April is looking to be a whirlwind month. As you’ll see below, we have several trips planned: a spring break trip to Florida with all of John’s siblings and parents to celebrate his mom and dad’s fiftieth wedding anniversary, and a weekend trip to Asheville to celebrate my sister paying off all of her undergraduate and graduate school student loans.
I love opportunities like these, to celebrate the people I love and to help them feel seen and honored. I’ve also learned that be able to do that as I’d like, and to truly enjoy these moments, I need to give myself plenty of time to prepare – otherwise, I’ll feel stressed in the moment and (more often than not) regret after the fact. I am not a wing-er. This was a hard-won lesson for me, as one of my only regrets in life is that I did not prepare well to toast my older sister at her wedding. So – scratching out toast drafts for my beloved in-laws and plotting ways to fete my adored younger sister is how you’ll find me this month.
Here’s what else is in the plans…
On my calendar this month: — Lots of travel! In addition to Florida and Asheville, I’ll be in Texas for several days for work. — Biking the American Tobacco Trail with a friend. We’ve blocked out a full school day to ride the 44 miles together! — A trip to the WRAL Azalea Gardens when everything’s in bloom.
What I’m loving right now: — I’ll listen to anything Tim Keller says. I so appreciated his piece in The Atlantic about needed revival in American Christianity. — If you love all things powder blue as much as I do, run, don’t walk, to Target. I snapped up four sets of these paper snack plates. — After many years with my beloved bow hat, it is finally looking a little worse for wear. After much deliberation, I chose this hat to be my new sun companion. I’m still getting used to the look, but I think I love it. (Tip: size up – I ordered a small first and had to exchange it for a medium.)
As a reminder, you can find allll the things I’ve loved over the last few years neatly organized right here!
What I read in March: — Girl With a Pearl Earring | I plucked this old favorite from our bookshelf when I was waiting on library holds. It was an interesting re-read… though I still enjoyed it, I found it to be different in feel from many of the novels I read today. More simplistic? I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I suppose it makes sense that what constitutes a popular novel might change in 20 years. — The Odyssey | Like many of you, I read The Odyssey in freshman English. I have fond memories of it (maybe not like many of you, ha). When a friend raved about this first translation in English by a woman, I happily added it to my reading list and pals, it did not disappoint! As one review puts it: “Wilson’s language is fresh, unpretentious, and lean…It is rare to find a translation that is at once so effortlessly easy to read and so rigorously considered.” The introduction and translator’s note at the beginning were lengthy, but fascinating to read – and made me even more impressed by all the work that must have gone into creating this version, which is written in near-perfect iambic pentameter and contains the exact number of lines as the original Greek (!). (And now I want to read Circe next – it only seems appropriate, yes?)
Revisiting my March goals: Cull and sort second half of 2021 photos Paint our master bathroom cabinets (Paint has been purchased! I went with Lehigh Green– seen above!) Tackle the coat closet Meet with a lawyer to update our estate planning documents (Appointment is scheduled for April!) Make a style guide for the EFM book Capture photos of our kitchen and bedroom to share updates
April goals: — Organize our master bath cabinets — Paint our master bath cabinets (will be revisiting this post!) — Complete 2008-2009 in the EFM book — Plan well for our Asheville trip — Send invites for the book swap — Finish the Best of EFM page (bless it, it’s been hanging out in a very unfinished way for months…) — Film Annie in April
As a reminder, many of these are drawn from my 2023 goals!
What are you looking forward to this spring? I’d love to hear!
While I do have severalgoals for the year, I have just one resolution. (Saying that with a bit of a cheeky wink – the difference between goals and resolutions, in my mind, being that goals are things I plan for and track, and resolutions are simply well-meaning intentions. Needless to say I don’t go in much for resolutions :))
Anyway, here’s the resolution: I resolve to post my Em for Marvelous travel recaps in the month they happened, or the month after. I am… not known for this, which is why I’m posting our October trip to Highlands here in January. But I’d really like to be better, because it’s much easier to remember details and, I think, capture the feel of a trip when it’s fresh in my mind! The problem is usually that travel recaps loom large in my mind, since they’re some of the more laborious posts I write with all of their photos and details and linking. But I do love them for family memory keeping purposes, and I’m always delightfully surprised by the number of you who have written and commented over the years that you’ve used a travel post as inspiration for your own family’s adventures. (Thank you for letting me know – truly, a huge compliment!)
