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Friday, April 13, 2012

Our 1st Anniventure

And so we were off! Steven stole me away last weekend and I had NO clue (literally nothing more than a weather forecast of a hint) where we were going. I kind of narrowed it down to being north of the Carolinas...but, still. No. Idea. I was assuming Williamsburg, but he asked me, "WHY would we go somewhere we've been before!?" and my response was, "Well? If it means something to us, why not?!" As we were nearing closer, I was still confused and we were edging close to water. As we drove through the backroads and an actual DIRT ROAD I started getting ancy, yet again. Last week was kind of a nightmare for me. I'm not a huge fan of surprises. Or not being in control. And I know- I need to let it go, especially when it comes to surprises from Steven :) But really, were we lost!? 



Just as we're rounding a small country road, I spotted some signage and a white fence. Warner Hall? I was still slightly confused (really). As we turned down the drive, the house came into the view and I started crying, naturally. It was gorgeous! Warner Hall was George Washington's great grandfather's home. The current owners, Troy and Theresa did an entire renovation several years ago and opened up the home as a bed and breakfast. Their dogs kind of steal all the attention, but they all shared the warmest hospitality. Warner Hall was full of gorgeous southern antiques, framed letters from Robert E. Lee and photographs of all the previous presidents who had stayed there. I was in the company of good ole' Abe. Even Queen Elizabeth spent time there! I died. 

Theresa cooks breakfast and the presentation was almost too good to eat. Everyone on staff was welcoming and friendly and Chef Eric Garcia's cooking was seriously good!


 The view from our wing:


Queen for the weekend...(kidding, but this is pretty funny if you're my mom & dad):


There was a graveyard on site, for the Warner family. I thought it was kind of cool that it was ACTUALLY April 6, that day, just 201 years later.


The back of the house...


The house had a cute boat house with a dock where we relaxed...


We had a charming breakfast in the sunroom Saturday!


They made sure we had snacks:


  We ventured out to dinner for Friday evening. Live music at the yacht club. Heavenly!




Y'all know me- I did a little shopping for antiques and picked up a few goodies that I may share later!



 One task Steven asked me to take care of was planning a picnic. I brought the dishes we used from our wedding reception, macaroons, and some other snacks. My aunts gifted us with wine from Napa Valley  and Sonoma (and they now have a house there -seriously, cannot WAIT to visit!) for our 1 year, 5 year, and our wedding night. Such a cool gift, so it was a perfect addition to the picnic! The basket was actually used in our wedding for a container for our favors! To make it fun, I packed a few games and I packed up all the cards we received from our big day. We looked through our wedding album and we read our old love letters and cards. Perfection!



One funny thing about this perfect picnic was that we were in the middle of where owner's dogs play. They started to circle the yard at a distance while they barked at us. Clearly, we were in their territory! woops!



After the picnic we explored around on some beach cruiser bikes.
 I decided that we're moving there. Actually, there was a plantation near by for sale. Too bad we didn't win the lottery 2 weeks ago!


We can at least have horses... right, honey? Please?!



Dinner at the Inn was phenomenal. Best. Ever!



Gloucester, VA is the home of the annual Daffodil Festival and they were certainly in bloom everywhere!


 



After Easter Sunday at the sweetest chapel, we hit up Yorktown on our way home! It was indeed the perfect weekend!
xo,
Sugar Meg

Nerd Alert: We even saw a pirate ship! 



Monday, April 9, 2012

A year ago, today...










I happily became Mrs. Steven Thomas Harringon. Over the last year, we've become even more joyful (I didn't think that would even be possible!) than we were on the day we said "I do." Our wedding was full of sweet memories, our absolute favorite people, and lots of love. I miss that day so much! Most importantly, we exchanged our vows and promises and we took each other's hand before God. I became Steven's wife! 

I think it's pretty amazing we were able to celebrate TWO Easters within ONE year of Marriage. 
He is Risen.
Perhaps that's why we feel extra blessed in our first year?! 

Steven wisked me away this past weekend for a surprise trip to Gloucester, VA, where we were able to soak up some amazing quality time to celebrate! The waterworks immediately started the moment I saw where we were staying. It was just absolutely gorgeous. I truly adore this man! He pulled all the stops and stole my heart all over again! (which he does, often!) I added some snippets from our weekend on Instagram, but I'll update some favorites later this week. It was a weekend I'll never forget! A part of me is kind of sad that our first year is over, but I'm also excited to continue onto the next and those thereafter. We are so humbled by what marriage has taught us so far. There has been no gift greater than sharing life with my husband.

Happy Easter Monday!
xo,
SugarMeg



Thursday, April 5, 2012

A little CAMPAIGNING + desk for SALE

You could say I have a problem. Hopefully I won't show up on the show "Addicted" or "True Life," but here at the H house, I'm probably one desk shy of being featured. So here's how I got myself into this one...

Because I've started working a little bit from home, we have prioritized our home office project. Not being completely satisfied with the charming desk that we have, I had it in my mind that I would create a closet desk space in addition to refinishing our current desk. I love the little desk, but it's not practical. The drawers are tiny and it's a little too classic looking for my taste. Don't get me wrong, its adorable and it was Steven's grandad's (so we can't sell it), but I'll find another use for it later in life. I also desperately want to paint it, but that bad boy is lacquered!
Please excuse the crazy mess!


Well, not that I was looking for anything new, two weeks ago, I stumbled onto MaryMac.Vintage on Facebook and she posted a campaign styled desk with wicker drawers! Pretty awesome! I went to take a look and fell hard for it, even though it definitely needed a paint job! The brass will need to be polished, but I love it! I told my husband about it and he swore his coworker, and my friend Caroline, would be able to find one at a better price for me. I didn't listen. I didn't want to take my chances of losing my little gem! But, per usual, he was right and Caroline found a campaign desk for me last night at a fantastic price. I bought it, too. I think I love it even more than the MaryMac one. Lesson learned. Patience is always key. 


So, yes..that's THREE desks that I currently own right now. Quite a dilemma! And while I can't sell the family heirloom desk, I will be selling one of these two campaign desks. I'm leaning towards keeping the biggest one so if you're interested in the smaller white one and in the RALEIGH/CARY area, message me and I can paint it for you as well, or sell it as is. If I don't have any messages, I'll be selecting a color (robin's egg blue or kelly green?!) and painting them (over the next few months weeks) then selling one on craig's list. Then I'll be left with my fancy painted campaign and the heirloom desk which will return to my inlaws for the time being. Whew! 

Any takers?
xo,
SugarMeg

PS : Speaking of patience...I've been frustrated over finding the perfect lamp for our bar. Nothing had seemed quite right over the last few trips I've made to Homegoods or home shops so I blew off my hunt. This past weekend, I was introduced to a new consignment shop and found this one...
At $50, it was kiiind of a risk because there were no refunds and, let's be honest, the lamp is kiiiind of ugly on it's own...but at the same time, I had the vision in mind! 

It matched perfectly with my living space and once I get the artwork figured out and find a new lampshade, I'll be good to go!