Happy Friday!!!! I am so glad today is Friday. It has not been a bad week but I am just glad to be off from work for a couple of days.
The first thing today that is a favorite is that the sun is finally shining. It’s still cold but with the sunshine it makes it feel so much better.
I have to show you this weekender bag I bought a couple of weeks ago. I first saw it on TikTok. It is from Target and it was sold out for a few weeks. I was finally able to order it and I got it in just in time to take on my North Carolina trip. It is big and soft and it holds a lot of stuff. It was $40.00 and totally worth it. It makes a great overnight or weekend bag.
You can see from this picture it is a great size.
Remember the Valentine wreath I made a few weeks ago? I just wasn’t happy with it. I felt like the two reds sort of clashed. So I painted another heart white and added these hearts I already had. I think it looks so much better. I put the other red heart in an inside door.
This was the first one. See too much red on red.
I like this one much better. What do you think?
Keeping up with my word of the year, Celebrate, we celebrated my nieces Birthday last night at our favorite local Mexican Restaurant. It was a lot of fun. We were sad because my sister couldn’t join us. She is going through chemo and has to be really careful about being out and about. But she will be back with us soon.
Birthday Girl!!!
Spending time with family is my favorite of all.
I don’t always like Danielle Steels’ books but I just finished this one and it was really good. I would definitely recommend this one. Invisible.
Another thing I would highly recommend, and I may have already, these Universal Thread jeans from Target. I order the high rise, which I swore I would never like but I love them, and they fit so nice and comfy. I have two pairs and I could wear them every day.
So that is my favorites for this week. What have you been loving? have a wonderful weekend.
Hello friends and happy Monday. I know I have been a little quiet over here but as I have said before sometimes life gets in the way and it makes it difficult to keep up even with a bit of writing.
Last week something very unusual happened my husband and I found ourselves having to go out of town at the same time. On different trips for our jobs. I tried to think of a time when this has happened in the past and it hasn’t. He had to be gone Monday through Thursday and I only had to be gone Monday through Wednesday. It threw me into a bit of a tailspin at first because I am so used to him being at home with the babies whenever I have a work trip. It did work out o.k. my niece came up and took care of the kitties. They are all inside kitties and they don’t require a lot of work even though there are five of them.
My trip was to Highlands North Carolina. . I was meeting with The Southern Highlands Attractions Group. We meet three times a year. This particular trip took us into the mountains of North Carolina. It was absolutely beautiful and if I hadn’t had to worry about the threat of snow on my way over it would have been perfect.
I had never been to the Highlands of North Carolina and let me tell you it is quite beautiful. I left out early on Monday morning. My meeting didn’t start until 11:00 AM. I had about a three hour drive and of course there was a slight chance of the dreaded snow. I left about 7:30 AM and went through several small towns and over a couple of mountains before I even reached the Highlands. I did see some snow but there was nothing on the road that threatened travel. I stopped a few times to take pictures but I was in a bit of a hurry to get to my meeting. I knew the name Highlands wasn’t just a coincidence and I would probably be traveling to a much higher elevation. I wasn’t expecting the last fifteen miles or so to be straight up with winding and narrow roads. Luckily there was no snow on these roads.
Our meeting was held at Old Edwards Inn & Spa. This place is spectacular. Old Edwards Inn was Highlands’ earliest boarding house, known as Central House built in July 1878. There is a lot of history throughout the years, owned by John Norton, he and his wife Mattie managed Central House. They were known and loved by everyone. In 2001 Art and Angela Williams of Palm Beach, Florida, bought the Inn and restaurant and begin building on the 132-year-old tradition. Old Edwards Inn & Spa is #2 and #5 + Leisure Top Hotel in the South. U.S. News & World Report #2 Hotel in North Carolina, Conde’ Nast #14 Top Hotel in The South. You can read more about the Inn and all of the properties surrounding the Inn herehttp://www.OldEdwardsinn.comThere are now several houses, cottages, and a motel located on or near the property. We stayed in 200 Main. It was so nice.
Photo credit Old Edwards Inn & Spa
Such a precious little town. Photo credit Old Edwards Inn & Sp
Our meeting started with a panel discussion with the Old Edwards lead team members including, the President and managing director, their General Manager, and several of their top directors. The information they shared was so inspiring and informative. The meeting ended around 4:00 and we drove a short distance to 200 Main, the property we were staying in during our stay. Check out this room. I even had a balcony. The weather wasn’t great so I didn’t spend a lot of time there.
That evening we had a cocktail reception at The Barn and then dinner at Orchard House.
Orchard House
A couple of hours of meetings the following day followed by a tour of more of the property. We were taken by shuttle to Half Mile Farm. It was still early when we arrived and quite chilly. The sun was shining and there was frost on the grass making everything look just magical.
Half Mile Farm
After a quick lunch we met in front of the Motel lobby and climbed aboard these vehicles and headed out for an off road trail ride higher into the mountains. Check out the website here: www.highland excursion.Com it was so exciting. We visited Bridal Veil Falls and Dry Falls and they were both beautiful. I can’t say these were the most Comfortable riding vehicles but it was quite an adventure. If you are ever in this area think about booking a tour with this adventure group. The tour guides are amazing. (Check it out here)http://www.highlandexcursion.com
Me at Bridal Veil Falls
We later visited the Bascom Arts Center. What a beautiful display of art. There was even an area to purchase art made by students. We didn’t have a lot of time to look and that is probably a good thing because I could have spent a freaking fortune there. http://www.thebascom.org.
After we returned to our rooms for a quick refresher we headed into town to Four 65 for pizza and other yummy things.
Two charcuterie boards were delivered to every table. I can’t even tell you how yummy this was.Look at this pizza!!!!!
The next morning we met for a few hours and then everyone headed back to their different areas. I always learn so much at these meetings. The information I gain from other attractions is priceless. But I was glad to get home and back to hubs and the kitties.
How are you? What is going on in your neck of the woods?
Happy Friday, how was your week? I have a few favorites from the week to share with you.
I had seen these rollers all over TikTok and Instagram. I finally bought one from Amazon. They are about $20.00. It is amazing. I have to admit I put it in my freezer and forgot to use it for a couple of days. I finally got it out and used it. The best time to use it is in the morning. It is cold and feels wonderful on your face. It reduces pores and puffiness and it just feels so good. It is supposedly good for headaches and pain relief.
I decided to put out a few Valentines decorations. I was thinking about the red and white wreath I had made for Christmas. I made the wreath and then added the white bells for Christmas. I decided to take the bells off and add a red heart. I bought this heart at Hobby Lobby and painted it red and added it to the wreath. I am still a little undecided. It looks like the reds don’t quite match. I may do something different but for now it is on the door and it looks just fine.
I stopped in at The Dollar General Store yesterday and all Christmas items were on sale 70% off. Most things were picked over but look at this adorable little Christmas calendar I got. I will save it for next Christmas. It was only $2.00!!
I love to color. I found this Cat coloring book. It is so nice. I may have a problem with cats I just love them so much!!!
I love taking salads to work. My niece has one of these Bentgo salad containers. I had to get one too. It is so convenient. Again I got this at Amazon. Only $14.99 and so compact. It’s perfect for taking my salad to work.
I just finished this book. It was really good and had a little twist at the end. I got it through my Libby online library app.
Now for the best “favorites” this week. I had lunch with my niece Michelle and lunch another day with my friend Lorie. And my sister is doing very well after her first Chemo treatment. She has five left to go but so far so good. I think we have to celebrate the small victories as well as the large. And that is right on track with my word of the year. Celebrate.