In that spirit, let’s chat about our most recent visit to Highlands, NC!
John and I had been to Highlands a few times before – most recently in 2020, when it was a welcome respite in the middle of all things pandemic. That trip was pretty darn wonderful, so it was rather bold of us to attempt a repeat so soon, ha! Our 2022 trip was delightful in its own way, but not without its challenges, as you’ll see.
Highlands is about 5 hours from our home near Raleigh, NC. We left school a bit early on Thursday, October 20 to arrive in Highlands about 6pm. We stayed in this Airbnb, which was perched on the side of a mountain just outside of downtown – with kids, it was about a 25-minute walk to the main drag, or about a 10-minute drive.
As you find with many mountain town rental homes, the driveway was a bit unnerving. I was glad John was driving :) We have an SUV, so I wasn’t really afraid we wouldn’t be able to get up the hill, but the driveway itself was gravel, steep, and did not have much turning or parking room at the top.
The house itself was lovely, though! The breakfast table was beautiful in the morning sun, and we enjoyed the games stocked on the shelves. If I could do it again I would have chosen a place without stairs for this particular year, as Annie was bound and determined to climb them and much of our time was spent chasing her down or spotting her as she climbed.
On our first night, John walked down the mountain into town with the kids to stretch their legs (above) while I drove down in the car (to ferry us all back after dark). We grabbed takeout from Mountain Fresh Grocery. We’d been there before and have liked many things we’ve gotten, but June and I both got pasta this time and were not impressed – it was pretty flavorless. Stick to the pizza, grill, or prepared foods case!
The next morning, we ate breakfast at the house before heading out to hike Whiteside Mountain. We had tried to hike Whiteside the last time we were in Highlands, but the parking lot was too full by the time we arrived. (We did, however, hike it wayyyyy back in 2011!) Well, the combo of arriving at 10am and on a Friday did the trick, because we easily found a spot this time around.
The hike was a delight with a view well worth the climb. (One thing I especially appreciate about this hike: even though you’re right up on the edge and there are steep cliffs, it is well fenced, making it less stressful with little ones.) The kids were absolute champs, especially June who – as we found out later – was suffering from the flu. Argh! Talk about a cringe parenting moment. I hate that we made her climb a literal mountain while she was under the weather, but she was a complete and total trooper.
We walked right up to The Wine Garden at Madison’s (run by Old Edwards Inn, in the center of town) for lunch, and it was one of my favorite memories of the trip! Their seating is outside, and it was a chilly day, but we were cozy and comfy with heat lamps and thick blankets at each of our seats. Though Old Edwards is generally a high-end spot, the outdoor setting, bustling atmosphere, and mini waterfall at our backs made for a kid-friendly lunch (can you spot us in the picture above?). Recommend!
After lunch, it was back to the house for quiet time. John and I probably napped, ha. Later that evening, we drove back downtown and walked the streets looking in shop windows while we waited for our table to be ready at Four65. (One thing that kind of annoys me about Highlands – the shops close really early! Even in what I assume is peak fall season, almost every shop on the main street was closed at 6 or before.)
We LOVED our dinner at Four65! Our wood-fired pizzas were delicious, we were seated at a big round table tucked in the corner (great for kids!), they brought fun coloring sheets and crayons to the table, and the service was great. Recommend!
Another morning, another hike. But first! A major Dad move. On the drive to the start, John led us on a short jaunt into the forest on the side of the road to pay our respects to a very old, very grand tree – the Bob Padgett Tulip Poplar. We talked about how it was older than America, and the kids were somewhat impressed.
We then made our way to our true destination, Secret Falls. It was an easy half-mile hike with several logs to walk across and streams to hop. And the waterfalls at the end were beautiful! It lived up to its secretive name – we passed maybe one other group on the trail and saw another in the parking lot when we got back to our car, but were otherwise on our own.
We grabbed a quick lunch at Highlands Burritos, which was fine but in the name of transparency a stressful parenting moment, as Annie was tired and hungry and not afraid to let us know it :)
After quiet time, we drove back into town, grabbed a charcuterie kit from Mountain Fresh (we learned from our experience in 2020!), and hiked up Sunset Rock to watch the sun go down. It’s a pretty easy hike even in twilight – about 45 minutes up and 30 minutes down on a wide gravel road.
