Do you have pets? 

Not yet, but our children are certainly campaigning! We struck a deal that they may have a dog when they beat us in dominoes. We plan to name the dog Domino in recognition of their achievement!

What college/university did you attend?    

I attended UCLA undergrad where I double majored in English and History, and was rush chair of Delta Gamma sorority. I continued on to law school at UC Hastings in San Francisco. Larsen attended Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., where he double majored in Economics and German and played on the football team.

What are your profession(s) and where do you work?    

Larsen works in commercial real estate finance and development. After many years as an attorney specializing in commercial real estate transactions, I am focusing on raising our family as well as my growing social media company, Priss & Vinegar.

How did you meet?    

A mutual friend introduced us in 2008, and we initially bonded over our shared love of literature and wine. We started a two-person book club and met over memorable dinners, which then led to concerts, hikes, ski trips, and the realization that we liked all the same things and should probably get married. We did, in 2010, at a black-tie wedding for 215 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, followed by a reception at the Julia Morgan Ballroom.

If you have children, what activities are they involved in?    

Charlotte (11) is a devoted soccer player, competing on the Harpeth Hall JVA team as well as on a rec team coached by Larsen. She looks forward to playing basketball and golf at Harpeth Hall later this school year. An aspiring songwriter, Charlotte also studies guitar and voice.

Brooks (9) is perhaps the busiest Fusco! He plays on two flag football teams, fall and spring baseball teams, a basketball team, St. Paul Wrestling, and is on the climbing team at CLIMB Nashville. He is also a member of the St. Paul Chess Club and recently joined Cub Scouts.

Mac (5) plays soccer at St. George's Kindergarten, and if dinosaur knowledge were a team, Mac would be on varsity.

Do you have any family traditions?    

Friday night at the Fusco house usually means dominoes on the porch, make-your-own-pizza night (a favorite of our children's friends!), and watching a movie together snuggled up in our den. On school nights, we always watch "Jeopardy!" and, if homework allows, play "Ticket To Ride." Competition to win the golden ticket (and family bragging rights) is fierce!

Larsen is an ardent sports fan and passed his love of the Mets onto our sons. We all still root for our former hometown basketball team, the Golden State Warriors, but we're enthusiastic new Tennessee Titans football fans. On fall Saturdays, you'll find us rooting for Heather's alma mater, the UCLA Bruins.

Activities/Hobbies:    

We love to be outside together as a family, so we're so grateful to have the wonderful Warner Parks right at our doorstep for hiking and exploring. We are also regulars at Cheekwood, whether it's for a quick walk on the sculpture trail, a playful afternoon in the Children's Garden, or a visit to the mansion to view the latest art installation. 

Live music has always been a passion of ours, so moving to Nashville has truly been an embarrassment of riches! We'll see a show just about anywhere, but the Ryman has captured a special place in our hearts.

What are some of your favorite restaurants and/or food markets?    

The term "foodie" isn't our favorite, but in our case it's probably pretty accurate! Locust, Audrey, Tailor, Husk, and Rolf & Daughters are among our current favorites, though it's hard to beat a steak and a martini cozied up to the bar at Sperry's. 

Pho is basically a food group in our house, so we're regulars at VN Pho and Pho Ann. Wednesdays always mean sushi takeout from Sonobana, and it wouldn't be a weekend without a visit to Ladybird Taco. We're big fans of the bread and pastries at Dozen Bakery; the salads at Radish; the cappuccinos at Headquarters; the biscuit sandwiches at Dose; the cocktails at Le Loup; and every single dish on the menu at Deg Thai. In our free time, Larsen and I both work out at MUV Fit so we can eat like this.

What do you like to do for fun or to relax?    

There always seems to be a board game, dominoes, or jigsaw puzzle going on in our porch! I started playing mah jongg recently and am completely obsessed, so I'm slowly teaching Larsen and the children how to play.

We also love to entertain, and after twelve years of marriage we seem to have our division of labor sorted. I like to cook and set the table, and Larsen mixes the best cocktails and curates playlists. We love a theme, so we might serve Momofuku's Bo Ssam with a punch bowl of iced Tiger beers on the table or Barefoot Contessa's Moroccan Lamb Tagine during intermission on "Lawrence of Arabia" movie night. Sometimes we'll serve oysters shipped in from Hog Island as a sentimental nod to our California roots.

Do you have a favorite vacation destination or family trip?   

That might be the hardest question you could ask our family, because we're game to travel just about anywhere! We are all avid skiers (Charlotte and Brooks raced on ski team when we lived in California), so we enjoy visiting Lake Tahoe and Colorado as often as we can to ski.

We don't let having three young children stop us from traveling abroad! If anything, traveling as a family can reveal entirely new things about a place you thought you knew. We've been to a T-Rex exhibit and jumped on trampolines in Paris, visited a children's science museum and gladiator school in Rome, raced through the Louvre and Capitoline Museums on curated scavenger hunts, and attended puppet shows in three languages. 

Our children's interests were also the catalyst behind our pandemic road trip, when we rented an RV and drove the American West, visiting Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Dinosaur National Monument. Something we're loving about Nashville is visiting new-to-us travel destinations like Highlands, North Carolina, and 30A.

This move to Nashville has also led to our family spending an increasing amount of time in Maine. Charlotte's best friends in California were heartbroken when they learned of our impending move, so we all promised to send the girls to summer camp together to maintain their friendship. We settled on an all-girls stay-away camp in Maine, where Charlotte is going on her third summer. Our son, Brooks, now attends the boys' camp down the lake, and the rest of us liked Maine so much that we're planning to spend some of our summer there as well!

How are you involved in the community?    

Right now, I am focused on being involved at my children's schools. I'm co-chairing the Holiday Greenery Sale for the second year in a row at St. George's Kindergarten, and I will be co-chairing the school carnival this coming spring. I also volunteer at Harpeth Hall in the spirit store and on the Sunshine Committee. Larsen enjoys volunteering with the Harpeth Hall Dads Network, and he is in second year coaching our daughter, Charlotte's, rec soccer team. We are also supporters of Warner Parks and Cheekwood.

What is your favorite part about living in the neighborhood?    

We feel like we won the neighbor lottery moving to Enquirer Avenue! Everyone has been so welcoming, dropping off treats, inviting us over for drinks, and offering helpful advice like which dry cleaner to use and where to order our Thanksgiving turkey. We recently co-hosted a block picnic, with neighbors chatting and sipping wine at sunset while children played ping pong in our driveway, and we were struck by how grateful we are to have settled on this very special street.

 
What is your favorite thing about Stroll Belle Meade?    

Not having grown up in Nashville or attended Vanderbilt, we're the new people pretty much everywhere we go. Stroll Belle Meade is a wonderful way to get to know our neighbors, and now for our neighbors to get to know us!

What would you tell someone who just moved into the neighborhood about Belle Meade?    

As my nine year-old son, Brooks, so wisely observed, living in Belle Meade "feels like you live in the country even though you live in a city." And isn't that the truth! We love living in such a peaceful, bucolic setting while still having all the amenities of a world-class city just minutes away.