So excited to finally give you a full rundown of our girls trip to the beautiful Cedar Lakes Estate. Hope you guys got a chance to follow along on stories for all of the behind the scenes! If not, today's post will take you through out entire trip.

Sylvia, Lindsey, Karen and I first met at a local blogger brunch in the city, after which the four of us hit it off and stayed in touch regularly. That September, we all attended NYFW together...and the rest is pretty much history. I'm so incredibly grateful to have found a tight knit group of girls who I now consider some of my closest friends. For those of you who are also bloggers, I'm sure you can relate in knowing what a great feeling it is to be able to share all in all of the triumphs + tribulations of blogging with those who truly get it.

Needless to say, I wouldn't have wanted to take this trip with anyone else!

THE ESTATE
Cedar Lakes Estate is a popular wedding and company retreat venue, but anyone can visit for a weekend getaway. We worked with @thesistersofcedarlakes to find a time when the venue wasn't fully booked (which rarely happens!) and ended up totally lucking out. I might go as far as to say that we were the only ones on the entire property during our stay. Either that or everyone else was inside because it was pouring rain all weekend.

The vast Estate is situated on a stunningly beautiful lake and is home to modern-rustic cottages, an outdoor garden, indoor + outdoor event venues, a pool overlooking the lake and a general store - pretty much giving you no reason to leave during your stay!

cedar lakes estate
cedar lakes estate
cedar lakes estate

THE COTTAGE
Our cottage was the perfect mix of quaint and cozy. We loved the modern-retro vibe with the Smeg fridge and the vintage stovetop. The main room slept two, which spilled right into the kitchen, and two more beds were tucked away in their own little nooks to the side.

cedar lakes estate

cedar lakes estate
cedar lakes estate
cedar lakes estate
cedar lakes estate

THE GENERAL STORE
The general store was right on the grounds and open pretty much whenever you needed. There were games for a change of scenery and the cutest little keepsakes to take home with you.

 

cedar lakes estate
cedar lakes estate

THE LAKE
The lake is the one place we all wish we got to spend more time at! When I say that our trip was a wash, it was literally pouring every single day that we were there, minus the hour or two of sunshine from our first day. We managed to snap some photos in between rains (what you don't see is how soaked we were after sitting on these canoes!).

cedar lakes estate
cedar lakes estate

THE FOOD
Having our own kitchen was so much fun. There was something super cozy about being able to get in sweats at night, flip on our gas fireplace, open a few bottles of wine and just hang. Of course, we took full advantage of our pretty kitchen and went all out with a pancake breakfast the second morning.

ON THE MENU NIGHT 1:
A fully-loaded cheese plate, grilled balsamic chicken + stuffed peppers with greek orzo salad

ON THE MENU NIGHT 2:
Homemade (literally Kar made the dough by hand and it was insane) pizzas with roasted tomatoes, pesto + a
balsamic glaze

cedar lakes estate
cedar lakes estate
cedar lakes estate
cedar lakes estate

THE REST OF THE GROUNDS
Though we didn't get to do much because of the weather, we still ventured out to explore the grounds. Linds and I took a quick hike up to a beautiful overlook (also a great sunset spot) in between rain showers. On our last day, we were so stir crazy that we made use of the pool, umbrellas and all.

cedar lakes estate
cedar lakes estate

Our trip to Cedar Lakes Estate was the perfect quick Summer getaway. Would love to return in the early Fall when all of the leaves are turning or even for a weekend in the Winter!

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