CMA Fest!!

On Friday June 10th, I went to CMA fest!! I went with my mom and my friend Carina. I was really excited to go and wanted to be sure I got meet Conner Smith at his meet and greet, so we left really early. We pulled out of my house at 7:30am and parked in Nashville right at 9am. Conner's meet and greet was at Fan Fair X starting at 1pm, but the main doors opened at 10am. We were one of the first people inside! There were a ton of photo ops and vendors throughout the building so we looked around at all of those. We saw the beginning of Kelsea Ballerini doing an interview for a podcast at 11 and then went to wait for Conner Smith. Technically his line didn't open until 12:30pm, but we hung around and made friends with the people working the lines. I ended up being first in the line!! I was soooo nervous. I had brought a pic of us from a previous show for him to sign and a piece of paper with my phone number on it (LOL!). When it finally came time to meet him, my heart was beating so fast. I barely remember what we said to each other. I got my photo signed, a picture with him, gave him my number and said "this is me shooting my shot," then ran away really fast. I was shaking so bad!!! I knew he would most likely not ever message me, but I had to try. *Spoiler alert-- 5 days later and no text.* Worth it though. 

Next, we went to Broadway to see what vendors were set up there. My personal favorite was the Idahoan Potato truck. They gave us free mashed potato cups and took our picture on a giant potato couch! It was so funny to be walking down Broadway eating mashed potatoes. We also got free slices of pizza, an apple slice, and Cheez Its. We sat down for a little bit so we could relax and eat before going to the next show. 

Our next stop was the Dr Pepper Amp Stage. We watched from the barricade for both Chris Bandi and Conner Smith. Both put on really great shows. I got a set list from Conner and got another picture with him after the show! While watching these shows, we got super hot and hungry so we decided to go eat. We ate at this cute places called The Diner. It was so nice to sit down in the air conditioning! The food was really good too. 

Finally, we headed to Nissan Stadium for the main show. We were wayyy up in the stands; literally one row from the very top. The stairs were brutal! We did not move once we got to our seats. We had our snacks delivered to us haha! The show was amazing and may be my favorite concert I have been to. We got to see Deana Carter, Kelsea Ballerini, Thomas Rhett, Carly Pearce, Gabby Barrett, Cole Swindell, Lainey Wilson, and Kane Brown. I don't have words to explain how much fun I had watching. It was worth all of the heat, standing, and walking from the day. We walked a little over 6 miles and stood for several hours. We were exhausted, but still drove all the way back to Lenoir City after the show. I didn't get in bed until about 4am. But I would so do it all over again! I'm planning on a four day pass for next year!

Halsey in Nashville!

On Tuesday, May 24th, I took a trip to Nashville with some friends to see Halsey in concert! 

First, we stopped at Dutch Bros to get some drinks. We were so excited to try these drinks. I got the electric berry rebel and it tasted just like the green flavored fun dip candy. It was so good! On our way out of the parking lot, we hit a HUGE hole in the road. We were very worried that it blew out the back tire, but it seemed to be okay. 

So, we headed on towards Nashville and stopped at Five Daughters Bakery. We all got different versions of the 100 layer donuts. I got the chocolate salted caramel and the "King Kong" which was maple flavored with bacon on top. In this photo, I am posed with the blueberry lemon donut. Every flavor we got was so good and I will definitely have to go back next time I am in Nashville.

After finishing our donuts and getting into the car, we noticed that the low tire pressure light was on. We pulled into a gas station and put some air in it before going to search for a car place to help us. We had to go to FIVE different stores just to get someone to even LOOK at our tire for us. Shout out to Sam from the Sam's Club Tire and Battery in Franklin, TN for being so kind and helping us out. He couldn't fix the tire but did put the spare on for us. 

Finally, we were able to head on down to First Bank Amphitheater. We took some pictures at their super cute set ups, got merch, and food. While trying to take a picture in front of the guitars, I slipped and landed right on my butt. This was in front of a TON of people. I was so embarrassed! It hurt so bad but I jumped up really fast so no one else would look at me. We took our pictures and ran away haha!

We sat down and ate our $15 chicken tenders and got ready for the show. Halsey came on at 9pm and sang until 11. She put on a PHENOMENAL show. She made the show formatted like a story which I really enjoyed. There were four parts that ended with "Revenge." The graphics were amazing and fit the theme of Halsey's new album "If I Can't Have Love I Want Power" perfectly. And of course her vocals were beautiful. My favorite parts of the show though were the ones when she just stopped everything and talked to us. She told us about how she had been so sick the entire day but went and got IVs and all necessary medicine to make her feel good enough to perform. She kept thanking us for showing up and being so kind to her. She truly cares so much about her fans and I appreciate her honesty and vulnerability. The show was everything I could have asked for. 

After the show was over, it took us about two hours to get out of the parking lot and then about 4 hours to get home. Driving almost 200 miles on a spare tire requires slow driving! I got home at 5:15am and crashed. Even with the mishaps, I still had an amazing day. 

Halsey, if you are reading this, thank you for a great night!! We love you!

Welcome!!

My name is Karly Duggan and this is my first blog post ever! I wanted to start this blog to share the fun things in my life such as traveling, concerts, and more. As of right now, I do not have a set day or time I will be posting. Hopefully I can get on a set schedule soon, but for now it will just be as I go. 

I am 21 years old and currently attending the University of Tennessee Knoxville. I have a job at a local radio station which I LOVE! In my free time I really enjoy hiking, working out, listening to music, and going on adventures (hence the name of this blog). 

Photos!!