The Virginia Beach Local Secret That Saves Money on Summer Vacations.

       Today's post is sponsored by Food Lion. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Southern Belle in Training! #FoodLionVacation #Sponsored

   

HOTEL GUIDE: A 24-Hour Stay at The Omni Homestead Resort

       I recently checked another iconic Virginia hotel off of my travel bucket list: The Omni Homestead Resort. This historic resort is located deep within the Alleghany Mountains in the western part of Virginia. The Omni Homestead is home to a unique main attraction: America's oldest natural warm springs! The Warm Springs Pools are owned by the resort but open to the public. In addition, the resort also boasts beautiful historic decor, a multitude of dining options, a plethora of shopping and activities, and a large spa. My friend Amanda and I recently did a one-night stay here for our annual girls' trip. Our visit may have been brief, but it certainly was memorable! 

BED & BREAKFAST GUIDE: A Luxurious New River Valley Stay at The Lilly Valley Inn

      If you're looking for a quiet, restful and romantic escape that's surrounded by beautiful nature views, look no further than the Lilly Valley Inn in Pearisburg, VA! Ryan and I recently had the chance to visit and experience this lovely and unique bed & breakfast, located in the heart of Virginia's New River Valley. Keep reading for my full review of Lilly Valley Inn, and information on unique activities in the New River Valley area!

Wedding Wednesday: Transcendent Stays Beach Rental House for Wedding Weekend

       I'm so excited to share all the info about the beautiful beach rental home that myself and my bridal party got to stay in for my wedding weekend! It was an honor to continue a partnership with local short-term property rental group Transcendent Stays. If you have any upcoming travel plans to the Virginia Beach area, or you yourself are a fellow bride getting married in the area, you'll want all the info about this beautiful beach rental home, which is available to rent year-round!

     Shout-out to my five bridal party memories who joined in for the photos in today's blog post, as well as my dear blogging friend Gentry! She came to Virginia Beach for our wedding, and it was a joy to have her join in for this fun photoshoot the day before the wedding. 😊

Wedding Wednesday: Virginia Beach Wedding Guest Lodging with Transcendent Stays.

      The majority of our wedding guests will be visiting Virginia Beach from out-of-town for our wedding. A good chunk are from other parts of Virginia or North Carolina and will have to drive a few hours, and another large amount are from further destinations and will be flying in. Since we have so many traveling guests, it was important to me to provide a good variety of lodging options on our wedding website. In addition to a few traditional hotel room blocks, I also wanted to give guests a short-term rental option as well. For some groups traveling to our wedding, their lodging preferences would probably align more with a nice house rental for their whole group, rather than multiple separate hotel rooms (without having shared communal gathering space).

     Enter my favorite local short-term rental company: Transcendent Stays! You might remember that I did a lovely off-season staycation at a Transcendent Stays property with my friend Caroline this winter. Transcendent Stays operates a variety of luxury short-term rental homes, apartments, and boutique inn style rooms in Virginia Beach. Many of their properties are just a block or two away from the beach as well. 

         I recently went to tour some Transcendent Stays properties with their team, so that I could provide the best recommendations for our wedding guests on lodging options. I'm excited to tell you more about them:

Transcendent Stays: The Best Short-Term Rentals in Virginia Beach

      Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to do a wonderful weekend staycation here in Virginia Beach. Local property management group Transcendent Stays invited me to stay at one of their fantastic local short-term rental properties. I am usually Team Hotel over Team Short-Term Rental for my travels both near and far (with exceptions to that rule on occasion), but I had such a phenomenally positive experience with this staycation that it was a good reminder for me to consider these types of properties more often when traveling out of the area or doing a staycation! I can't wait to tell you more about it today. 

Wedding Wednesday: Are We Doing a Local or Destination Wedding?

      Time for my next Wedding Wednesday post! I already know that this whole series is going to be so much fun to write and document over the next year or two. The biggest question that I feel like a couple gets when starting to plan a wedding is "Where do you want the wedding to be?" Will the wedding be local to where the bride and groom currently live, in the bride or groom's home city, or a domestic or international destination wedding? All of those options have their own pros and cons of course. And the estimated wedding budget definitely plays a huge roll in figuring out which option would be best. Ready to find out where Ryan and I are planning to get married?

     

HOTEL GUIDE: Kimpton The Forum Hotel in Charlottesville, VA

      I recently got the chance to stay at Charlottesville's newest boutique hotel, Kimpton The Forum Hotel, located on the property of the University of Virginia. It's always great to be back in my former home city for a weekend, and I love keeping tabs on what's new in the area. The Forum has guest rooms with an air of modern luxury, and one of the best and most unique locations of any hotel in Charlottesville. The hotel was quite busy the weekend that I visited, and there was such a diverse clientele of guests. I saw business travelers, young families with children, older folks and lots of 20-30-something friend groups who looked like they were in town for weddings or UVA events. 

      I spent a fall weekend at The Forum with my good friend and fellow influencer Caroline Coleburn. Fun fact: Caroline and I met in Charlottesville almost five years ago when I was living and working there as a morning radio host, and she was a morning reporter for a local TV news station! I'm now doing radio in Virginia Beach, and Caroline is on TV in Richmond. It was extra special to visit my former city for a weekend with a special friend like Caroline who I met during my time there.

