Diners, Drive-ins and Dives - Asheville Style!

As I posted in an this post, I went to an event in Asheville, NC this month with my friend Heidi.  

We began the trip early on a Thursday morning to Asheville, NC.  The fall foliage was incredible!  We both wished we were able to take more pictures on the way up, but we would have been side-swiped by the crazy drivers on the road if we had stopped!  


On the trip up, I had used my iPhone to search for locations where Guy Fieri visited in Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  12 Bones was highly recommended and it's where we set our GPS.

As you can see, it was a DIVE.  However, look at that line!  I've been told that when President Obama visited Asheville, he requested ribs from this place to be delivered to his hotel...  And by the looks of this plate, I don't blame him!

Ladies and Gents, I can tell you from experience, this food was DELICIOUS!  The cornbread had a little bite to it.. .the corn pudding was "O.M.G. delicious"... the mac and cheese was inhaled (by me) and the ribs were "finger lickin' good"!  It was well worth the stop in Asheville!  I'm looking forward to a drive with hubby up there and we will definitely be stopping at 12 Bones!

Once Upon a Dream... Day One

I was fortunate enough to have a supportive husband who encouraged me to go to Jenn Hayslip's Once Upon a Dream event in Asheville.  I was unsure of what to expect, but my friend Heidi had told me that it was sure to not disappoint.  She was correct.  Jenn's attention to detail was something I don't believe I've ever witnessed.  She would spend hours in preparation, months in advance of the event.  It resulted in an exquisite event.  I'd like to share with you my experience.

We arrived in Asheville, NC on Thursday.  Our first evening took place at the Crest Pavilion.  Jenn had a bus pick us up at the hotel and drive us to this beautiful pavilion.  

The foliage around the venue was breath taking!

Jenn welcomed us with a beautiful entry, which began with Chapter 1...

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)


And fairies...


Our lovely hostess, Jenn Hayslip.

Jenn and Dee Foust...

Cindy Craine and Sherry Williams

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)




Pretty Shelley Burgess...

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)






We walked up to the welcome table to retrieve our nametags.

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)

Even the nametag was exquisite.

Remember that "attention to detail" that I  mentioned?  It was dripping everywhere...

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)

(photo courtesy of Sonia Crouse)

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)

Our tables were identified as beautiful chapters...

And our tables reflected the same theme...

(photo courtesy of Karla Nathan)

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)


Place settings...

We had vendors to sell us their beauties...

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip) 

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip) 

 (photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip) 

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip) 

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)

After dinner, we were treated to a mini-workshop from Karla Nathan and Lori Oles.


This was our Woodland Fairy Garland taught by Lori.

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)


This is a look at the Fairy Sprite that Karla taught us.  Each of us had our own fairy name created by Karla!

(photo courtesy of Jenn Hayslip)

Tune in for Day Two...  Thanks for reading...

Basement Bedroom - Part Three

Okay, I know I need to post about my retreat, and it's coming this week...  I promise... The event did NOT disappoint.  Holy cow!   I didn't post last week because the week was about recovering (washing clothes, cleaning house, SLEEPING!) and starting back to school... Ah, the joys of reading about IT topics and writing papers...  But again, I digress off my topic!  SQUIRREL!

I've been teasing you about my basement bedroom and it is coming along quite nicely.  Today, I am participating in Metamorphosis Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch.  (I was lucky enough this past weekend to meet Susan from BNOTP and I'll blog about that in a future post... I tried to not act like a stalker... I'm not sure I was successful...)  

When envisioning how to decorate this bedroom, this little chandelier played a key role.  I had purchased it for our remodeled basement bathroom.  The picture that I used as inspiration for that bathroom has a chandelier and I really wanted to use it.  However, we just couldn't place it where the door wouldn't hit it, or we wouldn't hit our heads on it when getting out of the shower.  So, much to my dismay, I was unable to add it to the bathroom.  I refused to return it!  It just really spoke to my feminine sensibilities!  So, we decided that our bedroom would have a Paris theme...  Our chandelier is going to be residing over a desk (one day...).  It's so cute and you can find it at The Home Depot.

The floor we purchased for the room is a Pergo flooring.  It has a nice padding on the underneath side (great for cement floors!) , it's durable (great for teenage daughters!), and is easy to install.  The color we used was Potomac Hickory.  Home Depot had it on sale for $1.79 a square foot, so be bought the store (and surrounding stores!) out.  

Check back next week when I PROMISE I will give you the finished product.  Well, as finished as it's going to get for now!

Thanks for reading!

Fairy Shoes

Tomorrow, I am traveling up to Asheville, NC for the Once Upon a Dream, Prarie Fairytale Event that is being hosted by Jennifer Hayslip.  To say that I'm excited is an understatement.  To say that I'm nervous is beyond an understatement.  It is a true art retreat where I will be learning from some very talented women.  Women who have been published in magazines.  Women who get paid for their craft.  Women whom I respect.  Tonight, I made the mistake of checking out some other swaps on some of these women's blogs.  (A swap is when I create an item and someone else creates an item and we swap.)  And I immediately panicked.  I know that "garbage out brings garbage in..."  What I mean by that is if I'm negative about my creations, everyone else will be negative.  However, as much as I know that, I couldn't help but have a little panic attack.  Their items were so gorgeous and vintage.  And I'm just learning to be a vintage girl.  It's new to me.  Bottom line, my panic attack is a reflection on the fact that I do not want to offer someone a creation that is subpar.  Once I calmed myself, I did realize that art is in the eye of the beholder.  My artistic expression is just that... mine.  That is what makes it unique.  So, I'm going to this retreat to learn and to give.  That is all I can offer.  I will post pictures of this fabulous weekend when I return! 

I wanted to give you a look at my swaps.  There are 7 in total and I'll start with my Fairy Shoe swap.  The instructions for this swap were to take a shoe and alter it into something worthy of a fairy.  So, I started with a flat that is glittery and champaign in color.  Don't fairy's like glitter???

It's so pretty, isn't it?

I went to Hobby Lobby and found some fringe that had baubles and pom-poms.  It matched perfectly. 

Hot glue easily attached the fringe to the shoe. 

I used my harvested crocheted flowers that I removed from a skirt I found at the thrift store and...

I paired that with some lace that I cut from another thrift store find.  A beautiful lacy, green formal dress.  I formed the circle that I cut in the shape of a flower and attached it with hot glue to the crocheted flower.  I cut a pom-pom from the fringe and used it as the center of the flower and attached it with hot glue as well.

Next, I felt the shoe needed a little "more"...  So, I went back to Hobby Lobby and found hair ties that were feathery.  BINGO!  Fairies love feathers, right? 

Because the feather was a hair tie, it had a clip.  I just clipped it on.  I thought it was so cute!

What do you think?  Do I have a future in Jimmy Choo Designs?

Thanks for visiting!  I'll show more swaps in future posts.  Please come back soon and check them out.  I'd love your feedback!