Okay guys, this will be a bit of Story Time so bare with me... you will love it, I promise!
Let's back track to the day I got engaged. Jon proposed in September of 2013 on a Friday and the following Monday morning I was on the phone with Oceanstone because I knew that was the place that I wanted to get married. I was lucky enough to get around the date that I was hoping for because boy, do they fill up fast! We knew we wanted to get married in Nova Scotia because this was our home, where we met, also where we grew up and started adulting. Jon's family is from Iceland and My family lives in Nova Scotia and at that point they didn't really have a lot of time to spend together so I wanted to give them the classic east coast oceanside cottage retreat so they could relax and get to know each other and Oceanstone was beyond perfect for that. The best thing about planning a wedding at Oceanstone (aside from the staff, more on how amazing they are later) was the fact that the entire property was reserved for your wedding party for two full nights. This allowed us to have a traditional Vietnamese tea ceremony the night before our actual wedding so we were able to combine both of our cultures together... not to mention the opportunity for our family and friends to gather and meet and mingle before the more formal day. Our amazing photographer and now close friend Nicole Lapierre was there to capture every moment and we were lucky enough to be featured on her blog TWICE so I hope you get a chance to check out some images from our Tea Ceremony and our Wedding Day... and while you are at it check out our features on The Knot and Junebug Weddings as well. I literally read through these all just now and wishing I could relive those two days all over again... pass the kleenex please!
After we got married we knew we wanted to start a family and after a miscarriage we were blessed with our sweet little Mía and couldn't be happier. For my first Mother's day Jon and Mía mom-napped and took me to the Rhubarb to celebrate my first Mother's day with my little tribe. It was an overcast day but we took Mía down to walk the property anyway and was excited to show her were we said our I do's. That summer we were travelling quite a bit so we were unable to nail down a time to stay at the property to enjoy some family time before the summer faded but it was on our list for 2017. So naturally when an opportunity to collaborate with Oceanstone came up we were beyond ecstatic to accept and start the countdown to our cottage getaway.
We stayed at Oceanstone for two evenings last month and it was the most lovely early birthday present a gal could ask for! I love that the property is such a short drive from the city (another reason why we chose it for our wedding) and we arrived in the afternoon on a Friday and were given the same cottage that I got ready for my wedding in. Talk about a trip down memory lane! The staff at Oceanstone are just the most thoughtful should and they had a beautiful welcome spread for us on the table that included wine, treats, a curated gift box from Made by Collection, and they even had a special bag for Mía to dive into. They had our favourite pizza toppings and ingredients for us to make some homemade pizzas and just unwind from the busy work week. There was a baby gate and play pen with cozy sheets ready for Mía... mind you, if you followed along with my Insta Stories that weekend you would know that she slept with us in our bed the whole time... we are working on that! We caught the sunset and hung out on the beach
Saturday started with a delicious breakfast at the Rhubarb and some beach exploration with Mía and lots of lazy relaxing naps. Basically a mom's dream afternoon! Jon and I were lucky enough to have my lovely sister stay with us so we got a chance to have a date night and it was so special to be able to walk hand in hand around the property where we had our wedding pictures captured. Our Dinner was amazing (as always) at the Rhubarb and we even got to sneak into an intimate performance that Heather Rankin was doing on site before making our way back to the little monkey.
We woke up Sunday and was kind of sad knowing that it was our last night waking up to the sound of the ocean waves but soaked it all in. Before packing up the car we headed to a delicious brunch and picked up some yummy treats from Lure Caramels (made there and are my some of my favourites) for the ride home.
It is indescribable how special it was to be able to bring Mía back to the place where we said our vows and to spend time with each other just enjoying the beautiful ocean and beach. It was still a bit chilly for too much beach time fun, but we are totally looking forward to warmer days (hopefully) and another visit to our favourite home away from home.
Okay now onto the Giveaway Details! I've teamed up with Oceanstone to give one away a one night stay in one of their beautiful suites and all you have to do is head over to my Inst agram and follow the 3 easy Steps. Oh and if you head over to my Facebook page you can see how you can get a few more bonus entries too... And if you want even more entries comment below and tell me what you are doing for Mother's Day this year with the family!
xo
Thanh
Photos: Monica Phung
*We received a complimentary stay in return for a review of our experience. As always, all opinions are my own and Thank You for supporting my sponsors*