One of this year’s Southern Living Idea Houses is located 17 miles northwest of Asheville in Whisper Mountain.

EcoBuilders, an Asheville green construction company, built the home with eco-friendly features such as solar thermal and photovoltaic panels, rain water catchment and grey-water systems, radiant floor heating, tankless water heating, recycled metal roofing, and Energy Star appliances. The home was also built with non-toxic, and mostly locally produced building materials.
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I love sushi. In fact, I might be a sushi addict, since I feel compelled to eat it at least once a week. Asheville is a great place for sushi lovers (or those who like Japanese food in general).

Here’s a list of sushi bars, in order of my personal preference. Click the names for Web sites, if available, or restaurant locations on Google maps.

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Thanks to commenter Pete Kennedy for bringing this to my attention.
I love getting tips and insights from those of you commenting on blog entries, so please keep it coming!

The Marshall River Arts District just began French Broad Fridays (sorry I didn’t include it last week before the opening night but now you’ll know for future Fridays!), which will continue every Friday through October.

This will undoubtedly be an amazing and fun way to breathe new life into downtown Marshall, located among the beauty of Madison County, and about 30 minutes (easy driving) north of Asheville. French Broad Fridays has food, dancing, shopping, performances, river activities, and more - most shops will keep their doors open until 9 pm.

Places to check out:
Feather Your Nest
Penland’s
Redneck Rafter
Good Stuff
Zuma
The Taqueria
Marshall High Studios, and other open art studios

Here is a map guide to French Broad Fridays, which has festivities from 5pm - midnight.

Did anyone have a chance to check out ‘opening night’? What did you think?

See this on our NEW blog!

Warm weather in Asheville means there’s tons to do this weekend…

Gemfest 2008
10am-6pm Friday & Saturday; 11am-5pm Sunday. Colburn Earth Science Museum, Pack Place. Tons of dealers, free admission to the museum, silent auction.

Lighten Up Yoga: Free Yoga Day
Classes from 9am-4pm. Door prizes every hour. Open to new students, current students can play free if they bring a friend or family member.

Naked Bike Ride(please beware of naked photos on this Web site, click only at your own discretion).
Why? To make an impactful statement about world dependency on oil and petrochemicals. To protest the war in Iraq and the Middle East; to make a statement for Peace, civil rights and personal sovereignty. -From the Web site.
11am at the French Broad Co-op at 11am for a ride through downtown. Organizers work with the Asheville Police Department, and nearly everyone covers the ‘important bits’ - so while you might see scantily-clad people biking downtown on Saturday, you probably won’t see complete nudity.

Knit in Public Day
11am at Charlotte Street Park/EW Grove Park.

Urban Block Party
Food, beer, and music. On Eagle Street from 4-9pm.

Ferral Chihuahuas
Sketch comic hilarity at 35Below, show times are 8 pm & 9:30 pm.