There's No Place Like Home(s).

Over the past decade, my fiance and I have called three different cities "home." 

Louisville Skyline.

It's odd, really. When school, work, and life take you to various places, it's only natural to pick a favorite place. The place where you're the happiest, the place where you're the most successful, the place where you're the most comfortable -- there's no place like home. I find that I think of all three of "our cities" -- Lexington, Louisville, and Nashville -- as home. I love all three -- the river town bustle of Louisville, the glitzy Southernness of Nashville, and the small-town grace of Lexington. Each city holds dear friends and happy memories. I never really consider myself to have a favorite; each, in its own way, is home. 

A Lexington landmark peeking through.

The trouble with that mentality is that I often wish that I could blend aspects and amenities of each of my hometowns together into one super-awesome city. I'll find myself on a lazy Saturday, wondering if a trip to Louisville's Wick's Pizza is worth the trip. (A free piece of advice: Wick's Pizza is always worth the trip!) I'll crave coffee from my favorite little cafe just off Vanderbilt's campus, along with my favorite tuna dish, which can be found off Bardstown Road. I'll wish I could hit the Green Hills Nordstrom and make it back to Lexington in time for dinner at Ramsey's and the basketball game. These plans are always just a little too ambitious to work out, but that doesn't stop me from wishing that my favorite East Nashville-made hot chocolate would magically appear on a cold Bluegrass night. 

Tennessee State Capitol, Nashville.

Maybe I love my three hometowns because they're fundamentally similar -- mid-sized Southern cities, located on or near a river, with a commitment to sports, horses and universities. Maybe I've created similar experiences for myself in each city -- I've joined all three Junior Leagues, volunteered with my local sorority chapters, and scoped out the best restaurants. Maybe I've just been blessed to call three awesome cities "home." 

But, it sure would be nice if I could find a way to have Wick's Pizza and Marche Hot Chocolate in the same evening.

A Kentucky Girl In Paris

In the summer of 2005 I spent a semester abroad in Paris, France. I considered myself a traveler of sorts, but I had never set out on a journey completely alone. This was a first for me and I was very excited, nervous, and optimistic all at the same time.

When I arrived in Paris I was immediately on a high from being totally alone in this city of millions. It was such a surreal feeling to travel abroad alone. For this Kentucky girl, it was an amazing experience and one I wouldn't trade for anything.

Here are some things I miss about Paris:

1) The Anonymity: You Kentuckians know how it is; everywhere you go in Kentucky you see someone you know or run into someone who knows someone's cousin who married so and so's best friend. I have to say that the anonymity traveling abroad was an amazing feeling. I could do what I wanted and wear what I wanted without fear that I would run into someone from high school. I would be walking along alone in the city and would think to myself that no one else in the world knows where I am right now. There's something surreal about that feeling.
2) The Croissants: Yes, they are as good as everyone makes them out to be and they cannot be replicated. Every morning I would stop by a local patisserie and get a pain au chocolat and a diet coke. This would be my breakfast on the way to class.

3) The Metro System: Coming from Kentucky I wasn't used to a public transportation system as complex as a subway system. I had to learn the metros and the very confusing color-coded maps, but once I got the hang of it, I was a professional city lady! Looking back on it, it was so easy and convenient to just be able to hop on the metro and travel across the city within minutes.
4) The Eurorail: Again, this is unlike anything even in the United States. Europe has such a complex and amazing Eurorail system. It makes traveling for the weekend super-easy and convenient. We would hop on the Eurorail and take a weekend trip to the coast.

5) The Scenery/Architecture: While Kentucky is beautiful in its own right, the scenery and old world feel in Paris was amazing. I am so fortunate to have taken tons of pictures so that I can keep these memories forever.

Kentucky Places: Old Morrison

Old Morrison is the centerpiece of Transylvania's campus. Over its storied past it has been a Civil War hospital, a crypt, been consumed by fire TWICE, and housed administrators for the college.

It is one of my favorite places in Kentucky but not because of its amazing history. I love it because it has served as the backdrop for so much of mine.

Turning into its driveway on my first campus visit, my friend and I were involved in a car wreck because we confused North Broadway for a two way street...it is not.

Running around its front on Bid Day, I joined my sorority and gained friends I will have for life.

Two years later, I ran down its steps to rejoin that sorority after spending a long (long) couple weeks as a  Rho Chi.

Laying on its lawn for class after class over four years, I learned that nature really is the best classroom...and distractor.

Sitting in its shadow on graduation day, I ended the best four years of my life and faced a life full of possibility.

In the spring of 2001, I sat on its portico and took this picture. I sat there in tears and looked at those impossibly beautiful trees. My college boyfriend had just told me he had been accepted to law school at Duke. He was moving away and it seemed like the end of my world. I was trying to decide if I really wanted to stick with it and be in a long distance relationship for two years. I came to Old Morrison to get some peace and hopefully some wisdom.

Ultimately, I decided to stick it out and I'm glad I did. That college boyfriend is now my husband of eight years and the father of my two children. I can't say Old Morrison made that decision for me but its presence in the background - solid and strong - made it a little bit easier.

~ Sarah Stewart Holland

Her Kentucky Charities: God's Pantry

The holidays are over and most watercooler chat is about how much weight people gained over the break and how they need to lose weight.

Not everyone had the luxury of overindulgence.

