4 cities, 2 states, 6 ladies, and an unbreakable bond. Well, you are *just PROBABLY* sick of hearing me say an alliteration of this quote on my Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee!). Just a few weekends ago, I spent the weekend with some of my best girl friends – Hannah, Alanna, Bryn, Allison, and Sarah – down in the beautiful city of Charlotte, North Carolina. We saw *surprise!!!* Big Time Rush and lived out our childhood dreams aka the main reason for this trip. We also got to get together with a bunch of Hannah’s, Bryn’s, and Allison’s friends from high school, such as Drew, too. Now, let’s get into the nitty gritty of this super duper fun weekend of mine!
Friday
Friday was the start of our trip, which meant that Bryn and I set sail (or through the Virginia/North Carolina mountains!) towards Charlotte, North Carolina from good olde Northern Virginia. Our friends Alanna and Hannah who both live in the Raleigh, North Carolina area left MUCH later than us, since it was a shorter drive. We each in our separate cars arrived to Bryn’s house around the same time (8pm!). SO, that meant for a happy hour with tacos and cocktails courtesy of Bryn’s angels known as her parents! The cocktails we had were gorgeously displayed in all their pretty and pink glory. We enjoyed some great time catching up, as it has been a few months since all 4 of us had been together.
Bryn’s house is GORGEOUS!!! Her mother, like me, is a BIG FAN of bright colors and has the most gorgeous home. The house is decked out with printed chairs, floral prints, AND all things preppy. She *EVEN* has King and Queen-shaped salt & pepper shakers – talk about my kind of place! Trust me, I wanted to move immediately when I set foot in her home and am currently talking about planning a trip back around Christmas time, as I know that it’ll be gorgeous then.
Saturday Afternoon
After breakfast and getting ready at Bryn’s house, we headed for Charlotte’s super fun South End neighborhood. South End is known for its funky, eccentric, and up-and-coming vibes. This neighborhood is home to several murals within the Queen City, including the Confetti Hearts Wall (the one that we visited!!). The Confetti Hearts Wall was designed and painted by Evelyn Henson – a local Charlotte artist – and is hanging up in an alley South End right by the well-known Jeni’s Ice Cream Shop. I am a BIG fan of the Confetti Hearts Wall and visited it back in January 2021 when I was in a long distance relationship and was more than happy to go back and get photos with my besties, instead! So, we *of course* went to both!! While there, a bunch of local businesses had booths set up, including in front of the Confetti Hearts Wall (which made for a bit of an awkward photo opportunity, BUT we made it work well!) and I even got a pair of adorable earrings from one of them. Then, it started raining, SO we took the Light Rail (which is FREE) one stop over to Hannah’s car. We, then, went to the HUGE Target in Midtown that is known for that parking garage top deck with those stunning skyline views. Sadly, I didn’t get any photos at the top of the parking garage (I guess I can save that for next time, though!). It was definitely a fun afternoon: pre-concert!
Saturday Evening
Saturday evening, we all went to the Big Time Rush concert aka the major major major reason for us all having this girl’s weekend in Charlotte. The night started off with us all meeting at Hannah’s place to get ready – we had a mini happy hour and Allison and Sarah showed up then, too. We, then, headed on over to the concert which was held at the Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre: an outdoor venue that plays host to some drop dead gorgeous views of Charlotte’s skyline. For my outfit, I decided to wear my hot pink chiffon Sam Edelman maxi dress that I SCORED for $14 – CHEERS!!! – at Marshall’s back in May. This gorgeous maxi steal of mine was styled with my J Crew Factory statement necklace, Lands’ End strappy wedges, and Lilly Pulitzer x Lele Sadoughi top knot headband.
Besides the AMAZING performance courtesy of Big Time Rush (!!!!), we also had a great time together. The line up was GREAT!!! One of the BEST things about being in North Carolina as compared to Washington, DC is how cheap everything feels. For example, I paid $5 for a big bag of popcorn as opposed to at least $8-$10 in my hometown. The same went for drinks, too. We purchased lawn seats and got there pretty early (about 45 minutes before the concert began) and did not pay extra for the fast lane admission. I will say that we did get in easily without any problems and had a somewhat good view of the concert. Needless to say, I could not be found complaining and neither could anyone else! At the same time, I LOVED getting to see the sun set along the Charlotte skyline. It was beautiful and made even better jamming out to Big Time Rush.
Sunday
Sunday morning rolled around much quicker than anyone of us had anticipated, which meant that we had to head back home. BUT, before heading back home and parting ways to our respective cities, we all enjoyed one last meal together. Hannah was an angel and treated us all to Einstein Bros Bagels and coffee – a bagel breakfast chain that I have seen in at least Virginia and North Carolina – and we headed for the local and gorgeous Freedom Park. Hannah’s, Bryn’s, Allison’s, and Sarah’s high school friend Drew joined us for breakfast, too. Freedom Park plays homage to a stone bridge, ducks, a ton of nature, a pond, and what to me feels like a ton of magic. To me, Freedom Park feels like a magical gateway as if it were in Peter Pan! We, then, took A TON of photos and then parted ways.
My weekend in Charlotte was a special one filled with friendships both old and new, lasting bonds, and several memories. Til next time, Queen City!!!
XOXO – Katie <3
Thank you for featuring me in your blog. I feel honored to be a part of your life and this was a fun concert.
Honored to have you as apart of my life <3