Our Asheville Babymoon

To celebrate the upcoming arrival of the newest little Baby Schweitz, John and I got away for a night for a short babymoon in Asheville, NC. And it was awesome!

When my mother-in-law and father-in-law suggested we do an overnight away so they could practice watching John Paul through the night (since they're gonna be doing it again when we go into labor and baby makes an arrival!), we were completely on board. It was going to be our first night away from John Paul ever, but we figured we needed to try it some time. And thankfully it just so happened to be around the time we were hoping to go on a babymoon. I was 32 weeks pregnant, which seemed like about the latest we should be traveling. So it worked perfectly. Win win!

We decided very easily on Asheville, NC. It's only about an hour from where we live and it's jam packed with fun things to do and good things to eat. So we figured it would maximize our adventure time while keeping our travel time to a minimum. When you only have 24 hours for a trip, that's the way to go!

We said our goodbyes to John Paulie (ugh, my heart) around 10:30am and drove straight into town for a most delicious lunch at a Lebanese place called Gypsy Queen.

I enjoyed their house tea, while John enjoyed his first-ever Lebanese beer. We ate way too much, including their Lebanese fries (fries smothered garlic aioli and tahini dressing, sprinkled with parsley . . . mmmmm), baba ganouj (smoked eggplant dip), and a kibbeh wrap (the national dish of Lebanon!). We were so full, we basically had to be rollllled out of there.

From there, we drove a few quick miles into downtown Asheville for a relaxation appointment at the Asheville Salt Cave. I wanted to do some sort of special-to-Asheville activity while we were in town, and this strange yet intriguing manmade cave of salt exactly fit the bill.

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For $25 a pop, we both got to sit in this salt cave for an hour and breathe in the calming, healing salty air. You can read all about the benefits on their website if you're curious. I just thought it was something neat to do. And it was! Gosh, I feel relaxed again just looking at that picture.

After the salt cave, we wandered around downtown Asheville on foot, popping in and out of shops, and taking in the hippy vibes that make Asheville, well . . . Asheville.

We made sure to stop at a shop called Bathe, just as we had on our Eureka Springs babymoon, pre-John Paul. Just a few days before our Asheville babymoon, we ran out of the lavender bath salts we had purchased on the Eureka Springs babymoon at the Bathe store there. It was totally fate.

At Bathe, you pick the product you want (hand lotion, scrubbing salts, beard scrub . . . ) and then, using approximately 100 different scents, combine to make your own unique scent for the product. It's pretty neat. We created a sandalwood tobacco and vanilla salt hand scrub and lavender bath salts. As we checked out, we mentioned to the cashier that we had enjoyed visiting their shop in Eureka Springs (I believe the only other one) and she said we were the first people she met who'd been to both shops! Woohoo, achievement unlocked!

Following Bathe, we continued adventuring for a while until we stumbled upon a kombucha bar, AKA quintessential Asheville joint. I was thrilled to discover they serve kombucha flights!! When you can't drink booze (because pregnancy), but you find something that sorta mimics the fun things about booze, you do a happy dance.

In case you're not in the know, kombucha is fermented tea. It's a little fizzy, a little vinegary, and a lot of fun. I actually brewed it at home for a few months. And then I got pregnant and it lost its appeal. But I totally intend on picking up the brewing habit again. It's chockfull of so-good-for-you probiotics, so you really can't go wrong.

The flavors I tried, all made by Buchi Kombucha, were . . .

Fire -- cold pressed ginger + cayenne + spices (what?! too spicy)
Water -- elderberry + blueberry + coconut water (my fave!)
Earth -- roasted roots tonic (tasted like rootbeer . . . meh)
Sovereign -- ginger + peach + molasses (second fave!)
Avonlea -- orange + mango + sea buckthorn
Holiday -- cinnamon + cider + vanilla + clove

Belly up to the bar!

;)

We decided we needed a little break following all the downtown adventures, so we headed to our hotel to check in. We didn't stay anywhere fancy. Just a regular ol' Baymont Inn & Suites. We figured it was best to save a little cash on our hotel so we could really go all out on a fancy adventure a little later in the evening.

(Hold your horses, I'll get there!)

After some quick R&R, we headed south south south of Asheville to a Korean restaurant for dinner. We figured heading away from downtown Asheville on a Saturday evening was a smart choice. Good thing this city is so cool that super delicious restaurants can be found still several miles outside of downtown.

We considered tons of different cuisines, but Stonebowl Korean won out, simply because (1) the pics on yelp made me salivate and (2) we don't have any Korean food restaurants near home. Easy choice.

