A Story You can be present in
Unpack your worries.
Hang your dreams on the hook.
The Innkeeper’s been expecting you.
Welcome to the Front Porch.
Where your visit to the inn begins
Sweet Tea & Sage is a virtual inn created for gentle self-care, reflective journaling, and intentional living. Think of it the way you might think of a good book — except here, you don’t just read the story. You step into it.
The Inn is a living, imaginative, and enchanted place you can visit whenever you need a moment of calm, a spark of creativity, or something meaningful to bring into your life. It’s tended daily, thoughtfully and intentionally, by a real person in North Carolina who welcomes guests, writes the words you’ll find here, and cares deeply about the experience you have while you’re visiting.
She is known as the Mikasa of the Inn (pronounced mee-KAH-sah).
Before you meet the Mikasa, there is something you should know about her. She never meets strangers, and she has a way of making someone’s day brighter simply by walking into the room. The townspeople say her smile clears the gray from even the darkest days.
She has prepared this space with care, just for you. For now, while you are here, take a moment to imagine all that the Inn may come to hold. As the house continues to grow, new spaces will reveal themselves — each with its own purpose.
This is not a typical website. There are no ads, no social media noise, and no interruptions competing for your attention. What you’ll find instead is a thoughtful visit, and an ongoing conversation, shaped by presence, intention, and care.
Scroll on to meet the Mikasa and the beginning of the story.
Meet The Mikasa of the Inn
Now that you’ve stepped a little farther in, let me share something I’ve learned from tending this place day after day.
People don’t usually arrive when everything feels neatly sorted. Most come carrying busy thoughts, stretched hearts, or a sense that they need a different pace for a moment. You may not have named it before you arrived — but if you’re here, something in you was ready to slow down.
So let this be that pause.
Sweet Tea & Sage exists as a living story — one that unfolds a little at a time, shaped by real days, real moments, and the care that goes into tending them. Right now, that story lives in the House Ledger.
The House Ledger is where I write to whoever has arrived. Each entry is a page in the ongoing life of the Inn, written with the understanding that no two guests come carrying the same things. You’re not expected to start anywhere in particular.
However you’re arriving today is enough.
You’re not moving through this place as a stranger. Everyone who finds their way here brings their own mix of questions, hopes, weariness, and curiosity. The house makes room for all of it — without asking you to explain yourself first.
And wherever you go from here, know this — I’m here.
Tending what’s ready.
Keeping the rhythm steady.
And welcoming you back whenever you return. Now, follow me down the hall so I can show you the House Ledger.
— Mika
This little hallway with the book on the table is where we keep our House Ledger. It’s where I keep the story of the Inn as it’s being lived. The moments, the days, the things that seem small at first but turn out to matter.
Some entries are about the house itself. Others are written more personally, for whoever happens to arrive and open the book that day. I write it the way I write most things here: paying attention to what’s in the air, what’s unfolding, and what feels worth noticing.
Most guests can’t help themselves. They stop here. They read a page or two before going any further. Many tell me it helps them get their bearings to understand what kind of day they’re stepping into, or how to move through what’s already waiting for them. Some even decide to check in after reading, once they learn a bit more about the house.
It’s also where you may begin to notice another presence, Lady Staywell. She has a way of leaving words behind that arrive at just the right moment. She’s the spirit of the house, though I think of her more like an auntie — the kind who always knows what to say, even when you haven’t said much at all. Folks often ask me how she knows so much. I usually just smile.
If you want to understand this place, you’ll want to come back and read the Ledger now and then. It opens itself slowly.
You don’t need to start at the beginning. Start wherever your heart leads you. Take a minute to read the latest entries, and then follow me down this last hall, where I’ll show you where to check in — should you decide to be our guest.
Checking in here doesn’t look like it does elsewhere. There are no reservations and no rigid timelines waiting on the other side of the door. Checking in simply means letting the Inn know you’d like to return as new pages are written and to stay connected as the story continues.
Staying connected means becoming a member of the Inn. It allows the house to recognize you when you return and to share new chapters, private notes, and future spaces as they open. Nothing more is asked of you.
There’s nothing to keep up with.
Nothing you’re expected to do.
Checking in is simply a way of saying, I’d like to stay a little longer.
If that feels right, your place is already held. Simply click the link below to check-in at the front desk, or you can see what else is happening at the Inn through the House Ledger.
