

I recently experienced the ML Rose burger with a girlfriend. She needed a burger and a beer. Over lunch. I was the one who decided she needed it. And she did.

I got the blue cheese burger with caramelized onion and it was really freaking good. The burger was juicy, cooked beautifully, well-flavored and when topped with blue cheese and onions, it literally melted in my mouth. The waffle fries are also show stoppers at ML Rose, but this is a burger debate. And I can’t possibly do a fry debate too.

For years I’ve heard about Martin’s BBQ and this weekend I finally got to test it out! Luckily my brother ordered enough BBQ for 5 people so I could share with him, while still ordering the burger. With cheese. And bacon. Oh, the bacon. Anything that Pat Martin makes is fabulous, and his burger is one of them.  The meat was juicy and had a lovely smokey flavor while the bacon added extra texture and smoke, without being overwhelming. And seriously, it was $5. For a huge, delicious burger.

When people come to Planet Franklin, I tell them that they must try the burger at Bunganut Pig. This is not a fancy burger. At all. It’s simple, topped with cheese and bacon but it is one of the best burgers I have ever tasted. Ever. The meat is seasoned well, the bun is buttered and toasted and every time I taste this burger, I tell myself to eat it more often.

A few more places I highly recommend for a killer burger are listed, in no particular order:

The Pharmacy (stroganoff burger)

Fat Mo’s

The Palm

Daily Dish

Edgefield Sports Bar

Sam’s Sports Bar

Sperry’s (fancy burger, but worth it)

I still need to try the burgers at Twin Kegs and Etch, which couldn’t be more different from each other. Another burger that people are talking about is Fat Bottom Brewery, so that is on my short list too.

If you care to increase your cholesterol or pant size in the new year, test out these burgers and let me know what you think. And tell me some more places that I absolutely must add to my list! I am taking a break from red meat  in January(I know) so I expect y’all to pick up my slack. Happy Burger Debating in 2013!

I realized that if the world ended this morning at 5:11 CST today as it was rumored to according to the Mayan calendar, I would have no regrets. And for the first time in my almost 35 years, I can say this with certainty.

I don’t regret getting out of the Navy. I don’t regret getting married. I don’t regret my divorce. I don’t regret leaving my  job at the law firm. I don’t regret dating that guy (possibly more than one…) who was actually kinda crazy. I don’t regret forgiving my ex-husband. I don’t regret telling my best friends everything about me.  I don’t regret staying in my PJs with Clair all day watching Tinkerbell 3 times in a row and I sure as hell don’t regret the time I put into my new career.

We can always improve and become better people, learning from our mistakes and finding new ways to grow. I plan to continue that, but as this year winds down, I feel amazingly content, satisfied, blessed and loved. I love myself. I am proud of who I have become. And I know I have a lot left to do in this world. So I guess it’s pretty good that the world didn’t end today.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 2013 is going to be epic, my friends.

When I was married, my in-laws did a huge Christmas Eve thing that involved copious amounts of seafood and a deep fryer. The only food I don’t like is shellfish, so basically I was screwed. No, actually my sweet mother-in-law (who is still a lovely woman and precious to me) always made me a steak. I quickly realized that Christmas was a Carter thing. So my parents made Thanksgiving a Rogers thing. It worked out beautifully for both families for the 5 years we were married.

When I decided to leave my husband in September of 2008, my first reaction was to come home. To my parents. And my brother. And I did. My brother flew to Maryland towards the middle of October to help me with Clair on the flight to Tennessee. She was barely one and I hadn’t flown alone. We got to Franklin and I knew I was staying through Thanksgiving. Because Thanksgiving is a Rogers thing.

I had my breakdown that I was holding in. I stayed in my PJs for a few days. I walked in the backyard with the family dog. I started to spend time with Emmely, who is now one of the best friends I have ever had. I saw my family in a different light that year. They were quiet and supportive and loving. No one forced me to talk about the huge change that was about to happen. No one made me pretend to be okay. No one judged me for my tears and no one ever let my Clair go more than 2 seconds without being held.

