Things I’m Loving Friday #570 + Weekend in Asheville

Friday is here!! Woop! Do you guys have anything fun planned? We have a soccer game, a kid birthday party and a possible 5K on the agenda but plan to incorporate some downtime at home and hopefully avoid some of the rain in the forecast.

Before unplugging for the weekend, ya know what time it is over here! Things I’m Loving Friday tiiime! Keep on scrolling for this week’s roundup of favorites! And enjoy your weekend, my friends!

Things I’m Loving Friday

• Weekend in Asheville

Last weekend, we spent a couple of days in Asheville, North Carolina to celebrate Ryan’s 42nd birthday! We had such a great time exploring such a walkable city and ended up doing quite a bit in such a short amount of time.

Here are a few highlights:

Activities: KidZip at Asheville Adventure Center (I immediately booked this one when I saw even Rhett could do it! Our boys absolutely LOVED this activity and I cannot recommend it enough to anyone with young kids who might be interested in zip lining.) / WNC Nature Center (We’ve been to this spot before and it’s always a hit with our animal-loving crew.) / Breakout Games Escape Room (This was a great example of ya win some, ya lose some. It was a little too spooky for Rhett and Ryder but Chase was SO into it!) / Pinball Museum (My goodness this was the BIGGEST hit! Wristbands got us all-day access and since this spot was an easy walk from our hotel, we visited twice because the boys — and Ryan! — loved it so much. The unlimited access to pinball machines and throwback arcade games blew their minds.) / Eliada Corn Maze (Charming fall fun! We stopped by here before heading back home and it was a great little local spot to get some energy out before 2 hours in the car.)

Restaurants: Flour (I will dream of the breakfast biscuit sandwich I ordered from this place!) / Vortex Doughnuts (The seasonal maple sea salt doughnut was a big standout for me — only a subtle hint of maple but then the most deliciously salty, buttery flavor took over) / Hole Doughnuts (Can you tell we love trying donuts when we travel? Bless you guys for this rec because this place had so much character and the boys loved watching whole doughnut-making process. All doughnuts are made-to-order and served hot and they were truly some of the very best I’ve had in my entire life.) / Chestnut (We lucked into this restaurant because we wandered in early on Friday evening and were able to grab a table. The lobster bisque and petite filet stole the show for me!) / Luminosa (We went here for Ryan’s birthday dinner and the trout I ordered was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Ryan and I also shared the rigatoni as an appetizer and it was fantastic.) / Rowan Coffee (My latte was great but the chia tea latte Ryan ordered was the show stopper — spicy and so flavorful) / Sweets and Seats (We popped in here for macarons after dinner on Saturday night!)

Hotel:  The Flat Iron (We were excited when this charming hotel invited our family for the weekend — our stay was hosted — and when we arrived and the boys saw we booked the double bunk room, they thought it was just the coolest!! The location of this historical hotel could not have been better, as it was walkable to all of the downtown shops and restaurants. It truly oozed character from the bright red piano in the lobby to the restored original elevator with gates that opened and closed and everything!)

• Build A Monster (Restaurant Entertainment)

I just wanted to share this super simple activity that our whole family enjoyed during one of our meals out in Asheville since it would be so easy to recreate! On the back of one of the boys’ coloring sheets they got at Chestnut in Asheville, we played build-a-monster. I started by drawing a circle for a face and then we passed it around from person to person and everyone added something to our monster. Toward the end, it got hard to tell what the previous person added which actually added to the fun because then we had to guess what the person before us added to the monster!

• The Love Elixir of August Stern

Genre: Romance Comedy/Fiction / My rating: B 

This book came to me through one of your recommendations and it I’m not quite sure how to describe it. A gentle read? A Hallmark-y read but with a sprinkling of mobster intrigue? It wasn’t the most gripping book but it was a cozy little gem of a novel I enjoyed reading, even if I did find it a little predictable.

Plot summary: Nearing eighty and newly retired, Augusta Stern moves to a senior community in Florida, where she unexpectedly reunites with Irving Rivkin, the man who broke her heart sixty years earlier. As a teen in 1920s Brooklyn, Augusta idolized her pharmacist father but became intrigued by her Great Aunt Esther’s unconventional healing methods. Torn between science and mysticism—and her feelings for Irving—Augusta made a fateful decision involving Esther’s most powerful elixir, with devastating results. Now, decades later, Augusta must confront the painful choices of her youth and the truth about her relationship with Irving. In doing so, she seeks to find peace, redemption, and perhaps a second chance at love and wonder.

• Friday Flashbacks

15+ Healthy Halloween Recipes (For anyone hosting or planning a Halloween celebration and hoping to counteract all that sugar!)

Easy Marinated Pork Chops (My mom’s pork chops recipe that we all love so much!)

Question of the Day

What is one thing you’re loving this week?