Tea Time with Appalachian Barbie

Time For A Little Spring Cleaning

Whenever the seasons change, it seems everyone gets the urge to purge. Something about fresh air and bright sunshine always brings to light the clutter in our lives, be it literal or metaphorical. I am a firm believer in the theory that your personal spaces (i.e. home, cars, desk, etc.) completely reflect what is going […]

 

Tea Time with Appalachian Barbie

The Truth About Lies

I very recently received a message from someone I loved and respected a great deal that, within its 4 short sentences, was able to completely extinguish any shred of emotion I felt for them except shame, anger and disgust.  This person was reaching out to me requesting I do something that goes against everything I […]

 

Tea Time with Appalachian Barbie

A Southern Summer to Remember

Today has been one of those tantalizingly warm days of early spring. The type of day where the thermometer climbs all the way to 72 degrees and lures everyone out of doors to languish on restaurant patios and stroll their dogs around the park for the first time in 6 months. And although the 40-degree […]

 

Tea Time with Appalachian Barbie

It’s Time to Level Up

I am so sick of victimizing. I’m sick of seeing people in the media doing it, I’m sick of seeing people I know online doing it to themselves and I am WAY sick of choosing to make myself a victim. Because that is the cold, hard truth- we make the choice to either be a […]

 

Tea Time with Appalachian Barbie

Living Life Fearlessly

I don’t know if anyone else is like me, but sometimes my greatest ideas and realizations come to me in the shower. That’s exactly what happened this week. As I was halfway through the lather cycle of my shampoo/condition/soaping routine, I was thinking about a conversation I’d had that day with a friend who asked […]

 

Tea Time with Appalachian Barbie

Valentine’s Day for One

It’s once again the most lovable holiday of the year. Everywhere you look, Hallmark is taking it’s giant red and pink fist and cramming heart shaped boxes of Russell Stover chocolates and stuffed animals down the throats of the masses. If you’re not one half of a happy partnership, February 14th can easily be considered […]

 

One Tank Weekend Getaways

Being a true-blue Tri-Cities gal, I’ve spent my whole life exploring every nook and cranny of our fair region, especially Johnson City and Elizabethton. I graduated high school alongside basically the same people with whom I graduated kindergarten. Throughout my 20s I bartended and mingled at all the JC hotspots and began noticing the same […]

 

Tea Time with Appalachian Barbie

Walking the Line Between Pleasure & Pain

Last weekend I sped to Pal’s first thing to get my once-a-month cheddar round fix. The cashier hadn’t even shut the window before I was digging my grubby hands into the bag, searching for my first hit of deep fried, cheddar and potato filled goodness. I could feel the heat blistering my fingers as I […]

 

Making and Keeping Healthy Resolutions

We are now well into January, and like many people I am really struggling to stick to my “healthy” New Years resolutions. Putting my mental health above everything else, I first resolved to think with my head and not my heart this year, and while that has proven to be tougher than anything, it has […]

 

Tea Time with Appalachian Barbie

Love Me Tinder

In my quest for pushing myself forward and out of my 2018 funk, I finally decided it’s time to get back on the horse and start dating. While I don’t yet feel quite comfortable pursuing a “relationship,” I don’t think getting to know new and interesting people is the worst idea in the world. This […]

 

Tea Time with Appalachian Barbie

Happily Appalachian

On a recent weekend away to Atlanta I did something I consider to be shameful. After several cocktails in a smoky dive, the first fiddle strains of “Wagon Wheel” hit my ears. I instinctively groaned and yelled “NOOOO!!!” due to spending almost 4 years of my life behind the bar at Tipton Street Pub, where […]

 

Tea Time with Appalachian Barbie

Should Auld Acquaintance be Forgot…

Hearing the beginning strains of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ as the clock strikes midnight never fails to conjure up a reaction in me. Basking in the last twinkling of Christmas lights, surrounded by couples kissing, confetti and noise makers, it should be a song that evokes feelings of joy and excitement, but it’s always quite bittersweet. […]