Road Trip: Asheville, NC {Day 2}

After a fun and very late night of dancing on Friday night, we left Saturday morning wide open for everyone to do what they pleased.  Some went to the spa, some did a little shopping, and some (meaning myself) slept in.  It was wonderful to not have to wake up to my regular 5:45 AM alarm and I was enjoying my sleep so much that I skipped right over breakfast.

That's quite alright though because our crew had planned to meet at The Cantina in the Historic Biltmore Village for lunch. It was a quick walk from the hotel and was smack dab in the middle of lots of great shopping including the Lilly Pulitzer and Lululemon stores.  The Cantina was a yummy fresh mex and tequila bar that had a wide variety of Mexican options including delicious dips and amazing margaritas.

I'm totally regretting not getting one of these margaritas, but Jen and my hubs were nice enough to let me taste theirs.  After finishing up lunch, part of our group loaded up to head to the Biltmore Estate for the afternoon.

Excited and about to begin our tour.

The Biltmore was built in the 1890's by George Vanderbilt and is still the largest privately owned house in the United States.  The chateau style estate has over 178,000 square feet and is incredibly regal in stature.  Personally I would call it a castle, not a house. ;-)

From the Biltmore's website:

The luxurious family home of George and Edith Vanderbilt is a marvel of elegance and charm, as magnificent today as it was more than a century ago. Your self-guided house visit spans three floors and the basement. You’ll see displays of vintage clothing, accessories, art, furniture, and more that tell stories and illustrate the lives of the Vanderbilt family, their guests, and employees.

We opted for the audio tour and learned so much about the history of the estate, how it was built, the furnishings and the way life was for those that lived and worked there.  It was simply amazing. Photography was prohibited inside the house, but take our word for it, it was impressive.  You can check out pictures of the interior on their website HERE.  

The exterior of the home is just as impressive as the inside.  The architectural detail is remarkable and the views are absolutely breathtaking.

The house was extraordinary, but what I loved almost more than the house were the grounds and gardens surrounding the home.  You can stroll acres of formal and informal gardens and also tour this glass roofed building that houses exotic orchids, palms and ferns just as it did years ago.

I loved the detail of these arched doors and the giant Christmas wreath.  

I can just imagine how beautiful this garden is in the spring when everything is blooming! 

Before leaving the property we visited a few of the shops, the ice cream parlor and the bakery to taste all they had to offer.

Then we wrapped up our visit with one last stroll around the astonishingly romantic estate.  

As we were leaving it was getting dark and we got to see the house lit up for Christmas.  This view was absolutely magical and the perfect way to end our day there.

Road Trip: Asheville, NC {Day 1}

Carrie Beth and I are blessed to have a very special group of best friends. These are the kind of friends that we know we can call on in a moments notice for any emergency, will always be there to celebrate life's ups and downs, and will always (ALWAYS) be down for having a ton of fun, no matter what the situation. 

Last year our friends, B & L, planned a getaway for the group that they dubbed "a celebrate life trip".  We had so much fun that we decided to make these "Celebrate Life" trips a much more frequent occurrence. 

Months ago, we were discussing options for a potential trip, and we realized Asheville, North Carolina kept getting tossed out there as a suggestion. After doing some research, we decided this would be the perfect getaway location for our fun crew. Not only was it relatively close to Atlanta (roughly a three and a half hour drive), but it boasted of variety of activities that would suit everyone attending. 

After weeks of planning, Friday marked the kick off of our trip. To say we were excited would be a gross understatement. We planned for this particular trip to be kid free, and the week leading up to the trip half the group came down with a stomach bug and the other half had babysitter complications. Magically at the very last minute everything fell into place and by 8:00p.m. Friday evening, we were all sharing our first official toast of the weekend. 

When arrived our hotel to check in, I just knew it was going to be a great weekend when I saw they had decorated it for Christmas with magnolias. :)

In our trip planning, we decided to choose the Double Tree Asheville Hotel for our accommodations. Asheville has some fabulous spa resorts, but knowing that we had a short stay and that the activities that we had planned lent little down time for us to actually be at the hotel, we decided to go with a more cost effective option. The Double Tree was perfect for our needs. It was in walking distance to the fabulous shopping at the famous Biltmore Village, and was just a quick drive to both downtown and The Biltmore Estate. 

