As a high country local, there are so many fun things to do and SO many yummy places to eat. Honestly.....one of my favorite things about living in the mountains of North Carolina are the restaurants. I am a foodie and even my sweet hubby knows that I would rather him take me out to eat than buy me a new purse or fancy jewelry. There is just something so sweet about congregating with your friends, your spouse, your family, whomever ....at a local restaurant and creating laughter and precious memories that you can hold on to for years to come. As a student for five years + being a local for almost five years, I have had the opportunity to visit many of our neighborhood spots here in the high country. Ryan and I love going out to eat and taking our time (because let's be serious, when eating out with a toddler, there ain't no time to waste. You get in and get out :)), We love to order drinks and appetizers, visit for while and then come back around to order our entree. We always try to pick something unique on the menu to allow ourselves to try something new. So whether you are a local and are intrigued in trying something new, or you are visiting the high country for the first or tenth time, I am providing my top 10 list of restaurants to eat at in the Boone/Blowing Rock/Banner Elk area. # 10 Local Lion. Known for their homemade potato doughnuts and their freshly roasted local coffee, this espresso bar will surely leave you coming back for more. My top picks ~ The Maple Glazed Doughnut & Hazel Truffle Latte. #9 Sorrento's Italian Bistro. A family run business and has been serving Italian dishes since 1983 to locals and travelers to the quaint town in Banner Elk, North Carolina. My top pick ~ Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo. #8 Our Daily Bread. The perfect combination between a cafe and a sandwich shop located right in the heart of downtown Boone, NC. Park you car, grab lunch and then shop around at all your favorite boutiques. My top pick ~ Chicken Salad Melt served with fresh fruit. #7 The Tapp Room. A laid back, casual restaurant that provides a wide variety of items on their menu, a great selection of drinks and is the perfect place for a low-key night or a celebration after game-day. My top pick ~ Tuscan Chicken Sandwich. #6 Proper. Known for providing homestyle southern cooking, this restaurant is perfect if you are looking for a quaint atmosphere with delicious southern cuisine. My top pick ~ Meatloaf. #5 Foggy Rock Eatery & Pub. Located on 321 in Blowing Rock, this eatery is perfect for the whole family with a delicious menu and affordable prices. My top pick ~ Cobb Salad with Grilled Salmon. #4 Cobo Sushi Bistro & Bar. This one-of-a-kind dining experience includes the Japanese art of sushi, but also has plenty of non-traditional and contemporary menu items. They offer a fun-loving, casual, yet elegant atmosphere that welcomes all. My top pick ~ Chocolate Martini, Co-Bang Shrimp, The Appalachian Roll & Six Layer Caramel Cake by Whisk Bakery. # 3 Vidalia Restaurant & Wine Bar. The perfect place for a date night. Located in downtown Boone, Vidalia offers a delicious menu that will meet any customers pallet. My top picks ~ Pimento Cheese, Vidalia Burger & the gluten free flourless chocolate tote by Whisk Bakery. #2 Ransom Pub. Located in the heart of downtown Boone, Ransom offers a fresh take on traditional pub fare. My top pick - secret garden pizza and ransom mac and cheese (toddler approved too). #1 The Peddler Steakhouse. A restaurant that is near and dear to my heart as I worked here for five years, The Peddler offers the best steak in town. With a wide variety of meat options, each entree is cooked over a glowing Tennessee Hickory charcoal. Not to mention, they also have a salad bar that is, in my opinion, one of the best one in town with over 40 garden fresh vegetables, fruits, cheeses and other toppings to choose from. My top picks - New York Strip with seven pepper seasoning, grilled salmon, stuffed baked potato & tollhouse pie. I hope you found this list helpful. If you have a favorite place to eat in the High Country, I would love to hear from you. I am always looking to try new places so comment below with your recommendations!
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Have you ever looked around your house and asked yourself, where in the world did all of this come from?!?! I experienced that feeling many times this past weekend. Our family is in the beginning stages of remodeling our kitchen. As part of this remodel, we are removing a couple closets and blowing out a few walls to make it, as HGTV would say, more 'open-concept'. I cannot tell you enough how excited I am about this. But, in order to bring this vision to reality, the hallway closets have to go, leaving me with a bunch of 'stuff' that does not have a home. So what do you do?? Well, there are a few options. I could pile all of this stuff in a trash bag and donate it to a good cause. I could try to have a yard sale at the house to recoup some of the expenses associated with our new kitchen, but that would require way more coordination than I have time for. Or, I could do a combination of both, but do it in a way that was convenient for my busy life.....BINGO. See, the thing I love about technology and the social media age that we live in is the ability to reach mass amounts of people in a timely manner. As I was pondering what to do with all of this 'stuff', it dawned on me that I always see people host virtual parties to promote the items they are selling, so why could I not do the same thing with our household items that we no longer need? If you know me, you know that I ALWAYS shop the local online yard sales to find the best deals, so what would keep me from hosting my own online yard sale? Many more questions came to mind. Would people join? Would they be interested in what I am selling? Would this be a one-time thing or something that I continually update throughout the year? Well, there is only one way to find out. Read on for more :o) Since I work full time, evenings and weekends are the only time I get to spend with Rhett. That time is precious and I do not want to ever take it for granted. So, being the planner that I am, I planned out my Saturday and Sunday schedule and based my online yard sale work around Rhett's nap time. As soon as his head hit the pillow, I started clearing through every single closet in our home. I pulled out every piece of clothing that Ryan and I had. I scoured through ever pair of shoes that we owned (some still new with tags on them). I pulled out every household item we never use and went through all of Rhett's cabinets and chests, only to find many items still unopened. I then made three piles which consisted of :
Now, to tackle the items to sell. Many of the clothes, shoes, accessories, home decor, etc. that we have are all name brand. I went through a stage where premium jeans were my favorite. They were better quality, comfortable and trendy. I did not mind saving up to pay for high-end jeans because I knew they would last for a long time. These jeans, along with a lot of other items that we own, still have a lot of life left in them and can venture on to the next home for someone else to enjoy at a discounted rate. So, to showcase these items, we have created a Facebook Online Yard Sale page. On this page, we have highlighted everything we are selling from women's and men's apparal, namebrand women's coats, women's shoes, household items and even items for infants/children. Here is a sneak peak of just a few of the items that can be found on our online yard sale: If you are interested in viewing more of the items we have listed for sale, follow these steps:
Thanks in advance for checking out our yard sale and for helping us clear out our clutter. If you are feeling like you need to do the same, I encourage you to find pockets of time to dedicate toward this effort. You will be SO glad that you did!! Seriously? Are your glasses fogging up? Was the sun in your eyes? Did you read that right? YES......Read on for greatness. It is no surprise that I have been on a new adventure to health and wellness. If you have been following me from the beginning (see most recent post 'Get out of that Rut' here), you know that I have taken multiple steps to reach some of these goals to help me get back to a healthy lifestyle. Some of these steps include making dietary changes, exercising more and using products that will help me feel better about what I am putting in and on my body. With these changes comes a cost. Making changes in my dietary lifestyle has been expensive. When you eat clean, you are purchasing more raw and organic ingredients which are more costly than conventional or genetically modified ingredients. When adding fitness and exercise into your life, that too comes at a price. Gym memberships, fitness equipment and exercise accessories can add up. And now that I am adding more safe and beneficial Arbonne products to my daily routine, that too will increase what is coming out of my wallet. I cannot read that above paragraph without feeling the stress start to rise. It seems as if one wanted to become healthy, more would be coming out of their bank account than would be going in. Not to mention, with all the above items being added into our monthly budget, there are still the regular necessities that our family needs. Thank goodness for Walmart. My friend Jenn knows my love for Instagram. I follow many pages that gives tips on anything from parenting advice, to fitness techniques, to wildlife art (ahem---go follow @ryankirbyart :)), to favorite healthy recipes, etc. She told me about the Instagram page @woahwaitwalmart. This is a page/blog created by two women who share all of their greatest Walmart finds. It has been a GAME CHANGER, especially when it comes to fashion apparel and accessories for women. On a regular basis, this page will post SO many cute and trendy clothes/accessories. One brand, in particular, that I have fan-girled over lately is the Time and Tru brand. Because of this brand, I have been able to shop for clothes and accessories that are cute, comfortable and trendy, but that also do not break the bank. Here are some of my favorite recent personal finds from Walmart: With the most expensive item in this fashion line priced at MAYBE $20, it is no wonder Time and Tru has become one of the leading brands for its 150 million customers that patron a Walmart facility each week. Not to mention, in addition to Time and Tru, Walmart has also launched other popular brands including Terra & Sky, focused on plus- size women, George, a premium brand focused solely on men and Wonder Nation, a brand exclusively for children ( as if I need more of a reason to go shopping for Rhett?!?!).
Clearly, it is easy to see why I love this brand, and Walmart, so much. Not only am I able to find items for my family and I that are stylish and fashionable, but most importantly, that are AFFORDABLE. I can maintain a trendy wardrobe that fits this mom-bod and still be able to have room in our regular budget to afford any added expenses that are tied to my new health and wellness journey......and for that, I am THANKFUL. I hope you too will take advantage of the many items and deals that Walmart has to offer. And be sure to share any other great Walmart finds you see along the way! Last week I celebrated my 33rd birthday. As I woke up that Monday morning, my mind started wandering about how year 32 went and what I could do different to make 33 even better. I started listing out in my head ways that I could improve what now till next July 16th looks like. Go to the gym more, wake up early and do a morning devotional, set a weekly date night for me and the hubby, have a hot supper on the table every night for our family (sure??), take Rhett to Disney.....the list goes on. As I started creating this list in my head, I felt my nerves start to flinch and stress creeped upon me almost immediately. It was like I should have started conquering this list 3 months ago! After I escaped that list that evolved within a matter of minutes and joined the human race back on planet earth, I then started to think about my life in my 20s and how blissful it was. I was single, living at Lake Norman, NC with all my girls and working for a bank in the middle of downtown Charlotte, NC. When my work day ended, there was time to either hit up the local gym, join my coworkers at happy hour, volunteer at my church or boat around the lake with my girlfriends. My weekends consisted of country concerts, cookouts, road trips, or hanging out at the LKN sandbar (whoop whoop). Life as a 25 year old was swell. Looking back on that time in my life, sure it was wonderful and consisted of many memories that I will always cherish, but that was a stage a life and those phases pass to create room for new stages and memories to be made. Now that I am close to my mid-thirties, I recognize that while I may not have the ability to skip a meal and be skinny again (ugh), and I may have a few more wrinkles and grey hairs, this phase of life is oh so sweet. I have a loving and caring family, a husband that would give his life for me, friends that I could call at anytime of day, a job that I genuinely love and look forward to going to, and the love of a 2 year old boy named Rhett. This is a life that I most certainly don’t take for granted. It’s a life that is full of joy and bliss. A life I wholeheartedly thank the good Lord for every day. So whatever stage of life you are in, whatever your ‘33’ may be, whether you are a free spirit enjoying your single days, or maybe you’re embracing a new stage of parenthood.....maybe you’re a recent empty-Nestor and are enjoying the fruits of your labor, I pray you embrace your inner 33 and enjoy this time in your life. If you find you are in a place of challenges and hardships and need someone to pray for you, know that I am happy to do so. I encourage you to bask in the life you created and find love and joy in all of it. I hope you will hold me accountable to do the same!
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I am a wife and momma to a sweet boy named Rhett. I live in the mountains of North Carolina and am saved by grace. I believe in all things family, all things food and all things fun. Archives
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