Who: BLISS
What: Diverse and eclectic mixture of clothing, jewelry, gifts, and home furnishings
Where: 24 Market Square
Why: Because honestly, there’s nothing else as whimsical and cute in the Knoxville area. Every time I go in I try to convince myself to buy one of their overly cute aprons, however I end up walking out empty handed with the realization that I do not need an apron since I do not have a kitchen.
Weekly listing of my favorite things
Who: Downtown Knoxville
What: First Friday
When: The first Friday of every month
Where: Various locations downtown including Gay Street,
Market Square, and the Old City
Why:
Alot of booze/food/music in one area on one night
First Friday locations:
1. Knoxville Visitor Center “Ferd’s Friday” at 301 S. Gay Street
2. Morelock Music at 411 S. Gay Street
Art Gallery of Knoxville-317 Gay Street
Art Market Gallery-422 S. Gay Street
Black Market Clothing- 23 Market Square
Bliss Home and Art-29 Market Square
Blount Mansion-200 W Hill Ave
Casa Hora at The Emporium-100 S. Gay Street, Suite 109
Coffee and Chocolate-327 Union Avenue
Community Television of Knoxville-808 State Street
Downtown Grind-418 S. Gay Street
East Tennessee Historical Society-601 S. Gay Street
East TN Community Design Center & Downtown Design Studio-500 S. Gay Street
Emporium Center for Arts & Culture / The Balcony Gallery-100 S. Gay Street
Ewing Gallery-1715 Volunteer Blvd
Fluorescent Gallery-627 N. Central Knoxville
Gallery 1010-113 South Gay Street
Indigo-327 Union Avenue
John Black Photography-501 Union Ave.
Julie Apple Handbags-121 Gay Street
Kate Moore Creative / Jennie Andrews Photography-123 S Gay Suite B
Knoxville Arts and Fine Crafts Center-1127B Broadway Ave.
Knoxville Museum of Art-1060 World’s Fair Park
Knox ivi-17 Market Square
Lox Salon-127 S Central
Old City Java-109 S. Central Avenue
Oodles Uncorked-18 Market Square
Organized Play-221 Cumberland Avenue
Rala-323 Union Avenue
Remedy Coffee-125 W. Jackson Ave.
Rita’s Italian Ice-Market Square
Salon Visage-11 Market Square
The Fortunate Traveler-119 S. Central Street Bldg. 2
Tomato Head-12 Market Square
Unarmed Merchants-129 S. Gay Street
URBhana-115 S. Gay Street
UT Downtown Gallery-106 S. Gay Street
Yee- Haw Industries-413 S. Gay Street
Who: Knoxville Hipsters
What: Dinner and Drinks at THE PUBLIC HOUSE
Where: 212 W Magnolia Avenue
Why: Thirsty. Personally, I did not care much for the crowd—however the layout and design of the Public House is one of my favorites in Knoxville. The one large piece of artwork behind the bar was just enough, and the large open floor area with bar seating along all the walls and a few couches made me feel as though I was up north. Maybe I will just have to make appearances during the day when the hipsters aren’t making their rounds late at night.
As a very busy girl who works random jobs at even more random hours, I find it hard to find the time to fit in exercise if I am dreading the monotony of the treadmill and weight machines. I had heard about this new type of exercise that was becoming very popular because of the fun, dance like exercise that doesn’t feel like you are exercising. I also heard that one hour of it could burn nearly 10,000 calories. I was curious, so I looked into ZUMBA.
ZUMBA is great for me because I used to dance in high school and so even though I am out of college now, I can have my 45 minute dance time 3 days a week. I really enjoy the dance moves because they mix certain hispanic dances with hip hop moves while playing latin music!
I went to ZUMBA at the Cansler Family YMCA just off of Hall of Fame Drive. The night time class has an instructor named Hope, a younger girl who is FULL of energy and really gets you excited to be there and helps you learn the moves. The great thing is even people who think they won’t catch on or will be horrible can learn, because the class does the same 45 minute routine for a certain amount of time (enough to get it down and perfect it) but then changes it up after a few months so that there is something new and fresh to keep the class not bored.
I would highly recommend taking this class, not only for the amount of workout you are getting in, but for the fun time you will have. I hadn’t danced since high school, so after the first time going to ZUMBA I was hooked and so excited to continue doing it to improve my dancing ability and get a great workout in to during my hectic and somewhat boring work days.
In Knoxville, the Cansler Family YMCA and the West Side YMCA offer Zumba classes, so if you have time go check out a class-you will not regret it.
