Pristina, Kosovo + Rutherfordton, North Carolina
We have a new podcast! Or rather, we’ve moved our daily episodes to a new feed. So go subscribe to The Daily Happy - our daily 10 minute catch up session that reflects our #whatsyourhappy affirmation - there is something to be happy about every day, and while we are not here for ignoring the world around us, we are here for bringing the inspiration and the joy!
AND WAIT FOR IT…..
We now have a website for our forthcoming web series, Live from [Blank]! Check it out as well as our youtube short videos, pretty please!
Alison is obsessed with her youngest daughter’s new room. Her husband built a loft bed in the closet, so that the rest of her room can be play space! There’s even a reading nook with a giant stuffed bear and string lights underneath the loft…any adults wanting this to be their room? Lulu is obsessed with not buttered rum. No, that is not a typo. Hot buttered rum is great, and while we recommend this vegan recipe that uses a coconut butter, you could just do what Lulu did and mix instant coffee with A LOT of rum. Any hot liquid with rum and no butter can be called a not buttered rum, yes? No? Anyways.
Alison feels bad to be wishing for a Christmas gift-adjustment, but she wanted a wireless charging station for her iPhone, Apple Watch, and Airpods…not the many-wires one she actually received. Lulu is wishing she had made a Christmas wish list so she could have gotten some of the things she’s reallly wanting. Because people can’t read minds.
Lulu is headed to this partially-recognized country in the Balkans region of Europe. Kosovo is the second newest country in the world, having declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, and Lulu is visiting its capital this week. Called Pristina in English speaking countries like the U.S. and the U.K., in-country the city is known as Prishtina or Prishtinë.
Opulent luxury awaits Lulu at the Swiss Diamond Hotel Prishtina, named Europe's “best luxury spa and wellness sanctuary,” at the World Luxury Hotel awards. She is staying in the Presidential Suite which consists of not one but TWO king bedrooms, a walk-in closet, and two full marble baths with rain showers. One of the bathrooms comes with a jacuzzi, and there's a sauna too! There is a dining room that can seat six at the table and more in the sitting area, plus there's an entirely separate living room! Lulu is intrigued by their lack of a minibar, until she realizes it's because they call theirs a maxi-bar! All of this space is ornately decorated with Venetian mirrors and handmade oriental carpets, and includes a balcony with a view of the main pedestrian street of city center. For two nights this suite costs $4,000 USD, and comes with a buffet breakfast, and a pastry and water with turndown service!
Breakfast is at Villa Gërmia - named one of the best restaurants in Pristina by Eater.com - the only restaurant in the Gërmia parkland, a green space that stretches the length of the city. She opts for a local breakfast dish of llokuma which is essentially fried dough. It can be eaten with something sweet like honey but Lulu prefers the savory route, pairing hers with a spicy yogurt dip and fried peppers!
As we referenced earlier, Kosovo is a very new country. Upon its declaration of independence from Serbia, they unveiled the Newborn Monument in celebration of their freedom. This typographic structure - it is literally giant letters spelling out the word “NEWBORN” - is repainted annually with a different theme. For 2020 it was repainted with stories of sexual abuse suffered by victims during the 1999 Kosovo war, written in English and Albanian. With the aim being awareness of sexual abuse and trafficking suffered in conflicts all around the world, on the side of the N is painted this apt acronym reinterpreting the word Newborn for the theme: Never Ending Wars Bring Oppression Rape and Neglect.
Lunch is at Hamburger Skenda, or Quebaptore Skenda, before a little help from google translate. This place has all the meats. Lulu is ready for “the best burger in Kosovo”.
Seen as an important figure in Kosovo’s independence by having a hand in ending the war in the 90's, Bill Clinton has not only has a street named after him, he also has an 11 ft (3.35 m) statue in his likeness. Keeping up with the Clinton-ness, there is a store behind the statue simply called Hillary. It is a fashion boutique dedicated to the signature pantsuit ensembles rocked by the former first lady and presidential candidate. It is so popular that they opened up a second location, Hillary 2!
Lulu aims to emulate the dynamic Democrat by donning an epic outfit for her evening out. She starts with these Saint Laurent satin straight-leg pants that originally cost $1090, but are currently on sale for $545 at Net-A-Porter. She pairs it with this Alexander McQueen bow-embellished wool-blend blazer for $4580, also on Net-A-Porter. Bow-embellished is a bit of an understatement for this show-stopping garment!
A bit overdressed but ready to turn heads, Lulu dines at Renaissance from their four course menu of all Kosovo-sourced ingredients.
If you need more reason to visit, check out this TravelChannel.com article detailing why Kosovo is the next trendy European destination!
Alison actually drove through this adorable town on her family’s winter getaway.
