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Making Spirits Bright: 10 Easy And Delicious Drinks For a Merry and Bright Holiday Season

10 festive cocktails to make and share this season—from cranberry to pomegranate, peppermint and chai to cinnamon and caramel, these flavorful beverages are sure to make your holidays a hit.

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I had such a good time creating my spring and summer cocktail e-book earlier this year that I decided to put together another collection of drinks for the holidays. There are a few twists on classics as well as a couple of family favorites, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

Happy holidays, everyone!

I must have blinked and today, somehow, my baby is four years old.

There are so many things I could say about the past four years, about how she made me a mother and activated a version of myself that I had only ever seen in my dreams. It has been the honor of my life to be her mama, and a true joy to see her step into the role of Gideon’s Big Sister. She is funny and silly and active and sweet and also somehow wise beyond her (four) years.

Happy birthday, Sophie. We love you so much.

Rob still has a few weeks of paternity leave left so last month we booked a hotel for a random three-night stay in Asheville. We hadn’t been in years, and when we did go it was only for one night, so we really didn’t get to spend much time exploring. We also have friends there now which was an added bonus.

We have been laying pretty low since March of 2020, and we really don’t travel much unless we can drive and stay in an Airbnb and get takeout the whole time, so this actually felt like a breath of fresh air and a bit of normalcy that we desperately needed. Asheville is great about COVID precautions and they have a very well-enforced mask mandate that people seem to actually want to follow, so we felt comfortable to stay in a hotel and eat out at a few places (everywhere we went had lots of outdoor seating and really seemed to prioritize that whenever possible). I definitely recommend it, especially if you’re traveling with kids who aren’t vaccinated yet!

I hope to get back for another visit this winter, but until then, here are the details of our autumn trip to Asheville:

WHERE WE STAYED:

Hotel Indigo downtown had some suites available so we grabbed one—whenever we used to stay at a hotel with Sophie when she was younger we would often just put her travel crib in the bathroom so she could have complete darkness as well as a bit of separation from me and Rob who, surprisingly, don’t go to bed at 7:30 PM. But now we have the SlumberPod and a little travel cot for her since it’s what she’s used to, and we put that in the living area and Gideon in the travel crib in the bedroom, which had blackout curtains. Traveling with kids is a puzzle sometimes but I think we’ve figured it out pretty well.

Hotel Indigo is downtown and walkable to tons of shops and restaurants, so it was great to not have to load everyone in the car every time we wanted to go do something. Last time we went to Asheville we stayed in an Airbnb and had quite a drive to downtown. The hotel itself wasn’t as comfortable as I thought it would be, but having a little extra space and the location definitely made a huge difference. We also had such a gorgeous view!

FOOD/BEER/COFFEE/ETC:

Wicked Weed is a great brewery/restaurant combo and the perfect spot to grab a beer and some snacks or an early dinner. They did have a limited menu due to being short staffed, but the food there is seriously delicious. We the chips and dip and their Buffalo wings, which were amazing. They also have a kids menu so Sophie had a grilled cheese and fries.

We walked to Trade and Lore at least once a day for coffee. They currently have a window where you order and pick up, or you can order online and they’ll have it ready for you when you arrive. The coffee is great and they have plenty of outside seating.

All Day Darling is, well, a darling little place that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We went for an early dinner and a cocktail with friends who live in the neighborhood.

We ordered takeout from Shanghai Dumpling House one night after the kids were in bed and it was awesome. I’m sure it’s even better at the restaurant but the dumplings were great (especially with a bottle of bubbly that we brought with us from home).

Rob had one of the best burgers of his life at Haywood Common and I thoroughly enjoyed a kimchi Bloody Mary. The salads are great, the fries are amazing, truly everything on the menu sounded great and it was hard to choose.

Wedge Brewing Co. (the location at Wedge Studios) was a funky spot where we met our All Day Darling friends for a beer before walking to All Souls Pizza for a dreamy dinner of wine and pizza with tons of space for kids to run around.

THINGS TO DO:

We got gardens & grounds tickets at The Biltmore and it was kind of expensive but definitely a good outside activity if you like walking. Make sure you leave your stroller behind though, that was a rookie mistake on our part.

CURIO toy store is very cute and a certain almost-4-year-old insisted that we give it a look. Lots of books and interesting toys; we left with some magnetic dinosaurs.

Next time: I had every intention of stopping in Malaprop’s Bookstore but we ran out of time.

Out of the way but worth it: About an hour from Asheville is Pretty Place Chapel at YMCA Camp Greenville and I can’t recommend it enough. Get there early and make sure to check the website before you leave because the public viewing schedule changes without notice.

That’s about it! If you have Asheville recommendations please let me know, I’d love to add them to my list for next time.