We split dumplings as an appetizer and ordered the beef bi bim bop for dinner. It came with all these fun side dishes. And the bowl arrived at our table snap, crackle, poppin'! The stone bowl was hot hot hot, so the ingredients inside continued cooking while we enjoyed. It was all fantastically delicious AND fun! 5 out of 5 stars! Would recommend! *thumbs up emoji*

And from there, we headed to the main event . . . Christmas at Biltmore! This was our maj splurge during our babymoon, and it did not disappoint.

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The Biltmore is a ridiculously huge mansion set in the beautiful mountain scenery of western NC. This crazy estate, finished in 1895, sits on over 10 square miles, and the house has 250 rooms, including 33 bedrooms for family and guests, 43 bathrooms (what even?!?), 65 fireplaces, an indoor pool, and a bowling alley. It's like Downton Abbey on steroids. Need I say more?

Our admittance time wasn't until 8:45pm because they were already pretty booked by the time I got our in-advance tickets. So we spent some of our extra time wandering through the gift shops and drinking hot chocolate in the cold. It was pretty romantic. 

We were finally allowed into the house and, guhhh, just breathtaking, guys!

I had to take a moment to pose in front of the largest decorated indoor Christmas tree I think I've ever seen. It was in their banquet hall, which has 70-foot-high barrel-vaulted ceilings. Umm, tall much?

We also needed a selfie at the bottom of the massive 4-story spiral grand staircase. 

But seriously, it was gorg. The whole thing. It was all decked out for Christmas and they had professional musicians set throughout the house singing and playing classical Christmas tunes. So many happy feels.

We explored for about an hour, maybe more, then decided it was time to say goodbye to the crazy life of wealth and excess and head back to reality.

Our hotel room randomly had a hot tub in it. Like, attached hot tub room for two. It was a little weird and out of place, but wait . . . why am I complaining? We used our newly purchased lavender Bathe bath salts and relaxed in the tub for a tiny while. But then, like the old farts we are, we got super tired and realized we neeeeeed sleeeeeep. So sleep we did!

We totally failed at using this overnight away from our toddler to sleep in (doy.), but we had to squeeze in breakfast and Mass and a trip to Trader Joe's before getting home in time, so we didn't really have a choice. The good news is, we spent our non-sleeping time on so many adventures that missing out on the extra sleep felt totally worth it. :)

Breakfast was at Biscuit Head, a breakfast joint that specializes in creating crazy delicious biscuit dishes.

John got a brisket biscuit (YAS!) and I played it simple with an egg, cheese, and bacon biscuit, plus a side of their homemade yogurt with granola. I also raided their jam and butter bar, as evidenced by the 8 little containers of jam and butter laid across the table in front of John. That didn't even cover half of the available flavors. That jam bar was my JAM!

We sat around a bit to digest the biscuit bombs in our bellies and to wait out the 1-hour-before-Communion fast, and then headed into downtown Asheville one last time to attend Mass at the Basilica of St. Lawrence!

Mass was just lovely. It was the first weekend of Advent, and the Deacon gave a fantastic homily, reflecting on a much more realistic version of the Nativity than we typically hear or see.

Check out this gorgeous Church . . .

*swooning for Jesus*

And since we can't go to Asheville without a stop at Trader Joe's, we headed straight there after Mass to wander the aisles and aimlessly by all the things we don't need but looked too tasty to leave behind. (TJ's, if you're listening, PLEASE COME TO EAST TENNESSEE! PUH-LEEZ!)

We squeezed in a trip to a neat little coffee shop, sorta en route to the highway, Liberty House Coffee & Cafe, and I tried my first London Fog: earl grey tea with honey and almond milk. Mmmmm. They had these ridiculously huge pumpkins on their front porch, which I obvi needed to pose with.

And from there, we headed straight back to good ol' east TN, refreshed from all our fun and adventuring, but ready to see our little John Paul again. 

'Twas perfect.

Thanks for the memories, Asheville! You're pretty neat.

Winter Recipe Capsule

Happy Eastertide, everybody! 

And can you believe it? . . . Spring has sprung! It may not exactly feel it, especially for you northern folk who just got hit by a bunch of random April snow. Yikes! Sorry 'bout that. But spring's here whether the weather wants to cooperate or not. Flowers are blooming, the sun shines late into the day, and the air has that warm, happy, things-are-growing springtime scent. Mmmmmm.

