Memphis Has a Music Festival in October?

YES. Memphis has a music festival in October, and it is the Moon River Music Festival.

It is from October 7-9, and it will take place at the beautiful, outdoor venue: The Levitt Shell (in Overton Park).

Presented by Drew Holcomb and supported by the Memphis community, this festival has evolved and grown throughout the years.

For the past two years, this music festival has been a single-day event. However, due to the overwhelming support from the community, this festival will now last two days this year: Saturday and Sunday (with a VIP option for Friday night).

Seniors at UT: Here’s Your Bucket List

Alright, you have made it to senior year at UT. Congrats. 

Knoxville is a special, special place with so much to experience. Each year I was at UT, I learned about new places to go and things to get involved with on campus.

For starters, I did not even know how great the Farmer’s Market (in Market Square) was until my junior year. Or how many beautiful trails there were to hike. Or that the Old City was even a place. Talk about time wasted.

During my senior year, I made it my goal to try to experience as much of Knoxville as I possibly could. I was pretty successful with that, so I want to share some last-minute things you seniors need to know about.

How to Treat Yo Self (The Budget-Friendly Way)

Work’s crazy. Life’s hectic. Whatever the case may be, sometimes you just need a retreat – you need some way to treat yo self after a long, hard week.

Treating one’s self can be expensive. But, it doesn’t have to be when you follow my budget-friendly guide.

Organize your Downtime (and Your Life).

Organizing downtime is just one way guarantee yourself that you will actually do something other than work. I recently read an article that explained how we are becoming addicted to feeling busy. One of my favorite quotes in the article said, “We are always feeling the need to produce, yet never feel productive because we keep raising the bar on what is enough.” I have to admit that I am definitely one that likes to feel busy – probably because I associate that feeling with productivity. If you’re like me, having a schedule – even for your downtime – allows you to feel more at ease when you’re doing something for yourself.

Yes, this photo was staged to look good for social media. Only a little shame. I am really in love with my planner & wanted to show it off.

Read This if You Are Bored in Class

I am a college graduate. Wow, those words feel really weird to say out loud. Well, I didn’t actually say them out loud, but they felt really weird to type.

Anyway, my point is that I am done with my four years in undergrad. I am done with my four years with my sorority, and I am done with ever going to school… Ever, again.

Some may think that is a happy thing to proclaim. In some ways, it is. But in most ways, it makes me yearn for days past. Days when I didn’t really have a care in the world. Sure, I thought I had the maximum amount of stress anyone could handle, and I thought I was dealing with life-altering decisions. Turns out, I wasn’t, and adulthood is much harder.

With seeing my friends’ posts about a new school year starting and recruitment ending, it prompted me to reflect on my years past. My happy days in the past. The glory days. 

*cue melodramatic, sappy song about nostalgia*

I do not claim to know everything. However, I did experience four years in college, and they were four amazing years filled with positivity, new friendships, heartbreak, studying countless hours and just trying to get by sometimes. So, I wanted to share a little of my wisdom for each undergrad that is starting a new year (that includes you, super seniors… scroll to the bottom).

24 Hours in Nashville, TN

According to the Nashville Metropolitan Planning Organization, “[a]cross the 10-county Cumberland Region around Nashville, the MPO forecasts close to another million people by the year 2035.”

That statistic does not come as much of a surprise to me. Nashville just has a funky charm that welcomes all different kinds of people… Including but not limited to aspiring country music artists, as some might think.

Source: The lovely, Catherine Camargo.

Now, I lived in Memphis for 18 years of my life before moving to Knoxville for the most recent 4 years of my life. However, Nashville, TN has always had a way of making me feel like I am coming home whenever I visit.

Maybe it is because some of my closest friends live there or maybe it is because I have driven through countless times to and from UT… Either way, most people who have taken the time to explore Nashville would more than likely empathize with this feeling.

Source: This City’s Full.

When I thought about highlighting a few of my favorite places to go to in Nashville, I got overwhelmed simply because there are so many things to do, see, experience and love.

My mom and I recently took the short, three-hour road trip so I could show her around this magical city. Since we only stayed there for one night, I had to consolidate the list of things to do.

If you are looking for a simple guide to experience an exciting day in the Nashville area, I got you covered.

