1. My mom came here on Monday evening. She is just the best! I’ve mentioned before that I’m chairing the decorations committee for our Holiday Market (December 1-4 at the Cantey Building in Columbia). I had to make 16 wreaths for all the doors in the building and my mom is the master wreath maker. I mentioned to her that it would be so great to have her help when making the wreaths. And there she was! She came to help me. In 36 hours, we made 16 wreaths. We had such a great little system going to get these things cranked out and finished. We finished the last wreath about 30 minutes before we had to leave to take her to the airport.

This is what my guest bedroom looks like. 10 of the wreaths are just hanging out on my guest bed and the other 6 are in the attic at Junior League headquarters. I’m so glad to have this project finished!

2. Teething has hit our house with full force! Poor Hayes, my sweet easy-going, great sleeping baby. On Sunday night (when we got back from vacation), he was up every two hours screaming. We fed him and changed him every time because I just knew he didn’t feel well. He also has a horrible case of diaper rash that we’ve gotten under control. (You should all check out Callie’s diaper rash remedy.) Teething just messes up their little systems so badly. But I can finally feel the tooth popping through! Hopefully this is almost over for him.

3. My house is a disaster. There is dirty laundry everywhere and clean laundry just in piles waiting to be folded. It looks like a glitter explosion hit my living room and dining room because that”s where we were making wreaths. The wreath-making days set me back in terms of getting stuff done around here, so it’s really a disaster. I even started a load of clothes yesterday and then started making wreaths. I remembered about 14 hours later that I didn’t move the clothes to the dryer. So, of course, they don’t smell great. I really need to get things under control so I can relax and enjoy the holidays.

4. I think I’m getting a new Christmas tree this year. Our tree is in great shape, but it’s so full and takes up so much space. With a baby who will probably be crawling by then, a rowdy toddler, two dogs and two adults, I think I want a slim tree so we can actually be in the same room with the tree! I just don’t know if I’ll have the time to get a new tree … or if it’s in our budget!

5. With all of these Holiday Market decorations, I’m wondering if I’ll even want to decorate my house for Christmas. I can’t wait to turn off the lights and just go by the light of the tree. And I can’t wait to listen to Christmas music while we read books to Hudson and Hayes. I know it sounds like we live in “la la land” at Christmas time, but I just love it and really love to soak up the season. But with so much glitter and decorations for the Market… will I have it in me?

6. I’ve got a pretty good list of what we’re giving everyone for Christmas this year. We’re not doing a whole lot for Hayes. We didn’t do a ton for Hudson for his first Christmas. I don’t want Hayes to only have Hudson’s hand-me-down toys, but I also know that they just don’t need much. He’ll get a couple of keepsake gifts that we do every year and then I’ll probably get him one new toy. I’m super excited about what we’ve decided to do for Hudson this year. Christmas through the eyes of a toddler is just the best!

7. Speaking of Christmas… I was really inspired by a lot of the Compassion bloggers (specificially Kelly) and I want to adopt two kids through Compassion this year.

8. There is a strong-willed toddler in my house. We’ve known this for a while, but we really have to figure out the times of day when he’s in a good mood and the times of day when we can count on him to be in a rotten mood. And it all comes down to when he’s tired and when he doesn’t get to do what he wants to do. We’re back to nap time struggles. Once he falls asleep he’s asleep for hours. But he doesn’t want to go to his room to take a nap. We’re just in the land of tantrums. But he is also growing up so quickly and is a lot more agreeable. It’s just so funny to me that one minute he is super agreeable and cooperative and then the next second there is a full on meltdown happening in the kitchen.

In the words of Clark W. Griswold, “Where’s the Tylenol?”

9. I probably need to make a plan for Thanksgiving cooking. That seems like something that would go in my home organization notebook. But I also know that if I don’t get this laundry taken care of, I won’t be able to concentrate on cooking!

So I don’t typically like to blog about blogging. I mean, I’ve done it a few times prior to this, but I think this post will come full circle and it will make sense why I wanted to write this.

Blogs are such a fun little gift! We have insight into a person’s life. We get to share and benefit from someone’s creativity. We get to read about people with similar experiences and struggles. We get to find people that share the same interests, hobbies, taste in clothes and football teams! And, in our own blogs, we get to have an outlet to release whatever is on our mind that day. It’s such a fun little world.

Lately, I’ve noticed that the criticism of bloggers has increased significantly. Sometimes, other bloggers are the ones doing the criticizing, and other times it’s non-bloggers that are critical.

But no matter who’s doing the criticizing, this is what I want to say. We have to always remember that blogging is just a glimpse. Some days I blog about my thoughts. Some days I blog about my fears. Some days I blog about a recipe. Some days I blog about what we did on the previous day. It’s a hodge podge. It’s my blog and I get to decide what goes on it.