You know, I'm totally into every single wardrobe capsule post I read. It's definitely something I'm going to do some day when we have more storage space in our NEW HOUSE!! (I'm going to have to leave you with a cliffhanger there, but yes, we got a house!) But today, I'm going to switch things up and create for your viewing (and eating) pleasure, A WINTER RECIPE CAPSULE! AKA the recipes that got us through the winter.

What makes a recipe a winter recipe? Oh, I don't exactly know. Warm, filling, comfort food-y to get you through the winter blues, carby to help you pack on some extra blubber to survive the cold winter temps. Yeah, that about covers it.

While these recipes may not apply right now (unless you're one of the unlucky few who is currently buried under a northern pile of snow), they'll be great to come back to once winter hits again next year. Or if you don't care about matching your meals to the season, I say go for it! We've loved making and devouring each one of these, so I hope you will too, no matter when you make them.

Crock Pot Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili

While I'm not a huge goat cheese fan, it totally makes this recipe. Yum! To cut costs, we usually replace red/orange/yellow peppers in any recipe with plain ol' green. I know they don't taste exactly the same, but especially in this recipe which cooks for hours and hours in a crock pot, I'm pretty sure you won't notice a difference.

Dilly Stew

A big thanks to Ashlie for introducing me to this one. Oh my YUM! Take her advice and double the dumplings in this one. They're the best part!

Bean Tavy

We all love Kendra at Catholic All Year, amirite? This recipe is delish and super filling, especially over a big bowl of pasta. Oh, and did I mention? It's about the easiest recipe you'll ever make.

  

Warm Tortellini and Cherry Tomato Salad

John and I have been enjoying this recipe for a few winters now. It's pretty easy to throw together, and fills you up without feeling too heavy. Plus, I'm always a sucker for something that combines pasta and greens. The dressing recipe that goes along with this one is okay, but you can make it way easier, and probably tastier, on yourself if you pick out your fave balsamic vinaigrette from the grocery store and just go with that.

Sweet Potato Chili

Woah! A throwback to my very old, barely used blog. I don't mind embarrassing myself to share this one with ya because this recipe is the bomb. Easy, tasty, cheap, and vegetarian! I lived off this stuff when I was a full-time volunteer for a year. Check it.

Butternut Squash Quesadillas

I'm linking to within my own blog here. But I take no credit for this tasty creation: this one's a family recipe. Another one that's tasty, cheap, and vegetarian! Not exactly easy though, since it does involve a butternut squash. Those things are a beast. I like to say . . . When someone makes you a recipe with butternut squash, they must really love you, because butternut squash is WORK. That work is well worth it here, though, I can promise you that. Once the squash is chopped, this is very easy! Worth the sweat.

 

Thai Beef Chili

 

Lots of fun and unique flavors here. My favorite part is the can of coconut milk. Tell me, have you ever had a bad recipe that involved a can of coconut milk? Pretty sure the answer is no. That stuff is divine! Extra special thanks to Katie for recommending this one. 

 Crock Pot Vegetarian Moroccan Stew

Another recipe with fun and unique flavors. This time, the star ingredient is cinnamon. I know, cinnamon and veggies . . . sounds a little weird, right? But I promise it's good. So good. Oh, and yeah, this one's another butternut squash recipe. But again, worth the effort! Plus, it makes a TON of food. We usually get at least 3 nights out of it.

Pozole 

Ignore the fact that this one comes from GQ Magazine and may include a silly/obnoxious article leading up to it. John made this recipe recently and it's to die for!! Also, SO SPICY! So if you're not into spicy, leave out about 1/2 the peppers in adobo sauce, or make sure you have LOTS of sour cream on hand. But wow, this one is jam packed with amazing flavor. And it's super filling. Great for a party! 

Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup 

You know, enchiladas are SO GOOD, but also SO MUCH WORK. This recipe takes the work out of the equation, but leaves the tasty. :) We like to top it with avocado and tortilla chips in addition to the cheese and scallions and cilantro.

Zucchini Lasagna

Not gonna lie, slicing the zucchini super thin with a mandolin, then straining them, then layering, then baking . . . this recipe takes a lot of love and time. But it's good. So dang good. And it'll last ya several nights, or serve several guests at a party. Plus, it'll warm ya to the bones.

African Peanut Stew

It might sound weird, but the combo of peanuts and cilantro and sriracha . . . pretty much a match made in Heaven. We skipped the rice on this one, but added a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, a big spoonful of extra peanut butter, and 16 oz of cubed tofu. Now that's what I call a Happy Meal!

