by Rachel Carden | Mar 22, 2011 | Opinion
You’re engaged. Now what? With the dozens of engagements that have happened and are happening around campus lately (are we in Searcy?), plenty of Nashville venues and vendors are being snatched up for dates this summer. Here are some things you should make first priority when it comes to planning your big day. First things first– decide on a date and a budget. You need to agree on who is going to pay for what, and how much you are willing to spend. The planning process will run much more smoothly if you know what vendors you should and should not be considering. The guest list should come next. You need to know how many people you need to fit into a venue and feed, right? Juniors Miriam Harding and Hayden Parish got engaged on top of Mt. Sinai during the Bible travel course offered over Christmas break. “I feel like what’s difficult for one couple can be totally different for another in planning a wedding,” Harding said. “For Hayden and me, it’s just setting a date. We have to work around our living situation for next year. It is frustrating in the sense that I could either have a year and a half to plan, or seven months, and I don’t know which.” If you are already overwhelmed with all the big decisions that you need to make, consider hiring a wedding coordinator or planner to help things run smoothly. Simply Stunning Events is one of Nashville’s top-notch and most affordable planning companies. If you can’t afford a planner, Studio Wed offers free vendor search services. They consider...
by Chris Walker | Feb 15, 2011 | Opinion
Don’t be confused by its name; the newest Midtown restaurant is not a Tavern, at least not in the old-fashioned sense. It is, instead, a place for good food, people-watching and enjoying fire-toasting your own S’mores right at your table. But more on that later. Located in the old Lime venue, at 1904 Broadway, the newly renovated and simplistically chic eatery is perfect for lunch or dinner. With a respectably priced menu and large portion size, it’s a great place for students to venture and become acquainted with one of the most popular areas in Nashville. Convenient walking distance to several after-dinner settings provides guests of Tavern options galore. A close friend and I ordered several tastings off the menu. We began with the homemade goat cheese guacamole served Mason jar-style, roasted fresh veggies and crispy sweet potato fries. All was delicious and contributed an array of textures and tastes to the palate of the evening. For the main course we had the seared salmon, Caesar salad served with a heaping pile of calamari, and “not your typical Pei-Wei” chicken lettuce wraps. The serving size of each dish was plenty and could easily be split for the budget-conscious. Another friend we ran into that night, Chad Little, was impressed, too. “This place is beyond amazing,” Little said. “I would bring my girlfriend or my mom here. The place is full of beautiful and lively people. The great thing about Nashville is so many people are young and successful with a touch of southern flair, and a lot of those (people) are here tonight.“ We ended our dinner after two hours of amazing conversation and...
by Madalyn Chaffin | Feb 10, 2011 | Opinion
Feb. 14 is fast approaching, and there are a variety of feelings about the holiday dedicated to love. The next few days cannot pass fast enough for the hopeless romantics who have planned their displays of affection and devotion. But it will be just another Monday for those who could care less, those who will spend their evenings watching DVDs and munching, alone, on popcorn. Then there are those dreading the day– people who currently have Valentines that they don’t want. They obviously don’t care to spend a day of hearts and flowers with these “losers.” You have most likely seen or heard of the movie How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days. Well, you don’t have 10 days to lose your Valentine. But here are 10 ways to break up with someone before Valentine’s Day. 1. Tell them to meet you at a location for a surprise date. Actually set up a blind date for them and have their new date tell them it is over between you two. At least they get another date out of this. And who knows? One person’s trash is another’s treasure. 2. Send them flowers and write the note to say, “You might think this is for Valentine’s Day, but it is actually for your mourning.” (idea courtesy of freshman Kyle Wittler) 3. Hire a barbershop quartet to sing the break-up message. Perhaps suggest a classic harmony song like “Happy Trails.” 4. Invite them to watch a movie about break-ups such as 500 Days of Summer, Forgetting Sarah Marshall or even The Break-Up to drop the hint. 5. Take someone else...
by Hunter Patterson | Jan 31, 2011 | Opinion
The Civil Wars’ debut album, Barton Hollow, is honest, heartbreaking, uplifting and as real as it gets. Made up of Joy Williams and John Paul White, this new group has taken the Nashville music scene by storm. And with their recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, they will surely take the nation and world by storm, too. You shouldn’t try doing homework while listening to the record, as it’s hard to sit there not eagerly listening and waiting for the next line to relate to your life. The album does the extraordinary thing of taking all aspects of love and putting them onto a four and a half inch disk. The album starts off with the lingering track “20 Years.” Already, just one track in, you are ready for a story to be told to you through song. A high spot of the album for me is the song “Posison and Wine.” The song, which was featured on NBC’s Grey’s Anatomy, is the one that propelled the duo to stardom. The lyrics capture all sides of love. When Williams sings Your hands can heal / your hands can bruise, you can really feel the emotion and truth she presents with her voice. The song takes the good and the bad of love and compares them, leaving you not knowing what to feel. The title track for the album, “Barton Hollow” is Americana in its purest form. The song, written about White’s childhood home in Loretto, Tenn., is one that almost everyone can relate to. Life is hard a lot of the times, and sometimes it feels...
by Thomas Whisenant | Jan 26, 2011 | Opinion
Last night, Americans were given the opportunity to witness the President they voted for– a man who brought hope and the promise of a better future. Not the man who some claim brought contention and divided the nation into polar, unyielding political factions. Coming off of a speech in Arizona that experts claim revived his presidency and won the hearts of Americans, President Obama approached the nation a humbled man. Humbled not only by the monumental losses in the midterm elections, but also by the realization of his administration’s mistakes and disconnect with the American people. Like many State of the Union addresses, the things the President said were old news. All Americans understand the dire need for jobs. We get the issue of the national debt. Even though he danced around certain topics, we know the challenges the nation faces. It wasn’t the things the President said, but it was the way in which he said them. Watching the State of the Union last night showed an obvious shift in the president’s political stance. While he addressed hot button issues such as health care, immigration and the two wars, he kept talk on these issues relatively light. Instead, he focused more on the issues of job creation, reducing deficit spending and government reform. He urged bipartisanship with each issue. More importantly, he stated his willingness to work alongside Republicans to make the changes and tough decisions that need to be made. While liberal supporters of the president are upset about his shift towards the middle, the rest of the nation breathes a sigh of relief. America might be...
