I’m sure most of you have heard me talk about the East TN Boss Babes, but if you haven’t it is an amazing blogger group/community I am in. I have a few posts about some of our events that I will link here, here , and here if you want to check them out. Anyways, last week we had our biggest event to date and it was Kentucky Derby themed. Our husbands were even able to accompany us to this incredible event. Tabatha, Meredith, and Kaitlyn (the wonderful, beautiful ladies that help start the group) worked their butts off for this event and it totally shows! They have been working on this event for months and months and I am so thankful that I can call these ladies my friends! Everything they did for this event and everything they have done for our group so far and yet to come is amazing! Y’all are rockstars!!

This East TN Boss Babes event was hosted by a wedding Venue in Knoxville called Dara’s Gardens. If you have a wedding coming up or any type of event, you should definitely check out Dara’s Gardens. It is such a beautiful venue and they even have a bridal suite for the bride/bridal party to get ready in! The grounds are gorgeous and there are so many pretty places to take pictures too! Thank you so much Dara for hosting us!!

You can’t have a boss babes event without having some delicious food! The food was catered by Rothchild Catering and everything was so good! They had items that were derby themed and they even had little horses placed throughout. I love little details like that! I highly recommend them if you have any events in Knoxville coming up! Here is the menu they had for us! I loved the prosciutto wrapped asparagus and the roasted red potatoes!

Beverages:

Southern sweet tea (sliced lemon on the side)

Iced cucumber mint and lemon water

Menu:

Cold food station:

Mini watermelon feta salad bites over greens with a balsamic reduction

Freshly cut vegetable platter with dill Benedictine dip

Mini cups of brown sugar and butter derby pecans with a rosemary garnish

Prosciutto wrapped asparagus

Hand passed:

Pork belly on herb crostini with a bourbon glaze

Fried green tomato with pimento cheese

Hot food station:

Carved sirloin of beef for sliders (Brioche buns, horseradish and spicy mustard)

Shrimp and white cheddar cheese grits topped with chives in ramekins

Fried chicken on waffle biscuits with spicy honey

Roasted red potatoes

Dessert Station:

Mini bourbon cupcakes with a caramel frosting

Mint julep parfaits topped with crumbled chocolate

Mini jars filled with fresh fruit and honey custard

Mini truffles rolled in pecans

The yummy drinks were made with liquor from Old Forge Distillery and made by Single Barrel Events. Sticking to the Derby theme, they of course were making mint juleps, but had a blackberry twist to it! Everyone talked about how good the drinks were and the bartender even threw in some Vegas tricks. He was really nice and you could tell him what you liked and he would make the perfect drink!

We even had a DJ from Special Notes! Besides a DJ they also have bands, string ensembles, and live musicians available for Knoxville and the surrounding areas!

Lastly, no event would be complete without a Photo Booth! Oh Snap Photo Station was there with a super cute set up! I’m so sad that I got to talking and forgot about it, so I didn’t get take take pictures in it! All the other ladies did though and they were so cute! They had props and a really pretty glitter backdrop!

We even had two amazing photographers donate their time to capture this awesome event. They were gracious enough to let us use their pictures, so if you hover over the pictures below you will see who took each one. I will link their instagrams here: Mandy Hart Photo and Devon Adrianne Photography.

Thank you again so much to Dara, Tabatha, Meredith, Kaitlyn, and all the vendors who made all of this possible. I cannot wait for our next event! Be on the lookout for a vlog showing more of this event!

Mandy Hart Photography/ Single Barrel Events

Mandy Hart Photography/ Old Forge Distillery

Mandy Hart Photography/ Rothchild Catering

All the husbands getting instagram pictures for us! We have some good men!

A few weeks ago I met a fellow blogger on Instagram and she reached out to me and invited me to a blogger brunch for local bloggers. When she first told me about the event I saw that I had to work, but told her to let me know if they had another one. We exchanged numbers and got to talking and we have so much in common it’s scary. I got to thinking about the brunch and realized that this could be a great opportunity, so I decided to see if I could get off work. I am BEYOND happy I was able to go, because it was one of the best days I have had in a while. All the girls were so sweet and empowering and uplifting and I got so inspired. I am so thankful I got to meet each one of them and I can’t wait to see all the amazing things we accomplish as a group and individually! I am a little envious of the blogger groups that go on trips together and hang out, so I am so excited that we are forming a community of boss babes in East TN. We actually started an Instagram for our community, if y’all want to follow along I will link it here.

I actually captured some footage from the blogger brunch for my vlogmas, so I will add the video if y’all want to check that out too!

Hey y'all! On the vlog today I go on a little bit of a rant so be prepared for that. Also, I noticed my accent gets a little thicker when I'm mad, haha. Other than that, I think this is my favorite vlog so far.

We met before the restaurant to take some pictures by a big Christmas tree in downtown Knoxville with the amazing Erika with Evolve Creative. We took some individually then as a group and they turned out so good! I will add a few below so y’all can see how great they are!

We ate at Cafe 4 in market square and it was really good. I just got a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon, grits, and toast, but everyone else’s look great too! They have a little bit of everything.

I also wanted to share the beautiful ladies that came to the brunch and I am going to link their instagram so y’all can check them out! I’ll share them under our group picture so y’all can see names and faces. There were a couple of boss babes that weren’t able to make it for pictures, but I wanted to include them as well and that was Lindsey and Megan.

Elizabeth, Brittany, Meredith, Brooke, Tabatha (aka new blogger bestie), Kaitlyn, and Maleia.

We are already planning our next meetup, so definitely stay tuned for more. I am so grateful and thankful I met all these ladies! I think this was perfect timing for them to come into my life, especially Tabatha. I really think we are going to be lifelong friends!

The beautiful lady on the far left is Erika, the amazing photographer, friend, behind the camera!

East TN Boss Babes Derby Event

Blogger Brunch

east tn boss babes