I have always loved the blog Sweet Paul for its beautiful posts on food, design, and crafts. THEN they came out with a special kids magazine issue this week. Its Martha Stewart meets Real Simple. Totally my kind of magazine. Check out the online version!

From super cute kids’ recipes to simple DIY crafts, it is a magazine full of delicious eye candy and great insights for children. I can’t wait to get my printed version to add to my magazine collection.

Photo Credits: Sweet Paul

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today’s guest post is from a dear friend, fellow shoe lover, and fantastic wedding designer, Lisa Konecny of E Events. I love how thoughtful and creative she is with this! Read on…

Our ”gifts“ as hosts {cooking, cleaning decorating, setting an elegant table} can seem monumental at times.  Many of us {read; ME} put an extraordinary amount of pressure on ourselves to personally hand pick each ingredient and cook every last recipe to perfection.  I’ve been a hostess for various holidays for as many years as I can remember, so switching gears for this Thanksgiving and being invited as a *gasp* guest has been welcomed challenge.

I still very much wanted to have a personal touch on the holiday, of course, and so I have set my focus on a lovely hostess gift.

This year, I am a guest at my beloved Jeffrey’s mother’s house.  She is the most delightful woman and I would consider her to be the same kind of hostess as I am.  She is a marvelous chef, she can feng shui a table like it’s nobody’s business and she is driven solely by the comfort of her guests in her home. Because of this, she rarely accepts contributions or assistance.

This year my hostess will receive a “Day After Thanksgiving Survival Kit.” A bottle of wine seems so ordinary, her table will be set beautifully and her menu is set, so …she can enjoy the components to her kit on the weary day after:

Packed in a set of tins from IKEA, she will enjoy:
*Hoagie Rolls {For turkey sandwiches!}
*Gourmet Dry Soup Mix {Just add water!}
*Cranberry Vanilla Hand Soap {Kickin’ off the Holiday season}
*Shea Cashmere Hand Cream {She will likely have scrubbed lots of potatoes and washed some pots and pans!}
*Milk Chocolate Cherries {Jeffrey says these are favorite indulgence}

My idea and gesture is for her to barely lift a finger the next day all the while knowing that I was incredibly grateful to sit at her Thanksgiving table in a most loving and beautiful environment.

Sources:
Tins: IKEA
Hoagie Rolls: Bakery / Local Supermarket
Soup Mix: Country Gardens Cuisine {Found at TJ Maxx}
Hand Soap: TJ Maxx
Hand Cream: Bath and Body Works True Blue Spa
Milk  Chocolate Cherries: Harvest Sweets {Found at TJ Maxx}

Thank you so much Lisa! For more information on Lisa, visit her fabulous website: E Events and join her Facebook Page HERE.

Greetings from Asheville!

I am so excited to be back since we used to visit all the time. I went to an awesome boarding academy here for my senior year in high school and loved it! We are here for our annual holiday family photo session. More on our 6-year family tradition later. We met up with fellow photographers and close friends, Brandy and Sticky from Ohio for our annual fun holiday photo sessions and Garrett photographed them on Monday. We ate at Suwana’s Thai Orchid that night. Really good Pad Thai!

Afterwards, we met up to go to the Candlelight Christmas Evenings at the Biltmore Estate. We had visited there  12 years ago in the daytime but this was the first time for the Christmas show and for the girls. I have heard so many great things about it and WOW, they really transform this gorgeous home. We could not take any photos inside so the above photo was the view of what we first saw driving in…(photo from Google Images). I was in awe walking into the estate and the decor was quite impressive. One really awesome memory which stood out was the 35 ft. Douglas Fir Christmas tree in the dining room with all the huge wrapped presents under it! There was a choir singing and Christmas trees in almost every room. The whole thing from the decor to the customer service was top notch. It is a MUST do for the holidays especially if you are nearby!

Today was our actual photo session. The girls LOVE Brandy and Sticky (so do we!) and its always a ton of fun hanging out with them. They just announced some awesome news and we couldn’t be happier for them!

I will refrain from telling you what outfits the girls wore…watch for a separate post on that :)

We went to lunch at Tupelo Honey Cafe. I had grilled cheese, tomato soup, and mac n cheese. YUM. No worries, I shared with one of our girls ;) They also serve breakfast all day, my kind of place. Too bad I had already eaten breakfast at our hotel.

When you purchase tickets to the Biltmore Estate, you also have a pass to the new Antler Hill Village, (photo credit, Romantic Asheville) among other places.

