Places Archives - Saved by the Kale

Escape to Asheville, NC

June 23, 2014

Saturday we decided to drive up to Asheville for the day to explore a little of its downtown. Honestly, I wish we had gone to Asheville more before we had kids and while we still lived in Greenville, SC full time. We have been there several times but usually for a purpose, like a concert. I feel like I am just now discovering all the wonderful things it has to offer and it’s much easier exploring when you don’t have children with you. That being said, there are lots of wonderful, family oriented activities there. Unfortunately our kids are still too small to do some of the ones that I would like to do, like zip lining! There are several places up there that offer it and I would love to check them out sometime!

Downtown Asheville has so much to offer; local coffee shops everywhere and tons of fun cafes. Asheville has something for everyone. If you cannot find something you like to eat or do downtown then something is wrong with you! We started off our day eating at Biscuit Head. Like their name implies biscuits are the theme of the menu. How awesome is a place that offers gravy flights and a biscuit bar with all kinds of syrups and jams. Be prepared to wait. When we got there the line was out the door and down the sidewalk. Thankfully it went fairly quickly and we ordered and were seated within about 20 minutes. I ordered the classic biscuit, which was egg and cheese (the biscuits are HUGE by the way) and I got a side of pulled pork. I went to the bar and got some sriracha honey (!!!) to drizzle over my biscuit and I’m so glad I did because it was fantastic and took it to the next level.

After our brunch we went to a downtown park where they were having an arts and craft fair, which are always fun to browse through and listen to local musical talent. Also at the park they have something called Splasheville, which is an interactive water fountain located in the Roger McGuire Green in Pack Square Park. It’s a fun place for the kids to cool off and play. Sadly, it was down for maintenance. Luckily, people were out making balloon animals and bead bracelets so the girls still had fun while Jim and I sat on a blanket in the shade of a tree!

Just a block over from the park is the French Broad Chocolate Lounge, a chocolate lover’s dream come true. They have tours of their chocolate factory that last about 1.5 hours as well, which we’d love to go back and do sometime in the very near future. We ordered quite a few things…. 2 pieces of their Quintessential Chocolate Cake (devil’s food cake featuring Carolina Ground flour, whipped ganache, dark chocolate glaze and curls), 1 cacao nib brownie, 3 chocolate chip cookies and 1 dark chocolate salted caramel. We look forward to going back and sampling more chocolatey treats!

We decided to take the long way home through the mountains. It was a nice way to end the day. It is always fun discovering new things to do close to home!

Let’s Chat:

Have you ever been to Asheville? What are your favorite things to do there?

One of my Resolutions for this Year!

January 1, 2014

Happy 2014 Everyone! I hope everyone had a fun time bringing in the New Year last night. J and I had a quiet celebration at home. Every New Years Eve we make our lists of resolution and read over our’s from the years past. We have been doing this for last 10 years so it’s alot fun reading what our goals were from a decade ago. Here is one of my resolutions for this year.

This year I want to make it a priority to TRAVEL MORE! J and I have never made this a priority, we are awesome at planning trips and then deciding we don’t have time to go or we will postpone it and then one day never comes. I would like for this to start changing this year. I came across some inspiring quotes from Pinterest!

I could go on and on, but you get the point 🙂

Let’s Chat:

Do you make a list of resolutions for the New Year?

Do you have a favorite place you like to visit over and over?

Any awesome recommendations??

Veggies and Cupcakes

June 17, 2013

We had another great weekend in Greenville. Saturday started with a trip to the Farmer’s Market. Last week I told you how I was hoping to buy some fresh salsa but the salsa lady was not there, well this time she was so I picked up a container of Cilantro Lime Salsa, it’s fantastic. I’m thinking next week I might get some of her fresh peach salsa. I also got another lb of Kale.

We also went to the Fresh Market to pick up some things to grill on Sunday. We picked up veggie kabobs, and ground turkey for me. Jim wanted pork chops so he got a couple of those. We made turkey burgers that had to be the best I have ever eaten. They were seasoned perfectly and were crispy on the outside without being over cooked. I ate mine without a bun just topped with a little ketchup, mustard and avocado. To be honest I could have eaten it without the toppings because it was that good! The veggie kabobs were drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper and a little Bronco Bob’s Mango Chipotle Sauce. They were delicious! I didn’t eat any of the pork chops but Jim said that they were fantastic!

While at the Fresh Market I picked up a Triple Chocolate Cupcake. It tastes as good as it looks! Yummmmy!

I told Jim we may have to have a repeat of this meal next weekend! I hope everyone had a good Father’s Day!

A Little Road Trip

June 10, 2013

On Wednesday we decided to take a quick trip to Charlotte, NC but first stopping by the Oulet Mall in Gaffney, SC on the way. Our main reason for stopping at the Outlets was to check out Pottery Barn to see if they had a gray and white rug that would work in our living room. As it turns out they did have one gray and white rug that was the right size (8×5). I loved it! The only problem was that when you looked at it closely you could see a yellow/brownish color mixed in with part of it. The rug did not have a price on it so I asked how much it was and also showed them the discoloration on it. The rug was priced at $199 but they took half off since there was a problem with it. So for $100 we walked out with an awesome rug that looks great in our living room. Once I vacuumed it you can not see the spots at all unless you were on your hands and knees with a magnifying glass. Yay!

This is just where I laid it out to vacuum it. It looks perfect in our living room with our gray sectional!

While we were at the Outlets I stopped by Gap and purchased 2 tank tops and a cute necklace.

Then we grabbed a quick lunch and were on our way to Charlotte.

Our first stop in Charlotte was Dean & Deluca. We all picked out a sweet treat to eat there and we sampled some pasta sauce that was so good we had to buy a bottle of it and you can’t leave Dean & Deluca without buying some of their Chocolate Babka.

I picked out a Salted Caramel Cupcake. The icing was unbelievably good.

Jim decided on a piece of German Chocolate Cake.

and the girls shared a Butterfly cookie and they also managed to eat some of our treats too 🙂

Our Chocolate Babka and Pasta sauce.

Then we went to the mall and I had to stop in the container store. I spotted this little basket and thought it would be perfect for my little treat basket! I think special snacks deserve a special spot. 🙂

My new favorite shoes are TOMS. I love them. I have a gray pair but ended up buying a red pair at Nordstrom while in Charlotte. They are so comfortable and you can wear them with almost anything. I’m thinking about getting a pair for the girls as well.

Saturday we went to the Farmer’s Market. Even though it had been raining the last couple of days, the weather was great today! For the kids they had Penske Touch a Truck. They had around 15 service vehicles on display for the kids to climb in and explore. It was loud with all the kids blowing the horns of the big trucks but they enjoyed it.

I was really hoping to buy some fresh salsa but the booth wasn’t set up today so maybe next week. I did buy some more Siberian Kale, I enjoyed it so much last week I had to get some more.

After we finished walking through the market we walked downtown for a little while. We enjoyed seeing the ducks and the waterfall.