A few months ago, I had a crazy idea. It was an idea that would have me questioning everything I did, said, and how I portrayed myself. I decided I wanted to have a retreat. The truth is, the retreat was almost canceled so many times. I was scared to put myself out there, to try something new, and to sail into uncharted waters. I was afraid of failure. After all, I didn’t want it to be like every other retreat I’ve seen out there – I wanted it to be a weekend of reflection, growth, and of course, beautiful designs. I also wanted the attendees to leave feeling refreshed, loved on, and ready to conquer the world with a new found motivation for chasing their dreams. In the end, everything came together better than I ever could have dreamed!
Photo courtesy of C Wright Photography
I played Hostess for the weekend, while Catrina from Root + Restore provided the guidance and emotional support for those who attended. We had a great group of female entrepreneurs – from mom bloggers to cookbook authors and everything in between, we ate well, had heartfelt conversations, and allowed ourselves to dream.
Catrina (right) and I ready for a fun weekend to start! Photo courtesy of Vashti Co
We packed a lot into the weekend, but I thought you’d enjoy taking a peek at what we did, saw, and celebrate with those who made it possible.
Upon arrival, our guests were greeted with swag bags that were stuffed full of goodies. The generous sponsors included: inspiration prints from Lumitory, match boxes from Rewined, Drippings Springs Vodka, LZ Pencils, Gerolsteiner Sparkling Water, photo inspiration books from A Beautiful Mess, hand towels and notebooks from Papyrus, natural deodorant from Humble Brands, designer aprons from Bon Aprontit, and spatulas in fun colors from Get It Right.
Our first day consisted of a welcome cocktail party at our Air BnB. The amazing sponsors who made this happen were: K and S (printed designs), Toast From the Host (cocktails), Twirl Cotton Candy, Dripping Springs Vodka, Tudorhouse Cookies, Heritage Macarons, B & B Butchers (charcuterie board), Casa de Flores Floral Design, Godiva, and Hem Me In (embroidered cocktail napkins).
After our opening session with Root & Restore, we all headed a few minutes down the road to dine at the fabulous hillside restaurant, the Oasis, for a sunset dinner.
The next morning, we were up early and enjoyed a grab and go breakfast before we started our reflection time with Root + Restore. For breakfast, we had a spread of fruits, oatmeal, yogurt, Bageldots, Ocean Spray juices, granola bars, and protein shakes from Orgain.
We lunched on the patio with our salads, Gerolsteiner Sparkling Water, and Live Soda. I couldn’t stop looking at the scenery around us. It was just such a beautiful and serene sight.
The ladies then enjoyed taking some fun headshots around the house with Vashti Co. She also took all of the photos in the post (unless stated otherwise) and was such a blessing to me during this retreat! Everywhere you looked was a dream, so the girls had fun venturing out and getting photos of themselves in unique places!
Then it was time to get messy! I led a pasta making class where the ladies made their own pasta from scratch! It was so fun to get messy and creative! It was a great feeling though to see these women accomplish something that they had never tried before and wanted to explore with! And, I’m happy to say, everyone’s pasta came out perfectly!
Dinner that night was my favorite part of the whole retreat. Then again, anything involving food always is! I decorated the table the Tuscany Party Package, served their homemade pasta, haricot vert, and a herb and oil dip with bread. A few other goodies were on the table as well, including homemade bread from Bread Man Baking Co, Heritage Macarons, dinner napkins from Wolf & Irving, mini cutting boards from Tree Climber Creations, greenery from Casa de Flores Floral Design, sangria from Bass Note Sangria, and fresh olive oil from 1836 Texas Olive Oil Co.
We concluded the night with a paper lantern send off. Symbolically, we were getting rid of the negativity of the world around us and opening ourselves up to the world left unexplored. It was a healing moment filled with hope and a sense of calmness I can’t explain.
The last day, we had a ladies brunch before everyone headed home. I used the Vintage Farmhouse Party Package and made a blueberry coffee cake, tomato egg cups, and a breakfast bake. I used Fixer Upper style decor, Wolf & Irving napkins, Sweets & Treats floral paper straws, and our amazing sponsors had even more goodies for the guests. The Silver Loft provided beautiful rose gold cuff bracelets and Heritage Macarons gave us a sweet treat of her beautiful macarons.
We had such a fabulous time! I can’t wait until the *next* one!
