What’s The Happs: Charleston Edition

Hey everyone, and Happy Monday! I’m finally out of the woods with my nasty cold I had all weekend – ugh, it was rough! Especially since I never get sick. But, when I do, it’s like a ton of bricks at once! Anyways…now that it’s all passed, I wanted to start filling you in on fun little things that are happening in the life of hullosam! So, I’ve started this “What’s The Happs” series…where I’ll share my fun weekend trips, whatever exciting news I’ve got and more! We’ll see how it goes! ;)

I’m sure you saw that last weekend Davey and I went to Charleston to meet up with some friends! To be exact, Molly (maisonpur.com – you can read her recap of our weekend HERE) and Janny (jannyorganically.com), and their sweet families. If you follow Molls or I, you know that we actually live about 5 minutes away from one another in the Charlotte area – so there’s a real life friendship there. However, Janny lives all the way in California! So, getting to finally meet our longtime green beauty bloggin’ friend from Instagram (in real life) was SUCH a treat!

The trip to Charleston from Charlotte is only about 3 hours, so not too bad! Davey and I left late Thursday night and made it to his aunts beach house just in time to crash. The next morning was a Whole Foods breakfast morning, where we met Janny, her hubs and Sawyer (her adorable daughter)!  Molly and her family came in soon after and we all agreed on a nice walk to the beach – which was just minutes from the beach house where Davey and I were staying.

One of the main highlights of the trip was getting to meet up with Susanne Norwitz, the founder of Maya Chia. She was so kind as to set up a little tour of her studio, complete with a table full of tasty treats – cookies, guac and chips and custom gift boxes put together by her friend The Blue Root! The boxes had some really cute items from local companies in Charleston and it was just so sweet and overall thoughtful – just like Susanne! While in the studio, Molls, Janny and I were lucky enough to get a sneak peek and test some of the products Susanne is currently developing. I’m so excited about them, but they’re top secret right now so I unfortunately cannot share a word with you! Not even the pictures of us being slathered in different products…which are hilarious, if you can imagine. We couldn’t stop laughing, not to mention some of us (coughJannycough) were a bit delirious and jet-lagged. We had such a fun time!

The next day we planned a lunch date with Charleston dweller and green beauty IG friend, Jessica of Bare Beauty Blog! She and her gorgeous family met up with us at Taco Boy and we had such a blast! Also, her daughters name is Annabelle too! (That was funny to see, the two Annabelle’s just like..huh? LOL.) The photos at the end were my favourite hah!

I’d have to say this Charleston trip consisted of amazing food (lots of it too…tacos was a theme lol) and plenty of awesome sight-seeing! The restaurant order went something like this (chronologically):

• Whole Foods

I won’t explain this one, because it’s self-explanatory. (We ate breakfast here!)

• The Obstinate Daughter 

A new fave! Thanks to a great recommendation, we decided to try this place with the gang on the first night in Charleston. We were all very hungry, as wehad not eaten lunch that day. (Don’t know how…just got caught up at the beach? Ha!) This spot did not disappoint! To me, it really represented
Charleston well! Lots of tasty seafood on their menu too – including fresh oysters (drool). I drink and meal I ordered (Janny did too – in fact, we realized the whole weekend we were food twins, ordering similar meals every time ha!) was the The King’s Honey and for my meal, Cannolicchi: gluten-free penne, local fish, clam, tomato, caper, olives, garlic, parsley, chili flake and lemon. Holy moly, it was GOOD. Davey got gluten-free penne with a red sauce (he’s a bit more simple hah). We both thoroughly enjoyed our dinner (and company)!

• Edmunds Oast

Davey and I went there for a little nightcap/dessert. We have great memories there! Davey brought me there last year for my 29th birthday and we adored our meals, the atmosphere and staff. We both highly recommend checking it out if you’re looking for a vibey, date-night, romantic dinner spot.So this time we went, we just wanted coffee (Davey), a cocktail (for me) and some fries + dessert! (Great mix right? Vacation makes you do these things..)

Boy, oh boy…can we say sugar overload?! I got an Old School Mai Tai, which had a beautiful edible orchid on it. Then we shared a side of their house fries which are freakin’ delish..and for dessert: Gluten-free Butterscotch Blondie Sundae sweet almond ice cream, goat milk caramel, cherries and marshmallow. OH MY GOSH. Yes, it was so good, I almost cried. I mean, I was probably on the biggest sugar high I’ve had in a long time but it was SO worth it! I may have even had some of the ice-cream (which wasn’t dairy-free) – oops! It was definitely one of the more tasty gluten-free desserts I’ve had at a restaurant (that doesn’t typically serve gluten-free) in a long while!

 

• Taco Boy

So, my experience here wasn’t the best. In fact, I actually thought the tacos were subpar. Maybe I’m just spoiled by Minero‘s tacos (below). Either way, we were hungry and this got the job done. The chips and salsa were pretty good, and apparently they have great frozen margaritas. I’d definitely recommend their Mexican Street Corn, which is flash fried and topped with this lime/chili (maybe?) mayo that I loved!

• Welkin Coffee

One of our favourite stops for coffee and tea! It’s right in the heart of Historic Charleston, across the street from the Historic Charleston City Market and it’s dang good! I love their matcha latte with almond milk and this time got that iced. Davey got a regular almond milk latte. Very yummy!

• Minero 

Pretty sure this is why we ended up calling the food portion of our trip an all-taco weekend haha! But we weren’t mad about it because this is Davey and I’s absolute favourite taco spot. HANDS. DOWN. I can’t exactly pinpoint what sets it apart, besides the fact that their tacos are freaking delicious, they have amazing house chips and salsa…basically everything they make is so tasty! Their vibe and decor is awesome too. Of course, I’m going to recommend the tacos. My favourites are the Taco al Pastor, Pork Carnitas and Green Chorizo – yes, I like my meat. Davey always gets the chicken tacos, which are equally as delicious! P.s. their cocktails and margaritas are quite yummy too! (I know, some of these spots I didn’t even grab food photos cus I had my phone put away or I was too busy chowing down!)

• Butcher & Bee 

I highly recommend the charcoal lemonade (it’s super tarte and so refreshing) and I ordered SHAKSHUKA (poached eggs, spiced tomato sauce, jalapenõ, tahini, pita no pita for me, I opted for a side of GRILLED RADISHES which consisted of green curry, preserved lemon, coconut – SO good!) Everything was delicious, but the portion size was a lot smaller than what I’m used to, so keep that in mind! Davey got the MORNING HUMMUS (poached egg, chickpeas, pita) with a side of fries (really tasty fries, might I add)! I also heard the veggie burger was a win! P.s. they bring you your bill in an old book!

• Mercantile & Mash

Davey and I got some iced coffee/tea to go! His was a Nitro Cold Brew and mine was a Charleston Fog with almond milk – really quite tasty iced!

On our last day there we met up with Janny and her fam at Boone Hall Plantation. We had never been before and it was gorgeous! The long, sandy driveway with the trees…SWOON.

All in all, this trip was one to remember! So many new memories made, and with such a great group of people! I am so glad we did it, and look forward to more fun adventures in the near future! One of them being Indie Beauty Expo Dallas! I cannot WAIT to attend and if you’re attending, or in the area or just wishing to attend…you can get tickets here! Be sure to comment or message for a special discount code if you’re keen! Looking forward to seeing you all there! It’s going to be a great time!

Side note, if you’d like to view all of our pics in chronological order, here they are! Enjoy! x

xo