Welcome to Checking In, a series of posts dedicated to the places we stay when we travel I’m back from a lovely getaway in Puerto Rico, and while I was sad to leave the island, I’m thrilled to be able to share another boutique hotel review with you today! I’ve always been drawn to wordplay (I even have a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics – not that I necessarily use it, but I digress…), and Dream Inn caught my eye when scoping out boutique places to stay in San Juan. It’s a fitting name, given how the unique architecture of the hotel is also designed to catch your eye. Brutalist arch ..read more

Opening up my suitcase and sharing my real-life packing list for a chilly weekend in Pinehurst and Southern Pines, North Carolina What is the closest you’ve cut it while packing for a trip? For a recent trip to the Sandhills, I think I set a new personal record: only an hour before I needed to be behind the wheel did I have time to haul my suitcase out of the closet and start packing. This post contains gifted products and commissionable links Thankfully, I have not only years of experience packing for weekend getaways, but a host of past packing lists to refer back to when needed here on ..read more

Slowly, but very, very surely, I’m making my way around my current home state of North Carolina. Yet, at some point during the drive to Southern Pines, I experienced a moment of disorientation – it was as if I had inadvertently steered off course and found myself rerouted to northern Florida. Flat terrain with sandy soil and towering pine trees isn’t what typically comes to mind when picturing North Carolina’s landscape. Mountains with deciduous forests or sandy beaches with coastal shrubs, sure – but in my four years of living in the Tar Heel state, I’d never encountered this combination b ..read more

“Oh, do you golf?” If I had a dollar for every time I heard that in the weeks leading up to a recent trip to Pinehurst, well, I could probably afford to buy a set of clubs and hire an instructor. No, sorry, to answer your question, I don’t golf (but I am flattered you think I’m athletic and coordinated enough to do so!). So why on earth would I visit a destination that is quite literally known as the Home of American Golf? This post is created in partnership with the Convention & Visitors Bureau Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area of North Carolina, but as always, all opinions ar ..read more

As anyone who’s ever tried to bake a cake or a loaf of bread from scratch knows, baking is a labor of love. And as much as I do enjoy baking at home, sometimes it’s nice to outsource the task to a professional. But not just any bakery – my love for small businesses extends all the way to my stomach. There’s a delightful inconsistency that appears in products from small bakeries, versus their cookie-cutter (literally) supermarket counterparts. I think there is just as much beauty in the rustic charm of a blob of a cookie with gobs of chocolate chips as there is in the labor of a laminated do ..read more

Hopping on today to share a quick review of the Rosso Straight Ponte Pant from wool&. I’m starting to feel like my home is being taken over by wool. Not just because I’ve taken up knitting (though Michael will probably tell you that there is so. much. yarn. everywhere). But because it’s one of my favorite fabrics to wear. Despite the public perception that it’s a difficult fabric to care for, chances are pretty slim that you’ll wind up with a sad, shrunken sweater – because the truth is, wool doesn’t need much care in the first place. Wool is naturally odor-resistant, meaning it can go s ..read more

Can you feel the thrill in the air? It can only mean one thing – Carowinds is open for 2024! Carowinds officially opened its gates to the public for the season on March 9 (with a special passholder event on March 8, where yours truly had the chance to get an insider’s scoop on all of the park happenings in 2024), giving travelers yet another great reason to visit Charlotte this year. As a member of the media, my experiences at Carowinds were generously hosted, but this post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own. In today’s post, I’m sharing all the new things parkgoers can expect ..read more

Sharing your ultimate day-trip travel guide to Waxhaw, North Carolina, a charming town just 45 minutes from Charlotte How on earth did it take me four years to get to Waxhaw? It’s only forty-five minutes from Charlotte… Well, considering I moved here at the end of 2019 and then you-know-what happened in 2020, I suppose I know the reason why. But now that I’ve made the trip, I can honestly say shame on my past self – now I know better. Looking for more great day trips from Charlotte? Find them all in one place in my guide: Essential Day Trips from Charlotte Because this sweet town of j ..read more

Sharing my honest thoughts on the travel-ready Waverley 2 convertible handbag from Lo & Sons My last three packing lists all have one thing in common (well, besides the heavy presence of a black winter palette): I packed the same purse each time. Partially because I’m lazy – why spend time moving my stuff from bag to bag when the current one is working just fine? – but mostly because that little bag has proven itself to be a sturdy travel workhorse. But *zooms in on photos* what is it? Lo & Sons generously gifted the Waverley 2, but as always, all thoughts and opinions are genuine ..read more

Sharing a day trip guide to the Town of Matthews, just 25 minutes from Charlotte You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Town of Matthews is part of Charlotte. Driving down Independence and taking in all of the area’s growth, it’s nearly impossible to tell where Charlotte ends and where Matthews begins – but walking down Trade Street, the town’s picture-perfect main street, makes the city feel so very far away. I’ve spent a little time in Matthews since moving here in 2019, but that was mostly while running quick errands, so Michael and I finally made the harrowing journey down my least fav ..read more