Opa!

I love a good Greek festival.  Something about that culture has always made me wish I was born into a big fat Greek family.  When I found out about the festival in Nashville I immediately put it on the calendar.  In my mind, there was no way I was going to miss it, so when it started pouring down rain on Friday (I mean, it was dumping buckets outside) I started to get a little nervous that our plans might not happen.  Luckily, the clouds parted at the perfect time and the Greek gods shined down long enough for me to enjoy some delicious food and pastries.  

Ralph and I started off by pairing out Greek beer with Yiayia's meatballs and stuffed grape leaves.  The meatballs were amazingly delicious.  

I've never been a huge fan of the stuffed grape leaves, but I always give them a shot.  These were good, but I can never eat much more than a bite so Ralph took care of them.  

The one good thing about having a rainy day is that it usually makes for an unbelievable sunset.  

I only managed to get one picture of the actual church, and it's still not really of the church.  

I totally think we could be Greek.  

You could find me inside the church hall at any given time.  

And you could not find me at the end of the building.  

So, I have a small obsession with all things beautiful.  I am a sucker for hand painted, handmade, lovely items.  I wanted these bowls so badly, but realized it was a completely unreasonable purchase for us considering we just shipped a huge ceramic haul from Italy.  

Ralph said I can think about them for a year, and if I still want them next year I can get them.  Ha.  

The dancing was really impressive.  I have always wanted to go to a Greek wedding because I think the reception would be so much fun (stereotyping, I know).  There were people, young and old, feeling the music on the dance floor!  

Probably the most exciting thing about the whole festival was how many of the pastries I could eat.  The baklava was out of the question, but I snagged quite a few bites that were gone very quickly.  

This festival is one that we will definitely be going back to each year, and if you have a Greek festival in your town I highly recommend checking it out.  I've never been to a bad one!