God's Pantry is a Lexington-based food pantry that has been serving 50 central and Eastern Kentucky counties for over 50 years. Their mission is simple: to reduce hunger in Kentucky.

Some facts:

• The typical person visiting a pantry is a white female in her 40's with a family of three. She may have finished high school and if she is working is likely earning minimum wage. She doesn't own a car so she must walk, ride a bus or arrange for a ride to the pantry with family or friends.
• 50% of parents needing assistance skip meals so that their children can eat 
• 1 out of 6 report skipping meals daily
• 40% of all those served are children
• For every $10 donation, God’s Pantry Food Bank can distribute 45 meals to a family in need. A donation of $19 can provide a a family of four with a week’s supply of food.
• 161,000 pounds of food is needed MONTHLY to stock the pantries in Fayette County (Lexington) alone
• In 2011, God's Pantry distributed over 22.9 MILLION POUNDS of food, yet the demand is still growing faster than resources can meet.

Learn more about God's Pantry on their website, or on Facebook. Next time you sit down with a full belly, please consider donating to this great organization.

My 2012 Kentucky Resolutions

Earlier this week, Sarah posted a brilliant list of her 2012 Kentucky Resolutions. Her list got me thinking about my own goals for the New Year. How can I find new ways to enjoy being a Kentuckian in 2012? I wondered. I've already perfected my own beer cheese and bourbon ball recipes. I've seen the Commonwealth's major tourist sites, I've been to Derby and Oaks, and I've joined in the frenzy following a National Championship win.

But, of course, there are always new ways to enjoy the Bluegrass State. Here are a few goals I came up with for the upcoming year.  I tried to keep them realistic; I'm probably not going to become BFF with Mark Badgley and James Mischka this year (but I'm not going to stop hoping for that...)

1. Shop(and Eat) Kentucky.I lived in Louisville's Highlands neighborhood for years. Now, when you live in the heart of the Keep Louisville Weird movement, it's pretty easy to have locally-sourced meals and locally-crafted products within your reach. But, recently, I've found myself gradually backsliding into more suburban, mainstream purchasing habits. Over the holidays, I was reminded how delightful local products can be when my aunt gave me a sampler of coffees roasted in-house at Lexington's Coffee Times Coffee House. The Big Blue Blend was so bright and sunny, but with a spicy bite -- it started sweet, like mocha ice cream, but finished with almost a chicory note. I was instantly smitten, and reminded that good things are often made just around the corner!
2. Tour the Bourbon Trail; learn to place Box and Wheel bets. Yep, I resolve to do some sinnin' this year, but I want to learn to do it well. I want to see where my favorite bourbons are made -- I've driven past the distilleries hundreds of times, but I've just never taken the time to stop for the tour. And, I want to learn to make the kind of sophisticated bets that yield high payouts -- the kind that come from a deeper knowledge of horses and wagering. It's been a long time since I took a statistics class, but I think this will be a fun skill to acquire.
3. Get involved with Kentucky politics. It's been way too long since I contacted a Congressman about an issue I believed in, volunteeered with a campaign, or generally gotten involved. I kind of miss it.
4. Publish a story or essay set in Appalachia. As a writer, I've frequently struggled with how to include my hometown in my work while preserving my own experience. I love so many cultural elements of Appalachia, but I really hate some of the imagery of poverty and ignorance that so often emerges in Appalachian fiction. This year, I want to write a piece that is set in Eastern Kentucky, but which doesn't involve bad stereotypes, trips "to the Walmarts", or exploitative dialogue. 
5. Finally see Western Kentucky.  To be a lifelong Kentuckian, I've spent an embarrassingly brief amount of time west of I-65.  I need to visit The Quilt Museum, eat some barbecue, and visit Abe's house.

What "Kentucky Things" do you want to do this year?

In Photos: Winter in Gratz Park

Tranylvania University/ Gratz Park, Downtown Lexington, Winter 2010.

My 2012 Kentucky Resolutions

Despite spending over 25 of my 30 years in the great state of Kentucky, there are still some pretty essential Kentucky experiences that have escaped me. Seeing as how I bill myself as a proud Kentucky spokesperson, some of these oversights are becoming embarassing. In 2012, I'm going to start checking some of these items off my list.

1. Visit Mammoth Cave. A national park and the longest cave system in the world - not to mention just about two and a half hours from my house - Mammoth Cave seems to always be at the top of any list of Kentucky tourist attractions. I'm not quite sure how I escaped childhood without a single field trip there but I plan to remedy that this year. 
2. Become a Kentucky Colonel. One of the most humiliating moments of my life was when I worked for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. One of the interns found out I was from Kentucky and exclaimed, "Are you a Kentucky Colonel?!? I am!" He had never even been to Kentucky. He was from NEW JERSEY. Oh, the shame. 
3. Visit Bubbleland. The Kentucky Bend fascinates me. I'm not saying a visit would be life-changing but it's close and seems like something you just gotta see.
4. Try Col. Bill Newsom's Aged Kentucky Country Ham. This recently popped up on a essential Kentucky list in Garden and Gun. One of the few culinary experiences in Western Kentucky, it seems crazy I haven't tried it yet. 
5. Go to Tater Day in Benton. Every cool kid in my high school skipped school to go to Tater Day. I'm not sure why I never went except that I wasn't that cool. Well, there's nothing to stop me now and I love sweet potatoes.