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Bowl

I'm all about that quinoa, 'bout that quinoa. :) And I especially love a good quinoa bowl. But sometimes, I don't want all the healthy that comes with your typical quinoa dish. Enter: BBQ Chicken Quinoa Bowl. I guess it's not that bad for you, but with the BBQ sauce mixed in and that healthy dose of cheddar cheese . . . yeah. That's next level stuff right there. Now imagine topping it all off with bacon. :-O

Italian Wonderpot

Another shout out to Katie for this one! Not only is this so good, but guys, it only requires one pot! You basically throw it all in, water and pasta and everything, and boil it 'til the water is gone. So . . .  minimal mess, minimal work, maximum yum? You got it! Plus, you top this bad boy with feta. Does it get any betta? ;)

Arugula Lemon Feta Pizza 

Speaking of feta. :) Alright, so try to keep up with me here because we made quite a few adjustments to this recipe. First, eliminate the zucchini. Too much work, too watery. Instead, I tossed some arugula in oil, salt, and pepper and placed it on top like a big ol' salad after this bad boy came out of the oven. Also, we probably doubled the feta. And I added some toasted pine nuts. It was glorious. Don't be afraid to leave the rind on the lemon slices like it recommends. It gives this a really strong lemon flavor. So fresh, so yum. And here's the pizza dough recipe we used. But I bet store bought would work just as well. 

 

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So there you have it! My 2015-2016 Winter Recipe Capsule. Is your tummy grumbling yet? Mine sure is.

Now tell me, what would you put in your Winter Recipe Capsule? I'm dying to know! Bonus points for links!

Chopped Challenge: Husband vs. Wife Edition

Remember that time OVER A YEAR AGO when I said I'd post a video of our John vs. Stephanie Chopped challenge?!

Time sure flies when your husband takes his time editing the video. ;)

John and I competed against each other in a Chopped-style competition back in August last year. His sister and brother-in-law chose 5 secret ingredients that were revealed to us seconds before starting the competition timer. We had 30 minutes to make an appetizer dish that incorporated all 5 secret ingredients, which we then shared with the judges, John's family members. At the end of our food battle, the judges revealed the winning dish, much to our shock and surprise!

Who will win this marriage-testing cooking match-up? Watch to find out!


By the way, we call our version of this competition "Schopped", which is a play on the name of the actual show, Chopped, and our last name, which starts with Sch. 
Enjoy! And Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Quick Takes

link it up

--one--

I am currently obsessed with homemade cold brew iced coffee. I blame Kat. 

It's super easy to make and oh-so-delicious. I like to mix in 2% milk with 1 tsp of Stevia and 2 pumps of syrup (currently using Irish Creme syrup). Oh my word.

Extra points for serving it up in a mason jar.

Yum yum yum yum yum!

To summarize: Yum.

--two--

Am I crazy for wanting to brew Kombucha next? 

#boochme

--three--

My husband does not like watermelon. He says it tastes "sickly sweet." WHAT IS THIS?!

FINE. More for me.

--four--

John Paul gives me this weird look while he's pooping. He smiles at me like he's only feigning interest in the sport of social smiling, while simultaneously staring daggers into my soul with his big blue eyes, occasionally with a squint. Then: poop.

Hilarious. Every time. 

--five--

This recipe --> Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili

. . . is really really really really really good.

Really.

(Also, easy.)

--six--

John Paul is 4 months old today. 

How??? 

Time

is

flyyyying!

<3

--seven--

We have recently become obsessed with the show Parks and Recreation. Like, obsessed. We watch at least 3 episodes a day and quote it approximately non-stop. We're about halfway through season 6 and I'm already SO SAD there's only one season left. Whhhhhhyyyyy? (That was my best Tom Haverford impersonation, obvi.)

Any recommendations for a similarly awesome show?

Our Eureka Springs Babymoon

Let's start by saying... our babymoon was AWESOME! 

The trip began with a bit of nervousness and about 100 Hail Mary's on my part. While the state of Arkansas put out a blast to the world saying, "DO NOT TRAVEL DUE TO CRAZY SNOWY ICY WEATHER," we decided to ignore that. And so this is what we drove through...

Or I should say, this is what John drove through. My amazing husband fearlessly drove the whole way there. While the snow/ice/crazy slowed us down quite a bit and extended our travel a few hours over the 6 hour maximum I had set as a rule on our babymoon travel, it was still more than worth it.