LOVED. THIS. PLACE. Especially our girls. It consists of shops, restaurants, entertainment, a farm, winery, and more. Very kid-friendly and even though it was raining, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

We fell in love with Antler Hill Farm. Above photo, Gray was petting the sheep: Mia, Ma, and Mini! She was especially intrigued by the blacksmith demonstration.

There were old-fashioned toys in the stables and all around the farm for kids to play. SO. FUN.

Here is the perfect description of it from Romantic Asheville:

“With the reorganization of the Antler Hill Village area, the entire farm is more convenient to explore. The farm offers a glimpse back at Biltmore’s agricultural past. Traditional farming demonstrations take place in the Barn, including authentic blacksmithing by local craftsman Doc Cudd. The Farmyard continues to house animals that children love, and the Kitchen Garden is now a demonstration area showcasing fragrant herbs and vegetables used in Biltmore’s restaurants. “

Above, Gray and Campbell exploring the Kitchen Garden even though you can’t see it.

We loved it so much, we got season passes to the Biltmore Estate and all it comes with! (Its only $25 more per person to upgrade…kids 16 and under are free!) It is a good thing we have family moving to Asheville within the next few months :)

If you have never been to the Biltmore Estate, you need to go! Here is an excellent website for more tips and information!

This evening we stumbled upon this gem of a place to eat: Posana Cafe in the heart of downtown Asheville. Not only was the meal fantastic, (we ordered vegan/vegeterian meals) the presentation, customer service, and atmosphere was wonderful as well. Just check out the desserts we ordered!

Our time here is almost over and then we head to my hometown, Charleston, tomorrow to spend more family time for Thanksgiving! I know there are tons of things to do in Asheville, but if you are ever here for just a couple of days and nights with the family, you now have an idea for a fun two-day itinerary.

I couldn’t have done this without my trusty iPhone and Instagram App!

**Note: I will be doing a series in December of your top 10 Christmas traditions. If you would like to participate, send me an email: info@cobblestonerueblog.com with subject: Christmas Traditions. It will be fun!!

Off the beaten path in downtown Charleston, SC, I fell in love with this lovely French bakery, Macaroon Boutique. Each year we visit Charleston 3-4 times and I’m not sure how we’ve missed this fabulous place until now.

This husband and wife team from Paris create the most delicious desserts: puffy pastries, baguettes, croissants…

and fabulous macaroons…

We will most certainly be making it a tradition to always stop by when we visit.

STOP IT ALREADY…

Macaroon Boutique is located at:

Oh Earth Fare, how I love thee. Let me count the ways.

Not only do I love Earth Fare because they opened up next to Target, and their food contents are so healthy and scrumptious. I also love what the company stands for: healthy living. They are watching out for us even though we can totally be in denial, (What? The Kraft Zesty Italian Salad Dressing is bad for me?! Hmph.)

Right now they are offering an awesome deal that everyone should take advantage of. Sign up for their newsletter online and you can get their cool emails, great coupons, and healthy living tips…but wait, that’s not all.

A Pantry Makeover.

Five organic food items (cereal, vitamin water, peanut butter, jelly, and salad dressing) for free if you substitute five things from your pantry containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in exchange for theirs…not a bad trade! (You must redeem them at the store nearest you. Click HERE to view their store locations).

So below are my trades:

Thank you Earth Fare for creating awareness about the food we eat!!!

Since then, I have taken a closer look at what our pantry consists of.

Here’s ours. Yes, it might need some improvement, but it’s far better than it was before Earth Fare came to town.

I would really love a full pantry makeover. I don’t know about you, but I really would like more fresh ingredients and better food choices. Get rid of anything expired, containing bad ingredients such as HFCS, have it more organized, put less in the pantry, more in fridge, etc.

Who is with me? Leave me a comment and let me know, I will definitely need the push to do this! Why don’t you send me a photo of your pantry like ours above and I will post a before and after photo of your pantry. Let’s give each other 3 months and have a pantry makeover by September. We can donate or throw away what we don’t use, etc. I’ll remind you.

Email photo at: info@cobblestonerueblog.com with subject: Pantry Makeover.

Ready, set, go!

We are grateful for our friendship with Amanda & Paul (and little Nora) Martin. Not only are they dear friends, as well as our gracious hosts on most of our frequent trips to Orlando, but Amanda is also the editor of the popular vegetarian blog www.eatlikearabbit.net.

One of the most obvious benefits of visiting them is the food, but another benefit is the opportunity to learn fun and new recipes and develop our inner chef.

Here Graycen was “assisting” Amanda with potato rosemary pizza. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine such a thing, but I’m here to tell you that it was delicious.

Check it out at http://eatlikearabbit.net/2010/04/22/pizza-patate

And visit www.eatlikearabbit.net for more fun and exciting recipes.