#NWinSE

For my 29th Birthday Weekend, Jake and I had planned a weekend getaway to Asheville, NC {a short 2-hour drive from Charlotte}.  We had heard a lot about Asheville from Charlotte locals and even friends back in Seattle that said surprisingly that Asheville is a little like the Northwest. Really? All accounts sounded the same - hippies? check. foodies? check. amazing restaurants? check. a little rain? check {it is in the mountains after all}. The list goes on and on. We were a little skeptical but thought that we would see for ourselves and guess what folks?!?!? As usual - they. were. spot. on.  It is the craziest thing ever.

Back and Side of Biltmore

{1} There was a kind of major rain storm {not that bad} as we made the trek over and it hardly rains in Charlotte so that was the first odd thing that reminded us of Seattle. {2} We drove through the little downtown and saw a ton of restaurants, shops, etc and that reminded us a little of Portland - a little smaller city but a super cool vibe. {3} Fast forward to Sunday - several people singing in the streets with makeshift instruments. Where the eff????? OK, I'm getting ahead of myself like I usually do. Let's start where all good stories start.... from the beginning.

We arrived on FRIDAY evening, hungry hangry and tired. I was proud of myself because we made it the whole way without having to stop for a bathroom break or for dinner. We didn't have any plans or reservations for dinner because we thought we would grab something on the way but it turns out that I held out and we were able to have our first meal of the trip actually in Asheville! Since we were starving, we didn't have much time to figure out a place and I decided that we would go to the hotel restaurant. Which, let's face it - is usually a snooze. But, this one was amazing. That's when we knew that we were onto something. We stayed at the Aloft Asheville which is barely 2 years old and ultra modern... are you surprised? We decided that as much as possible we are only going to stay at nicer {read: modern/minimalistic} hotels from now on. It was amazing and totally our style! 

Dinner was around 8:30 pm at Blackbird. We tried the meat and cheese board. Amazing. So fresh. Then we both got the Surf and Turf burger with fries. And we had to try some wine! Overall, a fab meal - quick, easy and delicious! After dinner, we headed back to the hotel cause we were exhausted and we're old like that.       

SATURDAY was the main event - The Biltmore! Do you know about this place? I was reading a book probably a year or so ago and that is where I first read about it. The book is called "At Home" and it is a very fascinating read. I highly recommend it! Anyway, The Biltmore was built in the late 1800's by George Vanderbilt II {he was 32 at the time and had $100 million dollars which was approximately 1/87th of US GDP}. The home remains to this day the largest privately owned home in America. It has 250 rooms and is over 175,000 square feet. When I found out that this was in North Carolina, I got super excited! Since we've been living in Charlotte, we've seen tons of Biltmore commercials on TV. Here is one of the commercials in case you want to bask in the gloriousness for 32 seconds.

View from the Porch

Side View

Details

Can you tell I took this? #selfie

Amazing Architecture

A few Fall Colors 

#selfie

My Fall Uniform. Chambray, Statement Necklace, f21 Coat… 

One of my favorite shots!

Gardens and Pools

Jake's version of the #selfie

When we arrived it was so foggy… but it did lift!

Anyway, we had to reserve a time since it's really busy on weekends and it's already decorated for Christmas so literally hundreds of people show up and it's just plain craziness. We arrived at our scheduled time {definitely pay the extra $10 for the audioguides} and spent 2.5 hours exploring the house. We didn't get to check out all 250 rooms, but we did get to see about 50 or so.  The bad news is that there are no photos allowed inside so you'll have to google it or go to their website for more real photos. As expected, the house was top notch. They seriously thought of everything. It was just an incredible spectacle and I couldn't even begin to describe it. You must go see it! It's pricey, but totally worth it!

After the tour, we checked out Cedric's Tavern {located on the Biltmore property} which is named after the beloved family Saint Bernard. Isn't that just the coolest thing ever? They had his actual collar on display in the restaurant and it looked ginormous! Even the lunch we had at this random (OK, well Biltmore) tavern was delicious! After lunch, we got ready for dinner and headed out to Curate {spanish tapas restaurant that was recommended to me} and it was the food highlight of our trip. We tried six different dishes from fried eggplant with honey and rosemary to sherry mushrooms and we loved every single one! We had such a good time. And this was "officially" my birthday dinner so it was a huge success! Yay! Sorry, no food photos - I actually stopped taking photos of my food after I read an article titled something like "Why I stopped Instagramming photos of food" and it was actually very poignant. So I will try not to post/write about/blog photos of food unless it's an emergency {say, I'm at Inn-N-Out or something of that nature}.  After dinner, we lounged again. I kind of like this new, I'm-29-thing-and-I-don't-have-to-go-out-clubbing-anymore. Well, technically I didn't actually turn 29 until Sunday…