That night, we ate dinner at the Ugly Dog Pub, another revisit from 2020. Unfortunately, it was another lackluster experience – the service was pretty awful, which can be a bit stressful when you’re trying to move expeditiously through dinner with three little kids after a long day. But we survived! The food was fine :)
On Sunday, we packed up and headed home, grateful for another weekend in the beautiful mountains we love.
And that’s a wrap! For more from Highlands, my recap from 2020 has lots of photos and details, too. And stay tuned, because in 2023, we’re headed to Boone for a totally new adventure! :)
This is a post years and years and years in the making.
It will likely come as no surprise that names are one of my favorite topics to think and talk and write about, but though I’ve devoted many words to discussing the names we actually chose for our three children (June, John Shepherd, and Susanna), I’ve never talked about the runners-up. Like, not ever. We hold our names close to the vest – even speculatively, and even in casual conversation, I’ve kept pretty tight lips when discussing future children’s names… forever.
But now that we have closed this chapter and all our names have been given out, discuss this topic we shall! I’m excited to talk about some of the other names we considered for our kiddos, and other names I love.
A few days before Annie was born, I clicked over to Nameberry to pull a few details for her name post. While there, I got sucked into their Baby Name DNA quiz, which labels your naming personality. (Take it here, if you’d like!) I was labeled a Charmer-Romantic, and I found it to be quite accurate:
This description reflects a lot of what we valued when choosing our kids’ names: that they are easy to spell and pronounce, that they’re not too “out there,” that they are “slightly rarer with a touch of whimsy,” and – ding ding ding! – that they are “personally significant to you in some way.” Here are the names Nameberry suggested a Charmer-Romantic might like:
I do, in fact, like most of these names in a general sense, and as you’ll see below, a few of them were even on my short list! Interestingly, I wouldn’t have chosen most of the names on Nameberry’s list of “names similar to Annie” (though I am, of course, partial to my own :))
With that background, what names were on our short list? Boys first, since, as you know, that was a much shorter short list!
William | This one was on my radar since high school. It’s classic, friendly, simple, sharp. I like the nickname Will. However, we had little personal connection to it, and it is a bit more common than I’d like.
Robert | My beloved Dad’s name! We would have gone with his nickname (Rob) over all the other options. However, it can sound a little harsh (you know, bank robbing and stuff), and is one of those names that sounds kind of funny on a baby :)
Hugh, Tate, and August | I’m lumping these together because they all fall into the same category for me: friendly-sounding, simple, classic names that I liked and jotted down over the years. I have no negative connotations with them, but also no personal connection to them. And August was pretty much out since we knew we’d have a June.
Washington | Before we knew Annie was a girl and we were kicking around potential names for a second boy, this was our top pick. It’s pretty bold, and we couldn’t really figure out a good nickname (Ash? Asher? Neither are really our style), but we loved its unabashed patriotic flair. (Of course everyone knows about George Washington, but I gained even more appreciation for him after I read His Excellency. Highly recommend!)
Aaaaaaand… that was it! Onto the gals!
Here are a few other names we considered for our daughters:
Mae | I absolutely love this name – sweet, simple, classic, lovely – and it would have been my top pick for a second girl if our first had not been named June. Without going full-on calendar theme for our kids, though, this one was unfortunately out.
Glory | We didn’t seriously consider this as a first name (a little too out there for our taste) but it was down to the wire as a middle name for Annie – we even had a pros and cons list debating our final two options. We loved the resonance for our faith, similar to Liberty, and just thought it was such a bold, confident, elegant choice that could guide our girl as she grew into her calling.
Sadie, Sally, and Scout | These three ring similar bells for me! Throwback in feel, sweet, fun, confident, simple, cheerful. Scout, of course, is plucked from my favorite book of all time, which makes me adore it, but in the end it was a little too off the beaten path for us. I think Susanna definitely fits in with this crew!
Claire | Another favorite! Lovely, simple, and strong, this is “one of those special names that is familiar yet distinctive, feminine but not frilly, combining historical depth with a modern edge,” as Nameberry puts it. I couldn’t agree more! Happily, my sister- and brother-in-law chose this for their daughter, so I still get to enjoy it in our family.
