more of asheville

goodness gracious, i need to blog, but all i seem to want to do is sit here & collect about half a million new crafty ideas from a million crafty blogs!! haha! like i need another project, but oh it's so fun to look.


anyway, here i am full of chuy's (yes we have them here in houston, thank goodness!) & feeling exceptionally, largely pregnant. this week has been my first week to really feel big (week 25). i think i got lost in feeling SO GOOD during the second trimester (and all that crafty nesting!) & i forgot about how you start feelings kinda of "walrus-esque" @ the end! i'm just trying to remind myself that there's a season for everything & i'll just need to slow down a bit, but oh dear do i have so much i want to do! :)


anyway, so i wanted to share some fun asheville pictures with you & so i can remember our wonderful week.
***these pictures are all taken by clint (or he got the camera all focused & ready for me so i could take a pic of him!) with his old 1960s pentax spotmatic. i love how into photography he's gotten. i really appreciate good pictures, but have NO patience for it myself!! :)







we went to asheville for a little r&r, to relax our minds & listen to the heart, to reconnect with what's really real, to be inspired, to cool off (haha!). clint lived in asheville from 3 yrs old to 11 but had never been back. we had always wanted to go as we'd heard how amazing it was & we finally got the chance.

those are views from clint's hike around where we stayed @ sourwood inn (i was busy knitting, reading, & resting in our room by the fire!). it was beyond perfect to stay there. everything you'd imagine - quaint, quiet, incredible views, amazing food, fascinating innkeepers, crackling fireplaces. i'd really like to just move in!



this is me @ breakfast. i believe this was oatmeal pancake morning. yeah, it was amazing. of course it could have been blueberry french toast morning... you'll have to excuse me if i gained 10 lbs. last week.



asheville reminded me so much of austin, only mountain-y & a lot cooler temps, which we all know was exactly what i was dying for! you definitely get the same artsy vibe. lots of handmade everything & much appreciation for food - especially locally grown.



this is me @ the grove park gallery @ the grove park inn. first, i love the tree. i think i decided the yellows are my favorite. second, it's so cool to see how the community really supports artists. the grove park galleries are part museam, part workshop, & part gallery. artists rent out the spaces & create their works (from painting to metal work, sculpture, instrument making, furniture...) right there for you to watch. then their creations are sold in the gallery. fyi - the grove park inn is where dirty dancing was filmed, so i definitely felt the spirit of swayze there:)

so on to the eating part. we ate ALOT.


here i am stuffing my face with a YUMMILICIOUS salad. well, & trying to be the "model" for clint's photography. nobody ever tells you how hard it is to be a model, by the way. it's so hard for me to smile naturally when someone's taking a picture!! i either look goofy, or too posed. you should see the out-takes! haha! either way, though, this salad was just right & worth posing for :) FRESH greens, a plethora of crunchy nuts (pumpkin, sesame, almonds & such) & dried fruit, & local feta, fabulous gingery dressing. mmmm. i'd almost give up meat for salads like this! (i know, johnna - write that down!) clint went meatless too with some kind of fried green tomato something. mmm again. and all of this yumminess was brought to us by early girl eatery on wall street. another plus? the darling rickrack on the bottom of the curtains. it's the little things!



and these trees were on wall street too...


gorg is what i'd like to say about that.



and here's that cute guy i married 8 yrs ago.
what fun to spend 4 whole days together.
i don't think we had any idea how much we needed that until we were there!

and well, wall street made quite the impression on us because after enjoying all the fun shops of downtown, we were back to eat @ cuchina 24, where i had the funkiest pasta dish - some kind of butternut squash ravioli with a brown butter sauce & amaretti cookies crumbled over the top. delish!!

and after that we made a beeline for french broad chocolate lounge. oh my word. please go there & please have the liquid truffle. you might die.

and as for our favorite downtown places (it's totally the kind of place you just want to wander around)

woolworth walk art gallery - an old woolworths converted into all kinds of fun art booths + a fun, old fashioned soda fountain. not that we were exactly able to enjoy that soda fountain, as we had discovered chocolate fetish & tried several truffles. yes, that means we had two major doses of chocolate in one day. please don't judge. & if you really must know, i recommend the raspberry.
i also must recommend darling children's store heaven rains. we did a little early christmas shopping & got the cutest christmas pj's for hud there & also a little harmonica (supposed to be a christmas gift too, but some dads around here are softies! haha!). and i'm so proud to say i'm working with the super fun & laid-back-cool owner, rosiland to get some alacritydesigns in her store in the spring! yip yip!

we also visited biltmore village (yuuummmmy corner kitchen! get the portabello sandwich with the goat cheese, recommended by clint) which was also fun shopping, inspiring art, & lots of history.

on our last day we hemmed & hawed as to whether we should sell our right arms for tickets to the biltmore house. i must say, i thought the ticket should come with your own sit-down interview with anderson cooper @ those prices, but i must say it really ended up being worth the money.


the house is unreal. lots of history & spectacular views. it's unreal that people actually lived here.
and actually the food there is good, too! (i told you we like to eat!)
i did look around for gloria to ask her about her jeans, but alas she was no where to be found. (in case you're not getting any of these jokes, the biltmore house was one of the vanderbilt family's homes.). it's pretty crazy to see something so extravagant & gi-normous (name that movie) that looks like it came straight from europe.

and in case you were wondering what my baby bump is looking like these days...

and just a cool shot...


well, i guess that about concludes our asheville tour. i did NOT get any pics of our mega travel day that lasted almost all of friday. that's the one bummer of asheville - it's not that easy to get to, on a budget anyway, so it involved a lot of driving & a couple of flights & we finally ended up back @ the old casa.

no matter the heat & humidity, i must say it's always good to come home to this...