Nothing Could Be Finer Than To Be In Carolina...

...with my faaaaaaamily.

Last weekend we packed up the whip and headed south to one of my favorite cities, Asheville, NC, to see my little sister graduate from college!

My sister and I are about as polar opposite in personal style as one can imagine. Whereas I prefer to keep my inner granola-crunchy hippie carefully hidden up my preppy-yuppy sleeve, she has it tatooed for the world to see.

Literally.

So while she may have started her college career at our mama's uber-preptastic alma mater, University of Richmond, she graduated from a much more her-appropriate school: Warren Wilson College.

Warren Wilson claims to fame: James Franco {although after this fiasco they prefer not to claim him} and Bill Pullman's kids.  True story: Bill {we're on a first name basis} stays at the same B&B as my 'rents when they're all visiting their kids. My dad and Bill talked local history for ages over breakfast one morning, and my dad had absolutely no clue who he was talking to.  I would've wanted to know what it was like to work with Devon Sawa {my ultimate 90's-girl crush}.

Anyhoo.

We took a little tour of campus and my favorite part was the field where the sheep are. I love sheep. They are a big part of my bucolic dream life. Some day...

I only took two pictures during the weekend {I discovered Candy Crush and spent most of time trying to get the hell out of Lemonade Lake}.  M and I took my sister and her friend {below} to dinner at Curate to celebrate while my parents stayed at the house with the grandparents.

If you're going to be in the Asheville area anytime soon, you MUST make reservations at Curate.  If I had stopped to take pictures of each course, I wouldn't have been able to eat anything. We scarfed down everything the second it landed on the table.  Our favorites:

patatas bravas {basically home fries with a spicy sauce. These were M's favorite.}

the berejenas la taberna {fried eggplant drizzled with honey and rosemary. My favorite.}

chistorra and chips jose's way {chorizo wrapped in potato chips and deep fried}

espuma de chocolate {it tasted like warm brownie batter + hazelnut praline and raspberry sorbet}

We were in Asheville for less than 48 hours but that was long enough for me to drink a 12-pack of my beloved Diet Cheerwine...

one for the drive home!

photo credits: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5