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05.12.18

Oak Alley Plantation

I just got back from a trip to New Orleans. I’ve been once before, and this time there were two things I really wanted to see, one being a beautiful old plantation home, and our morning at Oak Alley Plantation was born.

We drove about an hour outside of New Orleans into what just looked like farms. Until all of sudden the architecture began to change. There were two extreme juxtapositions of architecture; very big beautiful grand homes, and then little shacks that you could practically see through. As we came around a turn we found the driveway of Oak Alley. It actually runs along side the famous Oak Alley, and I was so busy looking for the turn I missed the view from the road!

Once we passed the ticket gates I could see why so many people visit here, the “big house” as the call it, is beautiful even from a distance.

But just on the other side of the view is where the slaves lived. It really tugs at your heart when you think about the conditions of the people living on this land and how there were totally opposites lives existing in the same space at the same time.

The “big house” is what is called an Antebellum style home, and you can just picture women in big ball gowns walking through the home. It has undergone several renovations, but the original beauty of the home is preserved.

The most beautiful part of the entire Oak Alley Plantation experience would have to be the magnificent oak trees that line the iconic front drive. It’s just unbelievable how grand, and healthy, those trees are. There was also a little armadillo who lived in the massive root system of the trees! He came out to see us for just a moment.

All in all I absolutely recommend the trip out to Oak Alley Plantation. The team that runs the plantation does an excellent job of allowing you to appreciate the beauty. They also educating you on what life was like for both the groups that lived on Oak Alley. The white slave owners of the time and the slaves who lived vastly different experiences from the slave owners.

05.08.18

Restoration Hardware: Brunch Edition

Brunch is such a luxury. So is Restoration Hardware. What do you get when you put them together?! One of the most satisfying, design-rich brunch experience around!

This was actually my second experience at Restoration Hardware Cafe because I just love the whole experience that much! It is SUCH a beautiful space. Thought and consideration has been put into every detail, from the view into the kitchen right down to the apparel of the servers.

Chandeliers are inherently feminine, but mixed with the right metals, fabrics, and materials and suddenly it’s not just feminine it’s a complete aesthetic. I LOVE the design of this entire space because of the way it makes me feel. It’s tranquil and luxurious, and exactly the kind of space you want to spend time in.

The menu has not been neglected in terms of details. It’s highly curated to just a few VERY WELL DONE dishes. Personally I find the scrambled eggs to be decadent and delicious. They incorporate so much more into this dish than simply eggs, and it elevates said eggs from a breakfast staple to an experience.

The tea service is my other favorite aspect besides the design. The tea is casual silver service. It feels like a tea party for one (or two, if your dining partner also likes tea)! I know there are multiple locations of the Restoration Hardware Cafe, is there one in your city? If yes, have you been? Let me know in the comments!

05.03.18

Travel Skincare: 5 Favorites

I’ve recently changed my focus. I’m now into skincare. But not just any skincare, travel skincare! Or TRAVEL FRIENDLY I should say. I was focused on makeup and finding the greenest and most pure (for makeup). Now however, thanks to newly becoming a low-key FANGIRL of The Skinny Confidential, I’m into ALL kinds of skincare. I have always been very good at having a morning and evening routine comprised of a clean face and then a great moisturizer or serum. Now though, I have a wedding coming up (MY OWN) and I want the most dewy, fresh, well rested, looking skin I can achieve!

However, I have some particular needs because of how much I travel. So I’m going to share with you my new favorite 5 travel skincare items!

Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask

I bought this because it said “sleeping mask” and who hasn’t woken up with dry lips before…ESPECIALLY IN A HOTEL. After the decision to purchase I found out that Laneige is one of those “cult beauty” products that people just love. It’s not hard to see why, because it just does so much for your lips! You have to be religious about using it every night, but I swear my lips are fuller. It’s also a god send to carry on the plane with you because it’s like a moisture locking barrier that insulates your lips!

Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream

This night cream combined with my nightly serum has made the texture of my skin so soft. The story behind the Drunk Elephant brand is fun too and has to do with ingredients. You can read that here. I also love how hygienic the dispensing of this product is. You press down on the top and it squeezes out, instead of having to stick your fingers into the jar.

Avene

I just bought this a few days ago and I’m already loving it. It’s a french skincare product so of course it’s fabulous, but it literally melts makeup away. WATERPROOF EYELINER? buh bye. I don’t LOVE the smell, it smells very clean, but I can get past that for how well it does it’s job.

Suntegrity 5-in-1 Natural Moisturising Face Sunscreen

I have the full body sunscreen of this as well and I just adore both. Traditional sunscreen has MULTIPLE ingredient that are considered toxic, and this product was designed to be as green and pure as possible. It’s also tinted so it’s a great light foundation!

Glow Recipe Watermelon Pink Juice

THIS SMELLS SO GOOD. If you like watermelons, which I do. But it also is such a great daily moisturizer! I put it on in the morning before all my makeup and it hydrates my skin, smells amazing, and helps my makeup sit even better on my skin. I also love the design of this product, it’s beautiful to have sitting out on your vanity.

