14th Annual MusicFest 'N Sugar Grove

AH. YES. MUSICFEST 'N SUGAR GROVE.

The event that I have been waiting for since April!

I had the opportunity to be a press intern for this wonderful nonprofit organization called MusicFest 'N Sugar Grove. Starting as Doc Watson Appreciation Day, this music festival has been putting on two-day music festivals of bluegrass, old time, folk and "traditional plus" (Doc Watson's genre) music for 14 years now! They are based in Sugar Grove, N.C., and are supported by Cove Creek Preservation & Development (CCP&D) in the Historic Cove Creek school. Here's an article about the little history behind their partnership and why they do what they do. Psst. Article is written by me! Pretty cool, huh?

Now...

Honestly, I am not a bluegrass fan but this festival has definitely made me appreciate bluegrass and the music up here in the mountains! Everyone was just jammin', eating some good grub (pulled bbq, blooming onions, kettle corn) and having a good time! I definitely had a great experience. I had the opportunity to watch Carolina Chocolate Drops, who actually met at Appalachian in 2005 during some sort of conference and Doc Watson, I should say legendary Doc Watson. At the event we had two stages - the main stage and the solar stage. The solar stage was powered by "Daisy", provided by Appalachian's Sustainable Development department. Our festival was definitely trying to go GREEN!

Overall, the festival was a success and I am glad I had the opportunity to be a part of it. It was filled with great music, familiar and new faces, passion and continuous support from the community. I love my little mountain town.

Pictured above: Megan and I working at the festival, the main stage, MusicFest merchandise, Daisy, southern pulled bbq and the main stage.

ELI SNUGGS AND FRIENDS

One of my good friends Eli, performed on the Solar Stage of the festival with the rest of his band. I hope they have some recordings soon with the whole band, but on the bandcamp, there are some acoustic recordings. You should definitely give him a listen, and who knows, support and buy his album? :)

Now that the festival is over, I have some what of a less stressful plate... but my other internship has definitely kept me busy! (in a good way) Hopefully I'll post some links with some stories that are published online soon! For now, I need to grab my neighbor so we can TAEBO.

Take care,

A Glimpse of Chicago

listening to "On the Wing" - Owl City
Ah, the memories of seeing him at Cat's Cradle with my best friends.

Anyway, last weekend (July 4th) I had the opportunity to visit Chicago with my family! It was much fun. You just can't possibly see Chicago in a weekend! It was about a 12 hour drive from Boone, but completely worth it (given, I didn't have to drive for the majority!) I was able to see a city that I've been thinking of living in one day? Maybe? It definitely didn't disappoint.

In a few words, my trip to Chicago was filled with amazing pizza, visiting the Willis tower, formerly known as Sears Tower, Navy Pier, jamba juice (at last!), miniature golf, family, endless laughter with my cousins, public transportation, the BEAN aka "cloud gate", comfy hotel beds, continental breakfast, fireworks, city lights, amazing views, possibilities and much much more. Chicago, we'll meet up again. I promise.

Here's a few photos from my trip.

 

Playing with my cousins at the Children's Museum (awesome museum!)

 

Family.

 

The streets of Chicago.

 

Deep dish pizza!

 

The BEAN! Or Cloud Gate, whichever you prefer.

 

Ah, the city

 

Navy Pier

Even though I thought I lightened my load when I quit my job at Primo's, life hasn't felt busier! I feel fortunate to have traveled this much this summer. I really wasn't expecting it. Illinois would be my fifth state this past month! Unbelievable! This past weekend I was super busy with MusicFest 'N Sugar Grove, the local nonprofit organization I was interning for. The 14th Annual MusicFest 'N Sugar Grove music festival is officially complete and was a successful event! All our hard work has definitely paid off. I will definitely post more details on the event next time. Other than that, I've been working hard with my other internship, currently working on about eight different stories! So lots of research, interviews, phone calls, emails, scheduling, revising but fun!

I hope everyone else's summer is going wonderfully.
I hope to see some of my favorite faces when I go home this weekend.

With bangs and a bow

bows, bows, bows.
What can I say? I'm obsessed!
I've recently bought this lavender bow from Benny Peacock on Etsy. Considering I've recently decided to quit my part-time job to focus on my internships, I need to step away from the paypal account linked to etsy...seriously. I had good intentions for this bow though. Hopefully (if it goes well with my outfit), I will wear it for my Aunt's wedding coming up in a couple of weeks!

Aside from bows, things have been going really well!
My internships have been such a great experience thus far. Just on the first day I was able to write two press releases for the Summer Dance Series and Appalachian's Actors Series. (I've linked the stories!) They are short, simple press releases but I can't believe they've been published on the web! Other than that, I've been able to work with everyone in the department shadowing photo shoots, editing/proofing, writing and doing what public relations people do. I'm excited for the weeks to come! I recently went home for a couple days and nothing can explain the feeling of being home. There is just so much love.

Since I won't be waiting tables anymore (at least this summer) I need to find some creative ways of saving money in order for all these plans for the upcoming year can happen! Any ideas? I'll just eat ramen...but that still doesn't leave enough money for my plans! I'm not too worried. What's the point of making money when you can't even spend it?

I have much to look forward to this summer, and hopefully I can do it all within a budget!
COUNTDOWN!

7 days til Mumford and Sons (and Asheville)
17 days til my Aunt's wedding
20 days til my roadtrip to FL with my cousin (this includes Harry Potter world and adventures!)
37 days til MusicFest 'N Sugar Grove music festival
43 days til Harry Potter!
69 days til the Philippines
93 days til my 21st birthday

Hopefully in between those days I can get my life back to being organized and leave time for the things that I love doing - friends, family, travel, art and some r&r.

I vow to not take this long for another blog post.

Oh, did I mention I cut my bangs?

Music[video] Monday 002 + Update

This week the music video I chose is Sufjan Steven's "For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti"
Sufjan is one of my favorite artists & I'm still getting to know his music.
This music video is the acoustic version of his song, but if are not aware of Sufjan Stevens, I promise you'll fall in love with him as much as I did.
This is one song I could listen to over and over and over and over again.
Especially, on vinyl.

UPDATE:

So in the past couple weeks, my life has gotten exponentially busy...in a very resume building, putting money in my savings account, planning naps throughout the day kind of busy. After getting my acceptance for an internship at Appalachian State's University Department of Communications with one of my favorite professors, I was also offered a position as a press intern for Musicfest 'N Sugar Grove. Along with helping with distributing the press releases and making contacts, I am responsible for their social media, including their Twitter account, Facebook, etc. My manager at Primo's also asked me to admin their facebook page, along with my doubled shifts this week (thank you Graduation and Mother's Day) Hahaha One of my other professors also asked me to help facilitate a focus group in May for a few days! So exciting things are happening but my summer will be busy, busy, busy.

Spring semester officially ends this Wednesday!
I just have to get through a week of working and then it's off to Raleigh I go.
To enjoy a little break before I go hard core on these public relations opportunities.
I'm excited to see my friends from their study abroad programs, celebrate their arrival, internships and life! Family and friends are what I need the most & I look forward to being in the same city as them for once!

I'll explain more about Musicfest 'N Sugar Grove in another blog, but for now, you should follow us on Twitter and Facebook!