Photo copyright of Double Tree Hotels (a Hilton property)

The hotel was both spacious and clean. It offered a wonderful breakfast buffet, an outdoor garden area complete with outdoor fireplace, a gym, indoor pool and jacuzzi, and most importantly...

Photo copyright of Double Tree Hotels (a Hilton property)

...these delicious cookies! Seriously, they are famous for their cookies, and the cookies are available to any guest at any time. AND they are always warm. 

Always.

Don't be surprised if one of my upcoming Kitchen Confessions is to try to recreate these little chocolate chipped circles of deliciousness.

Photo copyright of Double Tree Hotels (a Hilton property)

After everyone settled into their rooms, and changed out of their travel clothes, we headed to dinner at The Blackbird Restaurant. Located in downtown Asheville, this little gem was definitely a must taste place in my book. Dinner was delicious, the drink selection was excellent, and the desserts were to die for. 

I ordered the Bourbon Braised tenderloin with bacon smashed potatoes, and it was perfection.

And if my taste buds weren't already in heaven, they got to experience the Triple Mocha Mousse Tort. I seriously think I might have heard angels sing. It was that good!

After dinner, we decided to check out some of the Asheville night life. We might not be in our twenties any more, but trust me when I say no one knows how to party harder than a pack of parents having a night away from their small children for the first time in months. 

The fabulous waiters at The Blackbird all gave us some great suggestions, but ultimately we landed at Pack's Tavern. It had a laid back atmosphere, offered a great bar, and most importantly had a live DJ willing to take our every request. 

Photo credit via Pack's Tavern.

The guys had fun playing darts and tasting the variety of beer they had on tap.

The ladies enjoyed a night filled with fun dancing. There might have been a Jolly Rancher shot or two involved as well. ;)

 It was definitely a memorable evening, and the perfect way to end our first night in Asheville. 

Check back tomorrow to see some of our fun day two adventures!

P.S. - Carrie Beth's Jamberry party is only open for a couple more days. Be sure to place your orders and enter our giveaway. For details click HERE!

Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast

Happy Friday!!!  This week has been a crazy busy one, so the fact that we have finally made it to the weekend is very exciting.  I love holidays and all of the hustle-bustle that goes along with them, but it sure does make for a tired mama at the end of the day.

So this year I may or may not have over committed myself at the elementary school.  Besides being room mom for both of my girls' classes, I also serve on several PTA committees.  Needless to say, it keeps me very busy.  In fact, this week I was there Monday through Thursday for one thing or another.  I'm so happy to do it though and would not have it any other way.  I love anything that gets me involved with my kids at school and being room mom definitely has some perks, too.  The Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast was held yesterday morning and because of limited space and limited parking, this is an event that parents are not asked to attend. However, each class needed a couple of volunteers to help with set-up and clean-up so being the room mom I jumped at the chance to be one of those volunteers.  Blondie has been talking about it all week and was so excited the day of the feast had arrived.

The set up was just darling.  The entire Kindergarten hallway was lined with their "table cloth" and each place setting included the place mat they had made and delicious snacks for them to feast on.  Please use your imagination and notice the turkey legs made out of lunch sacks and coffee filters (and filled with popcorn) that I made for Blondie's class. There was also a giant turkey made out of a big brown paper bag that was also filled with popcorn. I would have loved a picture, but it was placed at the VERY end of the hall and once the kids filled in there was no getting past them.  However, the Assistant Principal was invited the feast and she did the honors of carving that big turkey (and then proceeded to toss the popcorn into the air as the kids giggled with excitement).  It was the cutest thing!

Before the children ate they all sang a Thanksgiving song they had practiced and as a class they said what they were thankful for.  Sweet, sweet memories were made yesterday.  I know I was thankful to get to be there and watch the fun they all had. I'm also extremely thankful for an excellent school and amazing teachers that go above and beyond to make learning about the first Thanksgiving a memorable and meaningful experience.  I know this is a day Blondie will remember from Kindergarten for years to come!  

And one more quick thing I'm thankful for...a fun weekend getaway with some of my very best friends!!! Not only with my very best friends, but with my very best friends and no children.  These are children who I all love dearly, but I do think it's important to get away from them time to time and have some grown-up fun, too.  I know it certainly makes me a better mom when I have a few days or even just a few hours away.  

