Tennessee Music Highway - Tennessee USA

Memphis in December

"From Elvis and Tina Turner to Carl Perkins and The Kings of Leon, the Tennessee Music Highway is the most important geographical location of musical influence on the planet."  http://tnmusichighway.com/  This was the stretch of road for me today.

First thing I noticed when I walked off the plane was how polite everyone is. The moment you step off the plane there are senior greeters, there to say welcome to Memphios and give you direction to your next gate, the baggage claim or a quick stop for food or shopping.  I also noticed that most everyone  was reffering to me as  "Mam" and in a completely positive, well manored way.  And never mind that it made me feel a bit "old"

I rented my car (Budget, and yes it was a "budget" especially for a one way rental) and hit the road for my first three appointments.

With an afternoon free we shopped at Worlds Away www.worlds-away.com.   We went there to see interior furnishings and accessories that are sold in the larger and finer department stores.

My recommendation is to give yourself plenty of time to go through the store.  There is so much to see and it's a little un-organized.  (See picture below)

What we discovered is that they carry seconds and returns, all priced to sell, off their retail floor. Many items are damaged with deeper discounts that reflect it.

World's Away also has showrooms in Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles.  This one in Memphis is their public outlet. Worlds Apart is located right next to the Liberty Bowl.

Designers can shop wholesale at Worlds Away, and anyone can browse the stock.  Their items are manufactured abroad and sold to high end store and through catalogs.  They carry small furniture, light fixtures, home decor and fabric from the company's collections catalog.  (TI went online and ordered their catalog when I returned home.)  If your in Memphis I say "Check it out!"

http://www.worlds-away.com/
Contact:
HOME OFFICE:
WORLDS AWAY
322 SOUTH HOLLYWOOD
MEMPHIS TENNESSEE 38104
(901)529-0844
(901)527-3406
PLEASE CALL FOR APPOINTMENT TO OUR
SALES MANAGER, NEAL EDWARDS

I found it!

The "ah ha" moment of the day was discovering the most delightful shoes.  Yes delightful and shoes in the same sentance.  These comfortable smart looking shoes were for sale in the back of the showroom.  These shoes are hand made by the Charleston Shoe Company and the owner of this showroom is the mother of the developer of these fantastic fabric shoes.

Www.CharlestonShoeCo.com

We loved the colors, simplicity and contemporary style. I decided to try on a few and they were indeed comfortable.  They are made of elasticated fabric, and they can be machine washed in cold water on the gental cycle.  (I saw directions on YouTube.com) I fell in love with the wedge bootie ( in black) and the flat brown suede pair.  I went online to see what else they offered and will be ordering the boots soon.  I'll keep you posted when I get a list of locations that sell these shoes and a review when mine arrive as to how they fit.

We had a long drive ahead the next morning, and bad weather to boot so I turned on my GPS and drove East on the Tennessee Interstate freeway. Highway 40 traverses the entirety of the state from west to east, running from the Mississippi River at the Arkansas border. We drove the stretch of land between Memphis and Nashville also known as the “Music Highway”  Driving across the state we noticed the landscape was beautiful and getting ready for winter. The trees barren of leaves now were thick and lined all the rivers and creeks.  More on my trip tomorrow

Jonelle'

 

 

Knoxville TN, A Host of Shopping Surprises

Knoxville TN

 With a very limited amount of time in Knoxville we missed the opportunity to visit Dollyland, the  Artisan Colony in Gainsbourg and the Smokey Mountains, all I will keep on my list of must sees when I return to Tennessee in the futurehttp://www.knoxville.org/

http://downtownknoxville.org/visitors/shopping

I want to point out that the drive from Nashville to Knoxville added an hour because it is in a different time zone.  We didn't realize it but we lost an hour.  It was late when we arrived in Knoxville but we found a wonderful ad in the visitor guide about Benton District.  Stores I found in the District:
http://districtinbearden.com/

The Practice Yoga loves the Vols!! They have plenty of orange and white gear to help you out this football season! Stop on by and check it out!