SUNDAY was my actual birthday and the last day of our trip. We grabbed brunch at Chestnut - I had the special which involved stuffed french toast with cream and topped with apple compote. Trust me - anytime anything comes with a compote, it's good. After brunch, we walked around the town and actually wandered into an old church {Basilica of Saint Lawrence} which was really beautiful. We heard a couple people playing guitars on street corners but the weirdest thing we saw was a makeshift band on a street corner. Like they had homemade instruments. Kind of random and actually super cool. I made my way into Boutique Lp and picked up a lovely bracelet {actually Jake picked it up for me} … gotta love birthday presents! I found out it was handmade by an artist in Asheville which is pretty cool. I'm sure I will instagram a photo of it soon.  On our way out of town, we drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway for about 5 miles because I wanted to see it. The Fall colors were past their peak this year but we will be sure to catch them next year.  I  really loved Asheville so much and hope we go back again soon!

xoxo,
Kim 

Ballooning Around

Since relocating to Charlotte, NC in July 2013, Jake and I have taken every opportunity to explore new cities, events and food.  I read about a Hot Air Balloon Festival called The Carolina Balloonfest in a magazine called "Our State" which is a monthly publication all about North Carolina. The Hot Air Balloon event took place in Statesville, NC which is only a 45 minute drive from Charlotte so it wasn't a bad drive at all. And 2013 was the 40th Annual Fest! It can't get any better than that right???

We decided kind of last minute, impromptu that we would check it out and I am so glad we did! It was seriously the most fun I've had in a while. We first set up our viewing spot, then walked around the festival, drooling over all the delicious fair food but I am proud to say that we didn't indulge in it. Instead, we ate veggie tacos and they were amazing! We did share a fresh squeezed lemonade which was sweet and sour and tangy. The fresh baked donuts were calling my name, but I was able to resist them. MOTTO: Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels [repeat].

We knew they were going to start releasing the balloons between 4:00 and 6:00 pm. So, around that time, we headed to our spot and waited. It took a while for them to all get to their places but once they started, there was no stopping! It all happened so far.

So now, some photos to share:

Also, it seemed unseasonably warm and there was not a cloud in the sky. Pretty much the most perfect weather you could have. Which was crazy because I guess the day before there was a ton of rain and clouds and they had to postpone/cancel some of the flights. Next time -- riding in a hot air balloon, right, Jake???

The San Francisco Treat

You may have noticed that I was in San Francisco over the weekend. What's that, you say? I was blowin' up your Instagram feed, Facebook newsfeed,  and twitter with some of my favorite photos - Oh you know, just Pier 39, Golden Gate Bridge, Union Square... basically I'm a San Francisco-an now. Wait - let me back up.

Some friends from High School were planning a meet up in SF and I was lucky enough to be invited. I found an awesome deal on a Delta flight and scooped up a ticket! We also booked tickets for Alcatraz and a Hop on Hop off bus. 

SIDENOTE: If I was still working in public accounting, I would not have been able to take this lovely trip because, my friends... it was just days before the 10/15 extension deadline.  You may or may not know -- but when we moved to CLT, I gave up my life of working 60 hour weeks [yeah, yeah... only during tax season - but still, thats a quarter of the year!!!!] and opted to transition into a Finance position [which I absolutely LOVE, by the way].  

Well, I have been wanting to visit SF for as long as I can remember and in an ironic twist, I never went during the 6-ish years I lived in Seattle [which is less than a 2 hour flight away]. Total roundtrip travel time was 12+ hours with a layover in Cincinnati on the way there and SLC on the way back. But - it was all worth it to see the gorgeous city in the flesh.

THURSDAY: My friend Mel and I arrived at the airport almost at the same time so we met up and took the BART to Union Square. Then we took a cab to --- you guessed it! --- INN & OUT!

Then we checked into our Air BNB with this amazing view:
We rested up, did a little shopping [hello ZARA] and then walked to Little Italy for a delicious dinner at E Tutto Qua. I literally felt like I was back in Italy - that's how good the restaurant was. Mel and I both had homemade buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. Then we tried the homemade pasta called Paccheri Golosi with prosciutto, Porcini mushrooms and truffle oil in a cream sauce.  To die for! Probably my favorite food of the whole trip! So delicious. Of course we had the panna cotta and pistachio gelato for dessert. Yum! My favorite part of the meal was how cheerful the servers were and they just made the environment so much fun to be in. Also, I asked one of them how we go about hailing a cab and our waiter said - here, I'll show you! And he literally walked outside and flagged a cab for us! I felt like I was in NYC. Coolest thing ever!

FRIDAY: I tried dim sum for the first time EVER. So good. I highly recommend! We tried Yank Sing in the Financial District.

