Asheville!

I woke up at the cabin this morning, around 9:30am, to the delicious smell of breakfast!  Aaron's dad was standing over the stove, frying potatoes, toasting bread, and stiring eggs!  yumm!  We all ate together and then got our things together to head back to Black Mountain. 

As we walked out onto the deck, I realized they had a view of the lake!  (We had gotten in late last night and didn't really see the surroundings.) The view of the lake, from the cabin, is really beautiful!

As we were driving away, his dad motioned for us to follow his truck over to this spot.  After we got out of the car he explained that he and Kaye were thinking of purchasing this lot and building a home to retire in!  I voted an immediate YES!   There was a panoramic view of the mountains and lake!  Sounds like a place anyone would enjoy retiring!

Aaron's favorite fast food restaurant is SONIC, so when he saw it on the side of the road, he pulled over and he, Ali, and I all ordered malts!  Talk about rich and delicious!  My gosh!

Then we stopped in at the Ethan Allen plant, where Kaye works!  She excitedly introduced Ali, Aaron and I to all her office mates and let me peak through the window into the factory!

As we drove back to Black Mountain Ali mentioned that we check out their old house in Ridgecrest!  They lived here until Aaron was 5 or 6!  I LOVE THIS HOUSE!!

 

 ....I love it so much so, that I had to get two different views of it!  :)

The local Black Mountain Farmer's Market, which is apparently also the home of the local looney.  No one really goes there, but it's cute none the less!

Aaron and I went over to Target, the first time I've been to Target since last February!  It was way too long of a wait!  As we were shopping with Ali and Pegg, we ran into 3 different women that they knew and then his  grandmother and aunt too!   In a small town, it's hard to shop at Target without running into someone you know, I guess!

Ali, Pegg, Aaron and I all decided to check out a new restaurant called Cheddars!  It was really yummy!!

Then it was time to say goodbye to Ali, so she could make her drive back to Atlanta.

After saying goodbye to Ali and his mom (who was off to her Yoga class), Aaron and I drove up the highway to downtown Asheville!  I've heard that NC is part of the bible belt, but I don't think I ever realized the extent!  There is practially a church on EVERY corner in this state!  I especially liked this one!

Aaron took me to Mast General Store (sine 1883) because he knew I would appreciate the candy in the barrels section! 

  

.. and he was right!  I loaded up with fire balls, sugar daddy's, salt water taffy, pop rocks, and a GIANT smarties lolly pop - you know, all the old school goodies!

They had candy lipstick, homemade gummy bears, ABBA ZABBA's, Mary Jane's, and all kinds of other old time candies!  There was something about this place that took me back in time, and that is never anything I resist!

As we were there, we ran into one of Aaron's High School teachers, Mr. Morgan!  Once again, it's a SMALL town!

After checking out at the general store (and finding an adorable beanie for me!) we took a walk through the downtown shops!  Unfortunately, all the shops were closing when we were walking through, but we got lucky and had a little shopping spree in the sale section of Urban Outfitters!

Asheville is known for it's organic, artsy, and local oriented community!   It's also known for it's antique shops!

You can find a lot of cool strange and awesome stuff in these stores!

... like a triple print of Audrey Hempburn, or an old typewriter!

I've always dreamed of living in an old historic downtown like Asheville!  Who knows, maybe one day I'll end up here!   Heck, it gives me an excuse to buy and wear more coats and boots! :)

Aaron drove me through some of the wealthy neighborhoods, which is one of my favorite things to do!  I don't wanna live in one, or take care of all it's bedrooms and bathrooms, but I do like to look at them and appreciate them for their beauty and charm!  This is the only one I snapped a picture of! 

We're back at Aaron's mom's place, all cuddled up in her full size bed, in our PJ's, watching a football game while we all eat the candy from the general store!  I love this place, and am a huge fan of Aaron's family! :)

Tomorrow's plan is to get up early and spend the day in Boone with Aaron's dad and Kaye!

Cabin Time!

 I woke up at 2:30pm today!  Uugghhh, what is wrong with me?!   I missed half the day!  Luckily Aaron finally came in and made me get up, which even at 2:30pm, I was resisting with all my power! 

I think it's worth noting that the famous preacher, Billy Graham, is a Black Mountain local, and his kids grew up with Aaron's mom and dad!   Franklin, the bad one, was around their age and Aaron's dad's parents forbid him to be seen with him!  We all laughed about that yesterday!  Anyhow, the point of my story is that this is Ann (Bunny's) house, which is less than a mile from Aaron's mom's place!

Sam, Bill, and Helen, all stopped by Aaron's mom's house to hang for a bit before Ali, Aaron and I all made the drive over to their dad's cabin by the lake!  It was great to get to see them again before they all headed back to DC an NY. 

On our drive to Aaron's dad and Kaye's cabin, we spotted a deer, who jetted in front of our car!  I'm actually a little surprised that this is the first wild animal I've seen since being here!  I was hoping for a black bear encounter!

After only about 40 minutes, we had arrived!  Keith and Kaye had decorated the deck for Christmas!  The two of them actually spend every weekend here at the cabin! 

It's 441 sq feet and absolutely adorable!  Kaye has worked for Ethan Allen for over 25 years, so she knows how to piece amazing antuiques with thrift store finds and modern stuff, to make a warm and cozy cabin!  The ladder leads up to a loft!

They just recently installed the buck stove and the cabinet around it, which was perfect timing because it kept us all nice and toasty!

Their master bedroom is full of charming little decorative touches and fresh pine wood!  mmmm! 

