by Stella Lancaster | adventures
Hi friends! A few weeks ago, I shared about our preparations for a 3 week trip to India. Well the universe disagreed. After a six week visa battle, lost passports at the Indian Embassy in Atlanta, and chat with the Ambassador General our passport were finally recovered. However, in haste they forgot to process the visa paperwork! The Indian visa processing is, ironically, outsourced.
We can only laugh about it now!!
India in NYTimes
We were disappointed, but did not skip a beat. My husband booked us a quaint cottage built over a babbling creek in Boone, North Carolina for a week. We each only had a backpack full of clothes for India. For me, this meant layers of tank tops and leggings. It’s quite a stylish look in 30 degree weather! So we cuddled to stay warm in front of the wood burning stove and everyday I wished for beautiful, white snow!!
apple cider bellinis
What do do in Boone? LOTS!! In fact, many people pour into Boone for their annual, family Christmas tree hunt. They go to tree farms to pick out and then chop down their own trees!! #chooseandcut
@laurenrdhall
Here are some of our favorite haunts and activities in this sleepy mountain town:
GET OUTDOORS:
EATS:
- Breakfast – Hob Nob Farms Cafe – local, fresh, slow food
- Lunch – Coyote Kitchen – a Caribbean spin on soul food; keyword: sweet potato fries
- Lunch – Black Cat Burrito – a Boone staple
- Dinner – Gamekeeper – the men in your life will love you FOREVER; offer bison, ostrich, elk, and other game-centric dishes
DRINKS:
LOCAL SHOPPING:
- Various Antique Shops – many offering appalachia crafts & gifts
- Footslogger – outdoor gear & boots with active climbing wall (40+ ft)
- Be sure to stop at the quirky roadside shops for local jerky, produce, & oddball pictures
We didn’t chop down a Christmas tree during our week in Boone, but we are busy decorating our house in downtown Charleston for the season!!
Holiday Sparkles,
–Stella
by sunnyslideup | adventures, sunny slide up
Mandi and Heather visited the Vintage Charlotte Holiday Market last weekend and had a blast combing through all of the booths to find vintage and handmade treasures!
You might remember Vintage Charlotte from last month’s giveaways. We had an Instagram contest to win a beautiful set of vintage bowls and also featured some goodies (including an early bird ticket to this show) in our local Charlotte giveaway package. Congrats again on our winners!
There were so many awesome vendors at this pop up market and some had the best displays of their goodies. Just look at how cute this booth set up is from The Brass Grasshopper!
These were some of our other favorites…
Handmade accessories and art by Free Spirit Jenny
Letterpress Coasters by Vintage Concord
(Mandi and Heather being graphic designers are a sucker for letterpress!)
Paper and Light Sculptures by Kathryn Godwin
Jewelry from Here a Chick, There a Chick
Vintage Children’s Books from Vintage Southern
Here is Ms. Vintage Charlotte herself, Amy Herman.
You put on a great event Amy! We look forward to next year!
by Stella Lancaster | adventures, featured guests
India? Yes!! Last year my husband applied to attend a tech conference in Mumbai and then we conveniently forgot about it as we focused on our wedding. While we were housesitting in Asheville a few weeks ago, he received an email inviting him to the conference. The kicker? They provide airfare!
Photo: Afar.com
On the way home to Charleston, we stopped in Charlotte to discuss the breaking news with my family. The conference is going on during the week of Thanksgiving. It’s my German Mom’s most FAVORITE holiday. And the first year her nest will be empty, as one brother lives in Tampa, my sister lives in LA, and my youngest brother shipped off for bootcamp two weeks ago. We all agreed this was an opportunity that we should not pass up!
We love adventure!! In fact, the “bible” for our wedding was a vintage book called I Married Adventure, by Osa Johnson. We braced ourselves for less than 6 weeks of visa applications and vigorous planning. This is our first trip backpacking! EVER!!
Photos: Afar.com
So with two weeks to go, we are still awaiting our visas. Anxious! We might have to drive to Atlanta to expedite the process. In the meantime, we’ve been busy planning. We’ve been testing backpacks, prepping our electronics, scouting accommodation, and dreaming about ELEPHANTS.
The plan? We’ll fly into Mumbai (aka Bombay) for the conference. We’ll then spend three weeks exploring southern India via Goa, Kerala down to the tip of the continent, and then back up the coast north via Pondicherry, before shooting west through Bangladore and back to Mumbai. Kissing ALL the elephants along the way.
Have you been? We need all the tips we can get!!
XOXO
-Stella