Eliza and Liza | To me, these could be described the same way as Claire – familiar yet distinctive, feminine but not frilly, historical depth, etc. Both get bonus points for nodding to my beloved Mom (though she spells her Elisabeth with an s). Since being added to my list Eliza has inched ever closer to the top – in an alternative universe, if we were to somehow have another child in a few years, I might put my money on this one.
Louisa | This one has such strong literary associations, which endears it to me. It feels elegant and strong but also lends itself to bubbly nicknames.
Swannanoa | A total wildcard to round this list out! We never seriously considered naming a child this, but bantered it around as a whimsical option :) It’s inspired by the Swannanoa River that runs through Asheville, a place that holds so many memories for us, and the poet in me loves its lyrical sound. Just try saying it out loud! So lovely. Annie could have been a nickname here, too.
And there you have it! This feels a little like baring my soul, ha. If you’d like to bare yours, please comment with some of your top name contenders for future children, your name runners-up if you already have children, or just plain names that you love. (Of course, from personal experience, I’d also understand if even typing them in the comments of a random blog post feels too revealing! :)) Let’s have at it!!
An annual getaway to the mountains is a beloved tradition for our family, dating back to our first fall in North Carolina. As Asheville has become more and more popular over the last decade (and more crowded, and more expensive…), we have enjoyed branching out a bit to nearby mountain towns: Highlands in 2021, and last year, Black Mountain! We’ll always remember this trip as our first big adventure as a family of five (John and I to each other all weekend: we’re actually doing this!!), and for that reason and more, it was truly magical. I’d love to tell you about it and share a few photos today!
And friendly PSA: if you’re considering an NC mountains trip this fall, right about now is when we like to book our stay! Things book up quite quickly for peak leaf weekends.
Onward!
Black Mountain is a small mountain town just a hair closer to the Triangle than Asheville (about a 3.5-hour drive for us). We loved that it has its own distinct culture, but is only 15 minutes from downtown Asheville (meaning we could still hit some of our ride or dies). We headed west right after school on Thursday, arriving in time to make a drop at our Airbnb and feed Annie before driving the three minutes into town for a late dinner on the patio at My Father’s Pizza. It wasn’t too fancy – your standard pizza and pasta joint – but it got the job done when we needed a quick crowdpleaser.
As always, John did a fantastic job scouting our Airbnb. It had three bedrooms on the main level and even more room in the basement if we had needed it (though I’m glad we didn’t – it was sliiiiightly creepy, ha!).
Perhaps our favorite part about it, though, was that we could easily walk into town on the sidewalk along the main road, which we did for breakfast the next morning! Being able to walk to destinations on vacation is my favorite – it invites us to move at a more leisurely pace, and just makes the days feel so set apart from our normal life… so vacation-y :) The sky was perfectly blue and the leaves were beautiful on our walk!
Our breakfast destination? Four Sisters Bakery, tucked into a neighborhood of cute old homes. We split several pastries and ate them in the sun while the big kids played on the lawn and climbed trees. While chatting about our plans for the weekend, we got a wild hair: what if we had dinner at the Grove Park Inn one night? We hadn’t locked in any of our dinner plans because we weren’t exactly sure what our schedule would be, and though I was doubtful they’d have any availability on such a prime weekend, we figured it was worth a shot.
I called up the front desk and, lo and behold, they had a table for four at 6:45 (just past sunset!) the next night!! The concierge was as surprised as me it was still available, ha! As soon as I hung up the phone the nerves about taking two little kids and a baby to a fairly fancy restaurant bubbled up, but we were thrilled to have the opportunity.
After walking back to our Airbnb, we hopped in the car and drove just a few minutes away from downtown into Montreat. Montreat! Such a delightful, strange little spot! It is a town of about three square miles with fewer than 500 residents, and seems to mostly be taken up by a Christian conference center and a tiny college.
And, as it turns out, a wonderful hike – Lookout Trail. It’s a moderate out-and-back with some scrambly sections that took us a little less than two hours with a five- and three-year-old (and a baby on John in the Ergo). Also, Shep and I worked together to carry this large stick up the whole hike at his behest:
The kids enjoyed pretending to roast s’mores at the top :)
From there, we drove into Asheville for lunch at White Duck Taco. For our family, literally no trip west is complete without a stop!
