Eco Spa: Shoji Spa in Asheville, NC

On my way to the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) 2017 Conference in Pittsburgh, PA, I stopped off in Asheville, NC to see a friend and her little one. The day I got in she had booked me a hot tub treatment at Shoji Spa to help me relax and wind down from all the driving I did. It was such a thoughtful thing for her to do and it was SOOOOO relaxing. It is an eco spa and they use a lot of green products, along with being super clean. The hot tubs are located outside on the side of the mountain in the middle of the woods. It is extremely peaceful just to sit there unwind and read a book. When I got there it was daylight still, but quickly faded into night. I highly recommend you visit this spa if you ever find yourself in Asheville. Here are some photos from my visit there.

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Unique Roadside Attractions From Houston to Pittsburgh

On my way to Pittsburgh for the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) 2017 Conference I stopped at various roadside attractions. I drove to Pittsburgh because 1. I love road trips 2. I was stopping in Asheville, NC to see a friend and her little one 3. I got to listen to audiobooks :). To make the trip more fun I decided to stop at various roadside attractions along the way. I used the app Roadside America. Below are some of the things I stopped at. On the way back home my father-in-law actually rode with me and we stopped in Memphis for the night, so there is one picture from Memphis.

World's largest working fire hydrant in Beaumont, TX

Miss Rose's Bar: Happy Man in Lafayette, LA it was sculpted for the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair and later it was dumped in a field.

Frog statue at the frog capital of the world in Rayne, LA

Giant guitar in Crowley, LA

Playhouse Grave of Little Nadine Earles in Lanett, LA. This was an interesting. Nadine wanted a playhouse for Christmas and died right before Christmas. So her parents built a playhouse around her tombstone and filled it with toys.

World's Largest Stationary Brick made out of bricks in Montgomery, AL. 

Hank Williams Astroturf Grave in Montgomery, AL

Giant gun safe on a pole in Mobile, AL

World's Largest Mattress in Jefferson, GA

BB King's Blues Club

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Road Trip Essentials

Since is it is summer travel time I thought I would refer back to a post I wrote almost 2 years ago called road trip essentials (I can't believe I posted this almost 2 years ago, I remember so vaguely writing it). Click on the link above to view all the photos published.

I grew up road tripping to various places and often take road trips with my husband, and wanted to share some of my essentials. I back in July from road trippin’ with family to SC. I rode with my aunt, uncle and cousin because I was able to take off early and my husband and the rest of our family flew up that weekend. We took a leisurely pace and stopped in New Orleans at one of my favorite places, Mother’s. Their jambalaya is DELICIOUS! Saw the largest rocking chair in America, then made our first stop in Destin, FL for a couple of days. I was surprised how clear the water was and it was only about a 9 hour drive. Then we finally made our way to Edisto Beach, SC outside of Charleston and stopped at the smallest church in America on the way. I rode back home with them as well, so we were in the car a loooong time. 

Here are some road trip essentials that I found helpful and like to take with me.

• Pouches / Document Holders. I use these all the time when traveling because it helps me contain my stuff.
• Notebook / Address Book. I try to always bring my address book / notebook with me on my trips because I often send letters or have thoughts I want to jot down. 
• Pens / Pencils. Because you never know when you need a pen.
• iPad. To watch movies, listen to music or play games on, but I didn’t use it this time.
• Movies. My cousin brought all kinds of movies for us to watch in the car because they have a tv in the car and we actually watched several movies. 
• Headphones. For music and movies.
• Instant Film Camera. I love using this that my husband got for me several years ago. We took pictures at the quirky places we stopped at and completely forgot to use it at other places too.
• Portable Phone Charger. This is always handy if your phone battery is running low.
• Car Games. We actually had a lot of fun with this. We played the license plate  and got all, but 6 by the time we got home. We also played a travel question game that surprisingly turned out to be fun and we learned a lot about each other. I picked up car bingo at the AAA store. I had seen them on Amazon and a local store in Houston, but it was way cheaper from AAA.
• Maps. I know most of us have a GPS or GPS on your phone, but I always like to take an actual map just in case we need and to see where we are in relation to other cities, etc.  I go to AAA and pick up the maps and almost always use them when I am on road trips.
• Coloring Books, Colored Pencils and Crayons. I’ve always liked coloring and picked up some cheap books on Amazon to take with us, they were cheaper on Amazon than at local art stores in Houston.
• Book. I know a lot of people can’t read in the car, but I actually don’t do too terribly reading in the car. I just finished My Paris Dream on the way home. I really liked it. I am always nervous about popular books like this because sometimes they turn out to be not so great.
• Toiletries. I carry a little bag with me that has all kinds of essentials like wipes, bandages, hand sanitizer, eye depuffer (just in case), essential oils (orange and lemon are so versatile), lip balm and tissues.
• National Parks Passport Book. I got this several years ago while on vacation because my aunt had one and it is a fun / free thing to get stamps at the national parks you visit.
• Things that are not pictured that I think are necessary to having a more comfortable road trip include, pillow, blanket, snacks and drinks.

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Road Trip Tunes

So, I started this post back in 2014 when we were headed to Colorado and it has been almost exactly 3 years ago, so I thought I would go ahead and post. I am taking these cds with me on my road trip to Pittsburgh and you know what, I still really like most of these albums.