I remember taking our Christmas card pictures that year on Thanksgiving, like we do each year. For the first time in 7 years, I was single again. And I loved it. I loved being with my family and with Clair and started to see that my life was headed exactly where it was meant to. I even made sure that my left hand was prominently displayed sans ring in all of the pictures. I truly understood what it meant to be thankful and I was starting the healing process.

So when Clair asked me why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, I told her that I love to cook and to be with my family. Her response was “I am thankful for my entire family.” Amen to that, you wise little 5 year old. Even though her last name is Carter, she totally gets that Thanksgiving is a Rogers thing.

No, this isn’t a political post about how freaking happy I am that President Obama will be our leader for another 4 years. Though, I am really ecstatic that he won:) This is a post about three strong examples of how my town is moving forward and I hope this is a reflection of what these next 4 years can do for our country.

I started a new job 3 weeks ago as the Director of Business Development and Account Management at Cabedge, an interactive web and digital marketing shop here in Nashville. A lot of my time is spent with clients learning about their business so that our team can build the best tools for them. This week, I met with a family service center, a relationship counseling service and a infertility clinic.

All three companies are in the service industry, specifically focused on helping people with very personal problems. As I spoke with each of them, I was so proud to hear them say that they serve the needs of everyone, specifically the gay community. If you live above the Mason Dixon line, this is probably more of the status quo, but remember that we are inside the Bible belt.

I am not gay. I don’t have any family members who are gay, though my daughter has gay aunts on her dad’s side of the family. I am a Christian who believes that God loves everyone and it is our responsibility to love like He does. Some of my dearest friends are gay and they deserve the exact same happiness that I do as a heterosexual. I can go see a couples therapist, adopt a baby or choose a fertility treatment quite easily as a straight woman. These services are few and far between for gay couples. But in one week, I spoke with people in our lovely little town of Nashville who want to serve everyone.

And this makes my heart smile. It makes me truly believe that we are moving forward and beginning to accept people for who they are and not isolate them for the life they have chosen. We are getting somewhere, friends. And the more business owners who adopt this loving and non-judgmental type of service, the better off our country will be. So let’s keep moving forward and love people for who they are and for who they love. Nashville, you made me proud this week.

Now that I am a grown-up (most of the time), I’ve learned from previous chapters in my book of life and know when it’s time to end one and start another.

When I moved to Franklin in May of 2009, I worked with my brother at Primarily Rye and learned more in 6 months about the creative industry than most people do in years. I loved working with Matthew, but didn’t love the aspect of being a business owner. So I carefully wrapped up that beautiful chapter and moved into the corporate world as the Marketing Coordinator for Bone McAllester Norton.

The past 17 months have been wonderful and I am so grateful for what I’ve learned in the legal world of marketing. Working for lawyers in actually quite interesting, and very helpful for those chapters that may include a divorce or  broken engagement. (See previous blogs.) The people at Bonelaw are warm and kind and treat each other like a family. I will miss the friendships I’ve made and all the fun I’ve had working in downtown Nashville. But my heart is telling me to listen to my creative side and to spend more time with my daughter.

My brother has been the Creative Director at Cabedge Design, LLC for about 5 months.  To be honest with you, when he got that job I was really jealous. He has flexible hours, has the ability to work from home, leads a team of seriously talented people and is part of building a company from almost the beginning. Turns out, Cabedge needed someone who can bring in new clients and manage the ones they have. Guess who really likes to build connections and create strong relationships? Yep. I do!

With the help of Matthew, I was introduced to the leadership of Cabedge and its parent company Atiba, and it was apparent to everyone that this chapter was in outline format, ready to be composed.

