Christmas With The Vanderbilts

We had a fun and festive Thursday in spite of the gray skies and drizzle. Friends had some complimentary tickets to Biltmore House and invited us to use them. 

They actually had four complimentary tickets so another couple of friends came too, and since their car held us all we didn't even have to drive.  

Did  I spend an entire day out of the house doing something fun with family coming to town tomorrow and just a week to go before Christmas? 

Yes I did. Carpe diem!  

Also day date episode eleven if you're keeping count. 

I've been to Biltmore a number of times, but not since 2019 and never at Christmas. Biltmore is known as America's largest home, and was built by George Vanderbilt in the late 1800's.  I've always heard it's extra beautiful this time of year and it's true. Wow. 

Every room has a beautifully decorated tree-

Most light fixtures are adorned with some sort of gorgeous ribbon or embellishment-

Bannisters are wrapped-

And fireplace mantels are draped in garland-

I cannot imagine the amount of work that goes into getting the house ready for Christmas. 

It takes me weeks to get my own tree up and finished, and Biltmore is over the top in terms of decoration. This Noah's Ark tree was adorable-

Animals hanging two by two...

The trees fit the rooms they're in and the decor is appropriate for the period furnishings. 

Christmas dinner anyone? 

You need to reserve tickets this time of year and entry is timed. We went into the house at noon and spent almost two hours walking through. 

After we'd seen all there was to see (or all that's open to the public anyway...apparently the house has 250 rooms so we didn't come close to seeing it all) we drove about thirty minutes up the road to Sierra Nevada for a late lunch. Hubs and I shared a burger and their famous duck fat fries which were yummy. 

We got lucky with traffic and in spite of the dark, rainy, fog made it home about 6:30. It was a fun, full day and while I could have been at home ticking off those last to-dos, celebrating the season with friends is always on my list too.

Check. 

Merry Monday

Good morning friends. Recapping a fun weekend here today and linking it all with Holly (Pink Lady) and Sarah's (Sunshine and Books)  Hello Monday blog hop. Here's how ours looked-

Many months ago I saw that a band I love was going to be in Knoxville in December, and somewhat spontaneously we bought tickets and invited hubs and his brother and sister-in-law to join us. In hindsight, spending a weekend away in the month of December might have added to the busy-ness of the season, but it also added to the fun festive feel we long for this time of year. 

Hubs and I drove over the mountain and through the construction woods to his brother's lake house on Friday. The ride through Asheville and also through the ongoing construction on the Tennessee border went pretty smoothly and we made it to their house early afternoon. The little brown dog is always so excited to see one of his favorite people, aka my sister-in-law. 

We chatted and caught up, then headed into town to meet a college friend for dinner. It was a fun night in a festive venue and we were seated just beside one of their pretty trees. 

Saturday morning we watched some College Game Day, then made our way to a Christmas market being held at Maryville College. Such a lovely campus and we enjoyed browsing the stalls there. This little hot chocolate truck, a remodeled horse wagon, was adorable-

We bought a couple of stocking stuffers then stopped in to see the RT Lodge we've heard so much about. It's stunning! I've added it to my list of places I need to spend a night. R.T. Lodge has an interesting history dating back to 1932 when Susan Wiley Cooper Walker, the widow of Andrew Carnegie's business associate John Walker moved to Maryville. 

She fell in love with the wooded grounds surrounding the campus and persuaded the administration to allow the building of a residence in those woods if she agreed to will the home to the College upon her death. 

She passed away in 1950 and the college President lived in the home for a time. In 1997 Ruby Tuesday leased with the university to develop the property as a training facility and retreat center. 

They restored the main lodge, carriage house, and grounds and added two additional buildings to the property. 

Insert sidebar here-we need these super long skewers and the containers for our firepit. Carry on. 

SANTA!! I KNOW HIM!!

The Lodge operation has expanded to become a hotel, restaurant, spa, and special event center and it is an absolutely beautiful facility. We tried to book dinner there for this weekend quite a while back, but there wasn't availability. Definitely going to do that another time though. 

We came home and watched some football before picking up hubs mom for dinner in another great spot in town-The Walnut Kitchen. 

