It’s March 1st, so spring is officially here in the Lowcountry. We’ve had the coldest and rainiest January and February ever, but when the sun is shining locals are so glad we live in Charleston. What better way to enjoy the most amazing weather than Springtime at Freshfields Village in Kiawah? Whether you live close by or plan a weekend trip to the island, it’s totally worth it. With quality shopping and dining and the beach nearby, you can’t beat this coastal living.

La Tela Pizzeria is one of my favorite restaurants in the Lowcountry. It’s way more than just amazing brick oven pizza, it’s a diverse menu of homemade pastas, salads, and mouth watering apps. The ingredients are locally sourced from Rosebank, The Twenty Bag, and Manchester Farms just to name a few.

I dined with my favorite foodie Libby Williams of Plate South and we sampled a little bit of everything. My go to is the mussels basking in a tomato base sauce. The sauce is perfect to dip their delicious house-made bread in it.

Next we had the Warm Butternut Squash Salad with goat cheese, watercress, shaved fennel and truffle honey vinaigrette and balsamic glaze. Then we had the Roasted Beet Salad with baby arugula ricotta salata. dried apricot, pistachio and a vanilla-bean vinaigrette.

They surprised us with a healthy portion of homemade ragu pasta. I’m not a big meat eater but I snuck in some bites and the pasta was delicious! Once you have homemade pasta it’s hard to eat the boxed kind.

We topped off our lunch with the Quail Egg, Pancetta, Mozzarella, and Arugula Pizza. If you’ve never had eggs on a pizza you have to try it! The combination is out of this world. Another must have on the menu is the Fried Eggplant Pizza. It usually doesn’t come with red sauce but I highly recommend it. Let’s not forget about the amazing service at La Tela Pizzeria. You can tell the chefs and servers are passionate about food and that passion reflects the quality of food and service.

They’ve always had plenty of outdoor seating, so enjoy the beautiful weather and amazing food next time your at Freshfields Village.

I refreshed my lips after lunch with Lune + Aster Lipgloss and they sell a set of 5 for just $40 in their Swipe+Celebrate Lip Gloss set at BlueMercury.

My eyesight is quickly failing me so I swung by Village Optical to try on some frames. They have a gorgeous array of frames from optical to sunglasses. They are locally owned and are a full scope optometry practice.

Whether you’re looking for classic frames or some retro funkiness, they have it all. Of course I love a good cat-eye.

My next stop in the Village was Lilly Pulitzer. Their colorful and cheerful designs will brighten up anyone’s day. Their wallpaper hand painted dressing rooms are the perfect compliment to their feminine designs.

Lilly’s accessories are so cute and very well priced. These hoops are only $38 and so lightweight. This sweater is the perfect spring piece to have in your wardrobe.

Urban Nirvana has a couple of outposts in Freshfields including a salon and spa. Their spa has a retail boutique stock full of products to pamper yourself or gift someone else.

Looking for casual comfortable shoes that suits an active lifestyle? Coastal Footwear is locally-owned and carries over 30 brands for men’s, women’s, and children. You can find Asics, Ecco, New Balance, Nike, Olukai, Sperry, and Cole-Haan to name a few. These slip on sneakers from there are some the most comfortable sneakers I’ve worn.

Need another excuse to come out to Freshfields Village? Join them for Cars and Coffee and Sidewalk Saturday on March 20th from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Enjoy sidewalk sales, new merchandise, gifts with purchase, in-store events and more at participating retailers and restaurants.