When we arrived, our hosts, Eureka Springs Treehouses, let us check in 2 hours early. Thank goodness! Originally our plan was to explore town a bit to kill time before check in, but as you can imagine from the above picture, town was pretty much CLOSED. So, with the keys to our castle in hand, we headed a few miles down the road to our royal arrangements. On the way, we kept our eyes pealed for food options since we hadn't had lunch yet and were thinking we should grab food before we settled into the room for the night.

We were just about to pull into a Pizza Hut, which we thought would likely be the only folks crazy enough to stay open through the storm, when I spotted a lone OPEN sign across the street on another restaurant. And as luck would have it, they were on my pre-researched list of yummy Eureka Springs food to try! So we excitedly crossed the street and ate at Thai House Restaurant.

As you can see, they were super crowded and we had to wait forever for our food.

Kidding! 

We were the only folks in the restaurant, so we had all attention on us and fast, delicious service. Yum!

Btw, I should mention now that this post is going to consist mostly of food pics and meal stories because eating is always my favorite part of traveling. Sorry in advance, but not really. 

Also, we were silly and mostly only used our iPhone cameras to get pics. I think we took a grand total of 8 pics on our really nice camera. Doy. 

Anyway, after we filled our bellies, we packed our leftovers with plans of eating them again for dinner to avoid heading back out in the snow, and headed straight to our CASTLE!

Ta da! 

You're dying to see the inside, aren't you? Well here's a little tour for ya...

The entrance is there on the left and our comfy king-sized bed is obviously on the right.

We also had this great little kitchen area...

Which lead to this super fancy sink area. And there was a small room with a toilet and luggage closet behind me.

In front of the bed, we had this lovely little sitting area, complete with fire place #1, TV #1, a faux bookshelf, and a deck with a beautiful view off the back. 

The deck...

And the view! Not a super great pic, but super lovely in person.

Let's go back inside now, shall we? 

After just a few minutes of exploring, we discovered a secret passage way behind the faux bookcase!

Which lead to our romantic jacuzzi tower!

Complete with another fireplace, another TV (not shown, above the fireplace)...

And another beautiful view of the woods and the mountains.

Also behind the secret passageway was a knight in shining armor! 

And the most luxurious shower I've ever showered in. See all the jets? 

So that's the grand tour, but if you want to see even more pics of the castle, check out this vid from the Eureka Spring Treehouses website.

After exploring our castle, we settled in for quite a while, took a jacuzzi bath, watched some HGTV (my fave!), and then decided to brave the storm just a little more with an early evening trip out to rent a movie and buy some cinnamon sticks at that still-open Pizza Hut. 

We found a Redbox only a mile from our castle and the Pizza Hut was pretty close too, so we weren't too scared to venture out. Plus, the roads were dead! So it was safe, promise.

We rented Book of Life, which was adorable, and then drifted off into dreamland. Sleep was blissful!

The sunlight beaming through our big window woke both of us rather early, such a lovely way to greet the morning! We ate some microwave oatmeal for breakfast and made our plan for the day. 

We decided to head into town to check out all the cutesy little shops and scope out the lay of the Eureka Springs land. While our time out exploring was great, especially since the snow made everything look so pretty and peaceful, as you might have guessed, most of the town was still closed down. We did end up finding a few open shops, including a hot sauce shop named Silly Chili and a shop with lots of shoes, but town was definitely mostly closed. 

For lunch, I was excited to see that another place on my list of must-eats was open: Nibbles Eatery! 

Mmmm! Cafe food at its finest! I ate a most tasty shaved beef sandwich and drank a large pot of tea. Good times.

With full tummies, we headed back to the castle.

And then spent the afternoon hanging out. This consisted of more HGTV, some reading (I'm trying to get through The Birth Partner before baby shows up!), some chatting, and a very awesome nap.

Once the princess awoke from her nap (that's me!), we headed back into town with hopes that a few more restaurants would be open for dinner. The snow had been slowly melting all day, so we figured that would work in our favor. And it did!

For dinner, we enjoyed Stone House, which was probably my favorite restaurant on the trip. They serve wine and cheese platters, which does not sound like a good spot for a pregnant lady at all, I know, but I just love me a good cheese platter. When we realized all of their pre-arranged platters had at least a few cheeses and meats I couldn't have, we mentioned it to our waitress and she said, "No prob! Let's just create your perfect cheese platter together!" And it really was perfect! This pregnant lady was easily able to avoid soft cheeses, unpasteurized cheeses, and deli meats like she was supposed to. And yet it was still so tasty. Check it out...

I'm drooling just looking at it again.

