Spotlight on Nashville: More than Music City

I rolled into Nashville less-than 24 hours ago, and I've already stumbled upon two gorgeous pieces of art. The first, this stunning Nashville Scene cover photo by Eric England featuring dancers from the Nashville Ballet.

And the second, this playful illustration of Nashville's newest songbird, the cicada. Every 13 years these noisy bugs make an appearance on the Tennessee stage, and Anderson Design Group capitalized on this year's summer-time performance.

Even though I'm just here for a few weeks (more on my future plans later!), I love that Nashville's artsy attitude is still alive and well!

Once upon a problem

A friend of mine recently participated in a photo shoot with budding photographer Kirstie Jeffrey that explores the pressure college women feel to be perfect, and the toxic results of this quest for perfection. Using Disney's canon of princesses as inspiration for these troubled portraits, Jeffrey created a series of images that are far too close a representation of reality. I was absolutely stunned by the contrast of these photos and just had to share my favorites here. Click over to Kirstie's website for the full project.

 Sleeping Beauty--exhaustion

 Cinderella--drinking problems

 Snow White--low self esteem

 Alice--drug issues

Belle--pressure to be thin