There are bloggers who take one little thought or event and can turn it into the deepest post or most hilarious post. There are bloggers who blog about every thing they do on a daily basis as a way to record memories. There are bloggers who don’t blog about anything personal and keep their blog strictly to have a creative outlet and share ideas. There are bloggers who are strictly fashion bloggers.

For me, personally, I think I blog about a little bit of everything. I just blog about whatever I choose to share that day.

If I don’t blog about my husband very often that doesn’t mean that I don’t have a wonderful relationship with him. Maybe he just doesn’t want to be mentioned on the blog.

If I don’t write about the ways we give to charitable organizations and to our church, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. If I choose not to mention an argument that I had with a loved one, it doesn’t mean that I’m perfect or not normal. I just don’t want to put every single detail of my life on my blog.

And I think a lot of bloggers feel that same way.

A fashion blogger has more to her life than just fashion. Her blog is just about fashion. Food bloggers have more going on in their lives than just food.

Making the choice to keep some information private doesn’t mean the blogger isn’t “real” or authentic. And sharing a lot doesn’t mean that the blogger has shared everything. There will always be things about the blogger that the reader doesn’t know.

It’s so important to remember that just because someone doesn’t blog about something, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

Because I am a blogger, I like to give other bloggers the benefit of the doubt. If I read something I don’t like, I don’t automatically jump to the conclusion that I wouldn’t like that blogger in real life. It is a fact that if I like someone’s blog, I like her even more in person!

I wrote this just as a reminder to myself and my readers that blogging is a glimpse. We don’t see everything. We miss a lot of the good and a lot of the bad. But, as I’ve said before, bloggers do have a right to privacy. Fortunately, we get to set up our own privacy settings on our own blogs. We choose what we share and what we don’t share.

The best part is that we have the opportunity to share our voice, no matter the subject and no matter how many people are reading, our voice is out there!

*Warning: Picture overload!

I had such a great birthday weekend. I’m so glad that my expectations didn’t get the best of me, because while I was looking forward to the weekend, I still had a really relaxing, wonderful time.

On Thursday morning, TC and I dropped off Hudson and Hayes and then we got on I-26 and headed north a little more than 2 hours to Asheville. I hadn’t been there as a destination since high school, so it had been a really long time. I’m so glad we decided to go to Asheville to celebrate my birthday!

TC had done a little bit of research in terms of finding out some recommendations on where we should have dinner and places we should see. We stayed at the Inn on Biltmore Estate and it was absolutely wonderful. It was such a relaxing, comforting stay. The accommodations were so great and the property wasn’t overwhelming or huge.

My absolute favorite thing is that the Inn sits on the 8,000-something acres of Biltmore property. When we stepped outside the hotel onto the patio, there were beautiful views in every single direction. The gorgeous colors on the trees took my breath away.

Our first day there, we explored a lot of the property on foot. We walked down to the outdoor center and rented bikes and rode about 4 miles on some paved trails. It was a super windy day and we bundled up as best we could, but we were cold. It was about 45 degrees and with the wind on a bicycle, I was definitely ready to sit near a fire!

call me Lance Armstrong!

That yellow tree! Maybe my favorite thing about the whole trip.

After the bike ride, we wandered over to visit the barn animals and talk to the man in charge of keeping them. Hudson would have loved being in there with all the goats, chickens and sheep.

My family plays this game when we’re on road trips and I guess you could call it “the hawk game.” We all keep our eyes open and are constantly looking at the tops of trees and electric poles for hawks. And when you see one, you shout, “hawk!”

On our way back from riding bikes, we walked past the little vineyard on the way to the Inn. And sitting right there on the vineyard fence post was a giant hawk. It was absolutely amazing. And then I was a little afraid it was going to come get me!

On our first night, we had dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant called Cucina 24. It was one of the most interesting meals I’ve ever had and I want to go back to Asheville just to eat there again. TC had the most amazing twist on a caprese salad. The mozzarella cheese was the best I’ve ever tasted. I had mussels because I just couldn’t resist. Then TC got a mushroom and truffle oil pizza and I had spaghetti with veal and prosciutto meatballs. Everything was absolutely fantastic.

mmmm… mussels!

We had plans to go to the French Broad Chocolate Lounge for dessert, but our waiter at Cucina 24 brought me some Nutella gelato for an early birthday treat. We ended up walking to the French Broad Chocolate Lounge after that and we passed my sweet friend, Rachel, and her husband on the sidewalk! So funny!