And in addition to the delicious food, the Stone House also had a Beatles playlist on the whole time we were there. That makes it the perfect restaurant in Stephanie's book.

But we didn't stop there.

Since we were only in town for 3 nights and this was already night #2, we knew we had to take advantage of the many amazing-sounding food options available while we still could. So we headed to another restaurant for dessert: La Stick Nouveau.

It was so good!

I ordered a butternut squash cheesecake with apple crumble and John got a 3-in-1 chocolate sampler dessert. Both divine!

Actually, John said it was probably the best chocolate dessert he's ever had. And that's saying something because this boy eats a LOT of chocolate!

And we had the whole place to ourselves.

While you might think a quiet, mostly closed town is kinda lame, we found it fantastic. It was so peaceful, so relaxing, and also so nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of normal life. 

When we headed home, we picked up another Redbox movie, What If, a rom com starring Daniel Radcliffe AKA Harry Potter. Neither of us had heard of it before, but since we both love rom coms and we both love Harry Potter, we figured we couldn't go wrong. And we didn't. It was super cute! Plus, we watched it in our jacuzzi, which made the night even more awesome! 

The next morning, the snow had really melted, so we had high hopes that many of the shops in town would be open. We headed into town for an early breakfast and were happy to find that town was waking up! While we loved our previous day spent in a slow, quiet, mostly closed town, we were also excited to experience Eureka Springs in all its mountain-town glory.

Breakfast was at Mud Street Cafe and it was, as all our other meals, SO GOOD!

John and I splurged and got these super-decadent drinks. He went with the Almond Joy Coffee and I had a Hazelnut Hot Chocolate, both topped with the thickest, creamiest, yummiest whipped cream ever.

And then we had to find room to eat the main feast. We split the veggie hash and a giant blueberry sour cream pancake. Both superb!

Since we ventured out so early for breakfast (8am!), town wasn't quite awake yet for shop exploring, so we headed back to the castle and relaxed into the early afternoon. There was lots of reading, Johnny did some programming (he's designing an app!), and we took a long, cuddly nap. 

After being lazy for a while, we decided to make a plan for the afternoon and evening. It was, sadly, our last evening in town, so we needed to make sure we did it right! 

We started with an adventure that included...

Visiting the beautiful Thornncrown Chapel (oops, forgot the nice camera)...

Shop hopping in the historic downtown area, where we found an awesome shop called Bathe and created our own lavender-scented bath salts... 

Visiting Christ of the Ozarks...

And ended by eating dinner at another oh-so-good restaurant, Caribe...

These house-made salsas and chips were to die for!

And the vegetarian mole (it was a Lenten Friday, after all)... indescribably good!

Not even an inch of room left for dessert!

We headed back to our castle for our last evening as royalty and, of course, once we settled in, we went straight for the jacuzzi. Only this was the best jacuzzi bath of them all because we used our lavender bath salts to make it all bubbly and heavenly-smelling.

We also played a round of John's new board game: Eldritch Horror. I thought it was just meh, but he loved it, so I was happy to play a round with him. 

We soon drifted off to sleep and awoke the next morning to the beautiful sunrise peaking through our deck window.

The iPhone camera obviously does not do it justice.

We had a nice lazy morning, both taking luxuriously long showers in that extravagant shower cave, reading and programming a bit more, and fitting in a few more episodes of my fave shows on HGTV. Before we knew it, it was time to pack and go, so we bid farewell to our castle and headed into town for a few more quick adventures.

Including our couples massage at Healing Benefits, which was SO relaxing. John especially loved the chocolate lotions they used on him. And I loved all the attention my masseuse paid to my achey lower back. 

We had one last meal at a very famous local place: Local Flavor Cafe, which for some reason I took no pictures of, but I promise it was delightful! I had an eggplant sandwich with a walnut pesto. Mmmmm! 

And we just couldn't leave town without picking up a magnet, which is what we do whenever we visit a new place together. 

And that was it! 

We headed back to Memphis and, without all that crazy snow/ice stuff, we made it back in less than 6 hours. Lovely! 

So, if you couldn't tell from all the stories and pics, we had a fantastic time. And it was much needed! It was just soooo relaxing and also, we had lots of time to talk about our little bundle of joy and what life will be like once he or she joins us. While we definitely talk about that a bit while we're home in Memphis, it was nice to have this special time carved out to focus on baby, and also to focus on relaxing before baby makes things busy for a while. 

Honestly, it was the perfect get away. 

Going on a trip to celebrate our marriage, our love, and our soon-to-be new role as parents... we're blessed beyond measure.