Roughly situated right between Asheville and Charlotte, Rutherfordton (say that fast…once) was voted North Carolina's Small Town of the Year by N.C. Rural Center. It was established in 1787, making it on of the oldest towns in North Carolina. and is the home to the man who minted America’s first one-dollar gold coin. There’s lots of quaint and charming shops and spots, and their main street is something out of a small-town-feel-good movie. (FORESHADOWING)
Carrier Houses Bed & Breakfast has 8 guest rooms modestly decorated with period furnishings and all the cozy vibes. Alison thinks its a lovely spot for a stay, especially for a larger group (FORESHADOWING), as she rents out all 8 rooms for two nights, coming in at just under $2,000 USD. A gourmet breakfast is served every morning in the Victorian dining room, and guests are invited to “enjoy sitting on the front porch and listening to the water fountain in the garden between the houses or do a puzzle in the parlor while you sip lemonade and eat cookies.” How perfectly provincial!
A quick coffee and a pastry breakfast at Small Town Coffee Roasters turns into a longer visit when Alison falls in love with their coffee and decides to sign up for a years worth of their monthly subscription service. Freshly roasted coffee beans delivered right to her doorstep is the perfect souvenir!
Thoroughly caffeinated, Alison decides this town is the perfect place to create a New Years Hallmark-style romance movie. She’s gonna need a little help from her gals to pull this off.
Alison purchases Final Draft software to write the script, and flies Lulu in first class to direct the forthcoming feature. She’ll fill the roll of DP, now that she is somewhat adept with the Blackmagic 4k pocket cinema camera. P.S. we actually have this camera in real life, used it on our #10KDrivewayTour to film for our Live From [Blank] webseries.
To make this production look flawless - well as can be on a limited budget - Alison flies in our podcast producer Ash to do wardrobe and set design.
Going for an intimate feel, we are flying in two actors that we know and love. Hopefully they love us back because she can cover travel costs and offer copy and credit, but no pay. Fingers crossed, 10K Dollar Day’s first feature film will be starring Vanessa Ray, who you likely know from our most downloaded episode “Finding Navajo and Goats in Trees”, or perhaps from Blue Bloods. Thinking there’s already going to be amazing chemistry, Alison casts Vanessa’s real-life husband Landon Beard as her love interest, whom we recently featured as a 10K Saturday guest. They are quite possibly the cutest couple in the world, so Alison is feeling good about her casting decisions here.
Our first shooting location is Green River Plantation, a beautiful, 19th Century, forty-two-room mansion located in Rutherfordton. The setting is just right with its rustic scenery and romantic vibe, exactly what she’s wanting for our first foray into filmmaking…and what she’s sure will pander to our target demographic. While they didn’t have a “film a movie here” fee, Alison books their $1299 wedding package for the tea room, the gate house, and the grounds, and figures that should do the trick.
Lunch is catered in from Yellow Sun Brewing Co, a few pizzas should be enough to feed this cast of two and three-member crew. Davis Donut House is the new craft services.
Time to move on to our second location! KidSenses is a massive children’s museum that is temporarily closed and has hourly rental rates. Lulu suggests we replace the typical flirtatiously-throw-things-and-laugh scene with something here. There are a few exhibits that while meant for kids could play as flirtatious-adults-doing-childlike-things on screen…maybe? There’s a giant bubble wand that you can pull up around you finding yourself in a giant bubble. It’s roomy for a kid, but two adults would be a tight squeeze perfect for that accidentally-too-close leading to the obligatorily-sweet-first-kiss…and a slow zoom in on the iridescence of the bubble would make for a unique shot. Hmmm, let’s see, there is an art corner where crayons and clay could replace the usual more “adult” artist-and-muse scenario. There’s a puppet theatre…alright there’s a few starter ideas at least.
Our third location is Cherry Mountain Farm where Alison has arranged for our actors to get “up close and personal” with Angora goats! They are unbelievably adorable and will make such cute secondary characters considering we only have two (human) cast members. Alison pays the farm $500 to be the only ones on-site so that we don’t have any stray farm visitors in the background and can take advantage of the golden hour views.
We head to Main Street for some magic hour shots. All the street lamps are coming on, last traces of the sun are fading, and we have rented this Cinevate Atlas 200 48” Slider to get some magically smooth shots…and THAT’S A WRAP!
For dinner the whole crew heads to Copper Penny Grill to throw down. Coming soon to an imaginary at-home theater near you, 10K Dollar Day’s first feature film, edited of course by our extraordinary bae Gregg Montieth!
CHECK OUT THE CHARITIES WE FOUND IN THE CITIES WE VISITED:
HEY, FRIEND! IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY, FOLLOW US!:
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. For a full understanding of how we use affiliate links on our site, please visit our Policy Disclosures page. Thank you!