After lunch, we walked along the river to the River Arts District. I had read about a pysanky egg artist with an open studio in Our State, and wanted to pay a visit given my family connection. Though nerve-wracking to squeeze amongst so many breakables with two small children, it was SO fun to see all of the beautiful designs. I splurged on an egg to add to my collection in honor of my grandmother, and can’t wait to nestle it next to my heirlooms when we celebrate Easter in a few weeks.
Next, we popped over to Asheville Bee Charmer in downtown for a quick honey tasting. They were in a new storefront since our last visit, but the honey bar was intact and a highlight, as always. We took home a custom trio of our family favorites: Meadowfoam, Orange Blossom, and Sourwood.
It was late afternoon at this point but not quite time for dinner, so we drove back to Black Mountain and stretched our legs at a playground we had majorly rubbernecked in Montreat earlier in the day. Y’all, this was one of the coolest playgrounds I have ever been to!! Little islands of wooden playground equipment were dotted between rocky streams, making for a magical play experience. The water was too cold to wade into during our October visit, but during the summer I’ll bet it’s heaven.
We could have stayed for hours, but eventually packed up and drove the few minutes into town for dinner at Black Mountain Bistro. Even with chilly temps, it was cozy on the patio under string lights and heat lamps.
We finished the evening with chocolate treats from Kilwins and a turn in the hot tub. Yes, this was a major attraction of this Airbnb and June and Shep were SO EXCITED to finally take a dip after 24 hours in its vicinity.
The Thomas clan is often slow going in the morning. On Saturday, we opted for a late brunch at Open Oven Bakery. It was quite busy, so while we waited for our table, John took the kids to play at the church playground across the street while I walked around the corner to Sassafras on Sutton, a truly delightful bookstore and toy store. John’s physical therapist had actually suggested it to us, and I figured I’d pick up a few… incentives for our Grove Park dinner that night. I got that and more – it is exactly the kind of spot I look for throughout the year to help fill stockings!
After brunch on the patio (delicious!), we drove out on the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Orchard at Altapass.
We were lucky to have another absolutely gorgeous day and enjoyed the mountain views as much as ever.
I’m sorry to say our Honeycrisp-sweetened taste buds mostly turned up their noses at the humble apples of Altapass, but everyone enjoyed the act of picking, “bowling” fallen apples down the paths, and the apple ugly, slice of pie, and cup of cider we shared.
We had just enough time to hit a short hike on our way home in the late afternoon – Roaring Fork Falls. This hike was a delight, and perfect for kids: it’s flat, took us less than an hour, and culminates in an impressive waterfall.
And then to the big event of the evening: dinner at the GPI! The grand lobby with its massive fireplaces was hopping, as you’d expect on an October weekend, but we were shown right to our table on the Sunset Terrace at 6:45. The sun had just set over Asheville, and the sky was still on fire. A pinch-me kind of moment!
From the cost of valet parking to the actual food itself, this dinner was our biggest splurge of the trip, but it was a truly special and memorable experience. The kids did a great job (including Annie, who slept through part of the meal in her carseat under the table, nursed, then sat in my lap for dessert) and even got commendations on their behavior from an older couple sitting nearby. Proud parenting moment :)
This experience has actually inspired me to write a whole post on dining out with kids – hopefully this month! We are not experts and neither are our kids, but we have been eating at restaurants with them since they were born (pandemic notwithstanding) and have figured out a few simple tricks along the way. Would love to be able to encourage anyone for whom this sounds intimidating!
On Sunday morning, our last morning, we had planned to try Louise’s Kitchen for brunch, but the line looked truly epic, so we happily headed back to Open Oven and might have ordered the exact same thing on all sides of the table.
Our last adventure before driving home was a hike in Newland: the Upper Creek Falls Loop.
It was noticeably longer and more challenging than our two previous hikes – it clocked in at about 2.5 hours and required several stream crossings as well as navigating steep and rocky sections. It was even rated “most difficult” by the Forest Service according to the sign at the trailhead, though to be fair that description seems a little overblown.
This little hiker guy with his Halloween socks kills me.
Just a little casual Highlights reading break mid-hike :)
Everyone except our intrepid driver was very happy to snooze on the drive home, grateful for an incredible trip and memories made!
If you have any questions about a mountain trip or anything here, I’m happy to answer! And thus concludes my 2021 travel recaps – on to 2022! :)