2022 in Review: Highlights From My Year.

      Time once again to write my most favorite blog post of the year. This year's edition of the post is extra special, as 2022 was by far the best year of my life (so far). This year held so many precious memories and amazing experiences! Let's recap:

Stroll Through Colonial Williamsburg at Christmas.

      Williamsburg is one of America's most historic towns, and (without traffic) it's under an hour away from where I live! Christmastime in Williamsburg is especially charming. There's something special about a very classic and historic area being decked out for Christmas. Most of the buildings within Colonial Williamsburg participate in an annual wreath decorating contest. All of the materials and decorations for the wreaths have to be naturally sourced, and things that would've been around in the 1700s. So that means no Christmas lights, modern ornaments, or tinsel! Instead, you'll see lots of pinecones and sticks, fruit, shells, and more natural items. You can read more about the history of the wreath contest here!

     I had to share some festive photos with you from a recent day trip to Williamsburg a couple weekends ago. I feel extra lucky this season as I also got to go back to Williamsburg for another day trip this past weekend, so I got to see all of this twice! 

Why I'm Glad I Joined Junior League - My New Member Year Recap.

       One of the biggest highlights of the past year for me has been joining my local chapter of Junior League! Junior League (JL) is a worldwide women's community service organization, and I had always wanted to get involved at some point in adulthood. Moving to Virginia Beach last summer seemed like the perfect time to finally join. I can say with certainty that joining Junior League Norfolk-Virginia Beach absolutely has 100% exceeded any expectations that I had about JL before joining!! It's been the most positive experience, and as my New Member year is coming to a close, I wanted to recap everything on the blog! 

Virginia Beach Apartment Tour: Gallery Wall

     Saved the last part of my Virginia Beach apartment tour for last... the massive gallery wall that I hung between the kitchen and living room! I love gallery walls and I've always wanted to do one that's this big. This apartment seemed like the time to finally go for it!

 

Virginia Beach Apartment Tour: Bedroom.

      Moving along with my Virginia Beach apartment tour today! So far I've shared my kitchen + bathroom, and the living room. Next up is my bedroom! 

Virginia Beach Apartment Tour: Living Room

     Continuing on with my Virginia Beach apartment tour today! (I recently shared my apartment kitchen and bathroom in this post.) I really loved the living room layout that my room Abigail and I had in our shared Charlottesville apartment. I knew that the size of the living room would be smaller in my Virginia Beach apartment, but I was still determined to make things look similar, especially since I'd still be bringing my same couch, upholstered chair and TV stand. 

Virginia Beach Apartment Tour: Kitchen + Bathroom.

     I'm excited to finally be sharing my Virginia Beach apartment tour with you! I've had so much fun turning this little one bedroom apartment into my ultimate bachelorette pad. I've probably had more fun decorating this apartment than anywhere else that I've lived. I love how everything has come together! I moved the majority of my furniture that I've had in past apartments with me to Virginia Beach, but I did add in a lot of new décor, and arranged some of my older pieces differently here.

     I'm starting off this apartment tour with some shots of my kitchen and bathroom. Soon I'll share the living room and bedroom with you!

The "Southern Belle in Training" Origin Story: How I Fell in Love With the Southeast.

      2022 is a milestone year for me in a few different ways. June will mark 10 years since I graduated from high school, and September will mark 10 years since I started this blog! (This year will also bring some smaller 10 year milestones: like it being 10 years since I joined Instagram as @miss_alk, 10 years since I got my belly button pierced, and 10 years since I made the mistake of perming my hair for the first and only time. Ha!) But my first milestone that turns 10 this year is one that happened in January 2012- probably right around this exact week. And that would be the day that I had the epiphany that I  needed to move to the South for college.

6 Months of Life in Virginia Beach: Update!

      Today marks six months since I moved to Virginia Beach! I wrote a pretty lengthy post-move update at the three month mark back in October. Today's post definitely won't be quite as long, but I am still excited to share a recap of the first half-year I've spent living and working in Hampton Roads!

2021 in Review: Highlights From My Year

     Time to share my very favorite annual blog post of the year! Even though I always title these posts "Highlights from My Year," technically they recap both the very high highs and some of the low lows as well. Everything that I want to remember in years to come- good and bad! (With a focus overall on the good though. 😊) I honestly mainly write these posts each year for myself first and foremost, as a journal entry to look back on in years to come. 

      I always write two Year in Review posts on the blog at the end of each year. The first one that I always share is the one you're reading right now, Highlights from My Year, which recaps the year in my personal life and career. The second is always The Year in Blogging, which recaps everything Southern Belle in Training related like my favorite outfits and favorite blog posts of the past 12 months.

     Buckle up- in addition to this being my favorite post of the year to write, it's also normally the longest post of the year! 😆Haha!! Without further ado- here's my 2021 in my personal life.

3 Months in Virginia Beach - How It's Going So Far!

      I can't believe that it's already been three months since I moved to Virginia Beach! I feel like I blinked and the first 90 days went by. Although I share small day-to-day updates week week in my Midweek Ramblings posts, I thought it might be good to get all caught up on how everything has really been going since I moved here. (Spoiler alert: very good!)

27th Birthday Recap.

      I turned 27 over Labor Day Weekend! Here's a little recap of all of the fun: