We made our way into town.... pretty city of Asheville

The second day camping it rained all day long, so we decided to go visit Asheville for the day. We took a driving tour through the rain and parked on the street to walk around a bit. First stop, obviously, was the Mast General Store where Claire and I both spent almost $10 on candy alone... oops!

 

It was really miserable and rainy outside so we decided to stop at this cute little coffee shop, in disguise. I didn't even realize what it was! They have it set up in a double-decker bus from London! How they got it all the way over here, I have no idea. It was even adorable on the inside.

We found this cupcake store too! I didn't go inside, but I took a peak and in no way does it compare to our Cupcake in Charleston! Although, I'm sure they're very delicious...

So we ate lunch, which wasn't as good as our fire-cooked meals, of course... but it was nice to have someone else do the dishes! Then we headed to the Cinebarre in Asheville to catch a movie! It was waay cooler than the one we have here. We also stopped at the Dollar Tree and stocked up on random things... I got some cat costumes for Binx and Kiwi, Shannon and Drew got miniature tripods for their cameras and Claire got some paper towels and Fabreze... it's funny how random everything you buy is when you go to a dollar store!

And here are some really horrible tourist pictures that we couldn't resist taking...

The amazing mountains (and TONS of beautiful pictures!)

Back from camping! It was absolutely amaaazing! We had such a great time resting, hiking, building fires, cooking and traveling into Asheville. We stayed at Lake Powhatan, a great little campground with friendly staff and great trails for hiking and mountain biking (to Drew's excitement). This place was fantastic. I love escaping to the woods for a chance to forget about all of your worries and just relax and  have fun. Absolutely amazing............... SOOO.... here's a picture journey of our trip!

Our car ride turned into a sunset highway cruise... it was beautiful.

When we got there, it was already dark, so we quickly set up the tents and Drew got straight to the fire. We had a great fire every morning and night and cooked the most amazing meals! They all had that yummy smokey barbecue kind of taste... mmmmm... We had hot dogs, potatoes, corn, pasta, baked beans and tacos for our delicious dinners. For breakfast we had eggs, bacon and pancakes. Nothing compares to a meal cooked over a hot, smokey fire. The only thing I hate about it is doing the dishes afterward... miserable.

We always enjoyed playing with the fire and whittling sticks.... and playing with drew's hatchet and machete.

We enjoyed hiking through the woods and finding small lakes and streams.

 

 

 

The colors of the leaves were absolutely AMAZING!

Drew went mountain biking and from what I hear it was "FREAKING AMAZING!"

We had SUCH a fun time in the woods despite the slight rain that we experienced. I love being in the mountains with my fabulous friends!

WOO HOO!

We went to the farmer's market this morning to get some corn, apples, potatoes and peaches to bring on the trip! Now we're off to Asheville for a faabulous weekend of camping! YAY! I'm so excited!

a very spoooky halloween house

Oh Halloween Halloween Halloween! My house is looking like Halloween! It's definitely not complete yet, but I added a few little items to contribute to a spoooooooky atmosphere.... Including:

A silly whimsical ghost hanging on my front door

A spoooooky display on the mantle

And a very happy Halloween Binx and Kiwi!

The house is coming together! Now all we need are some spider webs, lights and PUMPKINS!

a little lucky charm

Man... I have been a such a busy busy bumble bee this past week. I haven't even been able to blog! Midterms are going on and I have been a bit swamped with work for school as well as squeezing in work at Cupcake. Weeks like these are so rough... but spending time studying with friends is a good way to catch a break without actually feeling like you're wasting time. Shannon and I went to Kudu Coffee the other day to study for our midterm.  It was great to be able to sit outside on their fabulous patio area tucked away on Vanderhorst Street, instead of cooped up inside on the computer. We got a little distracted when this caterpillar decided to give us a little visit. He appeared out of nowhere on Shannon's notebook! It was the cutest/hairiest caterpillar I've ever seen! I just had to take a photo shoot... I think he was a good luck charm!

I went to my new field classroom for the second time this week and I absolutely adore it! It is such a relief! The teacher is so fun and enthusiastic and the students really enjoy learning in her classroom. I am so excited to learn from her and be able to have a chance to teach all of the absolutely adorable students in her class... YAY!

p.s. I'm going camping this weekend for fall break and I can't wait!

My Parents Visit Charleston!

My parents came to visit this past weekend and it was wonderful! They were only here for about 24 hours, but we still had a great weekend together and conveniently, perfect weather.

We walked around the farmer's market in Marion Square where we talked with Sarah, bumped into Claire's family, drank lots of water and ate a great sandwich. We went on a relaxing bike ride to Colonial Lake and the Battery (I took them on the long route due to my horrible sense of direction and fear of busy streets) and we stopped for a drink at Vickery's on the way. Later on, we ate a fantastic Caribbean dinner, complete with Margaritas, at the amazing restaurant, Fuel, with my Aunt Cathy, Uncle Kevin and of course, Drew. We finished off the short visit with a great breakfast at Bull Street Gourmet and I sent them on their way with a box of delicious cupcakes! It was so great to see them and give them a little taste of my life here in Charleston. I was happy that Drew got to meet them, too! What a perfect weekend!