#CreativesDayNashville

"I believe in Nashville." Yep, I sure do. :) I would say my journey to Nashville started back in 2013 when I was driving my granny up from Chattanooga to Vanderbilt. At the time we were making the tough decision on which route to take regarding the return of my granny's cancer. Deciding to go through with a 10 hour surgery to remove cancer from her jaw bone, tongue and cheeks which required moving bone and skin graphs from other parts of this amazing woman's body, I returned to Nashville with my granny and family members in September of the same year for about two weeks.

I'm a Tennessee girl who have lived in Colorado, Virginia, my hometown of Chattanooga along with spending most of my 20's in Atlanta, Georgia. I've also spent time working in LA and South Beach along with other parts of Florida and spent a little time, about 2 weeks, in London and Paris. I say all of that to say that I've had an opportunity to be with people from all over the world and various walks of life and the two weeks I spent in Nashville back in September 2013 was like none I had ever experienced. I've always felt so blessed to meet and come across amazing people who enriched my travels with their kindness, but I have gotta tell you, Nashville just blew me away. I'm talking from the staff at the hospital, doctors, nurses, cafeteria attendants, you name it, to the servers and other staff at restaurants my family and I would go to during our stay, along with the staff at the hotels where we stayed to the Starbucks baristas and the cashiers at Walgreens. The people of Nashville were just so darn nice. :)♡

During my couple of weeks stay I got out and about and simply fell in love with the city. During one instance, I hadn't seen one of my little brothers in some time due to his service and travels as an Airman in the military. When he came to town I wanted to spend some time with him to catch up and I shared with him that I wanted to try this restaurant that I would pass daily when going to Vanderbilt. Only seeing the restaurant from the back, not knowing its name and seeing just how cute it was, peeked my interest and I had to check it out. It gave me that South Beach feeling that I love, but with moonshine. In my mind, you can't beat that. It was Cabana's. I loved it and have been in love with it ever since. During my visit for Fashion Week this year my friends and I got together at Cabana's for their wonderful Girl's Night Out. 

Back in 2013 I had no idea that there was so much wonderful growth taking place in Nashville, especially in reference to the things I absolutely love like art and small museums, some really wonderful and tasty restaurants, coffee houses, street art and all kinds of music. Plus there were so many awesome fashion boutiques. When I originally learned that Nashville had a fashion week, I think the heavens opened up and I heard angels sing. I have attended Nashville Fashion Week since 2014 and it is always such an amazing experience.

{Nashville Fashion Week 2015} 

I am so thrilled to be in Nashville now. It is such an exciting time for creatives in this beautiful city. This past Saturday, October 22, mayor Megan Barry proclaimed the day as Creatives Day. An event was held Saturday morning at the Carl Van Vechten Gallary at Fisk University in honor of the day. The day included the reading of the Creatives Day proclamation by Audra Ladd from the mayor's Office of Economic and Community Development along with local creatives sharing their stories of being artists in the Nashville area. And a great open and honest discussion between a select panel of creatives and the creatives of the audience ensued.

I'm excited to dig into and learn more about the many resources that were shared at the Creatives Day event. I've listed the resources below plus you can see more photos from the day here.

RESOURCES
Arts and Business Council Nashville
{I've already started my journey with ABC and wow. They are already just so amazing.}

Nashville Creative Group 

Southern Word

Launch Tennessee

Tennessee Art Commission 

#IndieNash 

I've also enjoyed and found helpful

Nashville Songwriters Association 

 Nashville Entrepreneur Center 

SCORE 

Pathway {I heard about Pathway's through a relative and I'm looking forward to checking it out soon.}

See more of the beautiful Nashville and more of my journey as an aspiring singer and songwriter along with the Music, Fashion, Food, People and Places that inspire me along the way on The Love Channel with Ty Swint Instagram. ❤