Charleston Blonde is much more than just a charming blog title; it’s about a way of life. It is about exploring my passion for travel, fashion, motherhood, and gracious southern living, then sharing it with all of you! The blog is the answer to my followers’ calls for a guide to all the best spots, both new and old, in picturesque Charleston.

My roots are Southern even though my family is from all over the place. I think my accent confuses people. I definitely have a southern drawl because I spent most of my life in Spartanburg, SC, but my mom is Canadian and my dad is from Buffalo, NY. My papa is from England so I have quite the eclectic mix!

I was born in Fort Lauderdale and lived there until I was 15 years old. I grew up a total beach bum and spent more time in the ocean than I did on the land. I always had an entrepreneurial heart and loved to find seashells at the beach and set up a seashell stand to sell them to my neighbors. We moved to South Carolina when I was 15 years old. I spent many spring breaks and summer vacations in Charleston. I knew I was going to live here someday! Spartanburg has an idyllic, small-town feel, and living there made me fall in love with Southern culture. We even had a mud slinging skip day in high school!

Before I moved to The Holy City, I attended the University of South Carolina where I received my degree in Public Relations & Marketing. I changed my major about three or four times, but I always knew I wanted to go into journalism. Combining that with my passion for photography, I knew that I could find a way to keep doing the things I love, like talking to people and photography. It’s no surprise that led me to this path as a Charleston blogger.

What was more of a surprise was how my tomboy roots led me to my CBS’s Survivor: China. While at USC, I ended up working on a few I was encouraged to audition for the show when a few people found out I was a girl scout for 12 years and had been the catcher on my high school’s varsity softball team, but it was the appeal of paying off my student loans that eventually made the decision for me.

Survivor was a blessing in more than one way, since it also led me to my husband, Erik. Even though we grew up less than an hour away from each other in South Carolina (Erik in Greenville, me in Spartanburg), it took being in the same tribe on an island in China for us to meet.

After graduating from USC, I married Erik in a beautiful Charleston wedding surrounded by our family and friends. We were fortunate in that we won the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Ultimate Wedding Giveaway. We submitted a video among about 60 other couples and waited for the results of the online voting. I think getting on Survivor was easier!

We were living in Nashville, TN at the time, but I fell in love with Charleston from the first time I visited as a child, so it was an absolute dream to be able to have our wedding at the Wild Dunes Resort and our rehearsal dinner at Middleton Place.

During the first few years of our marriage, we moved 6 times in 7 years. We lived in Nashville, Greenville, Spartanburg, Fort Myers, Naples, and then finally moved to Charleston in 2016. We set our roots in a beautiful home on James Island overlooking the saltwater marsh. We are currently living on Johns Island with our son, Harper, and our beloved miniature Aussie named Folly.

Transitioning from Charleston admirer to Charleston blogger was as simple as it was unexpected. I loved taking daily walks around the city with Harper and channeling my passion for photography into snapping pics of the city and posting them on Instagram with my personal recommendations. And Charleston Blonde was born!

From an outside perspective, it may look like I’ve live a charmed life but most of the time my life is pure mayhem. Sometimes it feels like we’re all in the business of perfection. Even our “behind the gram” stories are snippets of a curated life. It’s exhausting and stressful, because it seems so easy. Know what I have learned? Adulting is hard, perfection is impossible, and chaos is beautiful.

I hope you love following me on this adventure as much as I love creating it for you! Welcome to Charleston…and beyond!

For more answers to frequently asked questions, check out my FAQ page here!