If you enjoyed this travel skincare guide Into The Gloss has a similar guide you can find here!

Those are the five products I’m loving and have been taking with me on all my travels lately. What skincare secrets do you have?! Share with me in the comments!

04.28.18

Guiness Storehouse: Five Things To Know

Ireland was SUCH a good time. I loved exploring both Northern Ireland and Ireland and seeing all the beautiful natural wonders. We saw and did so many cool things, including the Guinness factory tour!

Here are five things to know about the Guinness Storehouse tour!

1. The music doesn’t just sound good because everyone’s had one too many Guinness, there is so much musical talent in Ireland! After the Guinness Tour is a great time to go to Temple Area and explore the pubs and music! Ireland had so much to offer in terms of interesting things to do, so much history to learn about and study, and the MUSIC in the pubs was exactly what you would hope to hear while visiting Ireland!

2. Arthur Guinness started the company and employed so many families in Dublin. It was also considered a job for life and was something a lot of locals aspired to have. Make sure to tour the hall with the portraits to learn more about Arthur and his wife!

3. The tour starts with explaining how Guinness is actually made; right from the farming process. The center of the factory is actually a giant Guinness glass that the four levels are built around! There’s a tasting room where you get to learn about the tasting notes of Guinness with the cutest baby glass of Guinness. You also learn about the perfect way to enjoy it and why it supposedly tastes the best in Dublin.

4. After exploring all the different floors full of secrets, history, past marketing campaigns, and a cafe with foods enriched with actual Guinness, you make it to the glass circular room at the top of the building! From here you can see all of Dublin and also enjoy a a full pint of the ruby red liquid itself. It’s definitely worth going up for the view and the experience!

5. If you want to get something engraved make sure to allow time for that! I ended up having to go back and pick our stuff up the next day!

What’s one of the coolest “tourist” experiences you’ve had while traveling?!

04.26.18

Royaltea or Royal Wedding?

We all know a royal wedding is coming up! No, I’m not just talking about my wedding, I’m talking about Megan and Harry!

It’s going to be quite the affair I’m sure, but I’m actually wanting to share with you a different kind of “royaltea”! It doesn’t make me feel like a princess the way that Kleinfeld’s bridal wonderland did in January, but it definitely is a fun stop for a sweet treat. Royaltea is a bubble tea bar!

In Chinatown in Toronto is wear I happened to find the cutest bubble tea I think I’ve ever seen. It also had some of the most original flavors for bubble tea that I’ve been able to try. (Although I wasn’t as adventurous with all my choices.) It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside it’s totally on trend. The menu is extensive, and what I like about Royaltea is that they have already done all the work in terms of finding amazing flavor combinations!

We tried the COOKIES AND CREAM bubble tea and the EARL GREY bubble tea!

The cookies and cream we got in the gummi bear bottle and the earl grey is in the light bulb bottle. Both tasted amazing! It might be my favorite bubble tea of all time! But more than just the flavor, I got so much joy from enjoying the drinks out of such fun bottles.

I recently read in a book I’m reading that most people think that wine tastes better out of a specially and thoughtfully designed glass.

After doing blind taste tests, it turns out that the wine doesn’t actually taste any different, but what is actually happening is the EXPERIENCE is better with the special glass. The wine IS BETTER because people BELIEVE it’s better. That’s how I feel about the bubble tea from Royaltea! So, what’s your favorite bubble tea? What fun flavors have you tried? Tell me all about it in the comments!

04.24.18

Old School Style Brunch

I’m sitting in the DC airport, but I’m thinking about the the brunch I had in Nashville recently. It was at The Old School Farm northwest of Nashville.

We had just left church and wanted to try something new and interesting when I remembered somebody telling me about the goat yoga they had done at The Old School before having brunch there.

So naturally my inquisitive self had to check it out. The Old School is a farm-to-table on a micro scale. So instead of being a “farm to table” restaurant, they are a FARM with a restaurant. Meaning they source most of what they serve from their own gardens or chicken coop (for eggs). What they can’t source from themselves they get from about 5 other farms close by.

What I love about any farm to table restaurant is how GOOD and PURE the food tastes.

At the old school they also made the coffee cream butter for the bread basket we got! Somehow farm fresh eggs just taste so good when compared with typical grocery store eggs. It’s like the hens are happy with their lifestyle and that’s reflected in their eggs! We had the mushroom and ricotta omelette and the baker’s basket. Both were so good, but the bakers basket was a piéce de résistance! Each bakery treat was so good but we especially LOVED the coffee cake.

We were sat in the room that used to be the lunchroom, cafeteria, and auditorium so we got to listen to a jazz quartet while brunching. It felt very 1920s. Which felt very fabulous. Overall I loved the atmosphere, the mixture of corner booths, roundtables, high tops, and more intimate tables. The whole experience was so enjoyable, and I’m definitely adding this to my “take people who visit Nashville here” list.