They seated us beside the tree here too which made it feel very Christmasy. Sunday morning we went to church with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and then Sunday night was show time. 

SHOW TIME! 

Also Episode 9 in our dating chronicles. 

We saw Needtobreathe at the Tennessee Theatre and they were, as always, fantastic. It was actually a double date, but that counts too. Hubs brother and sister-in-law went with us, and we all had a great time. 

The band has roots in our neck of the woods, and my girls saw them play at fraternity parties on their college campus long before they became well known. 

In a funny small world sort of thing, we ran into a couple who are neighbors of ours in SC. Turns out they're good friends with the parents of the band's bass player and he's leaving the band, so they came over to TN with his parents to see this last show. I love when these kind of unexpected connections happen. The venue is beautiful and I don't think there's a bad seat in the house. 

Also, the band is so good. 

We'll head home this morning so we're back in time to regroup before our Monday evening event. 'Tis the season! 

What kind of fun did you get into this weekend?

Decking The Halls

If you're looking for this week's Hodgepodge questions you'll find them here. Today's post is linked with Talking About It Tuesday, hosted by Joanne. 

I like to post a few pictures of our holiday decorations each year a) because it makes me happy, and b) it's a point of reference for next Christmas when I'm wondering where the fat red Santa sat or which ornaments were on my range hood.

We said we were doing less in terms of decorating this year because, while it is our year to have the girls and their families for Christmas, my oldest is still across the pond and my youngest has a baby so we said we'd come to her. 

And I guess we've done less, but we haven't done nothing at all either. Typically we have more than one decorated tree and I've kept it to just one this year. Wait! two...but only one is decorated. The other tree is on the dock and hubs just puts lights on that one which is fun to see from both the water and the house.  

Wait...we have three trees, or maybe 2.5 is more accurate. We always have a little tree on the bar and it does have ornaments on it so I guess that counts but that's it. 

There is also a teeny tiny tree in my powder room but I don't think that counts even though it's cute. 

We did not put a tree on the screened porch like we normally do, nor did we put a big tree in the pool table room so I guess you could say we simplified.  A little. 

I always like to decorate my mantles because they make the house feel Christmasy. Just seven short years ago this was our mantle-

And here we are in 2024-

Love grows y'all. 

My fireplace is two sided and the keeping room mantle is all Santa. Except for the Nutcracker standing guard, but other than that all Santa. 

I like my kitchen to feel festive and we debated whether or not we'd put up the wreaths this year, but in the end we said yes because who doesn't love a kitchen decked out for Christmas? 

It's hard to take pictures in my house. There are so many windows and also I'm not very good at it with my crummy phone camera, but mostly I blame all the glass. 

We have a big piece of furniture in our entry and we put lights and garland on top then hang ribbon down the side to hang any photo Christmas cards we receive. One of my favorite things. 

My king's guard always gets a bow this time of year. I know it's not part of the official uniform, but we make an exception at Christmas. 

I've had my nativity set since our very first married Christmas. The original Joseph broke many years ago and I found a stand in with a slight pituitary problem, but it works. I love getting this out every year. 

Are you sentimental about the ornaments on your tree, or is yours more a 'designer' tree? Mine is definitely heavy on the sentiment, which is how I like it. My favorite British taxi, specially made by the artist for the women's club I was part of when I lived in England. He put our club initials on the license plate. I always hang the taxi near Big Ben which is another favorite. 

The year the Queen passed away I got this one for each of my girls and one for the hubs too. 

This is the kiddie korner...ornaments my girls made in kindergarten-

And now there are ornaments those once-upon-a-time kindergartners own small children have made for us, the grandparents-

I sit in a chair beside the tree in the early morning hours and like to read my Bible there. Seeing all these grouped together reminds me to pray for each precious child, the littles and the bigs. 

Daughter2 gave me this one last year because she knows me. I enjoy choosing a new ornament for everyone each year and that's always part of your Christmas stocking. I try to find something related to that particular year, a favorite hobby, a geographic location that is meaningful, a pet, etc. It's personal in some way and is one of my favorite things to buy each year. 

Wishing you a Christmas that's merry and bright!