These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Asheville, NC

Hello all,

Our first trip is in the books for this summer. We headed over to the beautiful mountains of North Carolina to spend some time with our family for the 4th! We had a great time! We've been over to the Asheville area before, but mostly to see the Biltmore and for our first anniversary we had gone to Lake Lure which is about 40 minutes south of Asheville. On this trip we kind of went all over the place in the area. Here were our favorite things that we highly recommend doing while in the Asheville area!

1. Rent a Boat with Lake Lure Adventure Company
My family went boating a lot in Florida, but nothing compares to the beauty of Lake Lure. It seriously is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The mountain view while on the clear water, it's awesome. And sorry to spoil the surprise but it is a man made lake, so it's not super marshy. The bottom is soft sand. Nike LOVED the water (not so much the boat) and we had a great time taking in the views that Lake Lure had to offer all over again. Making the 40 minute drive from Asheville for the day is well worth your time. Read more about our favorite things specifically in Lake Lure from our last trip here .

2. The Biltmore Estate
If you haven't been here and are going over to Asheville, this is a must do while in the area. It's an amazing house, but the gardens in the spring time are even more spectacular. The price is a little steep now-a-days but if you've never been it's worth the price. You can pay a little extra for the headphones and audio recording that tell you about each thing as you go through the house if you want, but you can also just read the brochure. We didn't go there this trip but have been three times in the past.

3. Sunny Point Cafe
This place... it's bomb. Seriously so delicious. It is BUSY so get there either right when it opens or be prepared to wait. Madi and his basketball coach said that their oatmeal banana pancakes were the best pancakes they have ever eaten. My french toast was bomb also. So were the home fries Madi ordered on accident. YUM!! I would have eaten there multiple days if we knew about it sooner, but we went on our last day.

4. Downtown Asheville
Lots of cute little boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops, and an old school movie theater too. Worth going there just to walk around and see the area. They have touristy shops, but also just regular cute eclectic stores too. It's undergoing a lot of renovations, but seemed to be doing pretty well overall! If you like drinking, they have a LOT of local beer and cider (because Asheville has a lot of local breweries). Unfortunately the winding and turny roads in Lake Lure got to my stomach and I did not think trying local alcohol was a great idea while feeling nauseated. But I have heard it's delicious!

Overall Asheville was beautiful and we were blessed with good weather. However if we had to choose between there or Lake Lure, in the summer or fall I would definitely pick Lake Lure just because of the amazing views of the mountains and beauty of the lake. We went ziplining again at Canopy Ridge Farms (same place we did before) and it was just as great of an experience the second time. They seriously get a 10/10 in my book! Next is our big two week vacation where we will be going all over the place with a cruise in the middle. Can't wait for you all to see the pictures!

Thanks for keeping up with us,
- Olivia

#BookWorm: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Hello fellow readers,

The book I checked off my list last was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling. Yeah I know, I'm super behind the times as this book came out last summer. However, I have had it on my shelf for a while, and finally had time to crack it open. This book follows Albus, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley's youngest son, who is sorted into Slytherin on his first day at Hogwarts. He becomes friends with Scorpius Malfoy, son of Harry's foe in the original HP series, and the two try to take on dark forces at work together. One day Albus overhears Cedric Diggory's father talking to Harry about how his son should have been saved, and after stumbling across a time turner Albus and Scorpius travel through time to save Cedric from his lowly fate. However interfering with time makes things messy, and changes many people's fate. They have to decide between changing the world to bring back Cedric, or leaving his father depressed and alone without a son. Of course they run into some more important characters from the past HP books along the way, making their journey even more complicated than originally anticipated.

This book was an easy read to me, especially compared to the later Harry Potter books that seemed to be hard to follow unless you sat down and read it straight in the summertime. I had no problem reading the play format, as many people stated was annoying to read. I also had no trouble finishing it quickly, as a lot of people I talked to said they got uninterested in the middle and stopped there. I did however find most of the themes a repeat from the original series, i.e. the time turner in The Prisoner of Azkaban, reliving the death of Cedric in The Goblet of Fire, and many more. It wasn't super original and exciting to me. It did make me want to see the play, but sounded more like something that would be done at Universal Studious not a Broadway production. Overall I would say it is a 6/10. Wasn't a terrible sequel to the series, but was nowhere near comparable to the original books. Not even close. But it does answer some questions that readers or fans of the movies may have asked at the end of the original series.

I have already picked up a new book and am working my way through it. This summer seems to be flying by and my free time has been quite limited as I am almost constantly busy at work, therefore exhausted when I get home and don't have energy to read. But I do try my best to make it happen! Did you read The Cursed Child? What were your thoughts? Has anyone actually gone to London and seen the play? Thoughts on the play in comparison to most Broadway theatrics? Let me know!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia

DIY: Chocolate Cupcakes with Birthday Cake Frosting

Hello all,

My friend's birthday was this week (HBD Nicole! Whoop Whoop!) and so I got back into the kitchen. I've been working on experimenting with cupcake concoctions, but wanted to find a simple chocolate cupcake recipe that would pair well with my birthday cake frosting. This was the perfect occasion for such experimenting! Here is a simple chocolate cupcake recipe and also the recipe for my birthday cake frosting (previously seen here with the birthday cake frosted brownies)

What you'll need:
- 2 cupcake tins
- 1 fork
- 1 mixer
- Cupcake Liners
- 2 medium size mixing bowls

Cupcakes
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup milk (can use buttermilk)
- 1/2 cup olive oil (can use vegetable oil)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup hot water

Frosting
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter unsalted
- 1/3 cup yellow cake mix
- 4 tbsp milk (and have on hand to add PRN)
- 1 tbsp vanilla

- Sprinkles- any kind, color, or amount you'd like!
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300°F and place cupcake liners in the cupcake tin.
2. Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk together.
3. In a different bowl, mix the egg, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. Add the water to the batter and mix until well combined.
TIP: Do not be alarmed, batter looks way more watery than boxed cupcakes
6. Fill the cupcake liners about half way and bake for 18-22 minutes or until fork comes out clean
7. Let cupcakes cool for at least 20 minutes. 
TIP: For faster cooling, take out of cupcake tin and place on baking rack
8. Mix together ingredients for frosting, adding the sprinkles in last. 

There you have it! Some DELICIOUS cupcakes with my favorite DIY frosting to date. YUM! What do you think of this recipe? Anything I should add or subtract to make it better? I know there are lots of complicated recipes for chocolate cupcakes out there, but was happy to find and experiment with one that is more simple. 

Thanks for baking with me,
- Olivia :)