travel is good for the soul.
immersing yourself in a new city inspires you and refuels you.
since our sweet Emma finally had her graduation ceremony at COFC last Saturday (it was postponed from May to October due to Covid), we knew it was the perfect weekend to meet her down there and have a much needed Sugar employee "retreat" + Fall photoshoot. Something we've never done before, but hey 2020 has been a year of new things, changes and PIVOTS.
read more about our trip decision HERE.
Charleston, SC is definitely a city that has my heart. FUN FACT: my mom was born in Charleston and lived there the first nine years of her life while my papa was in the navy and worked at the shipyard. I actually ALMOST went to COFC, but changed my mind last minute to USC when I found out I couldn't take a car to COFC. Bahaha I love it though, seriously. You always experience something new each time you're there. It's a city of rich history, the most amazing culinary experiences and a whole lotta Southern charm.
So where did we stay? What did we do? Let's get started....
We checked into "the pink house" on Sunday around 4pm. The colorful painted pumpkins were already there and had us swooning...
As soon as we saw the pink fridge at the Boho Rosa House Airbnb, we knew it was a must. A PINK HOUSE? In our favorite city? Are you kidding me? (TIP: stay on a week night like we did for a much lower price!)
This house. Y'all. PHENOMENAL.
3BR/3BA upstairs + 2BR/1BA downstairs.
Plenty of room for all of my Sug girls with stunning porches and endless photo opportunities. It's great for families but the absolute perfect spot for your next girls' trip/bachelorette weekend and more...
I left fun lashes by a sweet, local friend/customer, FanGirl Lashes by C (follow her on Instagram/order HERE) + face masks + under eye patches on the girl's beds along with a cute "trip itinerary". The towels on the beds were even shaped like bows, I mean could this house be any cuter?
Shortly after everyone arrived, CHS Charcuterie delivered an amazing charcuterie board that I ordered via their Instagram HERE. Super sweet girls and it was amazing. We actually thought we'd order pizza from a local pizza place, but we were honestly full from the board + snacks we brought!
the board arrived packaged like this...
DELISH. Paired back with our favorite rosé (for those of us who could partake), YES WAY ROSÉ, it was the perfect "Sunday funday" treat!
Next up, if you joined in on our last virtual Wine Down Instagram LIVE, you knew most of our Sugar gals had never watched the classic 1993 movie - HOCUS POCUS. Definitely a movie of my generation, but I told them it was a classic (also so popular even today) and they just had to watch!
All of the TVs at Boho Rosa were smart TVs so it was easy to log in to Disney +, Netflix, anything. So convenient and I also can't say enough good things about the owner's attentiveness to make sure we had the perfect stay. Superb!
Meg wearing our Hocus Pocus Sweatshirt (SOLD OUT!) and the cute Hocus Pocus felt banner I ordered from Kailo Chic. She seriously has the cutest, most colorful decor! The girls loved the movie and we ate popcorn til' we could nearly POP!
The next morning, it was up and at em' early to get glam and first fuel up on brunch at Miller's All Day. Another totally insta-worthy brunch spot we heard was amazing and let me tell you, it 100% lived up to it's hype.
*Be sure to watch our TikTok videos HERE for more fun vides of brunch, the Boho Rosa house and more...
I started with a hot vanilla latte and I swear I'm 36 years old and I've only ever had a vanilla latte this good since I studied abroad in Italy back in college. AMAZING. Meg and Emma both got iced vanilla lattes and the Brown sisters sipped on Cafe Au Laits. You can actually just pop in for coffee since the coffee bar is just inside the restaurant. Even on a Monday we had a 30-45 minute wait! It's worth it though...
We started with one of their famous cinnamon rolls, because duh. "Life is sweet" and we are firm believers in sweet + desserts first, yessss. It was insane. So good!
I definitely broke all diet rules on this trip (and always do when on vacay!). For my meal, I ordered the Biscuits & Gravy - two eggs, rosemary-sausage gravy, cheddar, tomato jam and pickled okra. PHE-NOM-EH-NAL. I am still dreaming about it! All of us. We can not wait to get back to Charleston just to eat here again.
Let's talk brunch OUTFITS:
First off, I knew I needed total comfort to take photos all day and for THAT - you need Karlie's new
Birmingham Dress | Grey Leopard. A great dress you can dress up with heels for a wedding or dress down with sneakers (like I did!) for a day of sightseeing and more.
*terrible pic of a video but you get the point. My sneakers are Tretorn*
Meg was stunning in the
Lana Leopard Dress which sold out super fast this past Friday, but we hope to reorder more soon. (sneakers are linked
HERE)
after brunch, we spent all afternoon walking around downtown to shoot a few looks that we kept in the car (changing in garages is fun, said no one ever...ha) Then the humidity was just insane + it was 80 degrees so we quickly headed back to the house to regroup and change/shoot even more looks!
Charleston is always decked out for any season...
We finally wrapped up shooting at 6pm and had to quickly change/rest for 2.5 seconds and freshen up for dinner reservations at 7pm at Magnolias...
for Emma,
Karlie's Secret Garden dress. When in Charleston, keep it sweet, feminine and floral. Love it edgy with white booties but so good glam with strappy gold heels for weddings and more...
Sydney wore the Cheetah Girl Dress, which sold out super fast but we will get this style again soon just in different colors and prints...
and Brantlee is wearing the Marissa Dress by Karlie in La Vie en Rose, which we have a medium left if interested it's just not on the site anymore. Also you can shop this print in more styles
HERE...
and I wore Karlie's
"My Girl Dress" (also available in a skort) . The perfect dress for Charleston's mild temps (and all of our mild Fall temps here in the South lately) that you can again, dress up or dress down! The elastic puffy sleeves just make the dress. So retro and so fun!
I was the only one who had ever dined at Magnolias and I knew it was sure to be fabulous. Classic Southern dishes with an updated twist! Fried chicken, oysters, shrimp & grits ... you name it. Magnolia's is not to be missed!! Incredible.I had so many sweet customers DM us and say how it's also their favorite too. Nothing but five stars here...
It was such an awesome night finished off by more popcorn, wine, laughs and watching murder mysteries on Netflix! HA Soooo spooky, let me tell ya.
The next morning we sadly said goodbye to our beloved pink house and headed back to the shop to finish up the day with work.
A few more "favorites" before I wrap up. As mentioned, we absolutely loved our glam
FanGirl Lashes by C - as seen here on Sydney and Brantlee...
and my personal favorite nude lip combo is:
Mac's Retro Matte Lipstick in BRONX or any new matte Bite lipstick, I love.
NYX lip pencil in LONDON
finished with NYX Butter lipgloss in ANGEL FOOD CAKE
definitely my jam...
Ok, so this may be the longest blog post we've ever done but we couldn't wait to share all of the details and we can't WAIT for you to see even more amazing pics and new arrivals. Don't forget to follow us on
INSTAGRAM and
FACEBOOK to be the first to know when they land...
Until next time...
stay sweet xoxo
Sandi
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