This next chapter brings me much closer to home, where I can get an extra couple of hours with Clair each day rather than fighting traffic into Nashville. I get to work with Matthew again, which is really one of the best parts about this job. My role as Director of Business Development and Account Management will allow me to continue to connect people and speak on behalf of a brand I believe in. I’m hoping to get back into public speaking and revive my creative spirit that at one time, I didn’t even know was there.

The early chapters of my book were not written by me. Even when I was married, I wasn’t the author. With editing help from friends and family, I’ve become a much better writer. And the next chapter is up to me. I know I still need my eraser, and my inner circle of editors, but the content is strong and the theme is positive. I’m ready to write my next chapter.

I attended one of Dave’s seminars about 2 years ago and thought the information was good, though it’s basically common sense. Don’t live outside of your financial means. Got it. About halfway through, John Rich pops up endorsing Dave and I left. I got up and left.

If you live in Nashville, you know John Rich is a jerk. Yes, his “Save a horse, ride a cowboy” song is catchy as hell, but the guy is just a loudmouth nuisance. His house is lit up like a Christmas tree on crack and his neighbors complain about his incessant parties. He gets drunk, gets arrested and just keeps making himself look like an ass. I just don’t like him. So, when I saw the video endorsement from John Rich at the Dave Ramsey seminar, I lost respect for him. I correlate Dave Ramsey with John Rich.

After reading the article, I tweeted :

John Rich responds with this tweet:

Cool. He checks his tweets and sent a simple and non-jerky response. (An interesting note: the tweet is no longer in his feed). Then the Dave Ramsey fan club rolls in with their support of him, which is also totally acceptable and expected. We all have our opinions and obviously can share them freely via Twitter. Quite a few folks respond to me that both Dave Ramsey and John Rich are super successful. My response was “success doesn’t make you nice”. Dave validated my point with this tweet:

And with that, he made my point for me. And just in case that wasn’t enough, my friend Thomas made sure with this:

“Oops! Looks like Dave Ramsey forgot to follow his own advice!”

Another interesting thing to point out is that Dave Ramsey has his tweets protected and is only following 55 people. You have to request to follow him, which is not a great social media practice for a business owner in general.

This post isn’t about how my opinion is right and how everyone else who likes Dave Ramsey or John Rich is wrong. I am not a public figure with a verified Twitter account. I am a strong woman who stands up for what I believe in, and chooses to surround myself with positive, genuine and honest people. I make careful decisions about who I do business with and what causes I support. I don’t support either of these men because I don’t respect them and that is my choice.

Social media allows us to share our opinions, and also allows us the choice to respond to other people’s opinions of us. If you represent a brand, or heaven forbid, you ARE the brand, keep your tweets professional. Dave Ramsey acted like a jerk on Twitter, and in turn, that reflects on the people who work there and the people he aligns himself with. I wholeheartedly agree with Dave’s advice of “think before you tweet”. If only he took his own advice…

Update after my post went live:

Dave Ramsey’s posts are not protected from everyone. Just those he blocks:

I met my friend Emmely (the co-host of the homemade burger debate who makes one of the best burgers. Ever.) for lunch and unlike most places in Hillsboro Village, Sam’s has free parking in the rear. This is a huge plus, because finding a place to park in that area around lunchtime can take up your entire lunch hour.

Both Emmely and I are eating clean and counting calories, so we split a cheeseburger. And added mustard instead of mayo. Come on, it’s the little things that count! Oh, we also split the fries. And didn’t eat all of them. I forced the waitress to take them away so I couldn’t.  Basically, we made a burger debate as healthy as we were willing to without ordering a salad. And we didn’t drink a beer.

The Sam’s burger is cooked to order, and they actually cook it how you order it. We always go more on the medium rare side, and this one was very juice! The toppings are simple; lettuce, tomato and pickles. That’s really all this burger needed. The flavor was wonderful and the bun wasn’t over powering. To be honest, I really wanted a whole burger, but was quite satisfied with just a half. The wait staff was lovely and now that Sam’s is non-smoking, it will be on my list of places to lunch again. Especially with all of those cute boys I saw.