Any guesses as to where we will be for the weekend while the grandparents, aunts, and other family members hold down the forts at home with the kids???  Here's a little picture hint:  

Gorgeous, right?!?! If only we were actually staying there instead of touring it. :-) Be sure to follow Jen and I on Instagram (we are TheMagnoliaMamas) to see all of the fun we'll be having this weekend with our amazing husbands and few other couples who we adore.  

New Product Spotlight: Burlap Christmas Garden Flag

Jen and I have connected with some extremely creative and talented women via Instagram and seeing their gorgeous Christmas decorations posted daily has me really, really, really wanting to decorate my house.  Like I mentioned before though, we are hosting Thanksgiving this year so I want our house to still feel like Fall for turkey day.  I am planning ahead though and have started purchasing a few new things here and there to stash away until the decorating begins.  I also got busy making a Christmas garden flag.  I have just loved having a garden flag stand (that we received as a gift last Christmas) and have loved switching out my flags for each season and holiday.  I'm slowly adding to my collection and for Christmas I knew I wanted a simple burlap one.  Last week I looked through my Christmas applique designs and decided to go with a classic Christmas tree.

I always add coordinating ribbon on my stand to just give another pop of color.  

I stuck the flag out for a few quick pictures and then it went back inside until next week.

I've added these flags to our Etsy Shop, so if you would like one for yourself click HERE to order.

And with that, I'm now off to the Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast.  :-)  Hope you all have a great Thursday!

Thankful Gifts {plus a printable}

With Thanksgiving approaching, I knew I wanted to get Cute's teachers a fun little thank you gift to celebrate the holiday. As I was racking my brain to come up with the perfect gift, I found these fun travel coffee mugs, and my creative light bulb went off. 

I purchased one mug for each of his teachers, and then hopped over to the closest Starbucks and grabbed them each a gift card to coordinate. 

Are you awed yet by my creativity? :)

For some magical reason my brain decided to work through its usual mommy sleep deprived haze, and the moment I laid eyes on the mugs, I thought of a fun little card idea and craft to coordinate Thanksgiving with coffee. 

Best of all, the idea I came up with was both quick and easy, and if what I pictured in my imagination came to fruition, super cute!

First, I designed the fun card I had in mind (see below for three fun versions to use). Then, I printed on card stock, cut to size and folded. 

That left the front of the card blank. My thought was to have Cute do a fun little drawing, but coloring is not his thing. 

Being super messy is. 

I decided that to make the card both adorable and fun for everyone involved we would break out the paints. In our house, this is just as good as candy so he was super pumped. 

I organized the most turkey like colors that I had on hand, and then placed small drops of each on a paper plate. I instructed Cute that we would dip one finger in each color and then make a turkey on the front of the card. He was super excited about the idea, and with the promise of free painting afterwards, he did exactly as I was picturing in my mind. 

In fact, he did much better at the brief instructions than I thought he would. I wanted this to look like he did it and not something I did so I let him choose where the colors went and what he wanted the turkey to look like. 

He repeated the same steps he created for the second card as well. The only variation he did from my instructions was he wiped his pointer finger following each "dip" so that he would not mix the colors. 

I should totally buy the teachers a bigger gift.

The whole process took about two minutes, and then I set the cards aside to dry for about thirty minutes. Once I confirmed the paint had dried, I took a sharpie and added quick eyes and a little triangle beak. Nothing fancy, and Cute probably could have done it himself, but with thirty minutes of free play with acrylic paint we had had enough creative time for the day.  

I added the gift card to the inside portion of the card and then wrapped it up with the travel mug in a gift bag with some ribbon. Quick, cute and easy!

Hopefully his teachers will be able to enjoy the fun gift over the holiday break...or better yet when they really will need it that first day back. :)

I made a few different versions of the card to suit whatever personality you might be giving the gift to. I even had to throw in one for my Lilly lovers out there. I designed the card to suit not only teachers, but anyone special you might want to give a little surprise to this Thanksgiving. 

To download the "jewelry" version, click HERE. 

To download the "TV" version, click HERE.

To download the "Lilly" version, click HERE.

Enjoy, and let me know what fun ideas you come up with for the front of the card!

P.S. - Don't forget to order from Carrie Beth's Jamberry party, and enter in our fun giveaway! Details and links can be found HERE! Good luck everyone!

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