When we made it to the French Broad Chocolate Lounge, there was a line all the way to the door. We grabbed our menus and each picked out a couple of things we wanted. Then I saw that all of these desserts were actually sitting right there in a case. How fresh can a brownie be if it’s just sitting out? But I got a brownie and it was cold and really crunchy. TC got a coconut macaroon and hot chocolate, but he took one sip of his hot chocolate and told me to have a taste and tell him the first thought that came to mind. I took a taste and immediately said, “baby formula.” And he said, “YES!” How awful is that? The hot chocolate smelled like baby formula and tasted the way I imagine Hayes’s formula tastes. We had been so excited about this restaurant and were just so sad that we didn’t like it.

(Sorry to include a negative restaurant review in my post, but I know people want to know restaurant recommendations.)

On my birthday morning, I woke up and we had breakfast delivered to our room. We chowed down on some eggs and toast and then I threw on my robe and went down to the spa. I had the most relaxing massage that morning! The Spa at the Biltmore was wonderful and the staff was so accommodating.

After the massage, I came back to the room and found flowers from my sweet husband.

I got dressed and then we went out to explore around the downtown area and in The Biltmore Village. I grabbed a few goodies for myself and we got some presents for Hudson and Hayes. We drove back to the hotel and warmed up by the fire before getting dressed for dinner that night at The Corner Kitchen.

Our second dinner was just as great as the first. The Corner Kitchen was so delicious. I ordered corn and crab chowder and beef tenderloin and I absolutely loved both things. TC loved his meatloaf and salad, too. The staff was great and the atmosphere was super cozy. We split an order of bread pudding for my birthday dessert. Yum!

I asked to keep a copy of the menu since it had the date, November 11, 2011, on it

mmm beef tenderloin and mashed potatoes

After dinner, we went back to the Biltmore House for the candlelight tour. The house was decorated for Christmas and November 11 was the first night of the candle light tour. It was absolutely beautiful. We couldn’t take pictures in the house, but I did find a few online. The house is so big and so beautiful. I just can’t even fathom the time and effort it took to build it over 100 years ago. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend going.

On my birthday, we saw a wedding taking place just outside the hotel’s back doors. What a breath taking back drop for a wedding! (I snapped this picture through the windows.)

We loved all of the natural wildlife and the efforts to preserve so much of it on the Biltmore property. Every night when we drove to the Inn, we saw the same deer grazing in a field. And then the morning we left town, we saw a flock/herd (??) of turkeys crossing the road. Someone must have given them the memo that they needed to get on the move before Thanksgiving!

And I highly recommend visiting Asheville. There’s so much to see, so much to do and so much to eat! It was a perfect birthday weekend!

TC and I never get pictures together when we’re on vacation. We just always feel bad asking someone to take our picture and then when they do, they’ve cropped off the top of someone’s head and we hate asking for a do over! I did take a couple of iPhone pictures of my outfit choices for dinner while we were there!

We are already talking about going back every year at this time of year. I have definitely fallen in love with this city. The absolute peace and quiet was the best part and then the scenery was also just as remarkable. We loved being somewhere that was so conducive to spending a lot of time outside. When can we go back?

Places mentioned and links:

The Inn on Biltmore Estate

The Corner Kitchen

The Biltmore Village

Cucina 24

French Broad Chocolate Lounge

Biltmore House

The Spa at the Biltmore

You’ve probably noticed that the giveaway season is here! From now until the end of the year, you can expect to see a giveaway on this blog every week. It’s just the giving season and so many of the blog sponsors and friends are eager to host special giveaways just for you!

Today’s giveaway is from my good friends at Ashley Brooke Designs and I’m partnering up on this giveaway with the fabulous Nina.

The kind gals at Ashley Brooke Designs have put together this fantastic package for Blue-Eyed Bride and According to Nina readers. They have the cutest holiday designs right now in the Ashley Brooke Designs shop! One winner from Blue-Eyed Bride and one winner from According to Nina will go home with all of these “unnecessary necessities!”

So just comment on both blogs (According to Nina) and “like” Ashley Brooke Designs on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. (You do not need to leave a separate comment on each blog to let us know you followed on Twitter or “liked” on Facebook.)

You should all visit the Ashley Brooke Designs shop to browse around and add some things to your holiday wish list or pick up a few things for those deserving gift recipients in your life this year. The notepads would make great teacher gifts or would be the perfect favor to give to friends that attend your cookie exchange. The possibilities are limitless and I know that once you look around, you’ll be smitten, too!

*I received a set of Ashley Brooke Designs holiday stationery, the holiday to-do list notepad and the little gift tags as a gift from Ashley Brooke Designs for doing this giveaway. She will always be one of my very favorite designers and is a good friend to me.