Weekend Recap

This isn’t your normal Charleston weekend trip recap.  But this weekend, we had the pleasure of joining Southern First Bank for a retreat down at Wild Dunes Resort.  I won’t talk much about Nelson’s job or company, but I will say this; they are family and he LOVES his job.  I know that so few people can say that, but he truly respects and enjoys the people he works for and with every single day, and that means a lot.  I love seeing him love what he does.  So, once a year, they have a weekend retreat down in Isle of Palms at Wild Dunes (not too shabby for a weekend away sans kids in the Fall).  As I said, it isn’t our “normal” Charleston visit, as we typically go out to our favorite dinners downtown Charleston, but we do get to venture out a little bit on our own, and we had a blast at Wild Dunes with friends and his co-workers.  Bonus and spoiler alert:  we also had an INCREDIBLE speaker on Saturday night that I will share with you.

We headed down to Charleston as soon as we dropped the boys off at school, so that we could get there for lunch and try something new.  Having lived in Charleston (pre-kids) for 6 years, we went out a lot and had our favorite spots, so it’s always tempting to head to one of these when we visit.  However, it’s been 5 years since we’ve moved and if you know the Charleston food scene, there are always new, amazing restaurants popping up.  My friend, Erin, recommended Poke Tea House, and we LOVE a poke bowl and honestly the only one I’ve ever had is at Happy and Hale here in Greenville (which is amazing), but Poke Tea House takes the bowl to an all new level.  It was DELICIOUS!!!

Ahi Poke Salad // Ahi Poke Bowl (added mango – so good!)

Another reason why I (maybe not Nelson) wanted to get down to Charleston early, was so that I could get to a class at Charleston Power Yoga before our scheduled actviities/dinner Friday evening.  I consider Charleston Power Yoga my “yoga home”.  It is where I fell in love with yoga and then decided to become a yoga instructor.  I received my 200-hour RYT from CPY, with Beth and Sarah and it is seriously one of the best things I’ve ever done.  If you live in Charleston, or visit Charleston and want to try some good, genuine, hot, powerful flow, try out Charleston Power Yoga (with locations downtown on King Street and in Mt. Pleasant, just over the bridge.)

Friday night, we had dinner with the group back at Wild Dunes Resort.  Even though the weather felt like Summer at the beach this weekend, I tried my best to not wear Summer dresses, shorts, and tanks all weekend long.  I was pumped to finally have a reason to wear this amazing faux leather skirt from Loft.

Faux Leather Skirt // Black Top (similar) // Necklace // Booties (old, but I love these and these)

This skirt is so comfortable and the perfect length! And it will NOT break the bank.  Especially when it’s 40 or 50% off! A super fun piece for Fall, just throw on a cardigan, jacket, or sweater and pair with some booties! Done.

Saturday morning, I headed back to CPY for a 75 minute yoga class, then headed to my favorite Mt. Pleasant coffee shop, Vintage Coffee Shop.

And then, to top off my perfect morning, I headed back to Wild Dunes for a Swedish Massage.  No kidding, every time I’ve had a spa service at Wild Dunes, it has been phenomenal!  This one did not disappoint.

I also LOVE that their rooms are equipped with Nest products! Each fragrance smells so good!

For lunch, we headed to Sullivan’s Island for a burger at Poe’s.

Saturday night, we had a guest speaker.  Which, yes, at a bank retreat, may seem a little unexpected.  Major Dan Rooney, an F-16 fighter pilot, who also happens to be a PGA professional,and a father to 5 girls, but most of all, he is a man of faith, living and seeking God’s will. He has truly become an instrument in His calling.

When I think of military heroes and fallen soldiers, it has alway saddened me for them and their families, but my thoughts have never really gone past that, as they hadn’t even for Dan.  But, read about his story here and why he founded Folds of Honor.  His story is touching and very inspirational.

Folds of Honor was formed in 2007 by Major Dan Rooney as a non-profit to provide educational scholarships to spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled service-members.  Just a few facts:

• There are more than 1 MILLION disabled and fallen services member affected by war
• Nearly 2 MILLION dependents of military heroes
• It would cost over 9 BILLION to provide educational scholarships to dependents of all fallen and disabled service members.
• Since 2007, they have awarded nearly 12,000 educational scholarships

You definitely don’t expect half the room to be in tears in a room of bankers and their families at a retreat, but that was the case Saturday night.  He spoke a good bit about his foundation, but he also inspired us to be grateful for each and every morning we step out of bed, to enjoy the sunrise, and pursue our passions.  He truly was incredible and I am so very thankful that I was among this group to hear his talk.

Peplum Top (old, but some more favorite peplums featured below) // Frame Denim (can be found locally at Twill)