A Bachelorette Weekend

I am writing this post with just four days until my wedding day – I have so many thoughts about that, but they are probably best saved for another post! This post is all about this past weekend and my wonderful bachelorette weekend! 

 

My little sister – who is my Maid of Honor – planned the weekend with a good bit of help from my Mom, since she (my sister) is currently a UK resident. After work on Friday, I picked my sister up at my parent’s house and we headed about thirty minutes up the road to Hillbrook Inn! It was amazing to me that it was such a short drive but actually felt like we were a world away from our day to day! The Hillbrook Inn absolutely looks like something out of a fairy tale! The main building for the Inn is built up a hillside and it is just as fantastically quirky as it looks!

 

We checked in and headed to the Hawthorne House – an off-site portion of the Hillbrook Inn complex that was about 1.5 miles away and was the most stunning house, sat back in the middle of corn fields, with the rolling fields stretching out behind it to the horizon! It was truly the most beautiful spot! We had the entire house for the weekend, so my sister and I settled into the South Suite and got changed to head out to dinner! 

 

We drove about thirty minutes to Martinsburg, West Virginia to have dinner at Brix 27! Brix 27 came highly recommended by my friend Danielle, and it absolutely did not disappoint! Lindsey and I perused the menu and decided to start with the Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Bisque (me) and the Harvest Salad (her) and split an order of Fried Green Tomatoes! I ordered a Flamingo cocktail and Lindsey got a French 75! It was a delicious start to the meal and the Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Bisque was some of the best I’ve ever had! 

We split a Margherita Flat Bread and a Greek Wine Flight and closed out the meal with a Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie – everything was so divine! I’d definitely return to Brix 27 to eat again! The restaurant was quirky and unique, with a distinct design and a delicious menu! There were plenty of items on the menu I’d have loved to sample but I was absolutely stuffed when all was said and done! We headed back to Hawthorne House, dodging several deer on the way (yikes – y’all, it was so bad) and ended up having a pretty early night!

Due to jet lag (Lindsey) and being used to waking up at 5 AM (me), we were both awake on Saturday before 7 AM. We had coffee, got dressed and headed to the main Inn to have breakfast at the Redbook Restaurant before heading to the spa. It was great to get to explore the Inn a little more as we made our way through the halls and to the dining room – the whole building is so different, with curves and turns that are made as the building climbs the side of the hill! Very interesting indeed!

We headed to the spa after breakfast and began our spa treatments with a 90-minute massage – which was delightful! I thoroughly enjoyed our massages and while I enjoyed the treatments that came after, we did have some hiccups! Unfortunately, my little sister had a waxing incident that left her with a bit of skin ripped off… not just hair. The esthetician didn’t seem too bothered by the fact that she’d just ripped skin off my sister, which made us a little uncertain about her facial skills. We both enjoyed our facials and I have to say that my skin looks and feels great – but the experience left us wondering how professional she really was. *grimace*

The afternoon unfolded at the Hawthorne House with a lovely charcuterie board and the arrival of some of my bridesmaids for an afternoon and evening of celebration! We sipped some gin cocktails, played a couple games, and snacked on the amazing charcuterie board that my sister put together before changing into our fancy clothes to go to dinner at the Redbook Restaurant. The Redbook Restaurant is home to a chef that has worked at numerous Michelin starred restaurants and is a native of Bruges, Belgium – suffice it to say, this was a fancy meal!

We chose the Four Course Tasting Meal with the Wine Pairing and my meal looked like this: Squab with Potato Mousseline and a Red Wine Reduction, paired with the Cristom – Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon. The second course was Beef Tenderloin with Fingerling Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables with a Demi-glace (and unfortunately I don’t remember the wine – it was red.) The third course was an Artisan Cheese Selection with a Gruet Brut from the USA. Lastly, I closed out the meal with a Belgian Chocolate Mousse with Strawberries, paired with the Emotions La Tour Blanche from Sauternes, France!

I don’t have a picture on this post – but we started with two Amuse-Bouche and one I absolutely passed on – because it was a raw oyster. The second was Oxtail Ragout in a cream sauce and it was the most tender and flavorful meat I’ve ever eaten! It was amazing! 

We returned to the house for some additional games and a lingerie shower (no pictures) and we all finally climbed into our beds after midnight! Y’all, I cannot remember the last time I stayed up past 11 – I especially can’t remember the last time I saw midnight! Even with a late bedtime, I was still awake before 7:00 and was thrilled to quietly sip coffee by the fireplace in the living room with my friends! We got dressed and headed to breakfast around 9:00 and then snapped a couple pictures before returning to the house to pack everything up.

It was such a fun weekend – with a couple bumps in the road along the way. I absolutely thought that I’d lost my engagement ring for about four hours on Saturday afternoon before finally finding it sitting on the flagstone fireplace of our suite, where it blended in with the stone. I had cried a couple times that afternoon worrying over that – but blessedly, all was well where that was concerned. One of my bridesmaids also had to bow out of the celebration after getting sick on Saturday afternoon and deciding to head home – but we carried on and still had a wonderful time! It was such a great weekend and my sister truly outdid herself with all she did to make the weekend special!

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We got back to my parent’s house shortly before noon on Sunday and I was so tickled to see Ryan when he and my parents came in after church! We headed to our house for a couple hours where I was able to get some things packed up for the honeymoon before we met my parents and my sister at Flour & Water for Afternoon Tea! Flour & Water is the most amazing little bakery in Ryan and I’s soon to be hometown and they have been offering Afternoon Tea now for the last few months – it is always delicious and never disappoints!

It was such a wonderful weekend and I know this upcoming weekend will be even more wonderful and special. I cannot believe we are four days away from our wedding day – I am trying to take every moment in and savor each and every memory that we are making on the lead up to being husband and wife!