1.23.2013

Chapel Hill Getaway, Part 1

Happy Wednesday friends!

How's your week going?

After a 4 day weekend (first snow day and MLK Jr. Day), things are looking good for me!

Today I am happy to finally post about my recent getaway to Chapel Hill with you.

As I've been going through all the pictures, I've realized it probably would be best to break our trip up into 2 parts.  I have A LOT of pictures--we crammed so much into our weekend, so rather than bore you with a ridiculously long post, I figured I'll give you a little bit at a time!  Sit back and enjoy!

Those of you who follow me on Instagram have already had a sneak peek of my trip...but today I have even more to share!

This year, Bryce and I decided that rather than buying each other gifts, it might be fun to do a trip together instead.  We brainstormed places that would be a drivable distance that neither of us had been to before.  Anywhere up North was out (no offense to any Yankee readers), and so naturally we looked into somewhere in North Carolina.  When I thought of Chapel Hill as a potential place, I emailed Caitlin from Southern Curls & Pearls, a UNC alum, to see if she thought it would be a good location and to get ideas of fun things we could do while we were there.  Sweet Caitlin, emailed me back, assuring me it would be a wonderful place to visit and providing me with all sorts of insider scoop about where to stay, eat, shop, and go!

My last weekend of break, we packed our bags and headed to The Carolina Inn, per Catilin's suggestion!

Excuse the quality of this iPhone pic!

When we arrived, I was instantly in awe of the Inn's beauty and Southern charm.  We were immediately greeted by a staff member and quickly found the way to our room.

Our Beautiful Room
All around the inn were frames, like the ones shown above our bed, with North Carolina and Inn history!

Our bathroom was absolutely gorgeous!

Once we got settled in, we kicked back and relaxed until it was time for dinner.

Champagne and Uggs..doesn't get much better than this!
By the way, I received these cute elephant jammies as a birthday present and love them...they're on sale, so check it out:  PJ Salvage!

Dinner our first night was at Lantern and was our favorite meal of the whole trip!


We really indulged--drinks, appetizers, entrees and dessert-- it was wonderful!

I chose the scallops special and was so happy with my choice!

After we got home from dinner, we had a blast exploring the Carolina Inn a bit!

Everywhere I turned I was in awe!

This hallway might have been my favorite spot in the whole Inn!

Or...maybe this birdcage was my very favorite spot!  
I wanted to take it home!

And become friends with these doves!

We even discovered an EGG!!!


If you can't tell we were really into the birds...


We took a few mirror pics and then headed for the lobby...

I was thrilled that Christmas decorations were still up...this tree was absolutely gorg!

I also wanted to take one of these little guys home!

Gingerbread Barn!

Finally we decided to head up to our room...we couldn't turn in for the night without exploring our floor a bit though!

There were adorable seating areas around every corner!

Black and White Checkered floors are my fav!

Come in and sit a spell!

After all of our explorations, we finally called it a night!  Our first night there was a wonderful introduction to Chapel Hill and foreshadowed all the fun ahead!

Saturday morning we slept in, enjoyed a light breakfast, and then headed to Franklin Street to check out some of the shops and sites we had seen on our walk to Lantern the night before.

Our first stop was at Peacock Alley...I had seen the words "LILLY" and "SALE" in the window the night before, so you know it was on my list of places to go!

The store did not disappoint.  It was filled with furniture, home accents, art, linens, gifts, and more!

I really, really, really wish I could have brought this bar cart home!

I also would have liked that top left pink and green Lilly pillow!

And this entire bedroom, tehe!

Our next shopping stop was at Uniquities.  I knew I was in the right place when a rack of designer denim was on sale on the sidewalk.  Once I went inside though, I was even more pleased!  The store was huge and had a great selection of designers, including one I'd never heard of before and LOVED:  Daven!  Have y'all heard of Daven?  Since discovering it at Uniquities, I've tried to track it down online with no luck...

Makes me excited just looking back at this picture!

I came home with some wonderful goodies:

Daven Top & Sweater, Seven Skinny Crop & Roll Jeans, Two's Company Ikat Frame, Bamboo Spreader, Silver Napkin Holder, and Tortoise Cuff

I'm thrilled to use the the napkin holder as a catch all for jewelry and perfume!

After all this shopping (Bryce was a GREAT sport), we headed to Carolina Brewery.  Bryce is what I call a beer snob and also has gotten into making his own home brews, so this was one of his favorite parts of the trip!

They had quite the selection!

I thought the copper was so pretty!


Working hard!

Bryce enjoyed their Flagship IPA and their Oatmeal Porter.

I enjoyed their ice water with lemon (I am not a beer drinker), ha!

:)

After enjoying a few brews, we headed back to the inn, stopping at some bookshops along the way!  

And here, I will leave you waiting anxiously (hehe) to read more about the rest of our trip!  Be back Friday with Part 2!

Have a great day!