East Nasty

Seaside Half Marathon

I’d like to introduce you to our newest East Nasty Of The Week (ENOW), Angela Wilson!  Since so many of us are frequent patrons of NRC & know Angela’s husband, Lee, I’m excited to share some of Angela’s story with you.

Angela & Lee

Here is what Lee has to say about Angela, ”It’s been awesome seeing Angela get into the running world.  She was a competitive diver & gymnast in the past & didn’t really enjoy running until joining the East Nasty crew, which was both social & active. Once the running store became a reality, it seemed like it was like a ‘well crap, guess I better run more!’ moment.”

Angela grew up in Birmingham, AL.  She was a gymnast, springboard diver & cheerleader.  Describing her college experience at Georgia Tech, Angela says that it was a great experience getting out of Alabama & starting over at a college not knowing anyone.  ”It definitely changed my life since I got my first job at the recommendation of one of my professors & met my husband through work.  Was meant to be!”

Lee & Angela

Angela has lived in Nashville almost 5 years.  For the past 13 years, she’s worked as a software consultant.  She goes to new companies every couple of years & helps them through a 1-2 year software upgrade or new implementation project.  Angela says, “It takes me to some cool cities, but also forces me to be on the road a lot.  I’ve been fortunate enough to be on a local project downtown at the Metro Nashville Government for the last few years, so I haven’t had to travel in a while!  Which has been wonderful since we recently welcomed our new little girl, Lila!”

Lila

Angela started running a couple of years after she moved to Nashville.  Her husband, Lee, joined East Nasty & encouraged her to start, but since she was traveling all the time, she was gone every Wednesday.  When she started the local project with Metro, she started coming on Wednesdays.

“To be honest, I had never run in my life because all the sports I did in high school required NO running!  At least no more than 2 minutes of intense running on a gym floor & with diving, no running either.  So I had to teach myself how to run even 2 miles.  I ran by myself every week around my neighborhood to “build up” to 3 miles, so I could go run with the East Nasties.  I didn’t think I would be able to make it through even the shortest East Nasty run, so I ran for months until I was able to make it 3 miles.  Then I showed up!  And all the awesome East Nasties encouraged me & made it fun, & before I knew it I was running 3, 4, 5 miles & eventually The NASTY!!!  Fellow East Nasty Julie Hackbarth ran every Wednesday night run with me & never let me quit.  She is the reason I stuck with it.  She went as slow as I needed to until I felt comfortable with my pace & could eventually speed up a little!”

Girls at beach after Seaside Half

Angela’s biggest accomplishment in running is completing a half marathon last year with a “big group of wonderful East Nasty girls”:  Lanie Brooks, Brittany Endres, Bernadette Doykos, Sara Spencer & Margaret Jones.  They went down & ran the Seaside Half & had a great time.  Angela says, “I PR’d (of course since it was my first half! with a time of 1:49)!”

Girls after the Seaside Half

When asked how she heard about East Nasty & when she started running with us, Angela says, “See last two questions above!”  Angela’s favorite part about East Nasty, besides staying motivated & active, is just the friends & community you get with the group.  She says, “It has made Nashville feel like a home away from home for my husband & I, who both love being an East Nasty!”

Angela, Lee & Lila

Lee says, “Angela’s extremely busy with her career & raising Lila, but is looking forward to getting back to running on Wednesday nights & hopefully mastering this B.O.B. stroller.”

Aside from running, Angela’s other hobbies include traveling (for fun), reading, yoga, movies &, now, mostly taking care of their new little one.

Angela, congratulations & welcome to the ENOW club!

To know East Nasty is to know that we strive to be good community partners.  We clean up trash, we donate to local schools, we host free couch to 5K training, but mostly?  Mostly we help by spending our hard-earned cash at local businesses.  And in that vein, I’d like to introduce you to our newest ENOW category:  local business!

I Dream of Weenie

Who better to start with than the business literally across the street from our 11th & Holly meeting place:  I Dream of Weenie!  I’m excited about I Dream of Weenie being our newest ENOW for many reasons:  I’m personal friends with the owner; I love hot dogs; & ‘Merica.

Leslie catering art opening at Art & Invention Gallery

I Dream of Weenie is owned & operated by Leslie Allen.  Leslie is from Birmingham, AL & attended Auburn University.  Like most of us, she changed majors a couple of times & took the scenic route to graduation.  She ended up with a chemistry degree, but worked in non-profits for most of her career.  Leslie says, “So I guess in a way, I am finally using my chemistry degree because cooking is like chemistry except you get to eat the final product!”

Leslie moved to Nashville in 2001, & East Nashville specifically in 2003.  She bought I Dream of Weenie in April of 2011 as an established, existing business.  It was originally opened in 2007.  After she bought the business, she moved it from its original Woodland Street location to its current location on 11th across from Beyond The Edge.

Eggs Benedict Weenie

Leslie says her biggest accomplishment at I Dream of Weenie is probably establishing Sunday Weenie Brunch.  She kept the original everyday menu since there was a loyal & established following, but Weenie Brunch is her (and her staff’s) creation.  As far as she knows, it’s the only weenie brunch in the world!  There are other breakfast dogs out there, but they do a complete menu each Sunday, including hashbrown casserole weenie, eggs benedict on smoked sausage, French toasted bun with breakfast sausage links & maple syrup, etc.  Also, they have been featured on The Cooking Channel’s show “Eat St.” where a couple of their brunch items were featured.

I Dream of Weenie

On the topic of East Nashville, Leslie says that she loves the sense of community & the originality; she loves the locally owned businesses & getting to know her customers who live & work nearby; & she loves that pretty much anything goes around here!  Leslie says, “You’ve got all types of people of all socio-economic levels, careers, & political persuasions.  And they all love East Nashville.  I would say my fave experience is the annual Tomato Art Fest.   Before IDOW, I enjoyed attending & participating in some of the activities & seeing the creativity of the art.  Since opening IDOW, Tomato Art Fest has taken on a different meaning.  It’s our busiest day of the year & gives me a chance to involve many of my friends & family in the business for a day or two.  It’s truly a great representation of the spirit of East Nashville with the quirky & creative activities, art, & food creations.”

Leslie competing in the Old Hickory Tri in 2006

Leslie first heard about East Nasty through the infamous East Nashville Listserv!  She has run with the group a few times, especially when she was training for several triathlons between 2006 – 2008.   She also worked for LLS’s Team in Training & came out to run/walk with the group a few times as they were recruiting participants for Country Music Marathon & other events.  Leslie says, “It’s been tougher to participate in the group since becoming a business owner due to my crazy schedule & the fact I stand up all day long & really want to sit down at the end of the day!”

I Dream of Weenie

ANNOUNCEMENT

Now, here’s the big news:  Wednesday night Weenie Night!  I Dream of Weenie has offered to extend its hours on Wednesday nights for runners needing to carb-up prior to heading to 3 Crow Bar.  Starting next Wednesday, May 8, I Dream of Weenie is offering a special East Nasty price of $3/per menu item (or $2.50 for the basic hot dog), so stop by after your run!.  Because I Dream of Weenie is on private property, BYOB is permissible, just be conscientious of open container laws & don’t wander off the I Dream of Weenie lawn.  A cooler will be provided.  I Dream of Weenie accepts cash & credit cards.

I Dream of Weenie, welcome to the ENOW club!  Leslie, thank you for bringing more hot dogs into our lives.  We look forward to the first East Nasty Weenie Night after the run next Wednesday, May 8!

You can like I Dream of Weenie on Facebook here & follow along on Twitter here.