I want to do justice to my trip to Kentucky, so I’m breaking it up into a few posts. I took over 500 pictures, so it’s going to be tough to decide what makes the cut! (And to think, I only went to KY to visit family…imagine how many posts I’d require if I were actually doing something exciting like, say, FITBLOGGIN! SO. JEALOUS.)
Mom and I left bright ‘n’ early Thursday morning for an 8+ hour trip (including rest stops, a lunch break, and an unfortunate but pretty detour around a rockslide on I-40). I drove the entire way up and the entire way back. I’m pretty proud of myself. 
I sat on the ground at an NC rest stop because I have no shame and am unafraid of dirtiness. We stopped for lunch at Cracker Barrel, and I’m opting not to show you what I ate because it was a far cry from what I should’ve eaten. ‘Twas indulgent, delicious breakfast food, and we’ll leave it at that. When we got to my great-aunt’s house in Lexington, KY, we all ordered a couple of pizzas and I had 2 glasses of wine. Bleeeehhhhh.
On Friday, the gang all went shopping (where I found a few cute things, including this blazer I’ve been wanting for months but was 1-too small in December and 2-on clearance at the outlet store there in Lexington)…
…and then out to lunch at an Italian place called Johnny Carino’s (we don’t have these in SC!)
I had a bread chunk in an oil/herb dip (with giant chunks of garlic!!!) and salad with chianti vinaigrette…
…and chicken marsala with sautéed spinach (instead of fettuccini alfredo! healthy choice!)…
…and Mom and I shared a mini-tiramisu which was so cute!
Hmm…should’ve put something next to it for size comparison. It was the perfect amount!
Later that evening after resting a bit (and changing into something less cute…boo), we needed to stop by the factory store of Old Kentucky Chocolates – the company my great-aunt works for. There, I was introduced to the life-sized chocolate horses.
Life-sized (almost). Chocolate. Horses.
I wanted to bite off an ear but was being closely watched, so I settled for a kiss. 
I took tons of pictures of the factory store (sadly I couldn’t see the factory that day), but will include them in my forthcoming Old Kentucky Chocolates post! When we came home, I had a couple of chocolate-covered strawberries we were given at the store (they only sell super-fresh ones, so the boxes they didn’t sell that day were going to get tossed…of course we’ll take some home!)
That night, we went to eat at the Brontë Bistro at Joseph-Beth Booksellers (a favorite stop of mine when I’m in Lexington!). I was craving a glass of red wine, so I had just that (along with a piece of bread – the pre-meal bread is the one thing I would’ve definitely done differently if I had this weekend to do over again; I had it at almost every meal and I usually never do).
For my meal, I had the Black and Bleu salad - mixed greens with blackened chicken, bleu cheese, onion, croutons, and cider vinaigrette dressing. This salad was the tits, man.
I rounded out my meal with a small skinny caramel latte to go. It was the perfect dining experience!!
Joe-Beth’s is this nerd’s wet dream.
Check back for my Saturday post, because we did something really exciting!
I’m editing this to add a super-dorky picture of me as a kid wearing a Kentucky cheerleader outfit. I’m hard on myself a lot, appearance-wise, but I’m super-glad that I don’t have cankles. I’ve been plagued with chicken ankles since day 1, and I’m proud of it.
