Last Tuesday night was busy after work for me: a happy hour with the SPARC girls, and my first Charleston Blog Society event!

First up was happy hour at the newest restaurant on King St, 492.  As everyone showed up, we each grabbed a drink at the bar.  The bartender was super helpful, and definitely knew her stuff. Plus props to her for handling a group of 15 thirsty girls.

I ordered the Oaxacan Sunshine (with mezcal), and she made some other off-the-menu drinks for other girls, but the favorite of the night was the Disco Sour.  The Disco Sour is a sweeter drink, but the fun part is watching the drink change colors as you pour it over the blue ice and stir. Plus there’s a blackberry coasted in edible gold dust — who wouldn’t want that?

Since I had to leave happy hour early, I wasn’t able to try any of the dishes off 492’s menu, but between the fun cocktails, the huge patio, and great service, I’m looking forward to coming back for dinner!

Next on the schedule for that night was heading to Elizabeth Stuart Design‘s Mt. Pleasant location for a blogger’s night out event.  I recently joined the Charleston Blog Society to meet other local bloggers and network.  I couldn’t have joined at a better time since they were having a meet up the next week, so off to ESD I went..

I will say walking into a new place, with a bunch of people you don’t know can be a little nerve wracking, but Kate from ESD walked right up and started asking about my blog.  After chatting with her a little bit, I ventured to the food and drinks.

The Cocktail Bandits had this beautiful custom drink setup for us — complete with colorful glasses from ESD.  You picked what you’d like in the drink from a tray of different fruits, and garnishes, then they mixed a Moen drink up for you.  I added a blackberry, pineapple and the homemade agave syrup — and it was super light, but not too sweet.

The Cocktail Bandits are all about giving girls some confidence in the cocktail world, so check them out — they’d be great to kick off a bachelorette party… Just sayin’.

Cocktail in hand, I moved over to the food table.  Tavern & Table provided some appetizers from their new menu, but to be honest I couldn’t remember what was on the current menu, so couldn’t really compare anything.  Sadly the only thing I tried was the hummus and pita chips (thanks to my food allergies), but they were delicious!  I heard the salsa with the shrimp was pretty tasty too..

Onto the main event — after everyone had been chatting and eating, they introduced the Cocktail Bandits, and then the owner of Elizabeth Stuart Design, aka Muffie, spoke to us.  She talked about how she got started in the design business and slowly built her brand.  Then she tried to gear her message toward all of us blogger’s in the area, and I loved this quote from her –>

People will smell out your authenticity. Be true to yourself.

After her mini presentation I continued to meet the different ladies in the group and learn about all the different local blogs.  I will say my favorite part was speaking to Muffie herself as I walked around.  We talked about our love of bringing natural elements into everyday life and she gave me a great idea for my wedding 🙂

Finally I was pooped from the night, and made my exit, but not without making some new friends!  Check out some of the local bloggers I met last week –>

A Coastal Bride

Paper Meets Pearl

ESD Design

A Lowcountry Wed

All the Things

Fried Green Pickles

Let me know if you’d be interested in going to their next event with me!  I’m looking at you Susu and Marianne…