Charleston Trip Recap

Today I’m back with a recap of my Charleston trip this past summer – my last trip to share with you while I was away on my hiatus. While we were certainly all in our summer’s best, all of these hotels, restaurants and activities are perfect for a Charleston trip any time of the year.

This trip was for the Southern Blog Society annual conference and I was so lucky to attend this year again. Luckily it was in Charleston – one of my favorite cities in this world! (if you haven’t read my sister’s Bachelorette recap series – please do.)

I was also so excited to be traveling with some of my favorite blogger BFFs, Emily from Life with Emily, Ashley from Turquoise and Teale and Jenny from Boho Style File.

I landed and we checked into the charming & historic Mills House in downtown Charleston. We were greeted by the sweetest staff and bottles of vino in our gorgeous hotel room which overlooked the city.

The Mills House is everything Charleston – its pink exterior is enough to make any instagrammer pose out front for a photo (which all of us bloggers did, shocker). The four of us were hosted by welcoming and the most accommodating staff all weekend long. We had coffee at our door each morning and amazing bacon-cheese chips to munch on before heading out each evening.

Also, if you can imagine the amount of bags that 4 bloggers travel with for one weekend – our room was quite the sight to see (including our new matching weekenders from Barrington Gifts).

{Barrington Gifts: Belmont Cabin Bag c/o}

After we unpacked, Jenny and I then headed on over to Tease for the best blowouts in this world (see more about Tease here) and quickly met up with the other ladies to tour a few local showrooms. We stopped into meet the girls from Escapada Living and do some shopping and then over to II Brunettes to check out their adorable boutique too.

The first night of the conference was spent mingling and cocktail-ing on the rooftop terrace of Charleston Place. We caught up with our fellow southern bloggers from all over.

Below is what I wore with some similar options linked! I loved this little jumpsuit. After cocktails, we headed with group to dinner at Indaco – which is surely a new favorite. I’m told the pizzas were delicious (#glutenfreeproblems) and so was the wine (I can attest to that)!

{Jumpsuit: similar here, here & here // Sunnies // Sandals: similar here // Purse: similar here}

Saturday began super early as the four of us shared one bathroom, matching PJs (see below) and 500 beauty products to get the day started.

{PJs: Lake Pajamas c/o}

We then headed to breakfast at Charleston Place and to an all day conference at the Riviera Theater with amazing speakers that included the world’s best blog designer, Blair of The Fox & She (I may be a little bias as she she does my site!), People StyleWatch and a panel of amazing brands and influencers from all over. We were spoiled with gifts from them all and took the rest of the afternoon to network over mimosas before heading to Leon’s Oyster Shop for a late lunch. Leon’s is also one of my favorite spots and we were quite partial to the rose on that hot summer day.

Below is what I wore for the conference day. (This dress proved to be quite popular as 3 of the 4 of us packed it for the trip!)

{Dress: similar fall option here // Clutch // Sunnies // Earrings // Sandals: similar here}

After a long day of networking and dining, I headed back to The Mills House to change (outfit below) and head to dinner with some of my Kendra Scott colleagues who were in town for the conference from Austin. We chose SNOB – I was so excited to try as it’s been on my Charleston list for awhile and their gluten free menu was superb – seafood galore.

{Dress // Clutch: similar here c/o // Belt // Sandals: similar here}

Sunday morning, we checked out of the hotel and headed to quite possibly the best brunch of all time at the lovely Cannon Green. They invited us to join them for complimentary brunch and a tour of the gorgeous venue. Kristin also joined us and we took part in their new latin style brunch complete with (yes, more) mimosas and small plates to share. After brunch, we said our goodbyes and parted ways.

Below is what I wore to brunch – total Sunday’s best, right?

{Dress: similar here c/o // Crossbody c/o // Sunnies // Sandals: similar here // Bracelets c/o}

Jenny and I decided to extend our stay in Charleston one night so we took the rest of the day to shop on King Street, skip down Rainbow Row (even in the rain), walk along the Battery and were invited to a candle making workshop at Candlefish (Rewined!) downtown. We both were able to make our own custom candles/scents while sipping on wine and shopping in their adorable store.

Zero Street George invited us to stay for the evening and enjoy their lovely accommodations – and boy, were we blown away! The entire property is just breath taking with old homes turned into the hotel, a quaint courtyard, breakfast bar, coffee, monogramed robes, delicious food and gorgeous rooms. We were greeted with cheese and bubbly and took photos all around. This hotel is also highly recommended by yours truly and I will,without a doubt, also be back soon.

{Tee // Shorts c/o // Clutch: similar here c/o // Bracelets c/o // Sandals // Sunnies// Hat}

We dined at Macintosh that evening downtown and headed to bed early since I had an early flight to catch back to DC on Monday morning, but not before espressos in matching PJs (once again).

{PJs: Kayce Hughes c/o}

The entire weekend was truly amazing and much needed girl time. It’s always so hard for me to say goodbye to the Holy City and we visited in the weeks after the shooting so it was a very special and sacred time that I’m grateful for.

{Dress: Olivaceous (similar here) // Bracelets c/o // Flats c/o // Tote: similar here c/o}

In light of everything going on the past few months and even weeks, these ladies also hold a special place in my heart for their genuine friendship, support and advice from boys, outfit posts and just about everything in between. They are the definition of IRL (in real life) friends.

We are able to keep in touch with one another via phone calls, snap chats and every other form of social media possible and I can’t wait to share with you some more trips we have coming up over the next year!

Stay tuned later this week for new fall outfits that I teased on instagram over the weekend.

{*Special thank you to all the brands, hotels and restaurant sponsors from this trip.}