After gorging on Kaye's delicious home made spinach dip, Aaron's dad fired up the grill and laid a steak out for each of us, along with some potaotes and onions and buttered french bread!!   It was just the kind of meal that Aaron and I have been craving for the past year!  Lucky for us, Keith is known for his steak cooking abilities, and let me tell you... he lived up to all the hype!  It was delicious!

Kaye laid out a historic tablecloth for the occassion!  It was Aaron's great grandmother's table cloth on his dad's side!  With Aaron, his sister, and his dad being HUGE football fans, the football game was playing in the background during dinner!  I've never been oppossed to a little background entertainment!

We spent the rest of the night lounging around, watching the Saints / Atlanta game, and getting to know each other!  When Ali and I offerred to do the dishes, Aaron's dad insisted that he do them!  I loved his domesticated ways!  He said it's been a long process, but that Kaye has been training him!   See, who ever said a man can't be trained!?   He even makes her lunches for her, the night before!  What a guy, huh?!

It was a nice and relaxing day, with the perfect ending... a cozy cabin filled with new friends, and a star filled night sky outside- well, at least I'd imagine it was star filled!  It was much too cold for this Californian girl to go out in that freezing cold!  :) 

Meeting the boys!

The morning began with, well... sleep!  I ended up sleeping in until 11:00am, a thing that simply doesn't happen with this girl!  Aaron came into my room to ask me if I wanted to sleep all day, because it's 11:00!  I jumped out of bed and went right into the dining room where Ali, Dave, and Pegg were finishing breakfast!

Around 2pm, Ali, Dave, Aaron and I met Aaron's dad and Kaye at a local BBQ place called Phil's BBQ Pit!

It's a really cute restaurant that used to be a game room where kids could have their birthday party's!  Aaron said his cousin Andrew had a birthday party here years ago before it became a restaurant.

 We all huddled around this table in the corner, under a shrine to the University of Alabama, the owner's alma mater!  (My mom is a an avid Auburn fan, so I felt a little bit like a traitor sitting under the shrine... Sorry mom! *)
I got hounded for ordering a salad at a BBQ place, but I tell you what, that was the best (and only) salad I'd had in 2 years!  It was delicious!

Next on the agenda was a reunion party at Bill's house (One of Aaron's best friends from growing up!)  His mom is the local Martha Stewart of Black Mountain and cooked-baked up a storm!

On the left were hand made chocolate cups for the Kahlua toast we made later in the night!  Then there were chocolate covered coconut balls, pepermint bark, sugar cookies, and a chocolate pound cake with chocolate chips!  It took everything within me not to gravitate towards this counter!

Bill was put on the spot and made a last minute speech!

Bill's mom had an old school fiber optics tree in her front window!  hahaha

These guys have been best friends since elementary school and this party was for them to all get together after a couple years!  They did everything together, literally everything growing up!  Their bond and alliance to each other is really quite remarkable!

The boys, their girlfriends, siblings, and parents all showed up for the reunion!  The 5 families haven't all been together in one room since the boys graduation from High School! 

Pegg (Aaron's mom), Aaron and me!

From left to right in the following picture:

Aaron and Me

Jordan, who recently moved to Connecticut from San Fran to take a job as the Brand Retail Marketing Manager for North American at LEGO.

Kim, who is Jordan's girlfriend of 4 years.  She just moved with Jordan to Connecticut and is in advertising too!

Sam, who recently moved to New York City and sells software to hedgefunds.  He's been living in London for the past 4 years and traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia with Aaron a couple months back!

Burke, who lives in New Orleans and restores historic homes!

Bill, who lives in DC and is an environmental attorney, and also a genius, literally!  (Sorry if I embarassed you Bill)

Helen, who is Bill's girlfriend.  She lives in DC too and just finished a double masters in social work and international health!

Aaron has some SERIOUSLY smart and talented friends!

This is obviously the first time the girlfriends have officially met!  We all huddled around the loaf of homemade sourdough bread in the kitchen and chatted while all the mom's talked about how fun it was to see the boy's girlfriends talking and hitting it off!  I love these girls already!

At around 10:30pm, the younger crowd moved the party over to the Watershed, one of the 2 bars in Black Mountain!  Burke's parents actually built it years back!

The watershed is the kind of place I've only ever seen in movies!  It oozes small town country charm!

Helen, Bill, and Aaron!  Please excuse Aaron, he likes to make faces when I take too many pictures! :)

Jordan and Kim!  If any of you know Nate Brocious (from AZ/OR), I'd swear these two were brothers from a different mother - the same personality, to a tee!  I loved it!

This is Burke's brother and sister, Niles and Caitlin... Aaron grew up with them as well!  The home that they grew up in is one of the most charming, and gorgeous homes in the whole town! 
Nile's wife is expecting their first baby in April. and Caitlin just got married last summer in Black Mountain!

Like two peas in a pod!

Helen and Bill have been together for 8 years!  They are such a great match and have so much fun together!  They are probably my biggest blog fans too, so they felt like they already knew me when I walked in the door tonight!  They know every story I ever wrote and can probably rememeber them too.

Kim and Jordan.

And there they are, the 5 of them, all together again!  One with some questionable cowboy  boots! :)  *** 

 Today was a day I'd been anticipating for a long time!  I will tell you now that Aaron's friends are top notch gentlemen and the funnest group of guys!  I'm blessed to have met them and was overwelmed by their acceptance of me into the core group!

Oh, and a BIG HUGE Happy 34th birthday to my beautiful sister Amy, who we completely forgot to call today!  Uugghhh... :(  We're so sorry sister!  We'll make it up to you somehow!  We love you so much!