A working mom steps out of the laundry room.

by Mick Kelly . photo by Matt Rose

Every other creature in her house is male—even the snake. Adina Arden-Cooper lives in Weaverville with her two sons, three-year-old Asa and six-year-old Juda, her husband, Jim, a German Shepherd named Anakin and a snake named Ziggy. “Being pretty is not much of a priority around here (we’re lucky if we stay clean),” she wrote in her first email to VERVE about why she thought she could use a day of pampering.

So pamper we did. Amy Dougherty at Pi Salon & Spa in Biltmore Village bundled up Arden-Cooper’s naturally curly hair into a loose chignon, with a few dramatic tendrils around her face. Serenity Eyre at Makeup at the Grove Arcade made Arden-Cooper’s intense eyes even more so. We found the perfect oh-so-Asheville outfit, a handmade original by Gigi Reneé, at Gigi’s downtown shop, Vintage Moon. The kicker? Vintage-inspired open-toed combat boots from Hip Replacements on Lexington Avenue downtown.

Arden-Cooper, who works as a school counselor at ArtSpace Charter School in Swannanoa, turns 36 this month. She admits she sometimes gets bogged down by her less-than-glamorous to-do lists. “I feel like I spend my life doing laundry,” says the native of Buffalo, New York. But several of her mom friends are “grown-up hippies” like her, she says, and when they manage to escape the laundry room, they rock out—going to see acts like Ani di Franco or The Black Keys. Truly, she feels she couldn’t have picked a more Earth-friendly, kid-friendly, happenin’ place to raise a family than Western North Carolina. “Our kids are so fortunate to have been born and grown up here,” she says. “They’re so blessed to have these beautiful mountains and gorgeous natural world.” We think mom is looking pretty gorgeous too.

Gypsy nomad dress by Gigi Renee at Vintage Moon. Sweet Romance earrings also from Vintage Moon.
Bamboo lace-up combat boots from Hip Replacements. www.hipreplacementsclothing.com.
Adina’s hair by Amy Dougherty at Pi Salon & Spa. www.pisalonspa.com.
Makeup by Serenity Eyre at Makeup at the Grove Arcade. www.makeupatga.com.

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