The Unemployed’s Guide to Binge Watching Netflix

I feel like it is fair to assume that everyone has made the decision to either “Continue watching,” or “Back to browse.” I also feel like it is fair to assume that everyone chooses “Continue watching,” almost every time.

I also feel like it is fair to assume that everyone chooses “Continue watching,” almost every time.

Seeing that screen is almost as bad as having to unravel your arm from the blanket to click to continue watching… I mean, wouldn’t it be nice if the screen looked like this instead?

Anyway. Netflix seems to be everyone’s favorite way to waste time, relax, stay indoors and avoid human interaction.

I personally love the seemingly endless stream of different ways to entertain myself – without advertisements.

So, since it is summer and this is the ideal time to waste time, I figured I would map out some of my favorite Netflix shows, comedy specials, movies and documentaries.

Before you continue to read, in a new tab, open Netflix and prepare to have made a decision of what you are going to start binge watching by the end of this blog post.

Because you deserve it.

You deserve to lay in bed, eat whatever you want and disappear into the TV.

(You probably don’t, but you might as well. Life’s too short to miss a show, and Twitter has too many spoilers so you have to catch up before you get behind.)

Improvisin’ My Way Through Life

2016. Potentially, the most anticipated year of my life.

Why? Because it is the year I graduated from the best college, ever… The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Here’s my favorite picture from my graduation. Could not have made it through the past four years (or the past 22 years) without this guy. All of his wonderful support allows me to overlook the fact that he gave me his red hair.

Throughout the past couple of months, I have spent countless hours researching companies, company cultures, agencies, firms, start-ups, CEOs, random interesting people on LinkedIn, cities to live in, things to do in those respective cities, etc.

Along the way, I came across GolinHarris. This is “one of the world’s largest and most successful public relations firms, with 50 offices around the globe.” This firm and its CEO (Fred Cook) are very unique.

Upon researching this established firm, its CEO stood out. Becoming a CEO was the farthest thing from Cook’s mind. He never made outstanding grades or attended Ivy League schools; instead, he worked odd jobs, went to three mediocre colleges and earned average grades. However, he explains, “My experiences became my credentials.”

Cook’s confident yet humble approach to life is one of the main things that inspires me about him. His ability to view failures as opportunities is what, I think, has made him the overwhelming success that he is today.

How to Choose Happiness

How do you choose happiness? How do you find light in the darkness? How do you make a nightmare a dream?

Well, it depends on the situation, but it really is not all that complicated.

I want you to reminisce on a moment that you felt true happiness.

More than likely, that moment was when you were doing something for another person. Or maybe that other person was yourself… Because all you ever do are things for others. No matter what it was, I am sure it is something that you could implement more of in your everyday life.

That small bit of happiness – that one extra smile, a smirk even – could turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary one.

Bella Grace Magazine was introduced to me by my lovely mother. The magazine’s overall aim is “to touch the souls of readers through beautifully penned stories and striking photographs that capture life’s beautiful journey.”

For someone like me who strives to see the beauty in every situation, these goals are ones that pretty much perfectly align with my personal beliefs.

Are You Inspiring Action?

During my last semester of college, I landed an awesome internship in Knoxville. During that internship, I was able to assign myself as much or as little responsibility as I could handle on any given work day. I was extremely busy this past semester with all of my combined responsibilities, which really strengthened my time management skills and allowed me to learn how to prioritize my work.

If my boss gave me a project that I did not quite know how to tackle, I would look to the world’s most trustworthy source: The Internet. The internet can answer nearly any questions we may have in regards to nearly any subject known to mankind. There are some truly strange google searches – No worries, I checked & here are a few examples for your amusement.

Mak D. & Kate T. Adventures

John Muir said it best when he famously stated, “The mountains are calling and I must go.” Sometimes all that will cure an unmotivated mind is just getting outdoors and breathing some fresh, mountain air. So that is exactly what my friend, Makenzy, and I did on one of our last days in Knoxville.

Being right around the corner from the Great Smoky Mountains has been such a treat for the past four years while I have been in Knoxville. Since I do not know what I am going to be doing in the near and upcoming future, we wanted to take advantage of this time we have left here & hike two fun (and easy) trails – Andrew’s Bald and Clingmans Dome.