When Glenn Laiken moved to Knoxville from California three years ago, it created quite the stir. He is the well-known personal designer/stylist of men’s clothes, remember? His clients have included Dr. Phil, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and L.A. Lakers coach Phil Jackson, among many others. He styled all the clothes for the movie American Gigolo. Jack Neely [...]

Filed under: Business, Downtown, Knoxville | 17 Comments »

The sweetest, most delicious, most non-pressure fundraiser every year is the “Raise the Roots” dinner that benefits Beardsley Community Farm. This is the second year we have attended the scrumptious event held at Tomato Head on Market Square, which donates a lot of  the food and provides cooks and servers who also donate their time. [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Food, Knoxville | 6 Comments »

This is a guest blog post by my friend and client Mary Bogert, the general manager of the Knoxville Convention Center. She wrote it for her own blog, From Inside the Center, shortly after a welcome event that Moxley Carmichael put together last month for Hart at the Convention Center. So, here’s Mary:
I’ve met the [...]

Filed under: Business, Downtown, Events, Knoxville, UT sports | No Comments »

One of the hardest things to get used to after being elected Tennessee governor, according to Gov. Bill Haslam, is not being able to ride in a car alone with his wife, Crissy. “Just think about it,” Haslam commented over dinner recently.

Filed under: Business, Events, Knoxville, Media, Politics | 6 Comments »

The annual Pilot Pumpers fundraiser for the United Way last month raised a record $63,478. Here’s the deal: during the three-day promotion at all area Pilot convenience stores, Pilot donates to United Way five cents for every gallon of gas sold and 10 percent of all in-store sales. To drum up interest in the event [...]

Filed under: Business, Events, Journalism, Knoxville, Media, Politics, UT sports | 1 Comment »

On Saturday I told Charlotte Tolley, the manager of the Market Square Farmers’ Market, that I don’t remember seeing this much produce at the market at this time last year. She said I was right. There previously wasn’t this much volume or this much variety this close to the end of the season.
“Why?” I wondered. [...]

Filed under: Business, Downtown, Food, Knoxville | 15 Comments »

I don’t usually get up early on a Saturday to post a blog item. But I just had to pass the word about this great opportunity that is only available today. If you are in the market for some great art — or some great gifts — you have got to get over to the [...]

Filed under: Art, Events, Knoxville, Music | 8 Comments »

We dined. We danced. We sang along to the O’Jays. We even got a little teary-eyed as the sweet Love Kitchen sisters won a lifetime achievement award.
It was the annual Knoxville Area Urban League Equal Opportunity Awards Gala Thursday night at the Knoxville Convention Center. It was a sell-out and it was a blast!
The Love [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Knoxville, Music | 9 Comments »

Chef Darren McGrady was in town last weekend bringing tales of his 11 years in service to Buckingham Palace and, more interestingly, his four years in service to Princess Diana after her divorce. During his whirlwind visit from Dallas, where he lives now and is a personal chef to a wealthy philanthropist, McGrady also supervised [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Food, Knoxville | 7 Comments »

Now this is a trend I would like to encourage!
The owners of a retail establishment have a friend who also is a friend of mine. And that friend convinces the retailers to open their store late one evening and she provides wine and nibbles and invites her buddies (including me) in for some shopping and [...]

Filed under: Business, Events, Knoxville | 8 Comments »