The rest of the group arrived after lunch and we jumped on the "Hop On Hop Off Bus" -- pun intended. We thought about it and decided -- YOLO! We should sit on the top decker so we did. Let me just say that riding on the top deck while driving over the Golden Gate bridge was freezing!!!!!! Other than that, I had a blast up top.


Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge in person was probably one of the highlights of my life. For real.

We decided to walk across it. Little did we know it was 1.7 miles.    Now I can cross that off my bucket list! Such a gorgeous view.

And finally... you knew there would be one! A selfie!

We had dinner at House of Prime Rib and it was delicious! I highly recommend it if you are in the area.

SATURDAY: We were supposed to go to Alcatraz but needless to say, that was cancelled [read: government shutdown]. So we grabbed a quick breakfast at Starbucks and headed back to the Golden Gate Bridge via our Hop On Hop Off bus. Actually, this is when we walked over it. Friday we just did a real quick "drive by"... Then we headed to the Wharf for some seafood and clam chowder at Boudin. It was tasty! This is where they have those cute sourdough shaped animals such as bears and alligators, etc. What, alligators aren't cute? After lunch we checked out the Sea Lions at Pier 39. That was really fun [and stinky and loud] but still fun! We also checked out Ghirardelli Square which is where duh! ghirardelli squares are made! I'm not a huge chocolate person but that was fun to see. I loved the big sign too.

We went back to the condo to freshen up nap and by the time we woke up, it was about 7 pm and we didn't feel like getting all dolled up so we just ordered some Thai food and ate dinner at the condo. That was fun and cozy. We did end up going out for drinks shots and I stayed up until almost 2 am PST [read 5 am EST] so that was an adventure. Let's just say I'm not 21 anymore. Good night, SF!

SUNDAY: We woke up and headed straight to Tartine Bakery for our last meal in the city. To get there, we tried the car service Lyft! I really liked how streamlined and easy it was. If they have this service in your city, you should check it out and let me know what you think. What did I get from Tartine? A chocolate croissant, coconut tart and slice of quiche. I had to sample a few things! Unfortunately for you, everything was so amazingly delicious that I didn't take any photos.  Sorry, blog-ers! Then, it was a quick shuttle ride back to the airport and 2 flights back home. I didn't get into CLT until 11 pm EST but it was all worth it! Love you, ladies & SF ... I can't wait until we meet again!

Ombre Dreams

I have been slowing inching my way towards getting my hair colored ombre [brown fading to blonde] and I finally pulled the trigger! I have loved the style for a year or so but wasn't sure I was ready to commit.  I decided that since we moved to a new place, no one knows my style and I can make beauty  and/or style routine changes as I pleased. 

Wear red lipstick to work? Check. 

Benefit lipstick

Purchase 2 camo shirts* in less than a week? Check. 

Via Target / Men's Section - that's what's up! 

My first camo purchase ever. Via jcrew.

Color my hair ombre? Check. 

See how I did a sad/serious face in the before pic?

It's pretty easy, right? Anyway... I feel like my style is constantly evolving and that is what makes me unique.  I know some people that only wear classic pieces, would wear black everyday if they could or  they try ever single fashion trend. I try to constantly edit my wardrobe and mix and match things differently.  I remember a girl in high school who never wore the same outfit twice. Some people were so impressed with that -- but I always prefer quality over quantity - unless it's something super trendy that I won't wear much. Then I'm okay with forever 21-ing it up.  

Anywho... Back to hair.  One thing that I was literally terrified of was finding a new hair stylist. I had been going to my previous stylist for 3+ years in Seattle and we really had a great relationship. Moving to a new place is always intimidating and it's hard to try someone new, especially when it's my precious hair!!! {shallow, much???} I spent some A LOT of time researching salons on Yelp and finally settled on Orange Olive Hair Gallery in the hip neighborhood of NoDA [North Davidson, if you're curious.] I emailed them and told them what I was looking for and they paired me up with the lovely Jess {@jessthehairstylist on insta} who met me for a consultation beforehand to discuss my ombre dreams. 

MAKING THE DREAM A REALITY..... Then, on Saturday, 9/28, I went in and BAM! My hair is a lovely blended ombre.  I love it! Now the hard part is figuring out which shampoo to use. My hair is now like, 3 different colors. And I am no fan of brassy yellow. So I bit the bullet and picked up some Kerastase $40-a-bottle shampoo and hopefully it will work wonders. I am also thinking about getting a purple/toning shampoo to use weekly or bi-weekly.  Any recommendations from my naturally or not so naturally blonde friends?

[Footnote] *Don't worry. I won't wear the camo shirts to work.  Not even on Casual Friday.