Home is Where the Heart is

Having been raised in east Tennessee, I’ve grown up with a love for the country. The rolling hills, farms peppered with black and white cows, cozy cabins in the Smokies… I could go on and on. It’s not hard to imagine living here forever and raising a family. And while yes, I will always be a southern belle at heart, the ambition and drive of New York City has left me wanting more.

After spending time in the city, I always leave feeling renewed and bolder; More energetic and ready to take on the world. I don’t know what it is exactly. It may be the people. It may be the city lights. It may be a combination of too many things to count. The liveliness, the diversity, the excitement. The moxie. At this point, I’m feeling as though the world is my oyster, and I want to share my excitement with as many people as possible.

My parents raised me to believe the I can do anything I want if I put my mind to it and work hard at whatever that may be. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I believe God has placed particular people, circumstances, and experiences in my life for a reason, and that nothing is coincidence.

So here’s a little bit of my story.

After living in Tennessee for almost 11 years, it’s safe to call Knoxville my hometown. I’ve grown up cheering on the Volunteers and singing Rocky Top at the top of my lungs too many times to count, and that will never change. Football isn’t just a season in East Tennessee, it’s more of a lifestyle…

Up until this past summer, I never wanted to explore beyond the state lines, and I definitely didn’t want to move any farther north. Too cold and filled with Yankees. Oh how ignorant I was. I was given the fabulous opportunity to intern with Diana Warner Studio in the heart of Manhattan for the summer. (You can see her designs here) What an experience it was. Something I wouldn’t have changed for the world. In a nutshell, I fell in love with the city. I’m talking head over heels. The hustle and bustle, high fashion, just everything (I’m just repeating myself at this point…).

In fact the reason I decided to start a blog is because of New York. Want a detailed account of everything that happened to me this summer? — well to an extent? Visit my Summer in the City blog here. In the future, I want to bring to Tennessee a little bit of New York City and to New York City a little bit of Tennessee. I believe there can be a happy medium.

My hope for this blog is to cover fashion, life, and love with a touch of twang. It will be  what I can’t fit into my 750 word limit in my column for the paper, and cover other tid bits rather than just relationships. (You can find my column online here) Hopefully you’ve been keeping up with it thus far!

Oh, and remember, any questions, comments, suggestions… anything, are more than welcome. Want a specific topic covered in my column? I’d be more than happen to take a shot at it.

You can follow me on twitter too! @khcunningham