At Plum Gallery, these beautiful hand-woven scarves from Swalsmith of London are the perfect accessory for the fall season!












SOLE IN THE CITY:Sole in the City is so excited about hosting an Old Gringo trunk show with over 30 styles of Old Gringo western boots in the store for our holiday open house on November 30th. Come kick up your heels. http://www.soleinthecity.net/
TWISTED SCISSORS:Come see us during our Open House on November 30th! We will have 25 gift bags filled with samples and coupons from the salon and surrounding businesses! We’ll also have a drawing for a cut and color that evening

http://www.twistedscissors07.com/

It had some interesting sounding shops.  (Antiques, Home Decor, Christmas shop, second hand store, coffee house). I must say I was disappointed to find half the shops closed.  I commented on how tacky the antique and vintage store "Nostalgia" was for closing an hour early on a Wednesday night when their "store closing" announcement came over the speaker.  Lol. I was so dignified in my statement and I was embarrassed when I realized while at the hotel front desk checking in that it was indeed MY mistake.  Note to self, check time when traveling near time zones.  Yep I had the front desk give me a "wake up call" to be sure my iPhone didn't let me down.

We did however have a few hours after my appointments the next day and before heading to the airport and flying back to Sacramento to do some shopping (funny how I always fit that in)

 

Resale Shopping

 












Repeat Boutique on Kingston Pike was the find of the week.  A resale shop that is Huge, and filled with incredible buys.  The sales staff is so courteous (again let me say Tennessee is the most polite state in the nation). They have jewelry, designer clothing, petites, plus size, casual sportswear, dressy evening wear, leather jackets, a ton of coats and shoe-shoes-shoes. All three have quality well priced items and a great find for our trip.  I bought a wonderful black knit jacket by ----  and a cashmere long sweater with one button at the waist in purple. 

What you'll find here is You’ll find one-of-a-kind items, as well as many sought-after labels such as BCBG Maxazria, Prada, Milly, Trina Turk, Dana Buchman, Nanette Lepore, and Michael Kors. Expect to find designer denim labels by Citizens for humanity, True Religion, Paper Denim and Cloth, Red Engine and Paige, all for a fraction of what they cost originally.

www.repeatboutiqueknox.com

They carry the largest selection of scarves, belts, purses and jewelry I have ever seen in a resale shop.  Their staff is friendly and helpful, even looking up my favorite Peruvian Connection to see if anything from their line was in the store.  (Yes they had several pieces, all larges darn!)









They carry accessories from designers such as Brighton, Coach, Michael Kors, Kooba, Cole Haan and Brahmin.

Repeat Boutique8079 Kingston Pike, Suite Q
Knoxville, TN 37919
(865) 531-8200




Next door there is a store for antiques and home decor called Repeat Etc. and a children's store called ----  
 Repeat EtcStreet: 8079 Kingston Pike
Knoxville, tn 37919-3901
Phone: (865) 531-2801

For fashionable secondhand children's clothing try Weepeat Boutique.  They carry fashionable clothing from retailers such as: Gap, Gymboree, Anavini, Ralph Lauren, Baby Lulu, Abercrombie, Justice, Lilly Pultzer, and many more.
http://weepeatboutique.com/

On the other side there is a deep discount store called the Bargain Hunt.  I can tell you they had a large selection of items that are returns from manufacturers as well as close outs, overstocks, refurbished, dents and miss matched items.  Reminded me of BigLots, but these were deeper discounts.  Most of the boxes were damaged and one better check the contender as some were missing parts and pieces.  A fisher price toy I had just bought the grandson was there  I paid 29.00 at Target and it was 14.00 here (but the box was tattered.)
https://www.facebook.com/BargainHuntStores


www.bargainhunt.com

A rush to the airport to return my rental car and a wonderful flight on Delta Airlines.  All in a weeks work I say.  Enjoy your week.

Jonelle'