Since I will be road tripping soon here are some cds I decided to get on Amazon since we had not heard most of these full albums yet. Yes I know, I am a little behind on the music. I really like to buy cds as opposed to downloading the music because I can pass it along to someone who wants to listen before they buy, you usually get a little pamphlet with lyrics or info on it and sometimes something extra like a dvd. Plus, with Amazon a lot of times they have an autorip feature as well. 

I have not kept up with music like I used to. Most of these bands and performers I have seen in concert several times before and really enjoy. 

• The Black Keys: Turn Blue
• Cold Play: Ghost
• Robert Ellis: The Lights from the Chemical Plant
• Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings: Give the People What They Want
• Beyonce: Beyonce
• Ingrid Michaelson: Lights Out
• Fitz and the Tantrums: More than Just a Dream
• Chromeo: White Women

What is some of your favorite music right now?

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Trip Planning: Hiking

*** So I started this post almost exactly 2 years ago, but I thought I would go ahead and post it because it was a good memory and hiking when it is not scorching out is always fun. Plus, I help clients pack for trips from time to time, which includes hiking gear.

I just got back from a hiking trip to Estes Park, CO with my husband and several friends. It was really hard for me to decide what was necessary and not necessary to bring on the trip since I really don't hike in cold weather. All the hiking I have done has mostly been during the summer time. 

Here are some things that I decided to pack for actual hiking days, which it turned out I used almost everything. 

1. Map
2. Thermals 
3. Comfy pants
4. Polyester and Cotton shirts
5. Wind and rain proof jacket
6. Puffy Vest
7. Hiking shoes / socks (the socks are a must)
8. Sunscreen
9. Food (Purely Elizabth Granola or any granola that one is just my favorite, fruit, sandwiches, etc.)
10. Water bottle
11. Backpack
12. Hand sanitizer / wipes
13. Toilet Paper
14. Sunglasses
15. Camera
16. Pencil and Pad
17. Map

Bring band aids. One of the friends that we were with got really bad blisters. Thankfully, I didn't get blisters that bad. The first day we hiked I think 9 miles maybe a little more and my feet were killing me. Be sure to have the proper shoes and socks, which I think mine were great it was just the whole walking for 9 miles in one day thing that my feet didn't like. 

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Road Trip Essentials

I grew up road tripping to various places and often take road trips with my husband, and wanted to share some of my essentials. I back in July from road trippin’ with family to SC. I rode with my aunt, uncle and cousin because I was able to take off early and my husband and the rest of our family flew up that weekend. We took a leisurely pace and stopped in New Orleans at one of my favorite places, Mother’s. Their jambalaya is DELICIOUS! Saw the largest rocking chair in America, then made our first stop in Destin, FL for a couple of days. I was surprised how clear the water was and it was only about a 9 hour drive. Then we finally made our way to Edisto Beach, SC outside of Charleston and stopped at the smallest church in America on the way. I rode back home with them as well, so we were in the car a loooong time.

Here are some road trip essentials that I found helpful and like to take with me.

• Pouches / Document Holders. I use these all the time when traveling because it helps me contain my stuff.
• Notebook / Address Book. I try to always bring my address book / notebook with me on my trips because I often send letters or have thoughts I want to jot down. 
• Pens / Pencils. Because you never know when you need a pen.
• iPad. To watch movies, listen to music or play games on, but I didn’t use it this time.
• Movies. My cousin brought all kinds of movies for us to watch in the car because they have a tv in the car and we actually watched several movies. 
• Headphones. For music and movies.
• Instant Film Camera. I love using this that my husband got for me several years ago. We took pictures at the quirky places we stopped at and completely forgot to use it at other places too.
• Portable Phone Charger. This is always handy if your phone battery is running low.
• Car Games. We actually had a lot of fun with this. We played the license plate  and got all, but 6 by the time we got home. We also played a travel question game that surprisingly turned out to be fun and we learned a lot about each other. I picked up car bingo at the AAA store. I had seen them on Amazon and a local store in Houston, but it was way cheaper from AAA.
• Maps. I know most of us have a GPS or GPS on your phone, but I always like to take an actual map just in case we need and to see where we are in relation to other cities, etc.  I go to AAA and pick up the maps and almost always use them when I am on road trips.
• Coloring Books, Colored Pencils and Crayons. I’ve always liked coloring and picked up some cheap books on Amazon to take with us, they were cheaper on Amazon than at local art stores in Houston.
• Book. I know a lot of people can’t read in the car, but I actually don’t do too terribly reading in the car. I just finished My Paris Dream on the way home. I really liked it. I am always nervous about popular books like this because sometimes they turn out to be not so great.
• Toiletries. I carry a little bag with me that has all kinds of essentials like wipes, bandages, hand sanitizer, eye depuffer (just in case), essential oils (orange and lemon are so versatile), lip balm and tissues.
• National Parks Passport Book. I got this several years ago while on vacation because my aunt had one and it is a fun / free thing to get stamps at the national parks you visit.
• Things that are not pictured that I think are necessary to having a more comfortable road trip include, pillow, blanket, snacks and drinks.

ecomodernconcierge.com